HARVARDWOOD WRITERS COMPETITION
Release Form 

I, the undersigned, hereby voluntarily submit to Harvardwood, and grant to Harvardwood the right to read and evaluate for purposes of considering and in support of my application for the Harvardwood Writers Program (“HWP”), my material, summarized on Exhibit A (“Material”), pursuant to my agreement with the following terms and conditions:

1.    I declare that all of the important features of my Material are summarized on the attached Exhibit A and that I have disclosed no other features to Harvardwood.  I warrant that the Material is original with and wholly owned by me, that I have full and unconditional right to disclose the Material, that no one else has any right to it, and that I have the right to enter into this submission release.  I agree to indemnify and hold Harvardwood and its related, affiliated or parent company(s), employees, interns, volunteers, representatives, assignees and designees (collectively “Harvardwood”) harmless from and against any and all claims, loss or liability (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that may be asserted against Harvardwood or incurred by same at any time in connection with the Material or any use thereof, and/or arising from any breach or alleged breach of any warranty, representation or covenant made by me herein. 

2.    I believe my Material and its features to be unique and novel.  However, I recognize, acknowledge and agree that other persons may have previously originated and/or submitted to Harvardwood or to others or made public, or may in the future originate and/or submit or make public, similar or identical material and that I will not have any legal claim against Harvardwood, or be entitled to any compensation, because of Harvardwood’s access to or evaluation of the Material for purposes of HWP consideration. 

3.    I acknowledge that no confidential relationship is entered into by reason of Harvardwood’s consideration of the submitted Material or by reason of any oral discussions between Harvardwood and me.

4.  Any controversy arising out of, or in connection with, this submission release or any alleged wrongful use of the submitted material or a dispute with reference to this submission release, or its validity or effect, will be determined by binding arbitration in the County of Los Angeles conducted by and in accordance with the rules of Arts Arbitration & Mediation Services, a program of California Lawyers for the Arts; provided, however, that said arbitration will be held before a single arbitrator well-acquainted with the entertainment industry in Los Angeles.  I agree that any arbitration proceeding that I may choose to bring against Harvardwood will be initiated within six (6) months after the date of Harvardwood’s alleged first use of any material that I claim to be mine.

5.  I have retained a copy of the Material being submitted pursuant to this submission release and release Harvardwood from any and all liability arising out of Harvardwood’s evaluation of the Material for the purposes hereunder. I agree that Harvardwood does not assume any obligation to return the submitted Material to me and that any decision shall make in connection with my HWP application shall be in Harvardwood’s sole discretion. 

6.    This submission release, including Exhibit A, constitutes my entire understanding with reference to the subject matter hereof, and no oral representations of any kind have been made to me.  Any modification or waiver hereof must be in writing, signed by me.  The invalidity of any provisions shall not affect the remaining provisions.  This submission release applies equally to any other material that I may submit to Harvardwood, unless agreed in writing to the contrary at the time of the submission.

Harvardwood has announced its Writers Competition winners and Most Staffable TV Writers List. Several categories are led by writers from underrepresented groups. The winners are chosen via a blind judging process, and Harvardwood’s writers programs and competition have always had a far more diverse population than any WGA statistics on TV writers’ rooms or feature projects. 

“Harvardwood has strived to support new voices in the industry, and we are proud to see those efforts reflected in our competition winners,” says President Allison Kiessling.

Please see the Deadline announcement here.

Harvardwood has announced its Writers Competition winners and Most Staffable TV Writers List. This year, every category is led by a writer from an under-represented group. Although the winners are chosen via a blind judging process, Harvardwood's writers programs and competition have always had a far more diverse population than any WGA statistics on TV writers’ rooms or feature projects.  “Harvardwood has strived to support new voices in the industry, and we are proud to see those efforts reflected in our competition winners,” says President Allison Kiessling.

We are now accepting submissions to the 2018 Harvardwood Writers Competition!

Industry professionals, with support from the Harvardwood Board of Directors, will evaluate all scripts entered to determine the winner and two runners up from each category. Results will be announced in late 2019.

We know writers' favorite thing to do—after writing, of course—is procrastinating! But the deadline to submit your script to the 2017 Harvardwood Writers Competition is just two weeks away. At 11:59pm PT on July 31, 2017, we'll close the submission portal to the annual HWC.

So get those rewrites done, make sure to PROOFREAD your final draft, and double-check that your cover page is correctly formatted. 

Let's all congratulate this year's winners of the Harvardwood Writers Competition and the HWP-TV participants named to the annual Most Staffable TV Writers List (see Deadline coverage).

We received numerous excellent scripts this year, and the winning writers (listed below) were selected by a panel of television executives, writers, producers, agents, and managers. Each writer will receive a one-on-one mentorship, and Competition winners will also receive a cash prize.