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‘Project Greenlight’ $25,000 Digital Studios ‘Get The Greenlight’ Contest Nears Deadline

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 05:08 PST, Nov 18, 2015

The HBO show Project Greenlight, as reported by Slate, is on its fourth season. However, plenty of folks may have never seen one episode of Project Greenlight — which is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck — until Damon got into a bit of a kerfuffle with Effie Brown. As seen in the following video, Matt told Effie — a woman who has produced such films as Dear White People and Real Women Have Curves — that diversity needn’t come when one is casting behind the scenes, but only on camera in the characters. This view didn’t sit well with all the African-American writers, directors, and crew behind the scenes on plenty of projects, and made the rounds on social media.

https://youtu.be/iCHRaVXrB7E

It’s into this backdrop that that Damon and Affleck — who could use some good PR himself after his nanny-gate alleged affair and pending divorce from Jennifer Garner — have the chance to redeem themselves with a digital contest for the Project Greenlight brand.

According to the “Get the Greenlight” information, it is the first contest offered by Project Greenlight Digital Studios. Whereas the HBO Project Greenlight show gave would-be moviemakers a shot at making a movie that Affleck and Damon chose, “Get The Greenlight” is being described as offering would-be web series directors a chance to hit it big with their own digital series online. And they’ll get $25,000 to help make that digital series a reality.

“Get The Greenlight is Project Greenlight Digital Studios’ first contest. We’re awarding $25,000 to an emerging filmmaker to produce a digital series. To enter, all you need to do is submit a one to three-minute pitch video telling us why your series should Get the Greenlight by 11:59pm on November 25, 2015. Even if you don’t enter, you can still vote for the top finalists on December 7, 2015.”

As reported by Deadline, after the resurgence of the Project Greenlight HBO show came the digital version. “Get The Greenlight” hopefuls can submit their one to three minute video pitching the Project Greenlight people on why they are the ones who should be awarded the $25,000 to make their web series dreams real.

Next up, the Get the Greenlight contest will team up with Issa Rae — better known as the “Awkward Black Girl” to all of Rae’s YouTube fans who follow that web series. Issa has teamed up with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, and Rae now has launched ColorCreative TV, reports Fast Company.

Early in 2016, Issa will co-host a Get the Greenlight digital series anthology contest in order to find new and diverse writers and creative types. That winner will then create a web series based upon a pre-selected theme. The year 2016 will also see more original web series created by filmmakers such as Arkasha Stevenson — as well as the writing team of Jahmela Biggs & Desmond Faison, behind the First YouTube series.

But back to that $25,000 Get the Greenlight web contest. With “greenlight” notably standing for the Hollywood-speak given to a film that has been given the go-ahead to actually be made, or “green-lighted,” the website has provided more details about how to enter the contest.

Some guidelines for your video:

  • It should include the name of your series.
  • It should include your name and the name of any co-writers/co-directors.
  • It should contain a basic “pitch” for your series: setting, tone, genre, main character, etc.
  • The series should have a strong narrative arc.
  • Show us your creativity! Introduce yourself, get down, have fun!
  • Finally, your video MUST answer this question: Why should YOU Get the Greenlight?
  • You are also free to provide more information about your series by including a link to a web page where you can share photos, videos, a series bible, etc.

For more, make sure you check out the rules page.

[Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP]

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