Submitting a Movie Script

Click the "Upload your work" button in the upper right corner of the Amazon Studios page. You'll then need to tell us if the movie script is an original script or a revised script by choosing the appropriate button.

An original script is one that is 100% new to Amazon Studios. A revised script is one that is based on one or more scripts already on Amazon Studios. For information on the rights related to movie scripts that you upload, see the FAQ and the Development Agreement.

When you upload an original script, you will be given the option to either submit it privately or publicly.

If you choose to submit a script privately, only Amazon Studios staff will review your script. Your script won't be made publicly available at Amazon Studios, but the title and premise will compete in the public Premise War game during the 45-day option and evaluation period. Your privately submitted script will only become public at Amazon Studios if we pay to extend our option on it, we buy it, or you choose to make it public.

If you choose to submit a script publicly, Amazon Studios staff will review your script, and it will also be published to the Amazon Studios site for public feedback, including in the Premise War game. Other users will be able to contribute content to your project, like revised scripts and trailers (although you can set certain script collaboration settings as described below), and those contributions will restart our 45-day option and evaluation period. For more information on the rights related to scripts that you upload publicly, see the FAQ and the Development Agreement.

When you upload an original script publicly, you can choose whether to allow other Amazon Studios participants to add revised scripts to your project.

Your script collaboration options are:

• Open: Any Amazon Studios participant can freely revise your script and add that revised script to the project.
• By Permission: Only Amazon Studios participants that obtain your permission by using the "Request permission" button can add a revised script to the project. After you grant permission, that participant can freely revise the script and add one revised script to the project. You may not veto specific revisions or revoke approval once it is given (although you can always change your script collaboration setting to close the project to all new script revisions other than your own). You also may not condition your approval (e.g., by requiring anyone to submit a positive review of your script).
• Closed: Only you can add revised scripts to the project. You can change your script collaboration setting to "Closed" at any time, but revised scripts added to the project before the change is effective will remain in the project.

The Amazon Studios process is designed to make collaboration easy. Sometimes an outside perspective can be just what you need to solve problems with a story or bring entirely new and exciting elements into play. If you submit an original script privately, no one else will be able to contribute a revised script to your project until it becomes public. If your private script becomes public, your script collaboration setting will automatically be set to “By Permission”.

You can change the script collaboration settings for your public script at any time later by clicking "Edit" next to the script collaboration information on your project page.

For more information on these settings and the rights that you grant to us, please see our FAQs on script collaboration or script rights and the Development Agreement.

All submissions should be in standard script format. To be eligible for Amazon Studios contests, scripts must be between 85 and 160 pages using Courier 12-point font and standard script margins. Here are some general guidelines:

• Page size: 8-1/2 by 11 inches
• Page margins: No less than 1.5 inches (left) and 1 inch (right, top, bottom)
• Scene heading (slugline): 1.5-2 inches
• Action: 1.5-2 inches
• Dialogue: 2.5-3 inches
• Character names: centered

Please make sure your script does not include images or excessive amounts of special text such as bold, italic or underline.

You may submit your script as a PDF. This may make it easier for you to format your script, and for others to read and review it.

You may also submit your script in .rtf file format. Saving your script in .rtf format allows it to be opened and edited in all word-processing applications and facilitates collaboration.

With some programs, such as Final Draft or Microsoft Word or Works, you can save to the .rtf format by selecting "Save As" from the File menu.

Choose .rtf from the box that pops up after you select "Save As."

With other programs, such as Movie Magic Screenwriter, the .rtf format is not part of the "Save As" process. You must select "Export to," then choose "Rich Text Format (.rtf)."

A box will pop up, and the .rtf format will be an option in the dropdown menu.

Some programs, such as Celtx, do not currently provide a way to save your file as .rtf. One way to end up with a .rtf file is to save your script as text, and drop it into a different program (or open it with a different program), such as Word, which allows you to save as .rtf. However, your formatting will likely need to be massaged.