Hackettstown Center for the Arts, 181 Main Street, Hackettstown, NJ 07840 (908) 813-2626 © 2022 Paladin Knight Entertainment, LLC

About

Every June, Strand Studios and Hackettstown Center for

the Arts produces plays by playwrights ages 9 through 18,

chosen from a nationwide competition. Playwrights are re-

warded with prizes from sponsors up to $1,000.00 in

value.

We are part of but a few artistic performance establish-

ments nationwide, that offer young playwrights the ability

to see their creation on paper, come to life on stage, film

or television in a professional production by professional

actors. We award, produce, direct, rehearse and present

the winning plays.

STRAND YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL ONLINE APPLICATION PRINTABLE APPLICATION 2022 Festival Theme “Scene for Three Actors” Prizes up to $1,000.00 in value

Deadline

Submissions are accepted between MARCH 1, 2022 and

JUNE 15, 2022. Entries must be submitted online or via US

mail postmarked by JUNE 15, 2022, 11:59 pm Eastern

Time.

Fees

$10.00 application fee per script must be made in full at

time of submission. There is no limit to the number of

scripts that may be submitted. All entry fees are non-re-

fundable. All fees benefit the Hackettstown Center for the

Arts, a non-profit 501(c)3 entity and help to defray costs

associated with producing the Festival.

Eligibility

All writers that are 18 years of age or younger by June 30,

2022 are eligible. In other words, if you are already 19

years of age by June 30, 2022, you are not eligible. Writers

17 and younger must have the permission from a parent

or guardian.

All persons, anywhere in the world, are eligible. However,

the material submitted must be in English (an occasional

dialogue in other languages is acceptable, if translation is

provided).

All material submitted to other competitions or contests

are eligible for this contest.

There are no requirements as to when the material was

written.

The stage play and intellectual property must be original

work by the writer(s).

Content

All submitted material must be original, and all rights

must be wholly owned by the writer(s).

Material must be submitted by the writer. Material written

by writing teams must be submitted by one of the writers,

with consent of the other(s). All writers must be credited

on the title page.

If a writing team is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given

to the person who submits the project. Each team is re-

sponsible for dividing or sharing the prize money.

Substitutions of either corrected pages or new drafts of

the entered material will be allowed for a limited time with

a $5 reentry fee. Please proofread your script carefully be-

fore submitting!

Adaptations are ineligible unless the underlying rights are

owned by the writer or the work is in the public domain.

It is recommended that original material is registered with

the WGA or The Library of Congress before submitting to

any competition, however, we do not require registration.

Limit

Script is not to exceed six (6) pages.

Format

All plays must have numbered script pages.

Cover Sheet

Contact info should be included on the cover page of the

screenplay: Title, Playwright Name, Playwright Date of

Birth (with year), Age, E-Mail Address, Contact Phone

Number, Mailing Address.

How to Submit Application

ONLINE

Click on the Google Forms Online Festival Application.

All material submitted electronically must be in PDF for-

mat and included with the online application fee or it will

not be accepted.

POSTAL MAIL

Fill out the printable application available here. Mail the

completed application, your script and a check or money

made payable to: Hackettstown Center for the Arts to:

Strand Young playwrights Festival

PO Box 243

Hackettstown, NJ 07840 USA

No Returns/Feedback

Scripts will not be returned. Do not send originals.

Requests for feedback after an entry is submitted will not

be accepted.

Public Script Reading

Finalists may have their scripts reviewed by the Strand

Performance Group at a Public Script Reading and will be

notified is such an event occurs.

Judges

Judging is done by a panel of professionals in the enter-

tainment business. Judges may not be contacted by play-

wrights and therefore, names and biographies will be

posted after the submission deadline. The decision of the

Judges is final. Family members are prohibited from

competing.

Criteria

The winners will be chosen based on the following criteria:

Concept

Story

Structure

Characters

Dialogues

Genre Convention

Notification

We will contact Festival Competition winners by July 1,

2022.

Awards and Performance

Prizes totaling up to $1,000.00 in value will be awarded

based on number of applicants, categories, and sponsors.

Winners do not need to be present. Winning plays will be

performed by the Strand Performance Group, a troupe of

professional actors, resident at the Hackettstown Center

of the Arts in July 2022. Awards will be posted at this time.

The presentation of performance and awards will be de-

pendent on the current status of the Pandemic.

Contact

Inquiries, sponsorships, and press may email us at:

ypf@HackettstownArts.org

Criteria for Winners and Finalists

Entrants may be required to submit further information to

assist in the judges’ verification of eligibility.

Any entrant may be deemed ineligible as a Finalist or

Winner at the sole discretion of Festival.

Finalists may be required to sign and return within seven

(7) business days of receipt a notarized Affidavit of

Eligibility and a Release and Indemnification and proof of

valid passport and any other documents that the Festival

or any other partner may require before receiving prize.

Failure to respond to the initial notification within ten (10)

days or return of notification will result in disqualification.

We reserve the right to amend these rules at any time.

Legal

COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP

Stand Studios, Hackettstown Center for the Arts, The

Strand Performance Group, Paladin Knight Entertainment,

LLC or any of its affiliates, any other partner, employee or

agent associated with this contest, claims no ownership,

nor first right of option to any original script submitted to

this Contest. All ownership and rights to the scripts sub-

mitted to this Contest remains with the original rights

holders until and unless other agreements are made.

PUBLICITY

Except where prohibited by law, participation in the con-

test constitutes each entrant’s consent to Stand Studios,

Hackettstown Center for the Arts, The Strand Performance

Group, Paladin Knight Entertainment, LLC or any of its af-

filiates, agents and contest sponsor’s use of entrants’

names, likenesses, photographs, and/or personal informa-

tion for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide,

without further payment or consideration. All uses of a

entrants’ information are in accordance with our Privacy

Policy.

REFUND POLICY

All entries are non-refundable.

ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE: BY ENTERING THE

CONTEST YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ

AND AGREE TO THESE CONDITIONS.

You agree to release and hold harmless Stand Studios,

Hackettstown Center for the Arts, The Strand Performance

Group, Paladin Knight Entertainment, LLC or any of its af-

filiates, its subsidiary, parent and affiliated companies,

Prize contributors, judges, screenplay readers, Sponsors,

and any other organizations responsible for administer-

ing, advertising or promoting the Contest, and every one

of their respective members, directors, employees, agents

and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”)

past and present from and against any and all claims, ex-

penses, and liability, including but not limited to damages

and negligence to property and persons, including but not

limited to invasion of privacy, defamation, slander, libel, vi-

olation of right of publicity, copyright, infringement of

trademark or other intellectual property rights relating to

a participant’s Entry, participation in the Contest and/or

acceptance or use or misuse of Prize; provided however,

that such release will not apply to any commercial ex-

ploitation of the script by a Released Party in violation of

your rights under applicable copyright law; and (c) indem-

nify, defend and hold harmless Stand Studios,

Hackettstown Center for the Arts, The Strand Performance

Group, Paladin Knight Entertainment, LLC or any of its af-

filiates, sponsors, agents and employees from and against

any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including rea-

sonable attorneys fees) relating to an entrant’s participa-

tion in the Contest and/or entrant’s use or misuse of Prize.

ENTRY RESTRICTIONS

Employees of Stand Studios, Hackettstown Center for the

Arts, The Strand Performance Group, Paladin Knight

Entertainment, LLC and their immediate families are ineli-

gible to participate in this contest. Any such submission

will be immediately disqualified. ENTRY TO THIS CONTEST

IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED or restricted by any Federal,

State or Local law. Voided entries will be refunded.

Recipients’ eligibility will be verified before the grant is

awarded and the winner may be required to sign an affi-

davit of eligibility. By entering the contest, you authorize

us to use any trusted third-party online and cloud-based

services and databases for hosting, managing and/or

transmitting your submission file(s).