February 15, 2025
Rules for WGAW Paul Selvin Award
The WGAW Board of Directors established the Paul Selvin Award to be given “to that member whose script best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere and to whose defense Paul Selvin committed his professional life.”
ELIGIBILITY RULES FOR TELEVISION/STREAMING
Scripts in the TV & streaming motion pictures, episodic, animation, children’s, short form streaming, quiz and audience participation, daytime drama, and on-air promotion categories must have been written under a WGA collective bargaining agreement and first broadcast or exhibited between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Scripts in the comedy/variety sketch series, comedy/variety talk series, and comedy/variety specials categories must have been written under a WGA collective bargaining agreement and first broadcast or exhibited between January 1, 2024 and October 31, 2024. Scripts in the news, documentary, radio/audio and digital news categories must have been written under a WGA collective bargaining agreement and first broadcast or exhibited between November 1, 2023 and October 31, 2024.
Programs written under the Writers Guild of Canada agreement pursuant to Working Rule #8 waivers or Sideletter Agreements are not eligible. Financial core and fee payer non-members are not eligible to be nominated for or receive WGA Awards.
ELIGIBILITY RULES FOR THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Screenplays must have been written under the WGA collective bargaining agreement or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, Writers Guild of Ireland, Writers’ Guild of South Africa, New Zealand Writers Guild, ALMA Sindicato des Guionistas, Screenwriters Association (India), Screenwriters Guild of Korea (SGK), La Guilde Francaise des Scénaristes (France), Scriptwriters Guild of Israel, the Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (Québec) or Verband Deutscher Drehbuchautoren (VDD/Germany) (collectively, “affiliate guilds”). Please note that an affiliate guild may impose additional requirements for a writer to be considered covered by its collective bargaining agreement.
For screenplays written under a WGA collective bargaining agreement, a Notice of Tentative Writing Credits must be on file with the WGA and the credit determination must be final. Writers of source material are not eligible for awards consideration. Financial core and fee payer non-members are not eligible to be nominated for or receive WGA Awards.
Screenplays must have been exhibited theatrically in LA for at least one week during the period of January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024. Films that have simultaneous theatrical and streaming exhibitions are eligible for awards consideration.
SUBMISSION RULES
ALL SCRIPTS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A COMPLETED ENTRY FORM WHICH INCLUDES THE ONE-PARAGRAPH STATEMENT ON HOW THE SCRIPT EMBODIES THE PRINCIPLES OF THE PAUL SELVIN AWARD.
Writer representatives (e.g., agents, managers and publicists) may submit scripts on behalf of a writer. Representatives' submissions must include the completed entry form and the one-paragraph statement on how the script embodies the principles of the Paul Selvin Award.
Submissions for films written under the jurisdiction of an affiliate guild must include a letter from the affiliate guild verifying awards eligibility.
A receipt will automatically be sent to the email address of the entrant upon successful completion of the submission.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
The submission deadline is 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, November 22, 2024. No late submissions will be accepted.
THE JUDGING PROCEDURE
Previous winners of the Paul Selvin Award comprise the Paul Selvin Award Committee. Members of the Committee may also nominate scripts for the award. The Committee may recommend one winner from among the television and theatrical motion picture scripts submitted. The Board of Directors will approve or reject the recommendation. If no script is recommended, or if the Board rejects the Committee’s recommendation, no award will be given.