Forum

Forum > General > Topic

Royalties, sooner rather than later.

Posted by Taylor Gardner

05/10/2015

Comments (5)

General

This question/comment is for ideators like myself. If the sponsor chooses a pitch that is based on our winning idea, why must we wait until the end of the contest to receive a royalty check? I understand that the video based on the pitch may place anywhere between 1st and last, but that being said, we are at least guaranteed a base royalty payment. If the video places in last place, we then receive no additional payment. But, if the video using our idea places higher than last place, we then receive the rest of our payment. I would like to here what others have to say on this matter, especially Tongal staff. Cheers.

Comments (5)

Kyle Elliott

05/11/2015

Just because a pitch is selected doesn't mean they'll necessarily finish the video on time or as described in their pitch. If that happens, the sponsor could select a wildcard video as a replacement winner, or they might just select another production company to shoot a different idea. So, while someone winning a pitch based on your idea is great, we're still at the mercy of them actually fulfilling on the promises made within their pitch. I'm guessing that's the big reason why they wouldn't want to mail a check out before the finished product is submitted.

Taylor Gardner

05/11/2015

Those are decent points that you have made. But I find it very doubtful that a pitch winner will fail to enter the video in time considering that they are guaranteed a large check simply for submitting a video. With regards to not following their own pitch, I find that also doubtful. The sponsor has chosen their vision. What's the motivation for the pitch winner to alter their direction? I've been on Tongal for a while. I can't recall any instances where I didn't seen any of the pitch winner's videos? Have you?

Kyle Elliott

05/12/2015

HP changed the entire direction of their project after the Idea winners were paid and Pitch Winners were selected. They all had to re-write their scripts around the new concept, and Ideators were compensated 5% of EVERY prize. That's how I know they have the option to not select a pitch winner if they fail to submit on time or don't follow the direction described in the pitch. They paid residuals as if our winning idea won every prize, not just 1st place, because in some alternate universe it could have been possible that every pitch winner was invalid/didn't submit and every WildCard winner was based on 1 person's idea. Maybe they promised an animation piece and their animator couldn't make it happen on the deadline. Maybe they couldn't fly out to the country and work with the Story Phase winner because of scheduling issues. Maybe the weather didn't cooperate on filming day. While it's highly unlikely, it's still possible.

Ingrid Vining

05/11/2015

Hi Taylor! Residuals are calculated based on the amount of the Video prize -- so, we can't calculate how much you would win until after the final Videos are submitted and ranked. Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any other questions.

Taylor Gardner

05/12/2015

Hi Ingrid. Thanks for responding. I understand that the total amount of the residuals I may receive is based on the ranking of the video. But, the point I'm making is that it seems a bit silly to wait months for a residual payment when I know that I'm at least guaranteed some payment down the road. For example, if there are three pitch winners for a contest and four rankings/prizes for video winners, doesn't that mean that the pitch winners are guaranteed to place place between 1st & 4th? Maybe the wildcard will place 1st, who knows. I understand that. But, if pitch winners are guaranteed some ranking in the video phase, that means that the idea winners from which the pitch winners based their pitch on are guaranteed a residual. I understand the final ranking is yet to be determined until the end of the contest, but with all that I have stated in mind, couldn't all idea winners in this scenario receive the base/lowest residual upfront, once pitch winners are announced....or even when idea winners are announced. Then once the contest ends, Tongal could send a check to those idea winners who served as the inspiration to videos that placed between 1st and second to last.