Deadline: March 1, 2021
Are you a writer that's willing to take an audience down the rabbit hole?
Seeking Submissions for Corruption Inc. – A Monologue Festival Competition & Short Film
CORRUPTION INC. is a powerful two-fold project encompassing an exciting and exclusive livestream monologue festival competition and culminating in a critically important theatrical short film featuring a series of chosen monologues which will be produced and showcased on various digital platforms and submitted to film festivals across the country.
PURPOSE:
This project was conceived based on the need to open the conversation to encompass all points of view regarding the current state of society, and the emotional & mental impact it has on us as a whole. We hope that this project will help us listen to each other, enlighten, and ultimately come together.
CONCEPT:
Living in America has a unique set of challenges. Living in America during the last 12 months has been even more of a challenge.
Although the Media and freedom of the press was formed and protected under the Bill of Rights in an effort to inform American citizens of activities and events with accuracy and impartiality, promote transparency in government and politics and expose corruption in business and government practices, some would suggest it has become a perversion of itself and almost omnipotent in its power to affect perception and general constructions of truth.
The Media – whether Magazines, Newspapers, Internet, Television, Radio, or Social Media Platforms – is one of the most influential factors shaping the opinions and viewpoints of what people believe life and culture to be.
Every day the media tells us who we are, who we should be, who we're not, what we should think, and how we should feel. As a result, many of us take on narratives and identify with them as if they are our own. Though, many of these narratives do not truly belong to us, the majority of people will go along with the media's conditioning out of fear, oblivion, exhaustion and/or a host of other reasons.
However, there are a growing mass of individuals who bravely go the other way, who ask questions, who challenge the status quo, who refuse to blindly accept the stories they've been told to live. The monologues requested are about these outliers.
We are looking for bold playwrights & writers who willconfidently write about today’s controversial topics.
Each monologue should have all of the elements of great storytelling, and be original.
The piece should be no longer than 8 minutes, and be written in the first person narrative.
We want to take the audience on an emotional journey with ebbs and flows from the character's first person perspective as they tackle challenging topics such as the one's listed below.
1. Do government restrictions/lockdowns impact the constitutional rights of the people? What about small business owners?
2. Can mask and vaccine mandates be a violation of someone's right to govern their own body? Do citizens lose those rights during a crisis? If so, is this ethical?
3. Has the media become an antagonist by only permitting a one-sided, limited narrative that purposely shapes the information we consume and serves to divide?
4. Has the Media purposely created exaggerations and false delusions about individuals or events to sway a particular audience or group of people? Should they be held accountable?
5. Has the Media contributed to the loss of culture, tradition and history in the country? Is that important? Do Americans truly care whether the media is reporting the truth or not? How do you know if the media is reporting the truth or not?
6. Has the media participated in the conditioning African-Americans and minorities throughout their lives to feel inferior? Has Media narrative formulated depictions that stigmatize various groups of people? Has that helped to divide us? Could the very people who are in opposition be more similar than they realize?
7. Could social media be distracting people from critical thinking, individual thought and reaching their highest potential? Does social media disconnect us from each other and reality?
Is freedom of speech being compromised? When social media platforms remove posts and censor individuals, does it infringe upon a person's constitutional right to free speech? Are we in danger as a society of losing those rights? Have we become unable to decide what's best for us as a society so that it is necessary for someone else to decide for us?
We know what the official media narrative says about these topics.
- How is your character's outlook different?
- Does your character question or disagree with the way these issues are presented by the media? Why?
- How does your character feel about the media?
- How has it impacted her/him?
- Does he/she feel that there is unbiased, neutral reporting taking place in the present day?
- Are regulations ethical? Why or not?
- What are the psychological, physical, emotional, and mental effects of consuming media regularly?
- How have the current events impacted your character’s relationships with family, friends, neighbors and/or fellow citizens?
- Why do we care?
- How is this relevant?
- How can this story empower and/or enlighten others?
**NOTE: We are looking to hear various perspectives from people and characters of different generations, cultures, nationalities, genders, ethnicities, citizens of socialist & capitalist countries, the LGBTQ community and everyone in between. We would like to evoke conversations that make people think and come to their own conclusion of what "the truth" is.
MONOLOGUE FESTIVAL COMPETITION GUIDELINES:
This project is a livestream monologue festival, and competition, ultimately resulting in a theatrical short film featuring a series of monologues which will be produced and featured on various digital platforms and submitted to film festivals.
CORRUPTION INC. Livestream Festival Competition will premiere at The Nubox located at John DeSotelle Studio, Spring 2021. Dates TBA
For immediate consideration, please email submissions@bluepearltheatrics.com.
Place "CORRUPTION INC. Submission" in the email subject. You will be notified if selected.
The monologue must be original and unpublished.
The deadline for submissions is March 1st, 2021.
Maximum number of submissions accepted is 100.
Selection Process:
10 monologues will be selected by a professional theater committee, and voted upon by audience majority at the festival performances.
The top 6 monologues will be featured in the short film, and receive a $100 cash prize.
CORRUPTION INC. Film release TBD. The project will be filmed on location in New York City, NY.