If you’re a fan of the NFL on Fox, you know that the biggest mystery isn’t what’s responsible for the gravity defying sculpted-ness, volume and general (maybe even extra terrestrial?) perfection of Jimmy’s hair. If pressed---Curt, Howie, Frank, Strahan, or maybe even Terry could get you to the bottom of it. On the other hand, the provenance of a most intriguing, pigskin spiking, enigma of a mascot remains unknown—yes, we are, in fact, talking about Cleatus the Fox Sports Robot.
Cleatus has been the subject of layers of discussion and debate all over the web—fan groups, fan fiction, anti-Cleatus movements, and lots of rampant speculation on his origins, personality, role, dance style…even his airline meal preference, abounds. Who is Cleatus?? Where did he come from? Why you ask, has the official story of Cleatus been made public?
Simple—because it hasn’t been written…yet. And that’s where Tongal comes in. We’ll even get your creative juices flowing---the story involves LEGO Hero Factory. If you remember, LEGO Hero Factory is a line of LEGO products that recently produced this pretty awesome set of Videos on Tongal.
Take a good long look at Cleatus, now look at Rocka, back at Cleatus, now at Black Phantom---they belong together right?? But how?
Well, LEGO and Fox Sports think that they belong together in their own Official episodic web series—created by Tongal!
Remember when the Jetsons traveled back to Bedrock in Elroy’s time machine as uninvited guests to the big Flintsone/Rubbel family camping trip? How about when Josie and the Pussycats linked up with the Scooby Doobies in the Laff-A-Lympics? Yep—that’s what we’re going for.
So, now it’s on us. How can we combine these two unique worlds and sets of Intellectual Property to create a web series that becomes the ULTIMATE COMBINATION OF FOX AND LEGO FAN FICTION!!
Create a 120 second Animated Pilot for an original web series that combines LEGO Hero Factory and Cleatus, the Fox Sports Robot. Pilots must tell an engaging story that sets up a great mini-season that can be built upon indefinitely. They must introduce the main characters, MUST USE MOST CURRENT VERSION (2012) OF BOTH HERO FACTORY & FOX CLEATUS conflicts, locations and story threads. Pilots must also include a 15-30 second promo/trailer sequence that hits upon the concept of the series in an interesting way. This will be used similarly to the intro of a TV series episode lead-in and may be used to promote the web series.
The Pilot that LEGO and Fox like the best will be ordered to a mini series of an additional 3 episodes (4 in total) 2 episodes (3 in total) which you’ll be required to delivered as laid out under the Project Details. If Sponsor orders your Pilot to series, they will retain the option to order an additional 4 3 episode, 120 second per episode “Season 2 by July 1, 2013” at the pre-negotiated rate of $30,000. Or, they may elect to order single episodes at the rate of $10,000 per episode.
--Tone and key elements: You’ve got more latitude than Iceland here—Maybe this is a sit-com? Maybe it’s a gritty cop show? A “scripted” reality show? Hidden camera? A procedural legal drama? A single camera narrative? How about something insanely mind bending that no one has even thought of yet. It could be a game show for crying out loud. And that’s the beauty…and fun, of this un-carved block---so get on it!
--Brand Guidelines:
• Cleatus: Cleatus is a football super hero and badass, so no goofy dances or gestures. Stay away from the old Cleatus antics, which are off brand now. Instead try to think of him as a more serious football hero. In terms of presentations, you should try to replicate the model as designed and not create a hyper simplified or hyper stylized version. Cleatus’ colors are Blue and Silver and his jersey number is 34.
• Fox Sports: The oval logo can be used in connection with Cleatus and Fox Sports.
• NFL: You cannot use the NFL shield or logo in any capacity.
--Target Audience: Content will need to be both relatable and aspirational to young boys (6-12) while creating interest and excitement with older boys & fathers.
--Exposure: Webisodes will be executed as part of a broad online video seeding campaign.
This project will be worth a total of $30,000 and will consist of three phases. Also, this tournament style process will progress differently from previous projects, so be sure to read the following information carefully.
PHASE 1: IDEA – Tell us your Idea for an animated web series that combines LEGO Hero Factory and Cleatus, the Fox Sports Robot, in 140 characters or less. Remember, an IDEA is not a detailed script; it is a moment of inspiration, or a distillation of what will happen in the Video. Consider that ideally both the LEGO Hero Factory environment AND the FOX Sports Cleatus environment will be represented in the story in some way. As always, Ideas should be clever and engaging. Winning Idea creators will each receive $200 and a 5% residual payment for every winning pilot video their Idea is used to generate.
PHASE 2: PITCH – Using text (500 characters or less), images (storyboards), video, and external links (to other supporting assets, i.e., your reel, etc.), give us your Pitch for how YOU would go about producing a web series based on one of the FIVE winning Concepts. The two most compelling Pitches will be selected and will receive a $1,000 production budget to produce the pilot episode of their four-part web series. Those winners (upon submitting their Winner's Affidavit and IP Assignment) will also be GUARANTEED to place in the subsequent Video Phase. So, if your Pitch is selected, you will earn a minimum of $2,000 with a 1-in-3 shot at the $4,000 first place Video prize. Remember, your Pitch can include any, and all, of the assets mentioned above, but you MUST include 1) a link to some of your previous video work on Tongal or elsewhere and 2) a video component detailing how you plan to achieve the goals set out in the Project Objective to be considered for this phase. BY SUBMITTING TO THIS PHASE OF THE PROJECT, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH THE SERIES DELIVERY TIMELINE LAID OUT BELOW. For an example of an effective pitch, check out Noah Kloor's winning Nespresso Pitch. To avoid information cascades, all Pitches will remain private until after the video winners of the subsequent phase are announced. Alternatively, even if you don’t win the Pitch Phase or choose not to create a pitch, you will still have the opportunity to create a “Wild Card” Video completely of your own creative devices in the subsequent Phase.
PHASE 3: PILOT – Winning Pitch creators from the previous phase will utilize their $1,000 advance to create a 120 second Pilot, based upon their winning materials and all other creators are invited to enter a “Wild Card” submission. Remember, the TWO Pitch winners are GUARANTEED cash prizes as is ONE of the wildcard submissions. The 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive $2,000 and $1,000, respectively and the 1st place winner will receive a $4,000 grand prize. All submission must also include a 15-30 second promo/trailer sequence that hits upon the concept of the series in an interesting way AND a Season Arc document synopsizing the plot and story points for the rest of season one (episodes 2 – 4) (episodes 2 & 3). SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE NOVEMBER 1. BY SUBMITTING TO THIS PHASE OF THE PROJECT, YOU ARE AGREEING TO COMPLY WITH THE SERIES DELIVERY TIMELINE LAID OUT BELOW.
PHASE 4: SERIES – The first place winner from the previous Pilot phase will have their show ordered to series and be paid $20,000 to deliver the remaining three two episodes in accordance with the schedule below—
• October 16 — November 12: Pilot Phase
• November 12 — November 19: Pilots evaluated by LEGO
• November 13: Notes for revisions on Pilot, Trailer, and Season Arc delivered
• November 19: Finalized Pilot Episode, Trailer and Story Arc Due
• November 19: Winning Pilot Selected
• November 19 — January 4: Series and Execution Phase
• December 10: Episode 2 due
• December 14: Notes for revisions on Episode 2 delivered
• December 21: Episode 3 and finalized version of Episode 2 due
• December 28: Notes for revisions on Episode 3 delivered
• January 4: Finalized version of Episode 3 due
--Music: Tongal has partnered with Audiosocket, a boutique music licensing and technology company representing more than 2,400 emerging bands, composers and record labels. This is not "stock" music. It is an inventory of more than 40,000 original, culturally relevant songs and music that have been compiled into a premium roster. Audiosocket's music will be available to Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into Tongal members' submissions to this Project. Tongal members are encouraged to browse the Audiosocket roster, available by clicking on the "Audiosocket" button on the right hand side of this page. If you are interested in using a track from the Audiosocket roster, as described above, just add the track(s) you want to use to your cart using the "+cart" button, then click the "checkout" button. Enter the Tongal project name and click the "purchase and download" button to acquire the track for free ($0.00). Lastly, click the "download track" button, which will initiate the music file download. You may only use THREE Audiosocket tracks maximum as part of your video submission.
1. If Sponsor orders your Pilot to series, they retain the option to order an additional 4 3 episode, 120 second per episode “Season 2 by July 1, 2013” at the pre-negotiated rate of $30,000. Or, they may elect to order single episodes at the rate of $10,000.
2. Videos MUST not exceed 120 seconds in length. Preferred format is HD 720p 16x9. Acceptable file formats are .mov, .avi, .mp4, .wmv. Acceptable codecs are H.264 (MP4), MPEG-4, H.263, MPGV, WMV, DivX.
3. Unless provided otherwise, all work must be your own original creation and free of any copyrighted material. You shall provide detailed information of your work regarding the source, the creator and background information as requested by Tongal.
4. In the event you utilize any third party materials, such as music provided by a third-party music provider, you must obtain full written license and consent from the owner of such third party materials and provide such license and consent forms to Tongal.
5. Submissions cannot contain any profanity, offensive language, nudity or otherwise objectionable material, the determination of which is solely at the discretion of LEGO.
6. Submissions must not portray LEGO in a negative way, the determination of which will solely reside with LEGO.
7. Videos must be in the English language or subtitled.
8. Limit 5 submission(s) per member, per phase.
9. Minimum 50 Pitches, or the contest will repost for 14 days.
10. Sponsor will be entitled to one reasonable round of revisions on the finished videos without providing additional compensation. Remember it's easier to re-edit than re-shoot so try to get as much coverage as possible.
11. In addition to the standard Tongal W-9, Winner Affidavit, and IP Assignment, winning video creators MUST also provide Talent, Location, and Music Releases for all assets appearing in the video as well as the project files, editing sequence and an uncompressed quicktime .mov file in either Animation or ProRes 422 codecs at either 1920x1080 or 1280x720 to claim their prize.
12. BY SUBMITTING A VIDEO ENTRY, YOUR SUBMISSION IMMEDIATELY BECOMES SOLELY THE PROPERTY OF TONGAL – SEE OFFICIAL RULES FOR MORE DETAILS ABOUT OWNERSHIP OF ENTRIES. YOU MAY NOT PUBLICLY SHARE OR PUBLISH YOUR SUBMISSION IN ANY MANNER AND YOU MAY NOT POST OR UPLOAD YOUR SUBMISSION TO ANY WEB SITE OR VIDEO HOSTING SITE (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE OR VIMEO), WITHOUT THE PRIOR EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF TONGAL. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF YOUR ENTRY IN THE PROJECT.
13. See OFFICIAL RULES for additional contest information, terms and conditions. If there is any conflict or inconsistency between these requirements and the Official Rules, the terms and conditions of these requirements shall prevail.