Here’s the Terrifying Winner of the ‘Annabelle: Creation’ Short Film Contest
Given that David F. Sandberg launched his career on the basis of a viral YouTube short film, it only makes sense that Warner Bros. would look to leverage that narrative for the release of Annabelle: Creation, the fourth film in The Conjuring cinematic universe. Back in July, Warner Bros. announced the contest on its site, encouraging fans to create their own new additions to The Conjuring universe. The contest would feature winners in multiple countries, meaning multiple chances to win, and could (in theory) help them build out their stable of monsters.
Now, a little more than a month later, Warner Bros. has selected one of their winners. The American winning short is titled The Nurse and is directed by Julian Terry. Terry, who recently joined Twitter, has been pretty vocal about his excitement, noting that at least “3 managers” have reached out to him since he won the contest. Of course, there’s also a not-so-good coda to the whole story. As noted by /Film, this contest has drawn a fair amount of criticism for some of the language in the terms and conditions. If you read closely through the rules, you’ll notice that Warner Bros. seems to have slipped in language that suggests it can buy the exclusive film rights to the short film for a whopping $50,
Each entrant agrees that, in addition to the license granted above, sponsor (or any of sponsor’s parents, affiliates, or subsidiaries) may, upon written notice to entrant at any time within approximately three (3) months of the verification of the winner in this contest, acquire from entrant an exclusive and irrevocable option to purchase all right, title and interest in and to his or her entrant content (“option) in exchange for fifty U.S. dollars ($50 US).
As /Film notes, Sandberg has said he's asked for clarification on the rules and doesn't think they're as bad as they initially appear, so who knows? At any rate, congratulations, Julian Terry! You’ve either just launched your career as a Hollywood director or handed over your best work to a major Hollywood studio for the price of four tickets to see Annabelle: Creation. Truly, fine print is the most terrifying monster of them all.