Terms and Conditions

The site and the studio

These terms apply to the Northline Storyworks website, the Community Spotlight nomination and voting program, the studio newsletter (email and the public archive), and informational text messages about those programs. By using the site you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the site or submit a nomination.

Community Spotlight

Community Spotlight lets the public nominate and vote on whose Northern Michigan story the studio should film next. Every new name requires studio approval before it appears on the public roster. A nominated person may opt out at any time and ask to be removed from the list. The studio may pause or close a round, may remove votes that do not hold up, and confirms the selected person is willing to be filmed before anything is announced. Vote counts are not published while a round is open. Submitting a nomination or vote does not create a contract to produce a film.

Phone numbers and votes

A mobile number is required to nominate or vote so each real person can support a nominee once. One phone number may vote once per nominee and is limited across a round. Providing a number you do not control, using automated tools, or attempting to cast votes for other people is not allowed and may cause those votes to be removed.

Text message terms

If you check the box on the nomination or voting form asking for Community Spotlight updates and submit the form, you consent to receive informational SMS messages from Northline Storyworks about that round. If you submit your mobile number on the homepage waitlist, you consent to a confirmation text and a notice when the next Community Spotlight round opens or is scheduled. Messages may include confirmation that we received your entry, notices that voting is paused or closing, and notice of the selected story.

Message frequency varies and is typically a few texts per round. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to cancel future texts. Reply HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of voting, nominating, or working with the studio. After you opt out we will not send further campaign texts to that number, other than a single confirmation of the opt-out.

Email newsletter

By submitting the mailing-list form on the homepage or at /newsletter with the consent box checked, you ask to receive the Northline Storyworks email newsletter. Typical frequency is about once a month. Letters may mention recent projects and include links when those films are public. Published letters also appear on the website archive, including issues that were not emailed.

You can unsubscribe at any time through the link in each letter or by contacting the studio. Consent to email is not a condition of reading published letters, using the site, nominating, voting, or working with the studio.

Your content

You grant Northline Storyworks permission to use the nomination details you submit (the nominee’s name, community, and your reason) to run the Spotlight program and, if a story is selected, to plan the interview. Do not submit private information about someone else that they would not expect to be shared with the studio.

Limitation

The site and Spotlight program are provided as-is. The studio is not liable for votes that are later removed, rounds that are paused, or a selected person who declines to be filmed. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York.

Contact

Questions about these terms: call (231) 597-7648 or use the contact form at /about-contact.