THE VAULT INVITATIONAL · Judges + Athlete Selection

Who sits on the panel. Who competes. How they’re chosen. What they get paid. Read 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF first.

Design principle

The judges legitimize the property. The athletes carry the property. Get both right and everything else, sponsors, broadcast rights, ticket demand, follows. Get either wrong and no amount of production spend recovers it.

VAULT INVITATIONAL is an invitational, not an open. That is a deliberate choice. Open entry means the format has to run gatekeeping heats and the audience never sees only elite. Invitational means every athlete on the floor is worth watching, every judge on the panel is worth listening to, and every year the invited class is a curated statement about the state of the art in pole and movement.

The judging panel

Five judges per year. Rotating panel. No judge sits more than three consecutive years.

Five is the right number because it produces decisive scoring (odd number, no ties), allows discipline coverage (one voice per major sub-discipline), and keeps travel + comp economics tractable.

Judge sources

Five seats. Each seat has a category function even though scoring is unified across all judges.

Seat 1 · Circus + apparatus master

The Cirque du Soleil / Franco Dragone-lineage seat. Reference names:

• Cirque du Soleil creative directors. Chantal Tremblay (Cirque du Soleil creative development), Michel Laprise (Cirque director), Jamie King (former Cirque + Vegas resident director).
• Contemporary circus + aerial masters. Erin Ball (Kingston Circus Arts, adaptive aerial pioneer). Marla Blakey (aerial + pole veteran). Andrey Moraru (hand balance world record holder + circus artistic director).
• Franco Dragone Entertainment Group directors (House of Dancing Water veterans if the property scales to Asia by Y8).

Function: apparatus mastery + circus lineage. Judges technical execution and safety alongside artistry.

Seat 2 · Vegas residency choreographer

The Vegas headline seat. Reference names:

• Choreographers currently or recently producing Vegas residencies. Kelly Konno (Britney Spears Piece of Me residency). Nick Florez + RJ Durell (P!nk Beautiful Trauma tour + Vegas). Charm La’Donna (Rosalia, Kendrick Lamar tour choreo, Vegas partnership work). Tanisha Scott (Rihanna Diamonds tour, Vegas experience).
• Choreographers with headline Vegas resident credit. Napoleon + Tabitha D’umo (World of Dance, Vegas residency work). Rich + Tone Talauega (Michael Jackson estate, Vegas).

Function: production choreography + audience-facing entertainment sensibility. Judges the athlete’s ability to deliver a set to a paying room, not just a scoring rubric.

Seat 3 · Music-industry tour choreographer (Trill’s connections)

The Trill Walker seat. Reference names TWG can credibly warm-open through existing relationships:

• Sean Bankhead (Normani, Lil Nas X, Ciara, Megan Thee Stallion).
• Fatima Robinson (Beyoncé, Aaliyah legacy, Timothée Chalamet Wonka).
• Parris Goebel (Rihanna Savage x Fenty, Justin Bieber, Blackpink).
• JaQuel Knight (Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Doja Cat).
• Aliya Janell (Latto, GloRilla, and BET Awards choreography).
• Kiira Harper (Doja Cat tour, Ariana Grande).

Function: the seat that makes the show culturally current. These are the names IG audiences follow. These are the choreographers who make athletes viral. This is the seat TWG’s music-industry equity buys.

Seat 4 · Global federation representative

The credibility seat. Rotating representative from one of the three global bodies each year:

• IPSF (International Pole Sports Federation) representative.
• POSA (Pole Sports & Arts World Federation) representative.
• FISAF (Federation of International Sports Aerobics and Fitness) aerial + pole rep.

Function: sport-side legitimacy + international pole community trust. Ensures the athlete pool trusts the panel and that VAULT INVITATIONAL is not perceived as pure entertainment industry with no technical rigor. Also builds diplomatic bridges to federation-hosted athlete pipelines.

Seat 5 · Creative wildcard

The visual-artist / filmmaker / fashion designer seat. Chosen each year for cultural relevance and for what the wildcard signals about the direction of movement as art.

Reference archetypes:

• Film + music-video directors who work on movement (Melina Matsoukas, Director X, Andre Muir).
• Fashion designers with movement/performance heritage (Telfar Clemens, LaQuan Smith, Christopher John Rogers).
• Visual artists working in performance (Wangechi Mutu, Sondra Perry, Nick Cave the performance artist).
• Recording artists whose work centers on movement (Solange, FKA twigs, Doechii).

Function: cultural signal + press hook. The wildcard is the “who’s judging this year” reveal that drives PR three months before event.

Judge compensation

Fee. $25,000 per judge per year. Includes preparation, travel week, event week, and post-event content commitments.

Travel + hospitality. First-class or business-class travel from home base. Five nights of five-star hotel accommodation (host city equivalent of Four Seasons, Aman, Rosewood, or Ritz-Carlton). Ground transportation, per diem, VIP show access.

Content commitment. Two pieces of pre-event content (interview + judging philosophy piece) + on-camera judging + one post-event content piece (winner reaction + reflections). Content used in VAULT marketing + broadcast + sponsor deliverables.

Y1 judge budget. 5 x $25K = $125K fees + $50K travel/lodging = $175K. Included in broader production budget in 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF and 05_ECONOMICS.

Y2 escalator. Judge fees rise to $35K (Y2), $50K (Y3), $75K (Y5+). Y5 total judge budget $500K.

Judge selection process

Head of Programming (VAULT IP LLC) chairs. Trill (TWG) + one previous-year judge (returning for continuity) sit on the selection panel. Three votes.

Selection cycle Y minus 15 to Y minus 12 months.

• Y minus 15 months: Selection panel meets, produces a long list of 20 to 25 candidates spread across the five seats.
• Y minus 14 months: Informal outreach to top-three candidates per seat via warm-intro (Trill’s calls for Seats 3 and 5; VAULT IP LLC + federation contacts for Seats 1, 2, 4).
• Y minus 13 months: Formal invitations sent to first-choice candidates.
• Y minus 12 months: Final panel confirmed + announced internally. Publicly announced Y minus 3 months per marketing arc in 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF.

Backups. Every seat has a first alternate confirmed at Y minus 10 months in case of drop-out. Alternate receives a flat $2,500 retainer for holding availability whether they end up judging or not.

The athlete pool

Global pool: top 40 to 60 athletes in movement + pole competition circuit. Sourced from:

• World Pole Sports Championships (IPSF-run) top finishers current + past 3 cycles.
• Pole Theatre World (Sydney) top finishers.
• International Pole Championship (Beijing / Hong Kong / Miami series) top finishers.
• PSO (Pole Sport Organization) elite division U.S. top finishers.
• Vegas residency + Cirque veterans who transitioned from Cirque or Vegas into competition circuit.
• Music-industry dancer + choreographer talent (recommended by Seat 3 judges, dance world referrals via TWG network).
• Aerial + apparatus specialists from Cirque, Franco Dragone, House of Dancing Water alumni.
• International movement + contemporary dance athletes recommended by federations.
• Social-media-native movement artists with independently built audiences of 500K+ (curated for legitimacy, not just follower count).

Athlete selection process

Selection panel: VAULT Head of Programming (chair) + 2 rotating judges (typically Seat 1 apparatus judge + Seat 3 music-industry choreographer) + Trill.

Selection panel meets Y minus 8 months. Head of Programming presents pre-vetted long-list of 30 to 40 athletes. Panel scores and votes to a final 12 invitees + 2 alternates.

Selection criteria (weighted).

Discipline mix target Y1. - 4 pole sport specialists - 3 pole art specialists - 3 movement / floor choreography specialists - 2 aerial specialists (silks, hoop, static trapeze)

Geographic mix target Y1. - 6 to 8 U.S.-based (across regions) - 2 to 3 European - 1 to 2 Asian - 1 Latin American

Y2+ international rebalancing. As the property travels (NYC Y2, Miami Y3, London Y6, Dubai Y7), athlete mix rebalances to host-market culture without abandoning global representation. NYC Y2 leans slightly U.S. + Puerto Rico + Dominican Republic. Miami leans Latin. London leans European. Dubai leans MENA + South Asia.

Athlete compensation

Base appearance fee. $10,000 per invited athlete regardless of finish. Non-negotiable equal fee. This is a statement: showing up at VAULT INVITATIONAL is compensated work, not a gig you pay to enter.

Travel + lodging. Full coverage. Round-trip business class travel from athlete’s home country. Five nights hotel at host-city 4-star equivalent (Marriott / Kimpton / W tier; not judge tier). Ground transportation, per diem $150/day, meal coverage.

Purse eligibility. All 12 athletes eligible for the $250K purse per 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF structure. Purse paid within 30 days of event via wire transfer to athlete or athlete’s agent/manager per athlete preference. International athletes receive tax withholding gross-up covered by VAULT IP LLC to make purse tax-neutral to athlete.

Content commitments. Each invited athlete signs a standard athlete appearance agreement that includes:

• Pre-event interview + content shoot (1 day, Y minus 60 days).
• Event-week content availability (rehearsals, athlete profile B-roll, backstage vertical content).
• Post-event social + PR week (1 day of press availability).
• Two sponsor content commitments (each sponsor may request 1 hour of athlete time for brand content; capped at 2 total commitments per athlete per year).
• Highlight + broadcast usage rights for VAULT-owned content in perpetuity.

Athletes retain rights to their own competition footage for personal social use with VAULT co-brand tag.

Y1 athlete budget. 12 x $10K appearance fee = $120K + $60K travel/lodging + $10K per diem + content shoot production = ~$200K. Aligns with 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF’s $180K estimate with minor uplift.

Y2 escalator. Athlete appearance fee grows to $15K (Y2), $20K (Y3), $30K (Y5+). Y5 athlete budget approaches $500K + travel.

Athlete agent + manager relationships

Direct-to-athlete Y1. Most invited athletes Y1 will be direct contracts. A subset already have agents (Wasserman, CAA, WME representation on the Vegas / music-industry side of the pool; boutique dance agencies on the circuit side).

Y3+ agency relationships. As property grows, athletes will bring agent representation. VAULT IP LLC signals early to agencies that:

• Standard 10% commission on athlete gross respected.
• Multi-year athlete deals possible (2 to 3 year commitments with escalators) as flagship athletes emerge.
• No agency exclusivity on the property; multiple agencies represent multiple athletes without conflict.

Trill’s music-industry choreographer relationships short-circuit the agency intermediation for Seat 3 judges + music-adjacent athletes. TWG can book direct.

Alternates + injury protocol

Two alternates confirmed at Y minus 4 months. Alternates receive:

• Flat $2,500 hold retainer.
• Full appearance fee ($10K) + travel/lodging if activated.
• Priority invitation to next year’s competition regardless of activation.

Activation triggers. Alternate activated for: pre-event injury or withdrawal (T minus 30 days or earlier), visa denial, family emergency, sponsor conflict (rare but possible).

Day-of injury. During the event, if an athlete is injured mid-competition and cannot continue, their scores to that point stand and they are not replaced mid-event. Alternates fill only pre-event slots. Insurance policy per 00_COMPETITION_BRIEF risk register.

Judge tablet + scoring workflow

Scoring app. Custom-built iPad app (VAULT Scoring, produced by TWG tech partner) that feeds live into ChyronHego PRIME broadcast graphics per 01_BROADCAST_PRODUCTION.

Judging rubric. Combined score of 100 per athlete run:

• Technical execution: 30 points
• Difficulty: 20 points
• Artistry + choreography: 25 points
• Musicality + performance: 15 points
• Overall impression: 10 points

Anti-manipulation. Judges’ individual scores stored + published post-event for transparency. Judge with any pre-existing coaching, romantic, or business relationship to an athlete recuses on that athlete’s run (backup judge scores from previously-recorded practice run to fill slot).

Head Judge role. Y1 Head Judge is Seat 1 (apparatus master) by default. Head Judge does not vote differently but has procedural authority on rule interpretation + timekeeping challenges.

Cultural + ethical guardrails

No exploitation framing. VAULT does not lean on pole’s exotic-dance history as marketing hook. The property is elite movement sport + performance art, full stop. Sponsor materials, broadcast tone, and press positioning reinforce this.

Gender balance. Athletes chosen for excellence without gender quota, but panel and selection process aware of maintaining broadly representative gender participation. Historically pole competition circuit is female-majority; VAULT does not artificially reweight but does actively recruit male + non-binary athletes.

Body diversity. Athlete pool intentionally represents multiple body types + body compositions. Movement excellence is not one body type.

Athlete voice. Head of Programming holds twice-yearly athlete-alumni advisory calls to gather feedback on scoring, production, comp, and format from athletes who have competed. Y2+ this becomes a formal Athletes’ Council.

Post-event athlete continuity

Alumni network. All athletes who compete become VAULT Alumni permanently. Alumni benefits:

• Priority renewal invitation (returning champions guaranteed slot next year for 3-year window).
• Access to VAULT Digital Membership at no cost + Alumni-only content.
• First look on Alumni-exclusive brand deals + sponsor collab opportunities.
• Standing invitation to closing ceremony of each year’s event.
• Coaching + master-class hosting opportunities at VAULT franchise locations Y3+.

Champion legacy. Y1 winner + first-place finishes each year get a permanent named credit on the VAULT INVITATIONAL history wall + broadcast reel. Legacy grows in cultural weight with each year of the tour.

Sign-off

Judge + athlete selection processes approved by VAULT IP LLC principals. Head of Programming role reports to Taj Hines. Trill Walker’s votes on selection panel + Seat 3 judge outreach are TWG’s contractual contribution per 02_TWG_PRODUCTION_ROLE.

The panel and the pool are the product. Everything else is production.