I have, like many others, entered a number of writing competitions over the years and have never seen any success with it. I know all of the reasons that could be happening. And I'm not looking for comfort or encouragement or any of that. What I'd like is to read some of these screenplays that are winning or placing in order to see how they differ from my own work. If you don't mind me reading something that you've written, send me a private message. I'd greatly appreciate it. Please note, I'm not interested in reading anything that hasn't won or placed in a competition at this point. Thanks!
Screenwriting : Have you won or placed in a writing competition? by Kent Altman
Have you won or placed in a writing competition?
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Movies, TV... Whatever you've got.
Hi Kent. You should check out the STAGE 32 Success Stories section in the lounge- it's literally full of people who have gotten signed or gotten work through pitching and writing competitions and services. It'll be super motivating to you :)
Thanks. I will check there as well. But I'm keeping the thread open here because I'm really looking to read some other people's work. I've read a ton of produced screenplays and teleplays in my life. I just want to see if there's something different about something unproduced but that has won something.
I've had a few placements and one win. If any of these strike your fancy give me a holler. ;-D http://derekladd.com/screenplays.htm
My short has placed in several comps and took second place in the FAW awards (Fellowship of Australian Writers). You can find it on my profile page.
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The Nicholl Fellowships I believe have made some of their past winning scripts available on the Acadamy web site. You might try there.
One of my shorts won in the Nashville comp and a couple of others have placed top 3 elsewhere. Happy to share if you'd like to read.
Here's a question I have...Do you believe ideas get lifted from scripts entered in these competition?
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Shaunia, no. I don't think anybody sits out there and steals story ideas. We are, all of us, influenced by the things that have come before us. But I genuinely believe that anybody who is interested in your idea would just hire you to write a script or offer to purchase the one you've written. Nobody in this industry seems to ever have enough time to go to the bathroom. They certainly can't afford to pass up an idea that they like if it's sitting in front of them. Especially if it's from somebody they don't have to pay millions of dollars.
And thanks everyone for offering up scripts to read. I'd like to read all of them. I'll be able to send messages (if I need to do that to get to your scripts) once we're connected.
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Lorenzo, scripts that win contests aren't necessarily the same kind of scripts that would get produced (and vice versa). It's actually pretty educational to read winning scripts, then go and read scripts that made a WGA card happen.
True, that!
Yeah. I've read tons of produced scripts through the years. Like more than a hundred. My first one was Chinatown; the most recent was the pilot for Masters of Sex, which I actually just read a couple hours ago. I get those. But I've never read a script that has won a contest, and I'd like to see what's different. Because something is different. I know something is different. I just don't know what it is.
That's a really good philosophy. I go in fits and starts with reading. Totally depends on my schedule and what I'm trying to get accomplished otherwise. The pilot of Masters of Sex is really great. They changed pretty much everybody's names from that draft to the shooting draft. I don't know why. I imagine that there were legal concerns. But it's a really great read.