can anyone offer advice on where to look for legit screen writing contests? I am hoping to submit a few of my scripts in 2016. Looking for advice on which contests I should focus on. I have heard of people entering contests that were not legit and being ripped off.
Screenwriting : Screen writing contests by Kristina Garant
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Nicholl, Austin, Page, Final Draft, TrackingB, Slamdance... who am I leaving out? PS: See Max's answer in a different thread on Contests.
Bluecat?
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Also, I enjoy NYCMidnight's short screenwriting competitions. They give you a set of parameters and then a short amount of time to crank our a short screenplay conforming to them. Really teaches you to think on your feet as a writer and a few times I've ended up with material I'm really proud of!
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Nashville is very highly regarded, as well as ScriptPipeline's various competitions. It is very easy to verify a festival's legitamacy, what I like to do is type the name of the festival into google, if they have links apart from their own website, facebook/twitter page it is good, also a well put together website says a lot, the years it has been running also says a lot, a lot of rip offs usually have started in the last couple of years. Also if you want to know if its a scam, type in the festival name and then the word scam after it and search because if someone has had a bad experience after paying to submit and allegedly "winning" they will talk about it and warn other filmmakers. I wish you well and hope your submissions are scam free
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Austin, Nicholl, Stage 32.
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In that other thread on contests, Max gets in to the reason why you would want to enter one contest over another - exposure to real people in the business who can help you with your career and cash so that you can keep writing and making connections with real people in the business. There are contests that are "legit" but don't offer much to the winners. Something like TrackingB manages to get you read by a ton of managers (and those who win or place usually end up repped), and it's not unusual for a semifinalist in the Nicholl to get a round of meetings with producers. Other contests may be legit, but the winner gets a trophy or plaque or certificate and that's about it. Nice to know you are on the right track, but you don't end up with a career boost. I'm sure Max will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe she won both Nicholl and Austin the same year with 2 different screenplays. One of those screenplays was bought and filmed. So she knows a lot more about contests than I do.
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I have placed in a few. But I have heard it said that the only one really worth anything in the eyes of the industry is "Nicholl". That being said, getting hold of readers notes is a good way of obtaining feedback.
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I us FilmFreeway. https://filmfreeway.com/festivals They have already vetted the film festivals for you. Yes the Nichols Award is the biggie. But you have to start somewhere. For instance, the only festivals I submit to are the ones who give back coverage reports as part of their judging process. Start small and build your confidence a step at a time. There are no short cuts for screen writers. Just do it.
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In almost somewhat of an order... Nicholl, Austin, PAGE, Final Draft Big Break, Scriptapalooza, TrackingB, The Tracking Board Launchpad, Sundance & Slamdance, Script Pipeline, Screencraft, Nashville Film Festival, Stage 32, Fresh Voices, Bluecat. ....there are a couple more decent ones and a few Genre-specific ones like Other Worlds Austin, but those are the major ones.
thank you everyone this is very helpful and appreciated :)
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My 2 cents: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Screenwriting-Contests-that...