Screenwriting : Your contest motivation by Paul Zeidman

Paul:

I'm not really seeking any prizes. I'm looking to have fun. A lot of the smaller indie film festivals and contests are good ways to get some feedback and validation on your work and have a good time. Beyond that, my expectations are not that great.

i don't f@@k with contests.

Personally speaking, I really don't enter contests; I haven't in years now. I rather view them as subjective lotteries. Lol! ;) Me, I prefer to use funds more strategically having a tight budget. Plus the whole circular contest thing seems a little too self-congratulatory. But many use them to gauge their writing. If I ever do consider entering, there are only a handful that I would. Anyway, to each their own! And good luck to those who enter!

Have entered very few contests. My main goal is validation that my stuff isn't complete garbage. I enjoy writing and small wins help keep the spark alive. Help keep the writing fun. The prizes of industry contacts actually give me anxiety--I always have my fingers crossed for finalist, never grand prize.

I'm with Chris Todd, it's really about validation. So often the brain will try and talk you out of writing so to have that extra push every now a then helps to keep one pushing forward.

I say we start our own Forum Screenwriting Contest. We'll give away a certificate and free Inktip subscription. We assign judges, take donations to cover only the expenses and don't charge a fee for entrants. The main goal is to encourage writers who don't normally enter contests to enter. Oh, and the readers volunteer their time.

Years back, I entered a number of contests. I won a few and was always in the final mix somewhere. Then I started to notice something - when I submitted a proven winning script to some of the more recent pop-up festivals - those winning scripts didn't even make the cut. Huh? This inconsistency made no sense to me until I figured out that they were using wannabes and interns as readers & judges. Essentially, those reading submissions don't know their nose from a hole.

I'll enter one or two this year, but I really don't expect much. The money I save will go towards some nice Islay single malt Scotch.

I feel the same way about a lot of script gurus Doug... they promise the world to milk as much $$$ out of you for all the rewrites they hope you come back to them with (for yet another fee). Some single malt does sound good about now in Michigan's snow storm that surrounds me now.

They say everything comes in three's. I entered a few. Three contests. That was enough spending. Contests are the pits. Laura I agree with you. It's only a money making scam.

I met an actress on Facebook (when I had Facebook) so she asked me to send her one of my screenplays. I did. She liked it, even had a table read with some of the actors she was performing on set with, even the director. Now this was her answer. This is a winner, but we can't do it because the protagonist is hurting the bear with an axe trying to get at the people in a trapper's shack! A lame excuse. The animal activists wouldn't go for it, the director said. We can't do it. The contests are probably the same. So I won't enter any contests. I could have taken the axe thing out and replaced it with something else. But they did read it though because the bear thing was near the end of the play.

So, Paul do your own thing on contests. I surely won't give my money away and that's what I think they do - cash the money and divvy it up amongst themselves. That's the way I see it. Live and learn.

Now, if this is the reaction I get from the right people in the entertainment business, what is it like when you send it to a contest that you don't know who the readers are?

Competitions might be crap and a con, but when you start they are a good way to learn how to handle rejection. Sure, it’s a business on itself, but I don’t find it fair to call them all a scam. There are people that dedicate a lot of time and energy in helping new writers, like Gordy Hoffman, who runs Bluecat...I suggest you see his Facebook page, he is very active all year, not just when his competition is on...

I've entered a lot of contests in my writing lifetime. At first I was entering to verify, per Laura Scheiner, that my ideas weren't "complete shite". Now, like Chris Todd, I enter to validate that my writing isn't "complete garbage". Contest feedback has to be taken with a grain of salt as some is good and some completely misses the mark. You have to assess it and determine how much of it really applies for your rewrites.

I always enter early to save money because I know that the contests are partly a scam, so I give them as little as possible. But I also know that a win, or even a place, can be a possible stepping stone to a writing career. And with several scripts at least making the first cut, I feel I'm on the right track.

My immediate goal is to get a win or place in one of the top five contests to give my scripts verifiable worth, in order to gain access to an agent or manager. I don't have any Hollywood contacts so I feel that this would be a good way to do it. My ultimate goal to have at least three feature films made from my scripts by one of the major studios. Aim high or you might as well not be doing this. Am I right?

Claude, what if you changed the bear scene?:)

Talking points/conversation starters/some legitimacy to help rise above the crowd. But really, it's all about trying to get noticed and making that critical connection.

Victor ... the bear scene is okay in my books. I've seen a lot worse on films before.

Claude. That was just and actress and directors opinion. I seriously doubt they were going to produce it anyway because they aren't producers.

Maybe not Dan.

For me, it depends on the contest and the script. If it's something I'm trying to get produced myself, it's nice to be able to say "award winning screenplay" or "award winning screenwriter" when pitching to investors/sponsors. If it's something I want to sell, then anything that will get me closer to that goal.