Screenwriting : What flippin’ scores do you need to be a quarter finalist!! by Lee Griffin

Not too familiar with this particular competition… but a lot of screenwriting competitions charge you to submit your script.. and then charge you for feedback/scores. And the scores/feedback are independent from your success in the contest.

I paid for the competition of course… but the scorecard just arrived because it positively effected my coverfly ranking…. It’s just funny that according to the scores I pretty much nailed everything, but then it didn’t even place… I guess either everyone gets a great score… or it’s just really tough to get into the quarters

Or it was an objectively good script that they just didn’t like.

Hmmm, hadn’t though about it that way… I like that version best :)

Congrats on getting such great scores Lee Griffin! Every contest has different parameters for making the quarterfinals and it changes every time sometimes just due to the number of entries. Have you entered any of Stage 32's contests? We also have Open Writing Assignments that are free to Writers' Room members and there are new ones listed all the time! https://www.stage32.com/contests

From those scores it looks like you will get great success in other competitions and that it may be ready for pitching to execs!

I had similar where they said I nailed structure, story, dialogue, characters, but that the script wasn't really for them, not their thing. So it probably means you're in good shape, it just didn't resonate with that particular reader. Does bite a little tho'.

Congrats on the great scores, Lee Griffin! From the scores, it sounds like you have a great script. You just have to find the right home for it.

Thanks for all the positive comments guys…. It’s actually a 30 page short so, from what I have discovered since writing it, no one really wants to go ahead and make those… I guess because it’s too long and expensive for a “festival”short and too short to be anything else. It’s probably like that person said on here about using it more as a writing sample. Have any of you guys got much to say about what to do with a short like that?

Hey Lee. The sweet spot for a short is 22 pages max and under - preferably 18 and under. Can you get it there? If the short script is serving as a proof of concept, can you make it more centralized and shorten it?

There are some producers and production companies who accept 30-page scripts, Lee Griffin. If nothing else, as someone on here said, you can use it as a writing sample. I keep a bunch of short scripts as samples that I use when applying for writing jobs.

RB, what do you do with a proof of concept? Can you pitch it without a feature behind it?

I’d be interested in knowing more about proof of concept too!! My script is pretty tight… I’ve stripped it of all the fat… I’ve started playing with expanding the story… not sure if it looks like a feature or a series yet though.

Maurice Vaughan how do you go about getting it to a production company etc?

Lee Griffin You can pitch to production companies, execs, etc. with Pitch Sessions (https://www.stage32.com/scriptservices/pitch-sessions).

You can also build relationships on here, which can lead to opportunities to pitch your short script (or your other scripts) to production companies, producers, managers, etc. Being active/building relationships is how I've had success on Stage 32 (https://www.stage32.com/blog/writer-and-pitch-deck-creator-hired-through...).

Cool! Thanks Maurice

No problem, Lee Griffin. Looking forward to talking with you more. Feel free to write on my wall or send me a message anytime.

Lee: I never pay for festival or contest feedback but occasionally get it for free. I've had readers gush over scripts that didn't place, and I just move on. I've placed and won at more than 240 festivals and contests and learned that you win and lose some. Great score on yours by the way.

Thanks Phil

Lee - Looks like you need a little more "Voice". Just up your "Voice" quotient and you should be in. I'm sure you're well aware of how to do that.

Thanks Richard… Any tips on developing voice is very welcome :)

Lee - I was kidding because "Voice" is such an ill-defined term. If you look it up, it's defined through the use of more vague terms such as "tone", "attitude", and "style". So really I have no idea what it means. Maybe Uncle Phil could enlighten us as he seems to have some grasp of it.

And it’s spoken about with such earnestness! As if writing isn’t tricky enough… it’s built on foundations of almost pure subjectivity :D

I might put that out as a separate question and see what happens…

Lee, I answered your other question about voice. Based on my answer there. I would say the 8.5 says that you are the same as 15% of the other contestants, working on the assumption that a 10 means unique.

This is why I don’t enter competitions.

Craig - We’ll this is the thing isn’t it… we all write in our own voice… unless we’re trying copying a style , which Is probably a bad idea anyway… and so (now based on the other thread) It seems that what someone thinks is a 10/10 voice or an 8/10 voice is completely subjective and undefinable. So it probably just depends on who you get on the day. But on the flip side… if you write in an bold and exaggerated way, as opposed to subtle and understated, you might be more likely to get your voice noticed on the first read through… ie, in competitions.

We’ll that’s my conclusion anyway.

Hi Lee, I got scores from Raindance and also hasn't got placed. Only voice and story are 9.5/10, others are 10/10. But, you know, later I got an email from them with scores and the average score was 7/10. So Coverfly scores are different. I don't know why.

Congratulations on the high scores, Slava!

Slava, that’s a mighty score card… just goes to show that competitions seem to have a preconceived idea of the types of stories they are after… I noticed on Coverfly that Raindance get more drama submissions than anything else and so less dramas seem to place in proportion to other genres. Looks like if you have a good Western then you might stand more chance of placing :-D. I might experiment and change the setting of my script to the Wild West or Space and see what happens :-D

Lee Griffin hence I don’t do competitions. I think they can (subconsciously) teach people to write to please competition readers. Which is completely different to a producer. People will say “studios use readers”. But in reality how many of use are working outside the low budget world? How many of us have work being read by a studio (perhaps some).

Craig - That’s a very interesting perspective… I’m fairly new to screenwriting… and very new to competitions… I just assumed that it would be a good way to get a bit of buzz around a good script… and I was curious to see if the career development stuff some of them offer would have an impact… haven’t got that far yet but I might put that out as a separate question and see what happens.

It depends on what layer of the industry. If you want someone big to look your way, win the Nichol or do well in that. Perhaps the Austin Film Festival. Once you get beyond that it is diminishing returns. There are 100 third tier competitions. So which one is worth doing well in?

If you go to Film Freeway and look up screenplay competitions there is over 800 (last time I checked). Think of them as sporting leagues. If you win the National Title in a sport, people know. If you win something at a state level, it impresses less people. Your district less again. You local tavern tournament. You get my drift.

When I first started I entered a few. Got notes and it was fun. After that I have never done it again. I do the 48 Hour WriterDuet comp, because I am a fan of their software.

I think having to find the best screenplay out of 3000 entrance using an army of judges means they have to codify the marking. This means that unusual stories that are amazing will be missed as they do not fit a template.

Good luck with your writing. I hope it grows into an addiction.

Hi Lee Griffin - just to add about competitions. I've got a (TV Pilot) script with 10 contest placements (3 Finalist, 4 Semifinalist, 3 Quarterfinalist), 6+ consecutive months on the Coverfly Red List, a Recommend from a coverage service... and absolutely no traction whatsoever. Nobody's interested in it.

Contests are fine for a bit fun, and the occasional much-needed confidence boost, but the overwhelming majority don't move the needle, or open any doors. They're just a business that exists to make money for their organisers. Not saying you should never enter them. Some contests can actually be helpful networking tools, and like I say, it can be nice to get that little confidence boost just from knowing that some random person out there dug your stuff. But always enter them with the right expectations. It's far too easy to get suckered into the dream of overnight success and glory that even the handful of prestigious contests cannot deliver and wasting hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the process.

Thanks John… yeah… the positivity I got from the comps (and the script coverage actually) did give me a boost… in that I realised - Hey, I can actually do this! Especially since I have no official film/screenwriting education and so haven’t built a tribe that way… plus none of my family and friends know anything about it. I’m now networking a bit around some festivals (and on here) to try to meet actual people who are doing stuff in the real world… I suspect that is a much better use of my time and energy.

And thanks Craig… I missed your last message… yeah, I hear you. It’s kind of why I went with Raindance because I tend to write very English stories and (apart from BFI and BBC) they are the biggest fish in our little pond. Not sure my stories would speak to American judges really. But even still, the script that this scorecard is attached to has quite subtle themes really… I can see why it might not work too well in a competition setting. It’s not a very happy story either so that might not help much. Thanks for the advice. Also… Gotta love WriterDuet right?

Wow Bravo Lee Griffin on those scores! I'm glad you're taking that more to heart than not placing. I think contests are so subjective. Sounds like this script is fantastic.

Thanks Lisa.

I really don't know anymore; Your overall score of 8.86 (depending on their weighting) is low even for the old days. Remember that each individual category score is an average from multiple readers. It used to be that you needed a solid 9 to even be considered - in today's market (with the jillions of scripts out there); I suspect you need to be in the 9.5 to 10 range. Ya, it's tough.

Congrats on the scores. The only thing I can think of is what others have already stated, it's subjective. Maybe the story itself didn't strike a chord?