Screenwriting : Screenwriting Compeitions- I need the good,the bad, and the fugly! by Susan Kelejian

"I need the good, the bad, and the fugly!" Haha Susan Kelejian. Congratulations on the selections!

I haven't entered any feature script contests in a long time (they haven't been my focus over the years), but I plan on entering my spec script into a Stage 32 contest when I'm done. Stage 32's contests get scripts in front of managers, agents, producers, development executives, and financiers. Here's the list of contests: www.stage32.com/scriptservices/contests

There are a limited number of high-profile, prestigious screenwriting competitions that will help advance a screenwriter's career if you win or are a finalist-- and in a few cases, the organizations running the contest will actively promote you and your project to managers. And, depending on the genre you are writing in and whether you have a high-concept script, the contest judges themselves (if they are managers, agents, or producers) may show an interest in you or your project after you win or are a finalist in a major screenwriting competition. But as with everything else in screenwriting, you have to play an active role in promoting yourself and your projects-- especially in the immediate aftermath of a major contest win-- or it is unlikely to lead to anything. This means pitching your script to managers (preferably with a personal referral), having more than one high quality script in the same genre ready to show, attending awards ceremonies and networking events (if any) associated with the contest you won, pitching directly to producers via Stage 32; etc. The genre and concept for your screenplay-- and which contest you won (or were a finalist in)-- are hugely important factors in getting attention in the industry. If you write in some of the "less popular" screenplay genres and have (for example) a serviceable, character-driven concept that has little obvious commercial appeal-- or you write period pieces that don't have a clear, fresh and contemporary "hook"-- even a major contest win may not result in your getting attention from managers. If you are a screenwriter and not also a filmmaker, getting a "laurel" from a screenwriting competition that doesn't provide you with personal introductions to managers and producers, is unlikely to help you much. That said, if you can afford to enter a number of screenwriting contests, you will start to get a sense of the consensus of opinion about how great your script is-- or isn't-- and whether your writing is improving over time. And that is valuable information to have.

Thank you Staton Rabin for your information! (I also dont know how to highlight a name here OMG Im feeling old) Just to note- I have a shopping agreement on my Feature, a producer who is quite active and legal rep, my work is "making the rounds" and is currently at three large well known studios and an A list director, so I am working it girl!. I will be attending my first awards event tomorrow to check it out. I can afford to submit, but also dont want to waste moolah...so I'll do a deep dive on the ones with IMDB creds et al for the future, methinks. Thank you very much for your in depth answer.

You can highlight someone's name by putting @ in front of it, Susan Kelejian.

Best advice I can give you is to make sure you read every word of their listings on Film Freeway. I remember seeing one that I thought my work would be perfect for. They were looking for the kind of thing I've enjoyed writing. Luckily, before entering, I saw the note on the bottom of the listing that to be eligible to win you had to agree to be at the festival in person to accept. As confident as I was there was no way I could justify the 4000 mile trip because I MIGHT win something. It's all in the details.

Maurice Vaughan I did it lol TY

Bill Albert interesting! Yes, isn't it always the darn details...

You're welcome, Susan Kelejian.

I've entered and won several festivals. Was like getting a college degree that does not get you to into the job market. A lot of Festivals will use a lot of imagery to lure in writers. Most of them are cash cows.

Richard M Kjeldgaard TY for this

Paul Zeidman gotcha, noted.

Mark Deuce ok ty

Sounds like you're doing very well, Susan Kelejian. In terms of screenwriting contests, the Nicholl Fellowships (sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) is the one that the industry respects most.

There are a lot of consultants, contests, and companies preying on wannabe screenwriters. Be very cautious.

Staton Rabin Ok great to know TY

Jim Ramsay you and I are in close proximity in the world. would you say that the SB and Ojai festivals are legit? I do know Ojai and it seems real, so does SB. What are your thoughts if you wouldnt mind?

Hi Susan, I don’t know about Ojai. I like the Wiki team, and they are very attentive. I’ve had half a dozen scripts final in several contests. It seems there are a handful of legitimate contests. Winning a contest is a good thing, but...

I have several friends in the business who have said it is next to impossible to get a movie without the money in place, no matter how good the script is.

I'm not under any illusions about the possibility of selling a script. Fortunately, I love to write, and I’d love to see what you're working on. jim

Jim Ramsay Hi Jim, thanks for the insight into Wiki team and fortunately, I like writing too.... which is one of the primary reasons Ive been writing plays for so long. Working on a feature currently and I have a producer behind it. Also have an "in" with a company that buys for Hallmark, so I am writing for money in that respect with my first stab at a 9 act Rom Com. I'm in my late 50's and not delusional, though for several decades I have collected a lot of life experience and a lot of connections, and I am originally from LA. I'm not attached to the outcome, and really enjoy the process AND I'm not giving up.

Susan Kelejian I never entered a screenwriting contest but I would assume they are probably long shots as far as selling a screenplay goes. If someone wins or places high enough they might get more reads. So I would probably consider them a stepping stone at best. I see you have some connections in the business and connections are everything. I don’t know anything about plays. I know my writing partner is Judy Norton and she has acted in TV movies and plays.

Austin, Big Break, Launchpad, Nicholl, Scriptapalooza, Pipeline, Zoetrope, and stage32 are a few that could help with a pitch session or cold query (I've been told) :-)

Just go on twitterX and there are hundreds/maybe thousands of pro peers who got their industry break off a contest or short movie, and there are also hundreds/thousand of pro peers who dont believe in contests. Two superstar screenwriters with a famous podcast, August & Mazin, dont believe in contests.

The endgame is employment. Are you hirable, and how do you prove to employers without sample scripts?

Dan Guardino ty

Matthew Kelcourse ok, thanks for the list. I want the top ten!

Dan MaxXx TY but I never just got on Twitter LOL.

I second Maxxx...try "Screen Pit" on X, they have pitching campaigns like two times a month...complete strangers (insight guys btw) share your logline if they like it...and there's always a pair of eyes you need on that network...

Anyways I'd be wary of "paying to attend" business...I'm from Europe and most FF's, workshops, pitching sessions. etc are free to enter and if u got selected accommodation and program are off the wallet. U even get per diem at some...

Hey Susan Kelejian! You've asked such a great question and you've chosen the right place in which to ask it! The short answer is to look no further than Stage 32 itself. Our contests feature some pretty fantastic judges and mentors, they have resulted is writers being signed and/or their scripts being optioned, and we send out a pretty great LookBook afterwards to over 500 execs, agents, managers, producers, which inevitably yields meetings for those featured writers. Give the S32 contests a look, you're already here anyway!

Kiril Maksimoski good to know. Still will not use X, but I do know where to pitch in other places. Didnt know that about Europe!

Nick Phillips aha! love it

ScreenPit is incredible, Kiril Maksimoski! It's four times a year. One of the co-founders is Stage 32 member Kim Hornsby.

Is there a script contest on stage32? or did I misunderstand?

If so, I would be interested in participating? how much is $$$? or where can I find out more info?

Thanks

I have entered 2 contests in filmfreeway and came first in both. But then it didn't do much good because nobody knows my script. My mistake was not to participate in those that have IMDB.

Alejandro Marello congrats on your recognition! Yes, I have been seeing the IMDBs and feel the same, though we are also adding my "wins" to the pitchdeck which i do feel is somewhat worth it, even if they arent all recognized.

Here are the Stage 32 contests, Alejandro Marello: www.stage32.com/scriptservices/contests

99% are a waste of money that just say yes or no, but not why. And the ones that give you notes never give you decent notes.

My first manager came out of a contest win. But I had a strict and steady rule when I was entering contests - If they didn't provide meetings for their finalists and winners, I didn't enter them. Access is everything. And that's exactly why every Stage 32 contest provides just that. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Richard "RB" Botto great point. I look forward to the stage32 ones here.

Scott Sawitz I see...though I received fabulous notes/coverage from one last week, the others, not so much. With coverage, I find it's often written by college students or the like that can sometimes miss a more mature voice. IMO

Maurice Vaughan To send you my project or script to the link you provided, do I have to be a member of Writers' Room?

No, you don't have to be a member of the Writers' Room to enter the contests, Alejandro Marello. You have to be a Writers' Room member to enter the Open Writing Assignments though.

In my experience, what's best about contests is often the chance make industry connections with people in places that can actually move your career forward, whether that's getting you signed or optioned or just getting into those exclusive pockets that elude so many of us on the outside looking in . In recent years, it feels like even the contests considered most "prestigious" have lost a bit of their prestige, so if a contest isn't putting you in front of people who want what you have, it can often become sort of an empty thing to win a "big one." Of course winning any contest is a great marketing tool and you should hang that success banner on all of your social media profiles (including here on Stage 32). That's what's great about the contests here at Stage 32, they run year round and the team is committed to not just finding one great script per year, but dozens of great scripts and getting those great writers in front of people who can make a difference in careers.

Pat Alexander I very much appreciate this Pat. I attended my first awards ceremony for a fest tonight in LaLa Land and it was actually a lot of fun, however, I will be picking and choosing from here on out.

That's one hell of a post, Pat Alexander. Spot on in every way. And I fully agree, a few of the so called prestige contests haven't had a writer signed, optioned or produced in close to a decade. They don't go to work for their writers either. They announce the winners and it's off to the next. Many have seen through the facade, which is why their submissions continue to decrease. Yet, on broad based social media, newbies especially are lured in by people talking how they are the ones to enter.

Again, why would you enter any contest that doesn't put your screenplay in front of and give you access to decision makers? Made zero sense to me when I was breaking in, makes even less sense to me now.

The only people who profit from screenplay competitions are the people who run them. I never entered one and have zero desire to ever do that. However, if I did the only ones I would ever consider would be the ones they offer here on Stage 32, The reason being they try to promote the winners. At least that is what they say and I have no reason not to believe them

I'd put our track record for success up against any other over the last 13 years.

Yep, Susan Kelejian. We're on to the carpetbaggers! Don't be fooled. The prestige most contests are selling means zilch to filmmakers. And, BTW, most are judged by folks with few or no credits to their name.

Another great point, Robin Gregory. Who are the judges? Are they qualified? And if so and you are a finalist or a winner, do you get meetings with them? And I agree on the "prestige" contests as well. One has been called on the carpet over and over for unqualified readers and zero success stories for years. Yet, people cite them as "prestige" which I find disheartening for so many who are spending their hard earned money for zero opportunity.

Bottom line, it's up to the writer to do their due diligence. But, again, when I was entering contests, I demanded access and full transparency.

Robin Gregory yes, finding that out....Although I do know the people who judge my local one (ojai) and they all have credits. So it's just interesting. New world for me. When I first started (in the late 80's) there were just a handful of festivals. Then I left the scene, and being back, it's very different.

It's wise to do as much due diligence as possible on any contest or festival you are submitting to. Check reviews, word of mouth, transparency. And as stated above, I'd put Stage 32's transparency and success rate up against any other contest or festival!

For the majority, you may as well take your cash, set fire to it, and hope a producer spots the plume of smoke in the distance.

I'll tell you this too, when I see writers calling themselves "award winning", covering their marketing materials in laurels, and constantly posting how they've placed in yet another completely unknown festival, I actually think less of them rather than more.

Nicholl caries kudos that can be leveraged, as does Austin to a lesser extent, and Stage 32 has genuinely hooked winners up with industry members I know. After that, it tails off like the edge of the Mariana Trench.

After an exposé on competitions about five years ago, a lot of hate was directed at the organisers, but screenwriting communities are just as responsible as people still constantly tout them collectively as a good route to break in to this day.

It's contextual too. Entering five scripts into twenty competitions a year, for ten years, because you think it's going to result in winning at some point and getting a call from Steven Spielberg is different to throwing what you consider pizza money at something that may win you copy of Final Draft.

There's the other side aswell, that isn't spoken about much. Statistically, you are most likely not going to place highly and you have to know how that's going to impact your self-worth and motivation, especially if it's something that you are subjecting yourself to a lot. Over the past twelve years, I've watched writers get sucked down the rabbit hole and now effectively write for competitions rather than for their artistic fulfilment and the marketplace. They absolutely are not a barometer of how good your script is nor your writing.

The meetings for winners and finalists are SO important for contest legitimacy. There are so many contests that throw a writer a couple bucks or the latest version of screenwriting software (as if you didn't already write your script on screenwriting software!) and then leave winners off at the curb. That is why I think Stage 32 contests are so valuable. Stage 32 sets winners up with meetings and sends out a finalist look book to the entire roster of industry pros.

CJ Walley thank you for a few literal laugh out loud moments reading your comment.