After having completely written off the Bluecat Screenplay contest and going about other business I checked my e-mail last night and saw that they sent me feedback on my screenplay. I'll spare you guys the explanation of what they specifically liked in the script (as it would also ruin the story and ending, it IS a mystery) and skip right to the end. This is straight from a section of the analysis entitled "What I Think Needs Work":
"Nothing at all. This is a great story, it is written very well. The pacing, the plot, the characters, everything here works. I think you have a great shot of placing this script with a studio. Best of luck!"
So what's the problem with these contests exactly? Have I really gone down the "too commercial" route to win these contests? Maybe I should look into some studio contests. I know I'm not giving the "more of the same" type of story, I have a lot of unique elements and a fun approach to things, but come on, at least let me get to the finals!
Even so, I then scrolled up in the e-mail to see what else was mentioned in regards to the contest itself and I found this paragraph squeezed in the middle:
"I was very moved by the personal nature of the writing submitted this year. I love when writers tell us how about what they know about life, what they care about life, by making themselves truly vulnerable in their writing. When a writer creates from within, they love what they write, and in turn, so do we. BlueCat will always recognize and reward this brave writing."
Personal nature of the writing? Of course the writing is personal, I wrote it! The thing I have a problem with is "writers tell us how about what they know about life, what they care about life, by making themselves truly vulnerable in their writing." Grammar aside it sounds as though in order to win the Bluecat contest one must make a heartfelt drama that gets to the depths of human emotion. Naturally I'm going to write Steel Magnolias 2: Cry Harder and blow everyone else away next year. I create from within, I love what I write, so what if I write a murder mystery, it comes from the heart... and so help me god I'll kill you if you don't believe me!
Brave writing... how could writing be brave? It seems that the majority of personal stories out there all cover the fragility of human emotion, suffering as a result of the human condition: jealousy, hate, greed, love, lust, etc. Bravery in writing is kind of a misnomer... you're putting your characters through events and sure, you're supposed to get sucked in emotionally to the story but come on, it's my character suffering through cancer and then finding out they had sex with their biological sister that they didn't know was their sister because of adoption. Oh wait, that's bravery in the world of Funky Winkerbean.
In short, it seems that they want an emotional tour de force, not a murder mystery roller coaster tour de force. Still, it's studio material, I just need to find a way to get Vengeance in the hands of a studio! Now the script development service seems like a very promising avenue.
Also, here's what they said about the winner, "On that note, I want to congratulate again our winner, Ana Lily Amirpour, and her screenplay, THE STONES. Her script is so beautiful and important, and from what I've gathered in the week I've known her, Lily is quite a person."
Important? I think it's all coming into perspective, Gordy Hoffman wrote Love Liza a movie about Phillip Seymour Hoffman's wife (hey, they're brothers, what a small world!) killing herself and him delving into model airplanes, or.... model somethings and huffing gasoline fumes and then finding himself. Or killing himself too, I fell asleep before it ended. THAT'S the kind of importance he's looking for, I should have known.
As an aside, with a name like Ana Amirpour and a movie called THE STONES... it kind of reminded me of...
"Nothing at all. This is a great story, it is written very well. The pacing, the plot, the characters, everything here works. I think you have a great shot of placing this script with a studio. Best of luck!"
So what's the problem with these contests exactly? Have I really gone down the "too commercial" route to win these contests? Maybe I should look into some studio contests. I know I'm not giving the "more of the same" type of story, I have a lot of unique elements and a fun approach to things, but come on, at least let me get to the finals!
Even so, I then scrolled up in the e-mail to see what else was mentioned in regards to the contest itself and I found this paragraph squeezed in the middle:
"I was very moved by the personal nature of the writing submitted this year. I love when writers tell us how about what they know about life, what they care about life, by making themselves truly vulnerable in their writing. When a writer creates from within, they love what they write, and in turn, so do we. BlueCat will always recognize and reward this brave writing."
Personal nature of the writing? Of course the writing is personal, I wrote it! The thing I have a problem with is "writers tell us how about what they know about life, what they care about life, by making themselves truly vulnerable in their writing." Grammar aside it sounds as though in order to win the Bluecat contest one must make a heartfelt drama that gets to the depths of human emotion. Naturally I'm going to write Steel Magnolias 2: Cry Harder and blow everyone else away next year. I create from within, I love what I write, so what if I write a murder mystery, it comes from the heart... and so help me god I'll kill you if you don't believe me!
Brave writing... how could writing be brave? It seems that the majority of personal stories out there all cover the fragility of human emotion, suffering as a result of the human condition: jealousy, hate, greed, love, lust, etc. Bravery in writing is kind of a misnomer... you're putting your characters through events and sure, you're supposed to get sucked in emotionally to the story but come on, it's my character suffering through cancer and then finding out they had sex with their biological sister that they didn't know was their sister because of adoption. Oh wait, that's bravery in the world of Funky Winkerbean.
In short, it seems that they want an emotional tour de force, not a murder mystery roller coaster tour de force. Still, it's studio material, I just need to find a way to get Vengeance in the hands of a studio! Now the script development service seems like a very promising avenue.
Also, here's what they said about the winner, "On that note, I want to congratulate again our winner, Ana Lily Amirpour, and her screenplay, THE STONES. Her script is so beautiful and important, and from what I've gathered in the week I've known her, Lily is quite a person."
Important? I think it's all coming into perspective, Gordy Hoffman wrote Love Liza a movie about Phillip Seymour Hoffman's wife (hey, they're brothers, what a small world!) killing herself and him delving into model airplanes, or.... model somethings and huffing gasoline fumes and then finding himself. Or killing himself too, I fell asleep before it ended. THAT'S the kind of importance he's looking for, I should have known.
As an aside, with a name like Ana Amirpour and a movie called THE STONES... it kind of reminded me of...
"Drop them Dr. Jones! They will be found, you won't!"
...and that comes from within.
8 comments:
Kali Ma....
time to send that script out amongst the people who are in position to realize that dream
Yeah, true. I'm just trying to figure out HOW... I've got a few ideas but I'm always open to more :D
Here's how: start with Done Deal (http://www.donedealpro.com) -- a one-year subscription is just $23.95.
Then troll the agents/managers listings and send ten query letters a week, as Christopher Lockhart suggested when he had a blog. (I forget the name of it now.)
I did it by email (paper queries ain't worth the paper that gets shredded on Monday mornings) and got a nice ratio of responses to rejection. A few close calls, too.
I was completely sympathizing until when you came up with the cheap shot for the winner. Sounds like a soar loser to me,
Don't take the feedback so seriously; BlueCat pays their readers $10 a script (industry freelance standard is $60) - they'll hire anyone with a slice of interning experience.
Congrats on finishing the script. Move on to the next.
I've entered Bluecat twice and though they quickly took my money by credit card, I never heard back about the winners and nor did I receive any feedback. Go figure.
They're kind of gone downhill in recent years though they certainly send enough spam ><
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