Hey folks, I've been pretty busy with some new developments. I've been going around looking for contests for "Behind Suburbia" .... thus far I've entered it into Shriekfest and Red Inkworks with plans to put it into Final Draft Big Break, Screamfest, Script Savvy, and Slamdance. I want to get it out there as much as possible... quite unfortunate how quickly these add up though. Anyone want to sponsor me? I'll split my imagined winnings :p
At any rate, I found a really cool contest a few weeks ago, the NYTVF Comedy Script Contest ... Fox Broadcasting is sponsoring a contest wherein the winner receives $25,000 and a development deal. Hello! It's even free to enter, the only catch is that they're only accepting 1500 entries, so you can be sure I'll be clicking madly when entries finally DO open.
I'm already on the third draft of my spec pilot, an animated series. I actually came up with this idea a few years ago and wrote the majority of the first season, it was something I worked on in my spare time between feature length scripts, helping me to keep my writing fresh while working on the prep work for the features. The show has slowly evolved into what it is now, thanks to the development ideas of Shawn and Sean (I wish they spelled it the same way, then I could say "The 2 Shawns" ... maybe I can just say "The 2 S's") and it's really come a long way.
The pilot itself has had several versions, the latest incorporating all of the things I've learned in the past year. I was able to take a few of the ideas from the previous pilot and upgrade them, so to speak, really making a strong, funny story. In my opinion anyway.
Bearing in mind my chronic cynicism we're actually going to be ever so slowly working on creating the pilot ourselves. I would love to get it into a festival or two and have it noticed, I mean, that's how Seth MacFarlane got started, isn't it? Even so, I think this show would be better compared to a "Friends plus Seinfeld with the weirdness that animation allows" than the current animated shows on television. I've been trying to make the show more intelligent (so to speak) while still allowing for the anything can happen feel of an animated series.
I don't expect to see the pilot anytime soon but forward progress never hurt. In the meantime I'm also still working on my outlines for my sci-fi and comedy spec features. Hopefully "Behind Suburbia" will do decently in the contests, just so long as it does BETTER than "perfect ending" I'll know I've made progress as a writer, and that's what counts. I think.
Showing posts with label contests. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contests. Show all posts
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Behind Suburbia finished (in theory) and Moving On
I've completed my version 5 (tenth rewrite, approximately) of Behind Suburbia and finally submitted it to a few contests. I got the notes back from Script Pimp but I did not find them nearly as helpful as the previous set. I saw that I did solve all of the previous problems except for one though (which version 5 rectified) ... but I still received a "pass" rating because of it. Aside from that one helpful hint the rest of the notes were something along the lines of "you need more horror movie conventions but don't make this a conventional horror movie."
All righty.
Needless to say I did not follow them as closely this round and now it's time to see what some contest judges have to say about it. I submitted to the PAGE Awards and something else I can't quite remember off-hand. Regardless, if this places better than "perfect ending" I'll know that I've improved and will feel pretty good about myself. If I won I'd feel awesome... but anyway, I'm happy with the script.
I'll be sending out some query letters soon to get some feelers out there to try and find a producer or an agent. I have two solid scripts and several more in the works so I'm building a decent base to work from. Hopefully I'll get some decent responses and I'll write an entry about query letters soon.
In the meanwhile I've had two good ideas come to the surface. One is a reworking of a comedy script I wrote when I first got interested in screenwriting. I enjoy that version but the overhaul I'm envisioning would have me start over from scratch. The second idea was a modern-day sci-fi movie, i.e. takes place now but has futuristic elements the common populace is not aware of. I've already started the character backgrounds and the outline, and I think it has a lot of potential. I'm just tired of being so serious.
My first set of notes compared my dialogue to Woody Allen and Kevin Smith. Not to toot my own horn but I have a knack for observational and conversational humor, and I really want to do something where I don't have to kill off a bunch of characters. I know, what fun would a slasher flick or murder mystery be without the dead bodies... and the premise of my sci-fi film would require some killing. Not a lot, mind you, but a few. Plus it would be a serious film.
The comedy would be fun, so I'm actually thinking about working on both at the same time. Then I can alternate my entries between comedy and sci-fi genre conventions and explore two things at the same time. Mind you that would entail me watching a ton more movies to cover both genres, but hey, I think it's a task I'm willing to undertake. I don't think I'd be able to WRITE both of them at the same time, but I can certainly do all of my outlining and pre-planning.
So, that's fun. I'll keep you all updated as things move forward. If anyone is curious to read "Behind Suburbia" feel free to e-mail me. Especially if you are a producer looking for a writer/director ... I'd really be up for that.
All righty.
Needless to say I did not follow them as closely this round and now it's time to see what some contest judges have to say about it. I submitted to the PAGE Awards and something else I can't quite remember off-hand. Regardless, if this places better than "perfect ending" I'll know that I've improved and will feel pretty good about myself. If I won I'd feel awesome... but anyway, I'm happy with the script.
I'll be sending out some query letters soon to get some feelers out there to try and find a producer or an agent. I have two solid scripts and several more in the works so I'm building a decent base to work from. Hopefully I'll get some decent responses and I'll write an entry about query letters soon.
In the meanwhile I've had two good ideas come to the surface. One is a reworking of a comedy script I wrote when I first got interested in screenwriting. I enjoy that version but the overhaul I'm envisioning would have me start over from scratch. The second idea was a modern-day sci-fi movie, i.e. takes place now but has futuristic elements the common populace is not aware of. I've already started the character backgrounds and the outline, and I think it has a lot of potential. I'm just tired of being so serious.
My first set of notes compared my dialogue to Woody Allen and Kevin Smith. Not to toot my own horn but I have a knack for observational and conversational humor, and I really want to do something where I don't have to kill off a bunch of characters. I know, what fun would a slasher flick or murder mystery be without the dead bodies... and the premise of my sci-fi film would require some killing. Not a lot, mind you, but a few. Plus it would be a serious film.
The comedy would be fun, so I'm actually thinking about working on both at the same time. Then I can alternate my entries between comedy and sci-fi genre conventions and explore two things at the same time. Mind you that would entail me watching a ton more movies to cover both genres, but hey, I think it's a task I'm willing to undertake. I don't think I'd be able to WRITE both of them at the same time, but I can certainly do all of my outlining and pre-planning.
So, that's fun. I'll keep you all updated as things move forward. If anyone is curious to read "Behind Suburbia" feel free to e-mail me. Especially if you are a producer looking for a writer/director ... I'd really be up for that.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Interim Period
The Interim Period
Waiting to hear back from contests is always the most frustrating thing to me. I have a lack of patience at times and it definitely is one of my biggest faults. I'm filled with both hope and dread in regards to the contests. I'm confident in "Vengeance" but will the subjectivity of the industry play against me?
What DOES it take to win a screenwriting competition? I was looking at the past winners of these contests and a few of the people have gone on to have their movie made, but that is a few people overall out of the dozens of contests I was looking through. So even if you do win, it doesn't necessarily mean that anyone will care about your writing, so what does that mean?
Back to the previous question, what do these contests look for? Well written scripts or novelty scripts? Things within genre conventions that are well written and tell a good story, or nonconformists that try to break boundaries and, to paraphrase Peter Griffin, insist upon themselves? I see no general guidelines in these contests aside from "we're looking for great scripts!" but what is the definition of great? A great Godard is quite different from a great Kubrick which is different from a great Gilliam, is it not? So where are there boundaries?
Are they all looking for the novelty of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or the action blowout that could be the next Die Hard?
It really makes me wonder. Subjectivity is both the enemy and the draw of Hollywood, is it not? What I was talking about was just what the contest organizers might say overall about the contests, not about the mindset of the individual judge that's looking at your screenplay at that particular moment when they may have an inflamed hemorrhoid.
Maybe I should send cookies and Prozac with my next contest submission
Waiting to hear back from contests is always the most frustrating thing to me. I have a lack of patience at times and it definitely is one of my biggest faults. I'm filled with both hope and dread in regards to the contests. I'm confident in "Vengeance" but will the subjectivity of the industry play against me?
What DOES it take to win a screenwriting competition? I was looking at the past winners of these contests and a few of the people have gone on to have their movie made, but that is a few people overall out of the dozens of contests I was looking through. So even if you do win, it doesn't necessarily mean that anyone will care about your writing, so what does that mean?
Back to the previous question, what do these contests look for? Well written scripts or novelty scripts? Things within genre conventions that are well written and tell a good story, or nonconformists that try to break boundaries and, to paraphrase Peter Griffin, insist upon themselves? I see no general guidelines in these contests aside from "we're looking for great scripts!" but what is the definition of great? A great Godard is quite different from a great Kubrick which is different from a great Gilliam, is it not? So where are there boundaries?
Are they all looking for the novelty of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or the action blowout that could be the next Die Hard?
It really makes me wonder. Subjectivity is both the enemy and the draw of Hollywood, is it not? What I was talking about was just what the contest organizers might say overall about the contests, not about the mindset of the individual judge that's looking at your screenplay at that particular moment when they may have an inflamed hemorrhoid.
Maybe I should send cookies and Prozac with my next contest submission
Monday, April 30, 2007
On the Road to Fame and Fortune
On the Road to Fame and Fortune
Well, not yet, but I can dream can't I?
I've found several decent contests to enter "Vengeance" into so I thought I'd share those so we can all keep track of the progress. You know, it honestly amazes me how much it costs to enter some of these contests, I mean, it's nothing outrageous but it adds up after some time.
Maybe I shouldn't try to win these contests, maybe I should start my own! Then I could rig it so that I win the contest, under a pseudonym of course, so I don't have to give up any of the prize money. Only a $30 entry fee! Enter as many times as you like! Then I just need about 470 people to enter and I could buy this! Ah, who am I kidding, that's probably illegal. All of my REALLY good ideas are illegal... what a shame.
Anyway, here's what I've entered:
The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting --- a screenplay contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science themselves. Well, that would be a nice stepping stone I'd have to say. The interesting part of the fellowship is that they give you $30k to write another screenplay for them, and you're not allowed to have any other job. How perfect. Cost: $30
The Bluecat Screenwriting Contest --- I entered this with the pre-McKee version but I still entered it. Plus they provide feedback after the contest, so that's fun. Hopefully they don't mention all thing things I fixed between then and post-McKee. Cost: $45
PAGE International Screenwriting Awards --- They're all about providing new screenwriters the connection they need to the industry, and by golly, that's me! They also provide some feedback as well.. but it costs $60 extra, so oh well. Cost: $69
Script P.I.M.P. Competition --- I got a free submission to this contest for signing up to the writer's database for 5 years. I have yet to hear a response from anyone I queried from the database, but hey, who knows. They also do a writer's workshop to work on your script which gives you access to big name studios in the database, that costs $250 so I may look into that in the future. Cost: $96
American Screenwriting Competition --- Sponsored by Flatshoe Entertainment, whomever they are. Decent prizes, decent exposure which is the more important aspect. I don't know much about them, but it's worth a shot. Cost: $65
Scriptapalooza --- It had a funny name so naturally I had to enter. Another contest that promises exposure, fame, prizes and a firm handshake. Cost: $50. (I actually entered this on the deadline 4/13 with a mostly rewritten post-McKee version, do'h!). Cost: $30
That about does it for contests for now, I figure I'll enter more somewhere down the line, but I'm curious to see the results of these, which unfortunately won't be for a few months. The wa-a-a-a-ait is the hardest part.
Well, not yet, but I can dream can't I?
I've found several decent contests to enter "Vengeance" into so I thought I'd share those so we can all keep track of the progress. You know, it honestly amazes me how much it costs to enter some of these contests, I mean, it's nothing outrageous but it adds up after some time.
Maybe I shouldn't try to win these contests, maybe I should start my own! Then I could rig it so that I win the contest, under a pseudonym of course, so I don't have to give up any of the prize money. Only a $30 entry fee! Enter as many times as you like! Then I just need about 470 people to enter and I could buy this! Ah, who am I kidding, that's probably illegal. All of my REALLY good ideas are illegal... what a shame.
Anyway, here's what I've entered:
The Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting --- a screenplay contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science themselves. Well, that would be a nice stepping stone I'd have to say. The interesting part of the fellowship is that they give you $30k to write another screenplay for them, and you're not allowed to have any other job. How perfect. Cost: $30
The Bluecat Screenwriting Contest --- I entered this with the pre-McKee version but I still entered it. Plus they provide feedback after the contest, so that's fun. Hopefully they don't mention all thing things I fixed between then and post-McKee. Cost: $45
PAGE International Screenwriting Awards --- They're all about providing new screenwriters the connection they need to the industry, and by golly, that's me! They also provide some feedback as well.. but it costs $60 extra, so oh well. Cost: $69
Script P.I.M.P. Competition --- I got a free submission to this contest for signing up to the writer's database for 5 years. I have yet to hear a response from anyone I queried from the database, but hey, who knows. They also do a writer's workshop to work on your script which gives you access to big name studios in the database, that costs $250 so I may look into that in the future. Cost: $96
American Screenwriting Competition --- Sponsored by Flatshoe Entertainment, whomever they are. Decent prizes, decent exposure which is the more important aspect. I don't know much about them, but it's worth a shot. Cost: $65
Scriptapalooza --- It had a funny name so naturally I had to enter. Another contest that promises exposure, fame, prizes and a firm handshake. Cost: $50. (I actually entered this on the deadline 4/13 with a mostly rewritten post-McKee version, do'h!). Cost: $30
That about does it for contests for now, I figure I'll enter more somewhere down the line, but I'm curious to see the results of these, which unfortunately won't be for a few months. The wa-a-a-a-ait is the hardest part.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
