SCREENWRITING CONTESTS. Do you recommend?

Any of the major ones, nicholl, disney, austin, I forget the others, if you make some of the cuts there, you'll get read. Strongly recommend.
 
As Brian mentioned, there are BIG GUNS in the field on contest. Then there's lot of SMALL GUNS that really don't hold much weight in the H-Wood circle.

Moviebytes.com is a great site that lists all the upcoming and past contests.

Truth is, it's a tough nut to crack (often thousands of people enter) but if your work is up to scratch, then you could do damage.

EJ
 
Nicholl, Austin film festival, Disney, Sundance, Bluecat.

Truth be told, unless you are a screewriter who does nothing but screenwrite, I suggest go for the smaller contest around the nation, it's hard to compete with the likes of Max Adams out there.
 
Charli said:
Nicholl, Austin film festival, Disney, Sundance, Bluecat.

Truth be told, unless you are a screewriter who does nothing but screenwrite, I suggest go for the smaller contest around the nation, it's hard to compete with the likes of Max Adams out there.
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Come on Charli, that's defeatist thinking. I'm going to send you some of my Tony Robbins tapes. Just look at me, a year ago I was 60 years old and living in my mom's basement. As I write this post, I'm anchored of the coast of St. Lucia in a 200 foot schooner. Jessica Alba is cooking me an omelette and I'm now only 29 years old. Positive thinking works. Imagine it, and you can be it.
 
I think Charlie is saying it's easier to become a surgeon than to win some of those contests.

Personally I prefer to take my money and throw it into the wind and get some new camcorder gear.

If by chance I' m unable to sell a script - I will still looks good with a $2500 camcorder.
 
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mctheory said:
I think Charlie is saying it's easier to become a surgeon than to win some of those contests.

Personally I prefer to take my money and throw it into the wind and get some new camcorder gear.

If by chance I' m unable to sell a script - I will still looks good with a $2500 camcorder.
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Don't forget, you don't have to "Win" these contests. Nichol quarterfinalists get calls.

Seriously guys, you can't think that way. There's a lot of dreck out there, if you can put a good story together you're going to get noticed. Besides, last I heard Max Adams is in to her third year of writer's block and selling Lattes at Coffee Bean to cover the rent.
 
I believe Max is in Seattle and doing just fine. I believe she won Nicholl and Austin in one year with two different scripts.

I do not have a defeatist attitude, I think those who screenwrite have an edge over those who do not. It's really that simple.
 
Charli said:
I believe Max is in Seattle and doing just fine. I believe she won Nicholl and Austin in one year with two different scripts.

I do not have a defeatist attitude, I think those who screenwrite have an edge over those who do not. It's really that simple.
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okay so on the subject of screenwriting, those who write screenplays have an advantage over those who don't?
 
I think contests have there place. In fact, I just turned in my script for the final round of the NYC Midnight Madness short screenplay competition a couple of hours ago. I really hope I win, of course. But if I don't, I've got another good short under my belt and I managed to write in under 8 hours (you get 24 hours for the finals). So it was worth my 35 bucks.

But you have to be careful about contests. My cousin-in-law was a Disney fellow a few years ago. He had a friend call him up wanting him to be a judge in his screenplay competition. His friend bragged he ran the contest because it made him a chunk of money. I'm happy to say my cousin turned down being a judge.

If you really want to be a screenwriter, write. Then write some more. Get people who know what they're doing to critique your stuff. It's possible to get better on your own (and you should, really, if you have talent), but it's slower going than if you have help along the way.
 
Jason - for clarity, those who do nothing but write scripts as their interest is in this and this only, their research into the craft, their skill with the usage of words, their understanding of the nuances of the craft, etc. Those who do not dabble but those who consider not writing each day a crime, there's a different mentality from those who live, breath writing and those who dabble. That's all I'm saying and on a side note, I no longer enter these contests, my interest are now divided.
 
Charli - Oh, I agree with you completely. I was just spouting off my own nonsense after several hours of writing. I know some people really do consider it a crime to not write every day, but I'm not one of them. I believe in the power of letting things sit as the subconscious works through it. It's not something my last boss (ad agency owner) appreciated too much. Ha!
 
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