Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Match.com for screenwriters and contests?
Single White Female who writes quirky Nora Ephron-like comedies seeks famous Screenplay Competition with big prize money, industry exposure and long walks on the beach.
Unfortunately, the contest world has turned into a high stakes poker game where it seems as if every day a new screenwriting contest is born. It used to be easy to choose the right competition because there was only a handful, but now it’s like wading through the personal ads. MovieBytes.com lists over 300 screenwriting competitions in its contest section. How does a writer know which contest offers the best opportunity? Since it’s impossible to rate or list every contest, here’s a common sense approach to finding your true match:
1. Have reasonable expectations like you would on a first date. Enter a contest to test the waters, or force yourself to finish a script and meet a deadline, but go in expecting to lose. Just like many first dates, it’s not always love at first sight.
2. Don’t play the field by entering every contest in the universe. Entry fees are expensive, and you could go broke or go nuts after receiving too many rejections. Narrow your choices to five a year.
3. The “Ex” Factor – Look at a contest’s history just like you would a new partner’s past relationships. Investigate not only the winners, but also how past semi-finalists and quarterfinalists have fared in the business.
4. “I’ll call you in the morning” - Be wary of flashy but empty promises of industry contacts and script sales. Many of the new contests are run by unknown sources. The companies they’re promising to send your script to often don’t know they’re on the list, or the contact person is not even someone in the development department. There have been too many horror stories of fly-by-night contests that promised big prizes, and then didn’t deliver. Research the reputation of the people running the contest. Visit various message boards, such as Done Deal, Zoetrope and Movie Bytes, and read the contest threads, or post a question about a contest you’re thinking about entering. The best contests offer decent prize money, face-to-face industry exposure and long term mentoring, not just a free consultation and software package, or a posting on their website.
5. Avoid the frogs. Try to limit your selections to non-profit and legitimate organizations. While not always the case, most non-profit contests are funded by highly regarded arts foundations whose mission is to support writers. “For-profit” contests run by unknown producers and companies are usually after one main thing: your money. In a few instances, they may be after a cheap option in addition to your money. Check a contest’s website and their application to see if it’s a non-profit organization, and look up their board of directors. At least ten of the contests listed at Movie Bytes have the words “academy” or “studio” in their name, but few are even connected to a legitimate studio or the actual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
6. Question the pre-nup. Don’t trust contests where you have to sign your rights away, unless it’s a reputable mentor program such as the Disney Fellowship where the option is limited.
7. Don’t overlook the guy under your nose. Many of our clients have had good luck in small regional contests based in their state. Investigate whether your state film commission or arts council runs a screenwriting contest. This is often a great way to break in with a script that might get lost in the shuffle of a large contest. Some state commissions hold competitions open to outside residents as long as the script’s setting takes place in the state where the contest is located.
8. Just as you wouldn’t wear your wildest outfit or drone on about politics on a blind date, don’t submit your most esoteric script or your biggest blockbuster to a contest. In competitions, readers tend to look for original, personal stories that are well-crafted. That doesn’t mean write every detail about your job as an accountant, but it does mean that you might fare better by following the old adage, “write what you know.” For example, if you’re a paralegal or lawyer, you might use your inside knowledge to give texture to a fictional thriller.
9. Put your best face forward. It may seem obvious, but proofread, proofread and then proofread some more. Contest readers often take home stacks of ten to twenty scripts at a time, and it’s often easiest to reject a script that is out-of-format, full of punctuation errors and the least professional. There might be a few diamonds in the rough, but they’re very rare.
Winning or placing in a contest may seem as impossible as finding a soulmate. As long as you know not to hold your breath for the phone to ring, the risks of entering are minimal and the rewards are more than worth it.
