Final Draft?

[sixridgeroad]

Anyone aware of their timetable, process, etc.?

[shellbark]

Sent out today by FD:

BIG BREAK! SCREENWRITING CONTEST TOP TWENTY FINALISTS

We want to congratulate everyone who entered a script (or two!) in our 4th Annual Big Break! Screenwriting Contest. You all deserve kudos for seeing your ideas become a completed screenplay, then allowing the finished product to be judged.

Your wait is almost over. Notifications will be sent out this week and final judging will begin later this month. Stay tuned for an official announcement of finalists and judges very soon!

[velysai]

Sent out how? I entered the contest and didn't get any kind of notification, and the website, which I've been checking often since September started, hasn't changed in the last couple of months. What am I missing here?

[dpaterso]

Velysai, ditto. Last I heard from FD was August 8 when a snailmail letter arrived to confirm submission receipt, which they'd already confirmed via email. Confusing.

-Derek

[Riskbreaker]

Via e-mail. You have to be signed up for their newsletter, like, say if you ordered the inferior, bug-ridden Final Draft 5.0.

:)

[symotree]

Supposedly, the 20 finalists will be snail mailed their notifcation, while everyone else will recieve an email. As the newsletter portion someone pasted above said, that notification was supposed to go out this week, and here it is Saturday. So who knows. Has anyone recieved either yet? I haven't.

[RachelSqueeze]

Hey, all.
Got my e-mail this evening: didn't advance in the ol' Big Break competition.
Dang.
- RS

[symotree]

Are the rejections a flat standard rejection? or are they customized at all to include feedback on the script from the person who covered it? I've never entered a screenwriting contest before, so I was kinda hoping if/when I got my rejection it would have some credible feedback, so I knew what things needed to be improved.

[dpaterso]

Huh. Got an email early today:

The artistic endeavor is a noble and arduous one. We know how much effort goes into creating a screenplay, and we applaud you for bringing your vision to the page. Unfortunately, your screenplay was not chosen as a finalist this year.

I can only assume they got my email address mixed up with someone else's. (Firmly in denial mode.)

-Derek

[symotree]

hrm, now I'm frustrated, because I realized I'm no longer using the email address I gave them on the entry form way back in May. Guess I'll just have to wait till the announcement comes out on the website. *sigh*

[NikeeGoddess]

Ha, Derek - they mixed us all up (with the same form letter, that is). :rolleyes So, whoever was looking for feedback...... don't hold your breath.

[shellbark]

Anybody else enter TWO (or more) screenplays? I entered two but only got one rejection email. Is there still hope?????

[dpaterso]

shellbark, I'll confess to entering, ah, more than one.... I wish I felt more optimistic but the way I figure things, they probably added our email addresses to the distribution list just once, not several times.

NikeeGoddess, what's the use in having godlike powers if you can't twitch your nose and fiddle the results in our favor?

-Derek

[shellbark]

But the email refers to my state of loserness in the singular. I got two rejection letters from Austin, from Nicholl (need i go on?), so...until I check the mail today (I'm in LA) I will think I still have a chance.

[dpaterso]

shellbark, I hope you're right and I've got my fingers crossed for you... but then I figure the chances of my receiving 3 letters in the mail this week and realize that statistically it just ain't gonna happen -- they didn't reject one of my screenplays and accept the others.

Having said this, if 3 letters do pop through my door, I'll be cartwheeling up and down this thread like a monkey on amphetamines.

-Derek

[NikeeGoddess]

d - my supply of Ambrosia (food for the gods) has been depleted for quite some time now. :( :x :\

[velysai]

So I got my lovely standard rejection email sent to me Saturday. So where is the coverage they took so long to do? Will that be mailed later or something?

You'd think they'd update their website once in a while and take the time to notify EVERYONE who paid to enter their contest instead of just those who subscribe to the newletter. Or at least tell us that the newsletter is how they communicate their progress.

:rolleyes

[shellbark]

Thanks, D. Just having someone out there rooting for me makes it smart a little less. After a while you start to think that nearly everyone (mostly judges and readers) take sadistic pleasure in cutting you down.

Unfortunately.

That word should be banned from the English language, dontcha think?

How about a little creativity with their rejection?

How about this:
I know that putting your vision boldly to paper is not only difficult but borders on the masochistic. Cheers to you for daring to dream! Fortunately, I was reading your script when I ran out of toilet paper. Your words were absorbent and made for a truly moving experience.

I'm not bitter, really I'm not. I just want to be validated. :p