Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

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  • Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

    This was a bit of a shock to me. Learning that it wasn't the material, but rather the personal struggle that got you noticed on your submission. Seems clear they did not read every script submitted. with 11,000 entrants, that seems likely since they have to process the applicants in a very short period of time.

    If you think about it, 11,000 entrants in 28 days is 392 scripts a day. They simply do not have the man-power to achieve that expectation, so of course the scripts aren't read until the system makes its "selections."

    Here's an excerpt: https://www.wired.com/story/imagine-...source=twitter

    This year, the program received more than 11,000 submissions for just 17 spots in its third class. The Impact application consists of 70 questions, what Mitchell describes as a "thesis-like defense- of why the writer's particular project deserves investment. To manage the overwhelming volume, Impact uses machine learning to sift through the giant pool of applications and identify new voices. The AI is part device, part catalyst: The technology searches for diverse applicants-Mitchell explains they look for people who have overcome challenges in their careers or lives-with the goal of shaking up the historically homogenous film industry.
    Disappointing to have spent all that time to answer the 70 questions and not get read, but hey, it's their sandbox, good to understand the process finally.

    I wonder if the motivation behind releasing this information isn't in some way to discourage the high submission rate.

    FA4
    "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

  • #2
    Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

    Originally posted by finalact4 View Post
    This was a bit of a shock to me. Learning that it wasn't the material, but rather the personal struggle that got you noticed on your submission. Seems clear they did not read every script submitted. with 11,000 entrants, that seems likely since they have to process the applicants in a very short period of time.

    If you think about it, 11,000 entrants in 28 days is 392 scripts a day. They simply do not have the man-power to achieve that expectation, so of course the scripts aren't read until the system makes its "selections."

    Here's an excerpt: https://www.wired.com/story/imagine-...source=twitter

    Disappointing to have spent all that time to answer the 70 questions and not get read, but hey, it's their sandbox, good to understand the process finally.

    I wonder if the motivation behind releasing this information isn't in some way to discourage the high submission rate.

    FA4
    I read this article and I thought it was really interesting that they a) admitted they're using software to do a pass through the applications and b) admitted (in general terms) what the parameters are -- because now people are going to try to "game the system" with their answers. I don't think it will discourage anyone from applying but I think the answers will change a lot.

    Very interesting!!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

      Originally posted by finalact4 View Post
      This was a bit of a shock to me. Learning that it wasn't the material, but rather the personal struggle that got you noticed on your submission.
      Very interesting.

      Quote from article: The technology searches for diverse applicants–Mitchell explains they look for people who have overcome challenges in their careers or lives–with the goal of shaking up the historically homogenous film industry.

      So, thinking out loud -- I wonder if that's why so many of the chosen participants (it seemed to me, anyway) had a show before or already had reps or sold stuff -- and then stagnated? Does that count as a "hardship" more than never having had a sale?

      Also, is that the best way to chose -- instead of choosing from the strength of the material -- if the script doesn't end up selling even after participating in the program?

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

        the next round will prolly be a bunch of writers trying to answer the questions to get the AI's attention.

        me: imma gonna enter a bunch of 1s and 0s.
        "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

          How would AI be able to evaluate? Screenwriting is such a subjective process. How are they going to pick out the next Vince Gilligans from the stack? Anyways, most of the winners were already repped, so who knows how much AI is used.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

            Originally posted by Friday View Post
            How would AI be able to evaluate? Screenwriting is such a subjective process. How are they going to pick out the next Vince Gilligans from the stack? Anyways, most of the winners were already repped, so who knows how much AI is used.
            their goal isn't to evaluate the quality of the writing, but use a set of "keys" that help them identify diverse writers who have faced and overcome personal and/or professional challenges.

            with a few answers to questions you can determine quality for the most part: are you repped? have you been repped? have you won any contests? or awards? do they write in another field? all of these answers help them narrow the field.

            they're not looking for the next VG necessarily or even the best writers, they're looking for diverse voices with the best stories. the accelerator program will help them craft their project to the professional level. most are already at the pro level in their professions/writing field.

            if you look at the submissions alone, there is NO WAY they have the man power to have "eyes on." they have to narrow the selections down. there's no way around it.

            with 11,000 entrants that means they'd have to read 392 scripts and applications EVERY DAY for 28 days, they don't have 300 people reading for them. and no one can read that much material for a straight 28 days. it's logistically impossible to do without using AI.

            i'd bet 98% of the entrants are not read by a human being. it's not like they have 6 months to read like a contest does. it's an accelerated program. you have a couple weeks to complete your application and i think it was 4 weeks for them to select their 17 - 20 candidates. so they narrow the selection down considerably FIRST to a manageable number of entrants and THOSE are the ones that get read. i can't see any other way around it.

            kudos to those that get selected. it's a lot of work for what basically amounts to less than 1% (0.18%) to get selected.
            "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

              Originally posted by finalact4 View Post
              their goal isn't to evaluate the quality of the writing, but use a set of "keys" that help them identify diverse writers who have faced and overcome personal and/or professional challenges.

              with a few answers to questions you can determine quality for the most part: are you repped? have you been repped? have you won any contests? or awards? do they write in another field? all of these answers help them narrow the field.

              they're not looking for the next VG necessarily or even the best writers, they're looking for diverse voices with the best stories. the accelerator program will help them craft their project to the professional level. most are already at the pro level in their professions/writing field.

              if you look at the submissions alone, there is NO WAY they have the man power to have "eyes on." they have to narrow the selections down. there's no way around it.

              with 11,000 entrants that means they'd have to read 392 scripts and applications EVERY DAY for 28 days, they don't have 300 people reading for them. and no one can read that much material for a straight 28 days. it's logistically impossible to do without using AI.

              i'd bet 98% of the entrants are not read by a human being. it's not like they have 6 months to read like a contest does. it's an accelerated program. you have a couple weeks to complete your application and i think it was 4 weeks for them to select their 17 - 20 candidates. so they narrow the selection down considerably FIRST to a manageable number of entrants and THOSE are the ones that get read. i can't see any other way around it.

              kudos to those that get selected. it's a lot of work for what basically amounts to less than 1% (0.18%) to get selected.

              Very interesting. Wow, it's up to 11,000 applicants? I remember reading on this forum that for the first one, it was 4,000. I haven't filled out one of those applications, but for anyone who has, do they have a question about listing high contest placements? I wonder if that helps.

              If they are looking for semi-professionals, they can already reach out to them directly without the program. Most of those people have agents or are already listed with contest directors. I had assumed they were looking for the hidden Mickey Fischers and Vince Gilligans (unknowns that were discovered through contests).

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                Originally posted by Friday View Post
                Very interesting. Wow, it's up to 11,000 applicants? I remember reading on this forum that for the first one, it was 4,000. I haven't filled out one of those applications, but for anyone who has, do they have a question about listing high contest placements? I wonder if that helps.

                If they are looking for semi-professionals, they can already reach out to them directly without the program. Most of those people have agents or are already listed with contest directors. I had assumed they were looking for the hidden Mickey Fischers and Vince Gilligans (unknowns that were discovered through contests).
                the difference is that they don't have to search individuals, they search with a pool of 11,000 applicants and with AI that learns, well it's prolly pretty dynamic.

                they ask right up front if you're repped by a manager, agent, if you're in the WGA.

                there are a list of 70 questions. it's intense. it takes a lot of time and it's difficult because it's not a downloadable file and it's not the easiest to navigate.

                it's going to be a combinations of elements that get you selected. the questions are very targeted.

                Like this question, for example:

                Has your project been exposed to any other producers/buyers/talent in the industry, including competitions?
                i don't know if i'll try it again. i mean, i do have **** in my background, but i'm not that inclined to share it, you know? i mean, it's not like i grew up in a conflict nation, though some might argue that in this Trump era... sorry, couldn't resist. haha
                "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                  Friday -- I thought about that, the fact they can just reach out and create a lab using people they find through their contacts.

                  Unfortunately, I've become really cynical since 2016 and it occurred to me that the open application thing with this lab may be mostly a sham. Imagine (hahaha) you want people to know about your lab, publicize your lab, talk about your lab, want to get into your lab, etc.

                  What's the cheapest way of advertising it?

                  Have a "free" open application period. Let people talk it up on Twitter and Reddit, like they actually have a chance. Meanwhile, you've already got an idea of who you want for your lab and you make it seem totally based on merit by picking a couple candidates from the slush.

                  And I don't think they're using real AI. Many types of AI require a large training corpus to train a statistical engine. That would require reading at least the first bunch of applications and tagging them with a bunch of categories. It's really time consuming. No, I think they're probably using rule-based processing, which is just a fancy name for 'text searching.'

                  I've almost submitted twice, but at the last minute I held back because I didn't think my application was strong enough, or my video.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                    That's an interesting take, lostfootage, depressing, but very interesting.
                    "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                      Originally posted by finalact4 View Post
                      the difference is that they don't have to search individuals, they search with a pool of 11,000 applicants and with AI that learns, well it's prolly pretty dynamic.

                      they ask right up front if you're repped by a manager, agent, if you're in the WGA.

                      there are a list of 70 questions. it's intense. it takes a lot of time and it's difficult because it's not a downloadable file and it's not the easiest to navigate.

                      it's going to be a combinations of elements that get you selected. the questions are very targeted.

                      Like this question, for example:



                      i don't know if i'll try it again. i mean, i do have **** in my background, but i'm not that inclined to share it, you know? i mean, it's not like i grew up in a conflict nation, though some might argue that in this Trump era... sorry, couldn't resist. haha

                      You're probably right. It takes some of these major contests several months to wade through 9,000 scripts. Can't imagine being able to sift through 11,000 in just a few weeks to get to the finalists they'd call.



                      Yeah, any of the real * I don't think I"d ever want to share. It might influence the writing, but nothing I'd ever care to share. I don't think I have a ready-made hard luck story to share.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                        Originally posted by lostfootage View Post
                        Friday -- I thought about that, the fact they can just reach out and create a lab using people they find through their contacts.

                        Unfortunately, I've become really cynical since 2016 and it occurred to me that the open application thing with this lab may be mostly a sham. Imagine (hahaha) you want people to know about your lab, publicize your lab, talk about your lab, want to get into your lab, etc.

                        What's the cheapest way of advertising it?

                        Have a "free" open application period. Let people talk it up on Twitter and Reddit, like they actually have a chance. Meanwhile, you've already got an idea of who you want for your lab and you make it seem totally based on merit by picking a couple candidates from the slush.

                        And I don't think they're using real AI. Many types of AI require a large training corpus to train a statistical engine. That would require reading at least the first bunch of applications and tagging them with a bunch of categories. It's really time consuming. No, I think they're probably using rule-based processing, which is just a fancy name for 'text searching.'

                        I've almost submitted twice, but at the last minute I held back because I didn't think my application was strong enough, or my video.

                        They already have a wide reach of agents that can just get on the phone and touch base with these already repped writers or have the contest directors on speed dial. I would think the ones they don't have are the future Mickey Fischers and Vince Gilligans that haven't quite been discovered yet, but are on their way up, steadily climbing the rounds of the contests and showing promise. Not sure what search terms you can use to figure that out. Usually, you have to read the script to see the talent on the page. People can tell you they will have promise, but you won't know until you see how they work on the page.



                        I've read comments alluding to a 30 second video. I wonder what they would consider to be a great video. It seems like they would pretty much get the same thing over and over again. And for those that try to be different, a lot of times it's a misfire.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                          Originally posted by Friday View Post
                          They already have a wide reach of agents that can just get on the phone and touch base with these already repped writers or have the contest directors on speed dial. I would think the ones they don't have are the future Mickey Fischers and Vince Gilligans that haven't quite been discovered yet, but are on their way up, steadily climbing the rounds of the contests and showing promise. Not sure what search terms you can use to figure that out. Usually, you have to read the script to see the talent on the page. People can tell you they will have promise, but you won't know until you see how they work on the page.



                          I've read comments alluding to a 30 second video. I wonder what they would consider to be a great video. It seems like they would pretty much get the same thing over and over again. And for those that try to be different, a lot of times it's a misfire.
                          I don't think the video is used to judge camera/editing skill. It's there so they can confirm what diversity bucket they can put you in.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                            Originally posted by lostfootage View Post
                            It's there so they can confirm what diversity bucket they can put you in.
                            yikes! and here, i thought it couldn't get worse.
                            "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Imagine Impact Using AI to Select Candidates...

                              impact 3 creators. not especially diverse. many already well established writers.

                              https://www.imagine-impact.com/i3-creators
                              "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

                              Comment

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