All screenplay contests are SCAM?

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  • #16
    Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

    Originally posted by dave22 View Post

    Your "proof" is not sound.
    ok..gotcha..but give me an example of a contest winner who was nobody and became a working screenwriter and his films have a high IMDB score..

    I only know Ehren Krueger but he was already in the biz before winning Nicoll.

    please give me at least one example...of unconnected writer who won the contest and became a famous writer...

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    • #17
      Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

      Originally posted by Turbopolis View Post
      ok..gotcha..but give me an example of a contest winner who was nobody and became a working screenwriter and his films have a high IMDB score..

      I only know Ehren Krueger but he was already in the biz before winning Nicoll.

      please give me at least one example...of unconnected writer who won the contest and became a famous writer...
      Are you serious? That's what you think happens? You win a contest and everything falls at your feet? Man, not only are you not ready for this town, but you're going to get chewed up and spit out. Winning the contest is validation, the rest is in your shoes. I won a contest, it got me a direct line to an A-List director and a huge management company (Benderspink). The meeting with Randy was above my wildest dreams (see above). I knew that Benderspink wasn't going to option the script we wrote, because it was not the type they produce. But we had a great meeting, they've read more of our scripts and we still talk. That's all because of the contest. Because I have not won an Academy Award is not a reflection on them.

      Contests are a door in, not the keys to the Kingdom. But, to answer your question, Tyler Marceca won a different round of the Industry Insider. A bidding war erupted and he ended up selling the script to Mark Wahlberg for high six figures. Not optioned or this vs that, outright sold. Now, because the movie went into turn-around and Wahlberg moved to a different project (which happens all the time) is not a reflection on the contest.

      So there's your one. Don't come back and say, "That's only one" because that's what you asked for. I'm not going to sit here all day and keep bringing you names of people who have been staffed on shows or whose scripts are being produced. Go research PAGE, they're more than happy to let you know their contest scripts that have gone on to be produced. I've had meetings with managers from high contest placements (not even wins) after they read our scripts in the judging rounds. Just because we ended up not being a good fit is not a reflection on the contest. They're the reason we met them.

      You need to temper your expectations and come back down to earth.

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      • #18
        Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

        Originally posted by dave22 View Post

        You need to temper your expectations .
        Don't worry dave22 about my expectations. They are modest.
        Good luck!

        P.S
        Where is Tyler's 6 figures script? Not produced? http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3954824/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

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        • #19
          Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

          Originally posted by Turbopolis View Post
          ok..gotcha..but give me an example of a contest winner who was nobody and became a working screenwriter and his films have a high IMDB score..

          I only know Ehren Krueger but he was already in the biz before winning Nicoll.

          please give me at least one example...of unconnected writer who won the contest and became a famous writer...
          Mike Rich was a radio personality in Oregon when FINDING FORRESTER won the Nicholl. Sean Connery happened to get a copy of the script and decided to get it made. Then he did THE ROOKIE, RADIO, a major (uncredited) rewrite on MIRACLE, and I heard he was uncredited on INVINCIBLE too. All fairly successful movies. Not sure what he's up to lately, but IMDB isn't necessarily the most accurate source for that anyway.

          That doesn't happen often, mind you, and I've heard him acknowledge that before. Most often people who do well in contests use that to get a leg up on getting representation, which opens up more opportunities. The contest scripts themselves don't necessarily go anywhere, but winning is good for the writers.
          Last edited by omjs; 03-25-2015, 12:48 PM.

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          • #20
            Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

            Originally posted by omjs View Post
            Mike Rich was a radio personality in Oregon when FINDING FORRESTER won the Nicholl. .
            Yes. That's true. Thanks for the info, OMJS!

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Rich

            http://www.ew.com/article/2013/11/08...oll-fellowship

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            • #21
              Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

              Originally posted by UnequalProductions View Post
              I made the same joke first and UpandComing gets all the praise. Story of my writing life
              Don't sweat it, I paid slupo to give me the shout-out because I need applause
              "I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.-- Peter De Vries

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              • #22
                Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                Originally posted by Turbopolis View Post
                I did a research on the winners of these contests(social media IMDB) They are all well connected before the contest or if they're first-timers their winning script is not getting produced or optioned..
                !
                First feature script I wrote finished up as a winner in the PAGE Awards and (under a different name) an honorable mention in TrackingB. I had zero connections. Also, it was a British thriller. That same script was then taken on by the guys behind Batman, Man Of Steel and American Hustle. We reworked it for the American Market, took it out and although it didn't sell it introduced me to the entire town and I've got some terrific relationships because of it. I've acquired agents and managers because of all that. And now the original version of the script has since been acquired by an established UK prod co. I've just finished revisions on it and we're now out to some amazing directors before Cannes. So, sorry mate but I completely disagree with this statement... And that contest winning script and the exposure it gave me has lead to me being a working writer. I've currently got four projects at various stages of development and three optioned properties (amongst other things). I say this not to brag but so that others who are thinking of entering contests aren't put off by ill informed comments like the one above.

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                • #23
                  Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                  Nicole Perlman won a Sloan Grant through the Tribeca Film Festival, which led to her getting accepted into Marvel's screenwriting program, which led to Guardians of the Galaxy. So yeah, it may not be a direct road, but the exposure from a good contest does help people out.

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                  • #24
                    Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                    I'd say 90% of contests are unintentional scams. They consume cash and get their winners nowhere, but also try (in vein) to get their winners noticed in Hollywood. It's in vein because no one gives a crap about Storypros or Scriptvamp winners.

                    Stick with the big competitions.
                    I'm never wrong. Reality is just stubborn.

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                    • #25
                      Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                      On the TV side, there are too many people to count who have done the various writing fellowships (NBC, Disney, WB, etc.) and became working writers. And there's Mickey Fisher, who was a trackingb finalist two years ago and has a show on CBS starring Halle Berry.

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                      • #26
                        Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                        Originally posted by Turbopolis View Post
                        please give me at least one example...of unconnected writer who won the contest and became a famous writer...
                        I'll give you three.

                        Herman Mankiewicz (Bluecat Winner)
                        Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Scriptapalooza Quarterfinalist)
                        Dalton Trumbo (Final Draft Big Break Top 15)

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                        • #27
                          Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                          Screenwriting is a a scam, you write a bunch of bullshit on a piece of paper and people pay you thousands if not hundreds of thousands to buy it.

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                          • #28
                            Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                            Well, let's see. I've won $7500 in a couple of contests, one big, one fairly small. I wish I was further along professionally, but, you know, money's something.

                            But how about Oren Uziel, who won a smaller prize at Austin the year before me, and has since gone on to write 22 Jump Street, among others, for a lot more money than $7500? He was a lawyer on the bottom rung of his NY firm, (they sent him to Cleveland or something like that for a year to sort through boxes, before he quit) before that, got a degree in psychology. No business connections whatsoever. The Austin win got him rolling, he told me.

                            Ain't keys to the kingdom, like someone else said. But this board is pretty good about vetting contests, script consultants, pitchfests and whatever other way you want to spend/waste your money. Do I believe in contests? I think the good ones serve their purpose. Even if you don't win, you can get a sense of how close you are, and get encouragement. It's like all gambles, play your cards right and don't spend more than you can afford to lose. Less excited about them than I used to be, but I'll still enter some.

                            But it's not the only way. You don't need anything but electronic shoe leather, really, and a great script with a great log line... (ETA)... to land on the right series of desks.

                            And common sense.

                            Look, I've had producers ask me to read scripts they had giant hard-ons for that left me scratching my head at best, and ranting to the heavens at the unfairness of the world at worst. I've worked on big budget movies (early stages, not as a writer) that left me wondering how the hell they ever got greenlit. It's all opinion in this town, not some finely calibrated system of weights and measures overseen by the board of oversight. Contests, too.

                            On a side note, Dick Daring just cracked me up.

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                              Originally posted by DickDaring View Post
                              I'll give you three.

                              Herman Mankiewicz (Bluecat Winner)
                              Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Scriptapalooza Quarterfinalist)
                              Dalton Trumbo (Final Draft Big Break Top 15)
                              Man, I didn't know Final Draft was around before word processors...

                              Ya learn sumthin new (or old) everah day...

                              Thanks for the laugh, DD!

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: All screenplay contests are SCAM?

                                I don't know, honestly I can kind of see the OP's point of view. Don't get me wrong, some peeps actually do become working writers due to contests. But they are few and far between and all the rest of those massive amounts of money goes to....um.

                                I think certain contests have a certain number of industry players in their pocket, so to speak, and so every year some winner is signed by one of those players (the same player or players year after year), and then eventually that same winner goes looking elsewhere because said player turns out to be a rep that is not exactly batting for them.

                                We all gotta do what works for us. I will say, even though I haven't entered many contests, that the Nicholl seems to stand above the rest by at least a mile in many regards, not the least of which is transparency.

                                But no offense to anyone who does any of this, and I have done it myself: do the math, and yeah, come on, these guys are making bank.

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