Rejection

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  • Rejection

    I'm really starting to think many of these fellowships
    have pre-determined whom they are going to choose and I would do
    better trying to submit my work through and agent and forgetting about
    them all together.

    Thanks for denying me AGAIN Walt Disney. I would like to put
    an expletive in here but for some reason I can't get too worked
    up about it. I guess that's how you feel when you know you've
    given your all and no matter what some "judge" has said you're
    going to keep at your passion regardless.

  • #2
    Re: Rejection

    You should try every avenue you can and not just rely on contests...I had that mindset last year, the first time I entered some.

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    • #3
      Re: Rejection

      Originally posted by sunsetincali View Post
      I'm really starting to think many of these fellowships
      have pre-determined whom they are going to choose and I would do
      better trying to submit my work through and agent and forgetting about
      them all together.

      Thanks for denying me AGAIN Walt Disney. I would like to put
      an expletive in here but for some reason I can't get too worked
      up about it. I guess that's how you feel when you know you've
      given your all and no matter what some "judge" has said you're
      going to keep at your passion regardless.
      Disney's incredibly competitive. Just because you've applied more than once, and didn't win, it's rigged? That's absurd.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Rejection

        I still think the lotto is rigged. It's always old people in the middle of nowhere that win.

        Rigged I tell you.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Rejection

          It's usually the people who suffer from two afflictions -- no talent and no good scripts, that rely on that particular conspiracy theory.
          Last edited by thesilversurfer; 12-12-2006, 04:49 PM.

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          • #6
            Re: Rejection

            Disney/ABC does have some unstated preferences -- for the TV fellowship, prefers writers who live in LA and are at a certain point in their career -- they are, after all, looking for possible hires or development deals, not just casting breadcrumbs on the water. But there are almost always fellows who fall outside those criteria. It doesn't mean the fix is in, just that it's very, very competitive.

            Now, if you say talent and a good script spell Lotto success, then I'd better start buying tickets. The odds are actually better than landing a studio spec sale -- and no notes from executives after winning!

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            • #7
              Re: Rejection

              I know one of the recent Disney winners, and he's incredibly talented and dedicated. It always sucks to lose Sunset, but if you made any of the Disney cuts, consider it an accomplishment. There are many who didn't even make it that far. Put your successes on your resume and start querying agents and managers.

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              • #8
                Re: Rejection

                I know how frustrating these things can be. One particular rejection has actually become a source of comedy for me: I have published short fiction and essays for years in literary journals. But I cannot for the LIFE of me even place in the Zoetrope All-Story competition. I have tried every single year for oh gosh, five years now? Six? And I will keep entering every gd year until that gd contest recognizes me! I don't care! It's personal now! It's my white whale!

                Julie Gray



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                • #9
                  Re: Rejection

                  Thanks for all of the positive replies. I have a "friend" who has
                  told me that it's a lot of who you know and once in a while
                  someone "slips" through the crack so that's where I come from
                  with the "fix" point of view.

                  Take care

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Rejection

                    Look, there are lots of factors involved.

                    I entered a "Deadwood" script in the Austin Film Festival this summer in the TV category. I know that my script had some good characterization, some funny passages, and a plot that introduced possibilities for future episodes.

                    Considering how bad most scripts are in regard to everything you can name, I thought that mine would at least make the first cut, if only on the basis that it was literate. I mean, just consider how painfully unreadable most scripts are.

                    But my script did not advance at all. It went down in flames. Why? Maybe it really stank. But maybe somebody who was totally out of tune with the dynamics of "Deadwood" read it and was turned off.

                    Who knows? It is just a contest.

                    Do not get worked up over it.

                    "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Rejection

                      Plus there are other contests that can help you.

                      I won three contests this summer. And from all three, I gained far more than the prize money offered.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Rejection

                        Chances are pretty good you've had at least one former Fellowship recipient bag your groceries at Ralphs or serve you a blended at Coffee Bean.

                        The Fellowship's an honor, and has launched careers, to be sure. But everyone who won hasn't gone on to a real career, and many people who were rejected found another way in.

                        And it's only 50 grand or so for the whole year. Nice to get paid, but you still have to be out there hustling if you want a career.
                        If you really like it you can have the rights
                        It could make a million for you overnight

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                        • #13
                          Re: Rejection

                          Fifty grand a year won't get you a decent trailer in Hemet out here.

                          Anyone who thinks that screenwriting contests are paragons of virtue and that everything is on the up and up probably also thinks:

                          - Janet Jackson didn't know what was going to happen to her outfit
                          - Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston were a real couple
                          - The Russians would never poison anyone.

                          If the judges are primarily young women, you can bet that few scripts about old men are going to make it to the top. Knowing someone on the judging panel is bound to be eons more effective toward getting selected than not knowing a single soul. It's human nature.

                          That said, yeah, the script probably wasn't as good a the writer thought. I entered a script in the Cosby fellowship program that had got a "consider" at a major agency and a deliciously favorable coverage. I thought I would be a lock. I didn't even make the finals. They issued a one-page review and said that although the script was a really interesting concept, it read like a stage play. Well, it started out as a stage play (had won a first-place prize in a playwrighting contest). So I wondered, if they liked the concept, why just kill it? The fellowship was supposed to develop potential talent, right? Well help me turn the stage play into a script! No such thing. They want it to be shooting-script perfect, I guess. So when they said the competition was designed to nurture new talent, they really seemed to mean people who were already outstanding screenwriters.
                          Last edited by yvonnjanae; 12-12-2006, 11:34 PM.

                          "Until the Lion writes his own story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." -African Proverb

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                          • #14
                            Re: Rejection

                            In some ways, yes, they're fixed. In so far as, if an exec from the studio calls up and requests that someone they know be allowed into said contest/program, the contest/program really has to put that person in their contest/program, lest they piss off the higher ups. These people usually take up one or two slots -- these are not YOUR slots, because there's no guarantee you would have gotten in if those slots hadn't been taken.

                            There are also other people who've worked as assistants in the industry or, something. These people are desirable for contests because contests are a business... albeit not a huge money-making business but, in order for a contest to be successful, they have to have success come out of their contest. Which means, bringing in people who are likely to succeed. These people didn't "take your slot" because these people have been paying their dues, working hard to get here. Not that you haven't, but if you were an assistant, you'd probably have gotten a call for this slot, right?

                            (the "you" I use is generic, I don't mean YOU personally; the contests don't actually write out a list: "Okay, we've got one slot for an assistant, one slot for a..." it's whoever comes across their desk that they respond to that will be good for the program).

                            All of this said, some "real" people "slip" through. Real, talented people. These people usually take up the remainder of the slots.

                            So, you can be bitter and think that these contests are fixed because they're not recognizing your genius. OR, you can be competitive, get a fire lit under you, and think, "okay, so the more talented people took the 'talented people's' slots, what can I do to improve my writing so that I get one of those slots next year?"

                            Some people are happier thinking the world's out to get them. And, some people actually want to improve (and will end up succeeding in their chosen field).

                            The cold, hard truth is: you just weren't good enough this time. That's why you were rejected.

                            The comfort: You have plenty of time to become better.
                            "Boobsie is Tassle. Exotic dancer, exotic private investigator. Icy Stoli cranberry gives her the superhuman ability to project her voice to deadly decibel levels." -- StrayGatsby

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                            • #15
                              Re: Rejection

                              So I wondered, if they liked the concept, why just kill it? The fellowship was supposed to develop potential talent, right? Well help me turn the stage play into a script! No such thing. They want it to be shooting-script perfect, I guess. So when they said the competition was designed to nurture new talent, they really seemed to mean people who were already outstanding screenwriters.
                              Imagine you were judging a competition for new talent and had two scripts in front of you.

                              Script A has a concept you like but needs better implementation.
                              Script B had a concept you like (or perhaps even love) and spot on implementation.

                              Which would you award it to? (They are both 'new talent', so that isn't a factor)

                              Mac
                              New blogposts:
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