Well, I've got a bit of a head scratcher here. Perhaps others can give me their opinions...
This last spring, I was a top-three finalist in a genre-oriented screenplay contest -- not a huge one, but one with over 1200 entries, so not bad.
The prizes were nice -- software, a small cash prize, free services -- I was delighted. However, the reason I entered in the first place was because finalists would receive a read, along with one page of development notes and a fifteen minute phone call from one of their judging panel production companies and the finalist got to choose!
I chose, of course, the company I have no contact information for (and can't find anywhere) -- a company whose work I admire and would have LOVED to get a read request from.
After the contest, I was given a choice of not only the company but also what form of contact I preferred -- phone or Skype. And as they had my email, as it was one the title page, I happily waited... and waited.
After a month I emailed the contest coordinator who promised to look into it. He got back to me saying they would get to my script soon. I said that that was good as I was waiting to revise the script (though I think it's pretty good as is) based on whatever notes they gave me. And, yes, I was secretly hoping that if I revised it accordingly, they might give me an open door to submit.
(By the way, I have no issue with the contest folks -- they have been wonderful.)
Another month went by, and another. At the five month mark, I wrote to the contest coordinator again and he apologized and said he would contact the prod co.
Last week I got an email from the contest coordinator with his apologies, saying the prod co didn't want to email me directly as they don't want people replying.
This is what my "one page" of development notes said.
PASS. Execution needs work.
Huh? I didn't submit it as a query -- I won a page of development notes!
I just talked to the (extremely nice) contest coordinator on the phone. He said he spoke to the prod co. They said their notes constitute a page. They further passed on my (winning) fifteen minute phone call, saying that a Pass was a Pass and, basically, I should move along.
The embarrassed contest coordinator offered me a consolation prize (software), which I declined, saying he'd done enough and that I was extremely appreciative of his efforts on my behalf.
So I'm back to my three word prize.
Execution needs work? Can't that be said for just about everything? In what way -- where? -- that's what I wanted to know. Which is why I entered the contest in the first place.
Then I got to thinking about it... since the comment is so generic (though usually it's preceded by the phrase "Concept is good but the...", do you think they even read the script at all? Or did they read the script and then decided it wasn't worth commenting on?
I certainly don't know how to go about fixing my script, that's for sure. Reworking the blanket "execution"? Where do I start?
Maybe I'm just venting but, quite honestly, this whole experience -- other than my contact with the lovely contest coordinator -- has been disheartening.
This last spring, I was a top-three finalist in a genre-oriented screenplay contest -- not a huge one, but one with over 1200 entries, so not bad.
The prizes were nice -- software, a small cash prize, free services -- I was delighted. However, the reason I entered in the first place was because finalists would receive a read, along with one page of development notes and a fifteen minute phone call from one of their judging panel production companies and the finalist got to choose!
I chose, of course, the company I have no contact information for (and can't find anywhere) -- a company whose work I admire and would have LOVED to get a read request from.
After the contest, I was given a choice of not only the company but also what form of contact I preferred -- phone or Skype. And as they had my email, as it was one the title page, I happily waited... and waited.
After a month I emailed the contest coordinator who promised to look into it. He got back to me saying they would get to my script soon. I said that that was good as I was waiting to revise the script (though I think it's pretty good as is) based on whatever notes they gave me. And, yes, I was secretly hoping that if I revised it accordingly, they might give me an open door to submit.
(By the way, I have no issue with the contest folks -- they have been wonderful.)
Another month went by, and another. At the five month mark, I wrote to the contest coordinator again and he apologized and said he would contact the prod co.
Last week I got an email from the contest coordinator with his apologies, saying the prod co didn't want to email me directly as they don't want people replying.
This is what my "one page" of development notes said.
PASS. Execution needs work.
Huh? I didn't submit it as a query -- I won a page of development notes!
I just talked to the (extremely nice) contest coordinator on the phone. He said he spoke to the prod co. They said their notes constitute a page. They further passed on my (winning) fifteen minute phone call, saying that a Pass was a Pass and, basically, I should move along.
The embarrassed contest coordinator offered me a consolation prize (software), which I declined, saying he'd done enough and that I was extremely appreciative of his efforts on my behalf.
So I'm back to my three word prize.
Execution needs work? Can't that be said for just about everything? In what way -- where? -- that's what I wanted to know. Which is why I entered the contest in the first place.
Then I got to thinking about it... since the comment is so generic (though usually it's preceded by the phrase "Concept is good but the...", do you think they even read the script at all? Or did they read the script and then decided it wasn't worth commenting on?
I certainly don't know how to go about fixing my script, that's for sure. Reworking the blanket "execution"? Where do I start?
Maybe I'm just venting but, quite honestly, this whole experience -- other than my contact with the lovely contest coordinator -- has been disheartening.
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