Should I bother entering any other contests at the moment?

[xplace User Find all posts View Profile Close xplace]

Hi writers,

Question... I entered TrackingB, should I bother entering any others at the moment?

[Bono Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bono]

I'm usually the guy against contests but just saw this guy on twitter said he sold his show to a network and I think he got started with one.... so there are success stories too.

https://scriptpipeline.com/justin-d-james

https://twitter.com/JDJames23/status...737665548?s=20

[finalact4 Member Find all posts View Profile Close finalact4]

[figment Member Find all posts View Profile Close figment]

I'm usually the guy against contests but just saw this guy on twitter said he sold his show to a network and I think he got started with one.... so there are success stories too.

https://scriptpipeline.com/justin-d-james

https://twitter.com/JDJames23/status...737665548?s=20

Clicked on the link and thought, wow, he won a pretty blonde woman? That was the prize? What an odd picture!!

Anyway, I agree with Final -- Tracking B is tough. But you said you already entered it, so good luck. I like the Nicholl. People always say to enter Austin, but honestly, I don't think their winners get that much traction at all.

I'm wondering if I should enter anything else this year too, so I'll watch this thread for others' thoughts.


-----

Some writer on Scriptshadow just got his script into this Coverage Ink's GET REPPED NOW contest, which I had never heard of. Pretty steep prices, imo. Anyone here try this one?

https://coverageink.com/get-repped-now/

[Jai Brandon Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jai Brandon]

[DaltWisney Member Find all posts View Profile Close DaltWisney]

For sure they are frustrating. My only real "success" in Hollywood was from a contest, so I suppose I'm partial to that route. I've seen it work first-hand to the extent of some prize money and a lot of read requests (no sale or big career yet, or I probably wouldn't be typing this!).

I just finished a rough draft of a new thing. I'll throw that into the Nicholl along with two old things. The Nicholl is kind of like my Moby Dick and I just stubbornly keep trying to kill it even though my sensibility doesn't exactly line up with the kind of stuff they seem to favor. I've seen some genre pieces do well there, so I know it's possible.

Beyond that I'll probably throw my strongest thing into Austin and then buy some Black List evaluations.

It's a big outlay for a relatively thin chance at a payout, but if you want to make a sale then you need to gamble on yourself to some degree.

I did PAGE and Scriptapalooza with my pilot a few years ago and got a strong amateurish vibe from them. Probably won't become a repeat customer.

I second what Jai said about trackingb. Exorbitant fee and no feedback. It's tough, but if you have the right material then it could be a good avenue I guess. The fees are just so, so high and you never hear anything from them beyond "yes or no". At least with Nicholl they do the percentiles and Austin gives you some very quick free notes. It's something for your money. You could almost buy two Black List evals for the price of a trackingb entry though, and that would give you notes, ratings, and potentially a platform to market yourself from. If your funds are limited, that seems better.

I don't know much about Script Pipeline or Tracking Board Launch Pad. I'm intrigued, but don't know how legit they are.

In general it's a "many will enter, few will win" cottage industry.