And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

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  • #91
    Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

    Yeah, just forget about it. In the end, it's about writing the best material, no matter who you are or what people think of you.

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    • #92
      Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

      Scriptshadow probably just assumed that a guru of Jim's stature wouldn't have the gall to enter a free contest designed specifically to help new writers.

      Here's the thing. This is why I'm annoyed. I won't speak of everybody else who seems to be annoyed at this but I'll speak for myself.

      Mercurio is constantly advertising his blue plate "script consultant" specials on this site. He's constantly trolling for business and I guarantee once a new writer drops him a line he's puffing his chest out and making himself out to be more than what he is (which is an unrepped writer) in order to secure that $2500.

      That's his prerogative and it's the new writer's prerogative as to whether or not to pay that seemingly exorbitant amount to somebody who's basically just another unrepped writer.

      The thing that gets me is, Mercurio sees a contest like this -- an exclusive contest for unrepped posters here (does he post besides the times he's pimping his ummm services?). Now I'd venture to guess that Jim's probably made a pretty penny from the posters on this site. Wouldn't it have been nice if he would have seen the contest and did like Geoff LaTullipe did and said to himself, "how can I help this cause? how can i give back to the site? how can I help new writers?" And then offered to contribute some of his guru services to the prize package? Wouldn't that have been nice? Generous? Kind? That would have been the right thing to do, in my opinion, especially when Jim's got a supposed big time producer already championing his work around town.

      Instead what does he do? He enters the contest himself and feeds off his young. It's sad really.
      "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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      • #93
        Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

        My script is an edgy no-concept drama. It needs all the help it can get. The work that the producer and I are doing is raising money (talking to VCs, rich uncles and dentists), trying to attach talent, looking for tax breaks and incentives from different states and scouting locations. Agents and managers of writers aren't on our radar. And until a film I write, produce or direct makes a ton of money, I am sure, I won't be on theirs. And unless we land A-list talent, we won't be submitting the films to any major or mini-major studios.

        Am I an amateur who should be ashamed to offer services that help writers or am I too experienced a filmmaker to be allowed to compete with amateurs? From the way I have been set up in this limited view-point, I can't win, so I won't argue about it. I entered because I thought Wilson was offering a cool opportunity to members -- at various stages of their careers -- of an online community that I am part of. If Wilson thinks that it's inappropriate for me to be part of this contest and disqualifies me, then I will have no hard feelings toward him.

        If he decides to let me stay in the contest, why don't you all flame me in One on One or in private messages. This venom in the long run is probably more hurtful to the contest and his efforts than it is to me.

        Jim

        I will probably delete this post in a few days

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        • #94
          Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

          Do the right thing and step down, dude.
          "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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          • #95
            Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

            I wish I had some satisfactory answer for you guys to ease your concerns. But Jim did play by the rules. As far as prematurely declaring winners though, let's just wait until July 31st.
            Script Reviews - 5 a week! http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/

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            • #96
              Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

              Congrats, Jim. I do wish you the most luck possible on the script. It is a pretty funny conundrum, the whole professional services vs aspiring writer thing, but I do believe you and that your script needs help. And you did nothing wrong, so best of luck. Ignore stuff I said earlier, it was too easy to feed off other people.

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              • #97
                Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                Originally posted by ScriptShadow View Post
                I wish I had some satisfactory answer to ease your concerns. But Jim did play by the rules. As far as declaring winners though, let's just wait until July 31st.

                Wilson -- this is still a great opportunity you and others provided. However, if you do it in the future, tighten up your rules.

                Because techically, Jim does have produced credits. Not as a writer, but they're still credits. It's a gray area.
                Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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                • #98
                  Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                  Originally posted by joe9alt View Post
                  Scriptshadow probably just assumed that a guru of Jim's stature wouldn't have the gall to enter a free contest designed specifically to help new writers.
                  This contest isn't specifically for new writers. Wilson stated before that the goal of the contest is to find the best script. That's all. As long as you're unrepped, not a member of the WGA, you are a member of Done Deal Pro and have no produced credits to your name in the past two years, you are eligible.

                  However, only wilson can clarify if the produced credits are for writing or any aspect of filmmaking. I would assume it's writing, since it's a screenplay contest.

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                  • #99
                    Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                    Originally posted by ScriptShadow View Post
                    I wish I had some satisfactory answer for you guys to ease your concerns. But Jim did play by the rules. As far as prematurely declaring winners though, let's just wait until July 31st.
                    Lol.....

                    Yeah, make it all dramatic-like....

                    Dude, just declare him the winner.... I know the longer it plays out, the more hits he gets on his site, the more hits you get, the more DVDs get sold, but c'mon....

                    Comment


                    • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                      Originally posted by sc111 View Post
                      Wilson -- this is still a great opportunity you and others provided. However, if you do it in the future, tighten up your rules.

                      Because techically, Jim does have produced credits. Not as a writer, but they're still credits. It's a gray area.
                      How is it a good opportunity if the winner was decided before the contest was ever run...?

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                      • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                        I don't know man ... I hear everyone's point and there's a lot of merit to them - but really, if Jim entered and didn't advance, and Wilson pm'd people saying "who is this chump?"... seems to me he had a lot to lose. I love consultants stepping out to be judged. Wish every single one of them would do it. Really, always wished they'd do that.

                        Second point is we always hear we aren't trying to compete against other amateurs, we're really going head to head with pros. ESPECIALLY in the current market.

                        Anyway, congrats to everyone who placed or even got better at their craft due to this contest. Best of luck.

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                        • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                          Honestly, dude (LuckyLucas), there are zero reasons to give Wilson crap. He shouldn't have to take that tone for doing something nice, especially when no rules have been broken.

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                          • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                            Originally posted by LuckyLucas View Post
                            How is it a good opportunity if the winner was decided before the contest was ever run...?

                            You're accusing Wilson of "fixing" this contest?

                            You're wrong.
                            Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

                            Comment


                            • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                              This contest was for free. I see it as a gift to the DD community. Congrats to all the winners.

                              Wilson, thank you for running the contest. I appreciate the time and effort you put into organizing it and reading a hundred scripts. When I think about how much time it took to read a hundred scripts and you did it for free - wow!
                              826dk

                              ARTicles: Kick Your Creative A** Into Gear

                              DK - Script Revolution

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                              • Re: And the official 5 finalists of the Scriptshadow Screenplay Contest are...

                                Originally posted by Jim Mercurio View Post
                                Am I an amateur who should be ashamed to offer services that help writers or am I too experienced a filmmaker to be allowed to compete with amateurs?
                                There's a larger issue here, Jim. You run your own contest. From your contest site:

                                We champion our winners. We introduce them to the film industry and prepare them for a writing career. We guarantee that more than 50 companies will read their entire scripts.


                                I don't know who the "we" are in your contest pitch above but it raises the question -- if you can get 50 companies to read your winners' scripts, why do you need to enter Wilson's contest where all the prizes are getting industry reads? Clearly you can get your own script onto the desks of 50 companies, no?

                                I'm not beating you up -- it's a fair question.
                                Last edited by sc111; 07-18-2009, 02:49 PM.
                                Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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