PAGE Screenwriting Contest

[Richmond Weems]

Could be.

HH

[acquaformosa]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

The rules in 2004 might have been different than the rules in 2011.

Yup, could be. Or not. There's a million stories in the naked city.

Back to writing.

Cheers.

[NikeeGoddess]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

stop wondering and worry about such crap. you could drive yourself crazy.
spend more time perfecting your own writing. focus man, focus!

[MulRedux]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

Advancing in screenwriting competitions is a nice way to gain some confidence, see how you stack up against other writers, and have an easier time getting your work read, but if you're trying to make money you'd be better off buying a lottery ticket.

[meemee2000]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

With the exception of R. Scott Shields, none has been heard of since. In fact, the gold, silver and bronze winners have all apparently done better than the supposed Grand Prize winners.

That's interesting! Goes to show that winning the contest isn't the end all, be all.

Related to your question about Laurie, you'd be surprised (or perhaps not) how many professional writers are entering these contests. Competition is fierce out there!

[TheConnorNoden]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

My craft is perfected; my story told as perfectly as can be. I'll let you see this yourself if you give me your word you won't allow anyone else to see it.

Your writing may be very good at this point but no one is perfect, at all, even the greatest writers still have flaws. As long as you are near perfect though everything is dandy .

[lordmanji]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

If any of you guys are familiar with Bill Burr, this is one of those threads that makes me understand how he feels when he sees a pumpkin with his girlfriend.

[acquaformosa]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

Ok, then let me put it like this: I exceeded my expectations.

Then you should be looking forward to collecting the $25,000 from PAGE. Unless of course, they just don't understand or get the genius of your writing . . . but then your screenwriting earnings probably make you ineligible anyway.

[huxsster]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

You should email Zoe. She's very accessible. I'm sure she'd respond to your question about prize money discrepancy.

The reason that gold/silver/bronze winners have a stronger track record than grand prize winners is that there's a ratio of 30:1 in that comparison. Anyone who medals in PAGE has performed at a level that could result in a career breakthrough.

[Richmond Weems]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

What's the purpose of this thread again? If you've got a bug up your ass about prize money and dividing the wealth, then you should follow the very sound advice of huxsster: email the person who can actually answer your question.

HH

[TheKeenGuy]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

Everyone, cut it out with the personal jabs, even if its responding to them in kind.

[NikeeGoddess]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

My craft is perfected; my story told as perfectly as can be. I'll let you see this yourself if you give me your word you won't allow anyone else to see it.

bite!
check you pm box

[acquaformosa]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

The Nicholl system makes lots more sense to me: each winner gets $5000 up-front with bragging rights she's a winner (not just a finalist).

I don't wanna nitpick, but winning (or even being a finalist) in the Nicholl Fellowship is about so much more than "bragging rights" (and to some degree . . . even the money). Yes, you'll probably point out that previous finalists and winners haven't leveraged that into a career, but so it goes.

And yes, it's hard to find fault with each of the five (or so) winners collecting a grand total of $30,000.

Anyway, I digress since I realize this is meant to be a discussion about PAGE.

[acquaformosa]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

Huh?

"being a finalist in the Nicholl Fellowship is about so much more than "bragging rights"

"so much more" like what?

I was on a site yesterday where everyone listed 10-20 contests they won or placed in, but not one had won or placed in the Nicholl. The Nicholl is the Holy Grail and that's because Nicholl bragging rights are the coolest there are.

There's nothing else behind the curtain. You don't become one with the Dalai Lama or stop world hunger. You get the money and bragging rights for a year after which you become an embarrassment if you haven't leveraged your win into a done deal.

By the way, show business is all about bragging rights. Everybody in the industry has an ego as big as a Cecil B. DeMille epic, that's why they're in Hollywood instead of Toledo working in a bank.

Art ...? gimmee a break.

If you get filthy rich at this racket you'll do the same thing Arthur Miller did -- put it all the line to get a mattress under Marilyn Monroe.

I don't think I said anything about "art" but feel free to take some of my comments out of context. I was referring more to generating heat and buzz, which can lead to silly things like landing a rep or a script deal.

But I now realize the errors of my ways. You're absolutely right . . . about everything.

[huxsster]

Re: PAGE Screenwriting Contest

The record shows the finalists perform just as well -- if not better! -- than Grand Prize winners. If this is true, it begs the question why are the Page folks awarding Grand Prize winners such astronomically higher prize money?

PAGE does a great job and they give one really kick ass prize to the script that makes it through their minefield of scrutiny. Of course the grand prize winning script isn't 25x better than any of the gold prize scripts. And it's certainly not 100x better than a bronze. But that's life in the big city.

I think I know the reason they award such a big grand prize but I'd rather not speak for them. Contact Zoe or Jen and they'll gladly explain in great detail. They're very organized and quick to respond.

Good luck to everyone in this year's PAGE!