For the 2011 Page Awards contest, I entered a script on the very first day submissions was open. This is a spec script that has been through a heavy development process from Page 1, totaling about 8 rewrites. During the submission process, it has been sent to approximately 40 people in the film industry. These range from the literary agency assistant all the way up to studio execs at Paramount, Fox, etc. Though I received rejections such as "We can't do this genre right now", or "It's not really my thing", EVERY single person who read it, LOVED it. Not like, not think it's great, but LOVED it. It also led to a ton of meetings, phone calls, and Skype sessions.
So, based on their reaction, I thought it would fair well in this contest. Boy was I wrong. It didn't even break into the top 10% of all entries. The day I find out that it doesn't qualify to the quarter-finals, is the same day I receive an email from an independent producer. We've been swapping emails, phone calls, and ideas for the last month or so. Finally we clicked on something and made a deal. While it's not a huge six-figure assignment, it is 2x more than the Page Awards prize.
I've been read twice by Page judges - Round 1 and Round 2. While I'm extremely happy for my new assignment and not really disappointed in this failure, I'm curious to the reader's qualifications. Did I get a professional reader with experience in this industry, or did I get a single mom from Iowa cashing in an extra $10 for flipping through the first five pages? How do so many people in the industry love the script, and one person rank it lower than another 100 scripts?
My first manager told me, "Never enter a contest, because you don't write contest winning material". I guess he was right.
Good luck to all of the other entrants left in the contest.
So, based on their reaction, I thought it would fair well in this contest. Boy was I wrong. It didn't even break into the top 10% of all entries. The day I find out that it doesn't qualify to the quarter-finals, is the same day I receive an email from an independent producer. We've been swapping emails, phone calls, and ideas for the last month or so. Finally we clicked on something and made a deal. While it's not a huge six-figure assignment, it is 2x more than the Page Awards prize.
I've been read twice by Page judges - Round 1 and Round 2. While I'm extremely happy for my new assignment and not really disappointed in this failure, I'm curious to the reader's qualifications. Did I get a professional reader with experience in this industry, or did I get a single mom from Iowa cashing in an extra $10 for flipping through the first five pages? How do so many people in the industry love the script, and one person rank it lower than another 100 scripts?
My first manager told me, "Never enter a contest, because you don't write contest winning material". I guess he was right.
Good luck to all of the other entrants left in the contest.
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