Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

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  • #46
    Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

    Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
    Greg -- do you send out scripts to readers as they come in or wait until the deadline to sort and send?

    I'm thinking if you send them out as they come in then the readers can read more at their leisure and the crowd of scripts coming in the last 3 days may get in the "rushed" pile. Please don't give the politically correct answer. Tell the truth so people can decide whether to send their scripts in early... or tweak it until the last day because it doesn't matter.
    I believe I've addressed this question in this forum a number of times over the years. Let me do it again.

    There is no "rush" period. It is a little slower for individual readers when each begins because we build gradually into larger stacks. But the most scripts we ever assign is 24 a week, in separate groups of 12. A reader must finish a previously assigned stack before she will receive a new stack. Thus "full-time" Nicholl readers are judging 24 scripts most weeks throughout the competition. Many readers, though, are not reading "full-time" and only judge 8 or 12 or 16 scripts in a week.

    As I've mentioned previously, other factors may be at work. Some readers may be a little tougher early in the competition, leaving "room" for higher scoring scripts they expect to come later. With scripts read later in the competition, it is possible that an individual reader will already have seen a script in the same genre dealing with similar subject matter. The second script may not seem as "fresh" as the script read earlier. Last year, there seemed to be a good number of zombie and vampire scripts. It is possible that some horror "specialist" readers (which means that they might have been assigned one horror script in every batch of 12 scripts) could have grown increasingly weary of vampires and zombies over the course of the competition.

    Once the May 1 deadline passes, we also continuously mix early and middle and later submissions in every batch of 12. At that point, it doesn't matter when you entered - with the exception of scripts entered in the last hour or two prior to the deadline. Those will mostly be among the last scripts read during the first round.

    In other words, negatives and positives are possible for any reader at any point in the competition.

    The one suggestion I always make is not to wait until the final few hours. Even then, it doesn't really matter, as scripts entered early, in the middle and late have advanced in the competition.

    Given that we're reading every script at least twice, that may change all of the above slightly. For instance, we could read every script once and then begin all of the second reads. If so, then the second reads will be totally mixed in terms of first score and arrival date. Or we might be assigning second reads simultaneously with first reads in order to keep readers reading prior to the May 1 deadline. We won't know this until we see how submissions arrive and reading unfolds.

    My advice: if your script is finished and you're no longer tweaking, enter near the early March 15 deadline to take advantage of the lower entry fee. If you aren't ready for the early deadline, then enter in the area of April 25-29, so that you have plenty of time to tweak and so that you won't be among the last 1500 or so entries.

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    • #47
      Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

      Nice to have two readers for each first round script- like the change.

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      • #48
        Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

        Originally posted by gregbeal View Post


        In other words, negatives and positives are possible for any reader at any point in the competition.
        Thought so... thanks for the wealth of info... I'm still polishing/tweaking - but will get it in before the (Beware the Ides of March!) early deadline.
        "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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        • #49
          Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

          Greg, just a quick thanks for the time and energy you devote to answering our questions and your efforts at always trying to provide substantive feedback and information regarding the Nicholl Fellowship.

          I think we sometimes take your participation on this board for granted since we seldom see the same level of involvement from other competitions.

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          • #50
            Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

            thanks greg. yeah, new people enter the arena every year so you'll have to keep repeating yourself.

            and... in other words, just send in a script that is blindingly good and the reader won't be able to see the words of any other script.
            OR
            can a reader rate an early read (being tough on it) and then go back and change the scores... after reading 50 scripts that are not as good?

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            • #51
              Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

              My recollection is that last year it was the average score in the first two reads which determined whether a script got a third read. Will that be the case this year - even if one reader gives a script a very high mark and the other gives it a very low mark, producing an average too low to get a third read? This would mean that a single reader could still sink a great script - if the high mark was the 'right' one.

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              • #52
                Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                Originally posted by NikeeGoddess View Post
                can a reader rate an early read (being tough on it) and then go back and change the scores... after reading 50 scripts that are not as good?
                Yes, readers are allowed to adjust scores at any point if they feel the adjustment will make their scores more accurate.

                We ask the readers to strive for consistency throughout the competition.

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                • #53
                  Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                  Originally posted by justin View Post
                  My recollection is that last year it was the average score in the first two reads which determined whether a script got a third read. Will that be the case this year - even if one reader gives a script a very high mark and the other gives it a very low mark, producing an average too low to get a third read? This would mean that a single reader could still sink a great script - if the high mark was the 'right' one.
                  Your description is not correct.

                  It is not the average of the first two reads that determines a third read. It is the high score of the first two reads that determines the third read.

                  Essentially, it's best one of two reads to determine third read.

                  Then, best two of three reads to determine quarterfinalists.

                  Next, best five of six reads to determine semifinalists.

                  Finally, best eight of ten reads to determine finalists.

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                  • #54
                    Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                    Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                    It is the high score of the first two reads that determines the third read.

                    Essentially, it's best one of two reads to determine third read.

                    Then, best two of three reads to determine quarterfinalists.

                    Next, best five of six reads to determine semifinalists.

                    Finally, best eight of ten reads to determine finalists.
                    Greg, we really appreciate your patience with all our questions.... thanks for providing the important details... I often wondered just how many reads a script had to survive to get into the final round.. I'll get back to polishing my script now.. shiny!
                    "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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                    • #55
                      Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                      Greg, I have a couple of scripts in the same genre. If I enter it at the same time, would different readers read them or would it be the same?

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                      • #56
                        Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                        Thanks for this info - a very fair system.

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                        • #57
                          Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                          Originally posted by lordmanji View Post
                          Greg, I have a couple of scripts in the same genre. If I enter it at the same time, would different readers read them or would it be the same?
                          In the past it was always easier to ensure that different readers judged a script if the scripts were entered at the same time.

                          With the database installed last year, readers are excluded from being assigned a script from a writer they've already read. So now it doesn't matter when an entrant submits scripts.

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                          • #58
                            Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                            Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                            In the past it was always easier to ensure that different readers judged a script if the scripts were entered at the same time.

                            With the database installed last year, readers are excluded from being assigned a script from a writer they've already read. So now it doesn't matter when an entrant submits scripts.
                            Thank you for the prompt reply, kind sir!

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                            • #59
                              Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                              Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                              With the database installed last year...
                              Just wanted to say nice job on the layout of past scripts entered. Nice little window to let us know the final status of the scripts (and not a bad little confidence booster when you just know your writing sucks).

                              HH

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                              • #60
                                Re: Nicholl Fellowship 2012 open for submissions

                                I don't know if it's an isolated incident but my Nicholl session expired twice when I was doing my entry. Once when I was doing the logline, another at the credit card entry stage. If others had a similar problem, say.

                                I spent about a minute away from the session looking for my logline, and around a minute digging out my credit card. I guess that was the issue.

                                My entry was successful but the dropped sessions was a bit of a nuisance.

                                It was not my broadband: the message was "Your Nicholl session has expired" or something very similar.

                                Apart from the above, the application process was a breeze.

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