Nicholl question

[Dixon User Find all posts View Profile Close Dixon]

Suppose you had a screenplay that did well in the Nicholl competition a couple years ago. Now suppose you changed a few minor things in that script based on feedback from an agent at one of the bigger agencies.

Would you enter the revised screenplay in this year's Nicholl competition?

~Dixon

[carcar Member Find all posts View Profile Close carcar]

Re: Nicholl question

Why not? You got the entry fee?

Keep in mind, there's always the possibility it could do worse. These things arbitrarily happen sometimes, if you read these boards. But so what? You should still feel pretty good about it.

[JoeBanks Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoeBanks]

Re: Nicholl question

sure, i've known writers who changed little (or nothing) about their script from year-to-year and obtained vastly differing results.

[justin User Find all posts View Profile Close justin]

Re: Nicholl question

Minor changes make very little difference to the impact of a screenplay, but as JoeBanks says, exactly the same screenplay can do very differently in a subsequent year - up or down.

Since you seem unsure about the screenplay, why not make a copy with a new title and do a major revision making fundamental changes? Even if you decide you still prefer the original, you'll probably find something in the new version you'll want to incorporate.

[FoxHound Member Find all posts View Profile Close FoxHound]

Re: Nicholl question

Minor changes make very little difference to the impact of a screenplay, but as JoeBanks says, exactly the same screenplay can do very differently in a subsequent year - up or down.

Highly disagree. A few minor changes with the protag early on can endear him to the reader. It's the difference between loving or hating him/her.

[DangoForth Member Find all posts View Profile Close DangoForth]

Re: Nicholl question

You're going to get a different reader who is most likely going to have a slightly/largely different reaction than any other reader who has read it before.
Enter.

Hollywood is full of stories of screenplays that were rejected by dozens of readers before they found the right person who loved that particular script and made it into a hit film.

[acquaformosa Regular Find all posts View Profile Close acquaformosa]

Re: Nicholl question

Anything can happen. I've been a Finalist with a script that couldn't get past the Quarters another year.

And then there's the reverse . . . a script winning that in a previous year didn't advance.
http://messageboard.donedealpro.com/...t=63544&page=6 (scroll down)

[nativeson Member Find all posts View Profile Close nativeson]

Re: Nicholl question

Hilarious! By the by, the writer's store coverage looks interesting. They forward your stuff for reads if they like it.

[Ronaldinho Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ronaldinho]

Re: Nicholl question

Yeah, I know someone who got to the finals one year with a script, never got that far again. Same script.

There are a LOT of readers for the Nicholl. (6500+ entries. Every script read at least twice, some as many as five or six times, IIRC). They make a point to not give you to the same readers if they can (but obviously if you change your title, and don't tell them).

[gregbeal Member Find all posts View Profile Close gregbeal]

Re: Nicholl question

Suppose you had a screenplay that did well in the Nicholl competition a couple years ago. Now suppose you changed a few minor things in that script based on feedback from an agent at one of the bigger agencies.

Would you enter the revised screenplay in this year's Nicholl competition?

~Dixon

Can't answer the question regarding the value for you in reentering, but can regarding process.

If you reenter a script with the same title, there is no possibility of it being assigned to a reader or semifinal judge as the system excludes the script from the reader/judge's available queue.

If you change the title, the system warns us that the reader/judge has read the writer previously and almost always we don't assign the script to that reader/judge. (When we do make such an assignment, it's after comparing log lines to make sure the reader/judge has read the particular script previously. This usually only happens with writers who have entered many times.)

Entering under a different name and not telling us may cause us to assign a script to a reader who has read it previously. We do tell readers never to read a script they've read previously or even think they've read previously, whether in the Nicholl competition or elsewhere. Difficult to be surprised by a script in the same way the second time around.

[Dixon User Find all posts View Profile Close Dixon]

Re: Nicholl question

Thanks, everybody. Great comments. I'm going to try again and see what happens.

~Dixon

[ducky1288 Member Find all posts View Profile Close ducky1288]

Re: Nicholl question

Also something to remember, though it could be a blanket statement -- agents aren't usually known for their awesome note giving skills.

At the end of the day, they are only human and may not have the answers for your script.

But hopefully it made it better and good luck to you either way.