Nicholl 2020

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  • #16
    Re: Nicholl 2020

    Originally posted by Merrick View Post
    Thanks for the information all. It sounds like this year may have less of a turnout than last but still not small. Perhaps the 6000 guess is nearly right.

    I'm looking at PAGE as recommended above and Austin. Both have deadlines soon approaching as well.

    Are they worth entering in late deadlines?

    I don't know how close I'll be to fully ready for PAGE (April 20). I think by May 1st, I can comfortably call this ready to submit, so it should be ready for Nicholl, Sundance, Austin.

    Thoughts? Any other critical submissions around this time?
    You could also enter the Launch Pad Feature Screenwriting Competition. After all the contests announce their finalists and winners, I hope you’ll allow us to see your logline and five of your script’s pages.
    Last edited by Clint Hill; 04-10-2020, 04:28 PM.
    “Nothing is what rocks dream about” ― Aristotle

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    • #17
      Re: Nicholl 2020

      Any others vouch for the above ^^?

      Sure I can at least send you those things privately when all is said and done.

      Don't think I will place in any of these. But we will see. I will at least know I've done the best job I can. Two years grinding away, finding my style. It's been a fantastic journey.

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      • #18
        Re: Nicholl 2020

        I think Launch Pad is pretty legit, but I don't have much experience with them. I entered a pilot last year and it did nada, which is fine, but they kept pushing back the announcement date for their results, which seemed a bit Busch League to me. I don't think it can hurt to enter if the money is immaterial to you. I know for a fact that Launch Pad has opened doors for some people, but my sense is that Nicholl and Austin are the top tier of contests.

        To update my earlier post, I resubmitted an old script to the Nicholl that got top 10% one year, top 15% another, and outside the top 20% on the third try. It's essentially been the same script every time I've entered it, which just goes to show how much variance and subjectivity there is in the process. I doubt it will hit the top 5% this year, but I suppose all it takes is the right reader(s).

        I've finished rough drafts of two new things in 2020 and I'm just making some final changes to those before I send them along, so I'll have three horses in the race for the first time in a while. Hoping at least one of them can clear the top 5% hurdle...

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        • #19
          Re: Nicholl 2020

          Originally posted by catcon View Post
          You mean Nicholl? They've never been in it for the money, like 90% of contests. They and their reading crew are probably a bit happy that they'll only get 6000, whatever number, compared to the 7500 submissions they normally do.

          Those numbers look about right.

          They are up over 4500 now, and I'm guessing with a last minute surge will end up around 5500-6000 when all is said and done. Still a pretty good turnout.

          For me personally, the quarantine has given me more time to complete my projects. I know that my situation is a bit fortunate and that for other people it has had the opposite effect.

          I've now officially fired all three of my bullets, so the waiting begins. Hoping for at least one fat envelope.

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          • #20
            Re: Nicholl 2020

            Originally posted by DaltWisney View Post
            Originally Posted by catcon View Post
            You mean Nicholl? They've never been in it for the money, like 90% of contests. They and their reading crew are probably a bit happy that they'll only get 6000, whatever number, compared to the 7500 submissions they normally do.
            Those numbers look about right.

            They are up over 4500 now, and I'm guessing with a last minute surge will end up around 5500-6000 when all is said and done. Still a pretty good turnout.

            For me personally, the quarantine has given me more time to complete my projects. I know that my situation is a bit fortunate and that for other people it has had the opposite effect.

            I've now officially fired all three of my bullets, so the waiting begins. Hoping for at least one fat envelope.
            G'luck!

            And I should have just gone back in and <edited> that horrid piece of grammar when I noticed it right after I posted the original comment. But of course I meant to say that Nicholl was "unlike" 90%. But everybody knew what I meant, right?

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            • #21
              Re: Nicholl 2020

              Dalt, thanks for the rundown! catcon, understand what you meant.

              Working as fast as I can here.

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              • #22
                Re: Nicholl 2020

                Five days left to submit, and I'm smashing my head against the keys trying to perfect my third act, argh!

                Anyone else ever submitted on the final day before? Any issues? I saw in their FAQ that it is not advisable due to high loads of traffic then.

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                • #23
                  Re: Nicholl 2020

                  I submitted two already and was trying to get the third ready but I don't think that's gonna happen. Still too much work to do and I don't want to pay almost 90 bucks for something that'll probably be a lot different soon.

                  Anyway, good luck to everyone else. I submitted one last year and placed squat, though the comments were nice (not worth what they cost, though). Just a few paragraphs of what they liked and maybe a sentence about what they didn't like.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Nicholl 2020

                    Yeah it doesn't seem sensible to submit something you're not sure of. The competition sounds so fierce on these kind of things that the likelihood of placing on an early or unfinished draft sounds very low.

                    Good luck on your other submissions!

                    I won't be paying for the feedback, as you can get that from any number of freelance script consultants.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Nicholl 2020

                      ^Thanks, you too. Yeah I agree about paying for feedback too. I've been using Coverflyx a lot recently and in my experience the feedback is overall of the same quality as notes you pay for. I'd imagine that's because it's generally the same group of people offering the notes - amateur screenwriters.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Nicholl 2020

                        Originally posted by Merrick View Post
                        Anyone else ever submitted on the final day before? Any issues? I saw in their FAQ that it is not advisable due to high loads of traffic then.
                        Back in the day, about 1000 scripts arrived on Nicholl deadline day. The warning against waiting until the last minute was a holdover from an earlier era when the application system wasn't quite as stable. Once it was, we left the warning up as entrants encountered their own problems - not being able to navigate the application, missing a "hidden" button, having various questions, not having a properly created PDF, etc. - which might not be resolved an hour before midnight. Plus, for us, having scripts entered earlier was a benefit. Even a day or two earlier was helpful.

                        Used to receive about 2500-3000 scripts the final week, so if the number was at 4500 a while back, it looks as if the total will once again be around 7000.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Nicholl 2020

                          Thanks for the information, greg, very helpful. I will aim to submit the day before just in case.

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                          • #28
                            Re: Nicholl 2020

                            Originally posted by gregbeal View Post
                            Used to receive about 2500-3000 scripts the final week, so if the number was at 4500 a while back, it looks as if the total will once again be around 7000.
                            Thank you so much for sharing all this information. I wish other competitions were as open as yours. I recently placed in a couple of the other biggish competitions and asked them about their numbers, so I could gauge my placement. Both came back with a variation on 'trade secrets'. Only Final Draft Big Break was nice enough to tell me it was 'above 8k'.
                            Manfred Lopez Grem
                            WGA Writer - Director | Zero Gravity Management

                            REEL - IMDB

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                            • #29
                              Re: Nicholl 2020

                              It's down to the wire for me. I just want to confirm that you can submit on the actual day it says? So for May 1st, that means you can submit all the way up until midnight on May 2nd, right?

                              I won't submit at midnight, but I think I need some extra time in the morning or afternoon on May 1st.

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                              • #30
                                Re: Nicholl 2020

                                Originally posted by Merrick View Post
                                It's down to the wire for me. I just want to confirm that you can submit on the actual day it says? So for May 1st, that means you can submit all the way up until midnight on May 2nd, right?

                                I won't submit at midnight, but I think I need some extra time in the morning or afternoon on May 1st.
                                The rules say this: a late deadline entry fee of US$88 (by 11:59 p.m. PT on May 1).

                                So, yes, you can enter on May 1st.

                                imo, I wouldn't wait until the very last minute of May 1st, because that'll just stress you out more.

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