Triggerstreet off the mark??

[BROOKLYNBRASSGUTS]

I recently had some professional consultation done a script and after revisions I decided to throw the script onto triggerstreet to see what would come. I got the worst reviews you can imagine. Does any one know who exactly are the people on trigger street? I mean in terms of cross section of their membership? Mostly students, afisionados, kvetching pains in the tuchas? (just kidding) I realize that because it is a free service you expose yourself to that element, but does anyone really have numbers on who belongs to it? Just wondering.

AbZ

[LauriD]

Re: Triggerstreet off the mark??

I haven't participated there in a year or more, tho in the early days I workshopped several scripts there. I found reviewers all over the map: you can get a review that's undeservedly bad (or good, for that matter). A major issue was that reviews were often so short as to be of little value other than as a vague barometer. And the ranking system seems to be a corrupting influence. I find Zoetrope far more useful for detailed, intelligent feedback.

L.

[Willoughby]

Triggerstreet: Valuable Advanced Warning

I love trigger and have reviewed over thirty scripts there. I once submitted an historical piece and my first reviewer had studied that period in college. She was a big help! But that was gravy; the meat of the service is the honest feedback from a multitude of viewpoints.

There may not be an IQ test to join Trigger, but there isn't one to work in the industry either. And every argument you hear on Trigger is one you can prepare to fight against in a meeting.

If you dig, you can usually get something of value from every review. And if there's one that truly offers you nothing, you can submit it to the Hall of Justice. I peer-review two potential HOJ cases a day and the system does work. Not perfectly, but with a lot of safeguards to give every complaint a fair shake. (And I hear Zoe doesn't have a HOJ type option, but I could be misinformed there.)

It's not perfect. Neither is Hollywood. So take the advice or don't take the advice, but at least with Trigger you get a heads up regaring what missed-points and preconceptions you may have to face down in a meeting one day.