My Experience with Screenwriting Contests in 2008

There are two industries in Hollywood, one that makes movies, the other that makes money off of people who want to make movies.

Screenwriting contests are the latter. They all claim that their only goal is helping writers and promise that the finalists or winners will be read by prominent agents and production companies.

You can expect calls from agents if you win Nicholl. For the rest -well... My script did well enough in several contests that my logline was supposedly sent to agencies and the like- I never heard a word.

That doesn't mean screenwrtiting contests aren't one of several ways to get your script noticed. They are a legitimate part of a strategy to get your script into the right hands. The more people your script gets in front of the better your chances. In the world of screenwriting contests, your script will only have that opportunity if it goes deep into a major contest.

Contests are, in reality, cash cows for  those responsible. Fifty bucks times 2000 entries is $100,000.  Double that amount for those competitions that run twice a year and it's not difficult to see why there are so many contests.

That's not to say that running a contest is easy or even profitable. Someone's got to read and judge all those scripts at least once, and possibly many times for around  $50. Most of the initial round judging is usually done by poorly paid college students, at ten or twenty bucks script. Several contests have three initial readers. So how on earth can a contest make any money? 

There's a couple of ways. They pay very little to the early round readers- $5 or $10 a script. If it's a small contest, the readers may be those who run the contests themselves. In either case, in the 1st round, they reject the majority of the entries after reading just a few pages. While that may sound unfair-why should they finish reading a script that isn't making an impact by the end of the first act? Especially when It's already clear they won't advance it.  What’s far more unjust is the persistent rumors I hear that some contests actually reject based on the title!

Many contests offer more than just a competition. They offer critque and coverage, some with the coverage already baked into the entry fee, others at a discount. I'll let you know my experience with this, as well as some of my recommendations, in a little bit.

Inside the Numbers

I entered 12 contests this year. Some were small, like Red Inkworks and Big Bear, others received entries numbering in the thousands.

After the results were in, I asked each contest a few simple questions: how many entries did they receive, what percentage advanced to the second round, the third, the quarterfinals, etc. Most responded immediately, a couple flat out refused to release that information. I guess they think it's a government secret or something.  Or they don't want anyone to know how much coin they're pulling in.

Onto a statistical breakdown:  

As you can see, some contests take forward as much as a quarter of the entries to the next round, some go directly to a quarterfinal round taking as few as 5%. In all of the contests, the odds of winning are microscopic.

Several contests, Red Inkworks, Film Makers, Script Pimp and others claim that the finalists will be read by this or that company. That doesn't mean that said company is a legitimate force in Hollywood or that an actual agent, as opposed to the receptionist, will read it.

So, I guess the question would be, is all this worth it? I spent, between contest fees, mailing, copying, $700 on contests this past year.

Answer :Yes it's worth it. But just go in with your eyes open. Both to the racket contests are and to the unlikely, but still possible expectations, that they will help launch your career.

I recommend entering a mix of big and small contests. The small contests I entered were actually far more useful than the big. Larry Myles at Red Inkworks is an example of what a contest should be: he gives all participants his own personal critque as part of the entry fee. He even works with the finalists on their first few pages. And let me tell you this- he knows his stuff.

But did his contest help me get a foot in? No.

Big Bear actually sends back the judges comments and ratings- interesting stuff to see. Some judges saw right to the heart of my script’s strength and weaknesses, others were absolute morons, bringing their own agendas into the judging. But Big Bear deserves kudos for sharing all of this.

The contest coverages that were part of the entry fee, other than the two mentioned above, were worthless. On the other hand, I paid extra for a coverage from Slamdance. I think it was $65. And boy, was that worth it. Eight pages of good synopsis, critique, suggestions. I’ve paid for coverages outside of contests and this level of work would have cost upwards of $150 outside of the contest.

I had of couple of bad experiences. Two contests I will never enter again: Blue Cat and Script Pimp.

Blue Cat- the judge’s comments I got back were so lame I think someone’s grandmother wrote them. My script is a tough, gritty rock and roll redemption story. Their comments: “This is a fun rock and roll story with fun characters.” Like it was Marty Kroft.

Script Pimp- Separate from their contest, Script Pimp offers a pay for service where you can send your logline and synopsis, through their exclusive connections, to various power brokers. I got sucked in by this because they offered it at a discount in combination with their contest entry fee. The service is useless. I know- I sent out multiple queries. They didn’t get rejected, they never got looked at. Some service.

Script Pimp's contest was also suspect in my book. They take just 20 scripts out of 2,000 forward into their second round. Get this –out of those 20, three were by the same writer. I just don’t buy those odds. One guy wrote three scripts and each script beat out 1,980 others!

I asked Script Pimp about this and to their credit they did respond. This guy sent in five scripts, they took three forward,. The Script Pimp people just really liked all three scripts. It just seems too suspicious to me, and they are off my list. 

All contests should have a policy of absolute transparency- in terms of numbers, the judging process, all of it. There’s no excuse for not doing this. My attitude is this: contest staffs are my employee, I am their employer. After all, it’s we the writers who are paying them!

What contests you should enter depends on what you want out of them. If you think your script is good to go and you only want to use a contest as a stepping stone maybe you should enter only the biggest contests that offer the best possibilities of agent and production company readings. If you’re curious what the judges think, look for that. I recommend paying for one or two coverages. It’s always a risk if you’ll get a good reader, so contact the contest organizers and ask questions. Remember, they work for you.

To place in a contest, you have to have a great, finished script and be very lucky. Your script has to hit the right readers, in the right mood, at the right time to beat out thousands of others