Screenwriting Challenge 2006

Question

http://writetoreel.com/ Is anyone familiar with the people behind this competition? I'm interested in entering the competition despite the steep entry fee.Phil

Usenet · Accepted Answer

They charge $75 for an "early submission" then they say they "anticipate" that there will be over $1500 in the prize pool?

Oh, good Lord, run like ****...
(and when I say that I mean in the OTHER DIRECTION)

There's only a couple of contests worth entering, and this ain't one of 'em.
-ADS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]http://writetoreel.com/ I'm interested in entering the competition despite the steep entry fee. Phil[/nq]
Why?

Usenet · Answer

The site was first registered four days ago to a fellow named Peter Ravo of Huntington, NY, (Email Removed). I found no reference of "Write to Reel" in NY's business database, but that's not unusual, even with legit businesses. I googled that addy and found ten entries, half of which were related to poker. Most of the others were for writing he has several poems posted on writing.com. He took a nature photography course last year at Long Island University. No references to him being a player. Maybe he's just the tech guy.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]They charge $75 for an "early submission" then they say they "anticipate" that there will be over $1500 in the ... ****... (and when I say that I mean in the OTHER DIRECTION) There's only a couple of contests worth entering,[/nq]
Which ones?
[nq:1]and this ain't one of 'em. -ADS[/nq]
Rawat

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Which ones? Rawat[/nq]
The Nicholl Fellowship
The Chesterfiel (in years when it is held)
The Austin
and The Disney
You can find the URL for all through Google.
Caroline

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Which ones? Rawat[/nq]
[nq:1]The Nicholl Fellowship The Chesterfiel (in years when it is held) The Austin and The Disney[/nq]
What do you know about http://www.findthefunny.com ??

Any good? Have had a nice email from Rosa the president, as she was interested in the comedy screenwriters groups we organise over here.

Anything happen to the winners?
I only ask because, being a UK resident, this one is open to all. But also being a UK resident, I find paying to enter a competition a little alien (none of the major UK competitions require an admin fee... and there are some very good ones here, many run by the BBC and with a real chance of being put into production..). .

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]The Nicholl Fellowship The Chesterfiel (in years when it is held) The Austin and The Disney[/nq]
[nq:1]What do you know about http://www.findthefunny.com ?? Any good? Have had a nice email from Rosa the president, as she was interested in the comedy screenwriters groups we organise over here. Anything happen to the winners?[/nq]
Based on the information they provide on their website, I don't think it's worth a $40.00 early entry fee, let alone $50.00 later. The ONLY thing they have going for them, in my opinion, is that they are a contest for comedy scripts. Traditionally, comedies don't do well in "standard" screenplay contests.
So that leaves the question of what happens to the winners. Well, first place gets $2,000.00 and a bobble head doll. They say they get your script read by a prodco, but they don't say which prodco. If it was a production company with much clout, they'd be shouting their name from rooftops. The "goody bad" type prize may as well be empty, for all the information they give.
Consider this contest. They are awarding $3,500.00 in prizes. Chances are the readers and judges are all volunteers. The entry fee is, as we've establsihed, forty bucks. They need 47.5 entries to cover prize money. Toss in 12.5 entry fees to cover the rest of their contest associated costs, and anything over a hundred entries is gravy. From your mention of the letter from their president, they (if indeed she is not the entire "group") are apparently doing all within their power to maximize their entries. I find them soliciting material from the UK questionable. Unless you win and they send you airfair and provide hotel accomodations to attend their awards banquet, which doesn't seem to exist. All they say is that winners will be announced on April Fools day.
Tristan, ask yourself how many UK agents that work with a WGA US agent you can contact for forty bucks. '-)
[nq:1]I only ask because, being a UK resident, this one is open to all. But also being a UK resident, ... some very good ones here, many run by the BBC and with a real chance of being put into production..).[/nq]
I'm not absolutely certain, but I do believe the Nicholl is open to all. Maybe Ron will chime in...?
Meanwhile, it sounds like UK contests rank head and shoulders above most U.S. contests. An easy way to evaluate screenwriting contest is to check out what 100 entry fees will bring in, or 500, or 1,000. And how much of it are they giving away? And what do you get besides money?
And just for general information, always read the fine print on all new contests, no matter who the sponsor is. The first years of the Disney sucked! It began as a Disney owned contest specifically for woman and minoriies. The winner got something around $20,000.00, which was less than the Nicholl. In return for which the winner had to move to Los Angeles at their own expense, work for Disney in the studio every day for a year, turn over the copyright to their winning script to Disney, and agree that Disney would own the rights to ALL material written by the winner in the ensuing year, whether written at work or at home.

Considering the average going rate for a script at the time was $100,000 to $200,000, as I recall, Disney should have been using Black Pete (or whatever the robber's name is) for their corporate logo on the contest! I do know the contest rules have improved since those early years, but it's still highly advisable that someone read the fine rpint before paying an entry fee.

Caroline

Usenet · Answer

Thanks for the reply, Caroline! Appreciated.
The reason why they contacted me though is not questionable - they are thinking of setting up a group for wannabe comedy screenwriters in LA and since I already coordinate one in London, they contacted me for tips and to find out how one starts with setting them up.

The information on "your members may be interested in our competition etc etc" came in the second paragraph, but it wasn't the main point of the email. And they're cutting our members a deal - $5 off the entrance fee - as a thank you for me telling them about how we set up our own comedy writers group (now entering our 5th year!!) .

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Thanks for the reply, Caroline! Appreciated. The reason why they contacted me though is not questionable - they are thinking ... for me telling them about how we set up our own comedy writers group (now entering our 5th year!!) .[/nq]Glad to hear there are mentoring programs for comedy screenwriters! Beyond that, take whatever I say about screenwriting contests with a grain of salt, Tristan. I am generally very distrustful of them. There are a lot of fly-by-night contests. I tend to think of them as the time-share-vacation-condos of the film industry. Do the math on time shares, and you'll see what I mean. But every once in a while someone comes along with a great concept, but it almost always fizzles within two to three years.

Arouund a decade(?) ago, there was oh, lord, what was the name of it? Kingman? Chessman? Something like that. GREAT concept! Heavy financial backing from an independent investor. No entry fee. Open to amature and WGA screenwriters alike. Billboards down Santa Monica Boulevard, all that jazz. The winning scripts in three categories would be produced, and they would recover the contest costs through that. They got more buzz in the industry than anything else I can remember.

Then they hit glitches with production. Within three years their entry fee was something like sixty bucks, and the prizes not nearly so attractive. Then there's Project Green Light.
In my book, only the Nicholl, the Chestefield, and the Austin are worth entering. I still have reservations about Disney. And Sundance isn't a contest as much as it's a mentoring program. It works best if the screenwriter is part of a partnership with a director or producer, or both. A major producer once told me that the only contest worth entering is the one for the Oscars, and to focus on sending scripts to agents, prodcos, and producers. Probably not bad advice.
Caroline

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