Screenwriting : Money Wasted On Most Competitions & Contests... Or The Real Thing? by Scott C. Brown

That's in depth. If you put that much energy into your storycraft, you're gonna be alright. I'll take coaches and coverage over contests any day. Especially in the early years.

I've veered away from contests anymore. I enter a few a year and like the OP said, I don't mess with any that don't offer prize $/connections (preferably both!) The ones out there that offer free feedback are worth entering as well.

My best $ spent has been on pitching and making connections that way, then following up with those connections by flying to LA and meeting them. Heading to LA this weekend and have two meetings with producers I connected with on VP, as well as meeting my mentor/friend for dinner who is a real live working screenwriter. More and more, I'm learning that the "who you know" factor seems to supercede anything else.

This is a relationship based business. Good to value the power of networking!

Just win Nicholls and you are guaranteed to sign with a Rep, do the water bottle tour of all the Studio Executives. After that, your screenwriting career is still under construction.

There are 2 major free contests. Disney & Warner Bros. Both have track record of film & TV careers.

Or cut the line and see Rabbi Leder of Wilshire blvd Temple. Who's who list of Hollywood bigshots every Saturday.

Jody

Attend synagogue in Los Angeles :)))

Winning or placing in contests can confer benefits that aren't always quantifiable. Money, prizes, certificates suitable for framing, etc. are all nice, but it's how you exploit the wins in your marketing campaign that makes it worthwhile. For an unknown, one of the intangible benefits is the credibility (not to mention confidence) that helps when facing producers & execs. As I learned the hard way, when opportunity knocks, you better be 100% ready! These days my preference is for contests that a) aren't buried alive in entries, & b) split up the competition by genre, which improves the odds of winning. To use an analogy, contests are like kart racing. The idea is to hone your skills, then get into real cars & race against the pros. For fun, check out this "How To" -- tell me this doesn't remind you of how writers turn pro! http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-NASCAR-Driver

I never entered contest because I am too cheap to do that sort of thing. lol! I agree with Vitaly that most producers don't care if you won a contest or not. However, winning or placing in a legitimate contest will let people know that your script will probably be formatted correctly and fairly well-written which might convince them to at least read your screenplay.

And yet it's hard not to stumble over stories on the internet about screenwriters who win or place highly in a contest leading to reads, to obtaining managers and/or agents, to meetings, to sales and work. Happens multiple times every year. So I enter contests now. Haven't placed high enough in any yet to really benefit, but hope springs eternal, and in the meantime I've received some decent feedback now and then from the professional readers who judge these things in the better contests.

Danny M, I was thinking of visiting the Church of Scientology! :-p

I would also include Austin, Script Pipeline, Final Draft Big Break, Beverly Hills, Screamfest LA, 13Horror.com, FadeIn, Fresh Voices, Stage32, Tracking B, and Tracking Board's competitions. Anybody who wins any of these contests and the ones that you mentioned will receive nice prizes and exposure to industry people.

For Filmmakers, aim for the HBO short movie competition. Pays $5K to 10K to Winners and it's a pipeline to paid work. A person in my inner circle won it, became a DGA Film & TV Director in 5 years and now, he hangs out with actor Chris Evans on "Avengers" shoot.

Vitaly: many writers who have placed or won the competitions mentioned above got their foots in the door because of those competitions.

Thanks for the info guys. Should be a "sticky" somewhere contest rankings/validity.

Dene you are right. Most screenwriters that break in try everything because they don't know what was going to work for them.

Thanks for the post. This helps out a lot.

I've entered two and found the feedback useful, placement encouraging, and deadline motivating.

One not mentioned: WeScreenplay was worthwhile. Not expensive (104), see judges scores and current standing on their site plus get additional judges notes for $39 at every level, make changes and resubmit ($0). I got some helpful and in-depth feedback from the first judge, didn't buy notes for 2nd tier, and moderately helpful notes from 3rd judge. Eliminated in 4th round. Maybe because I didn't tip the judge ;) There was a place to do that, which seems ODD to me.

This is fresh from the weekend - contest panel with Q&A from 4 different screenwriting contests. It's long but gives some honest insight into the other side of those contests. https://www.facebook.com/scriptmag/videos/vb.56936466636/10154194095826637/?type=2&theater

Go here to read bios for panel members: https://www.writersstore.com/screenwriting-contest-panel

What's good, sexy people! Please know the bugs are being addressed. Stage32 is working around the clock on our technical problems. Working as fast as we can. We ask for patience because we are such a small team and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. The New and Improved STAGE32 will be running full-throttle soon. Thank you :) Back you your thread!

They are not a million dollars to enter. I think of them as fun. If they give notes for the entry fee all the better.

Never entered one. Thank You for the good advice.

I've only entered one paid-for competition and that was for a very well-known production house. I've seen so many and the costs of entering are tens of pounds or dollars at least. They seem to average around the £30-100 mark for most but, as you right say, a lot of these are just scams or fake competitions with no actual "prize" available as such. There are plenty of FREE competitions and I'd rather take my chances with those and get recognition bone-fide than give my hard-earned away to someone who's just out to rip people off. It's like the "talent" agencies who charge those aspiring performers to be on their books, without any chance whatsoever of them being selected for anything. It's shameful.

Some excellent stage actresses left NYC to try their luck in L.A. Though they are SOBER ladies, they all had the best luck networking at AA meetings in Brentwood. They deserved a break and found the quickest way to meet the right folks. :-D

@David - it depends what you want out of the competition, if you want to get the attention of Producers, Managers, Agents etc then I don;t think there is a free competition that will give you that, the free ones are just not credible enough.

In terms of rip-off, I'm sure there are some, but there are also a bunch of reputable competitions that charge but either provide considerable prize money, and/or exposure to the right people.

So be selective with what you spend your money on for sure, but free comps... well I doubt they'll help you get a project made.

I should add that very occasionally you may see a free comp where the prize is to get your script optioned and made, these could prove worthwhile as in theory they are designed to see a script actually made... but they are very rare.

There was one advertised on here about 18 months ago (I got optioned via it), and Scriptshadow occasionally hold them too.

But think my general point still holds.

LindaAnn, if they're SOBER because they're recovering alcoholics, great! But if they are there for ulterior motives, that's not cool. AA is a dead-serious matter, not for opportunists. Please don't spread the mistaken idea that anyone can go for amusement or networking purposes. Thanks.