I wrote 14 screenplays and I'm scared because the money(for feedback) and time it would take to get to do something with all of them(as my dream is) would far exceede my possibilities...
I found services for 100$/screenplay review, but it would take more than 1 review/screenplay and all 14 of them would require a fortune!
Besides, I fear it would take decades to send them all for feedback, apply it and repeat and that is just Phase1.
Phase 2, actually sending them to contests, queries and obtaining results would also take decades more(but not before Phase1).
I fear I wrote too much and too many to see any results with them in my lifetime!:(
I hope I'm wrong, and I realize there are people who maybe wrote much more, but not all at once!
What would you do in my situation?
What strategy would you use in my place, if you had 14 scripts, basically all just first drafts, all amateur's work?
I hear a lot of fear in you. This business is a game of chance. Don't be afraid of the big bad wolf.
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I’d pick three (the strongest ones), send them to a proper script analyst and once happy send them to a competition to see how they place or connect with industry people working in the same genre and look for feedback. It’s a long way, for most of us. Good luck with it!
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Eat the elephant one bite at a time, mate. Trying to manage all of those at the same time will have the reverse effect and you'll go nowhere. I suggest picking one that you're super passionate about. Even if you have a handful that fit that category, just pick one of those. Preferably one that you haven't worked on in a while so you have re-established some objectivity. Read it again, take some notes, do another draft. THEN send it to 3 pro analysts. Look for common elements in the different feedback you get. Go back and do another draft. Repeat this process with that same script until it's fairly unanimous that it's ready to be sent out. Send it to some top tier and second tier contests and see how you go. If you're confident enough not to wait for the results, pay to pitch it. In the meantime, network on and offline...and start this process again with the next script you're super passionate about. One bite at a time, mate. This is how careers are born :) p.s. some people can do this same process with more than one script at a time. Kudos to them. The value is in the quality of the effort, though, not necessarily the quantity.
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All you need is one very good script. Three is a good portfolio. Pick your best and work on this one. After that, work on your best 3. People will get suspicious of a writer with 14 scripts and none of them produced.
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Put all 14 scripts away, go work 3 jobs, save about $5,000 US dollars, write & direct your own short movie.
It makes 0 sense to talk about making movies and have 0 experience working with actors & crew.
Get to work on writing second drafts to those fourteen scripts.
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Several contests offer feedback as part of the entry fee. Pick your best one or two and enter them in three contests each. (This doesn't have to be all at once.) Compare the feedback. If they are each similar for that script then you are on the right track. Even better if you actually place or win. You may not ever sell a script but if you can get positive feedback then you may feel like you've accomplished something and are not just spinning your wheels.
It is easier to sell a screenplay than it is to sell one so instead of working on accumulating more scripts take a break from writing and work on selling them. That really is the hardest part and I could never do two things at once. When I quit writing spec screenplays that is when things started happening for me not that a lot has happened lol.