Screenwriting : You'll pay me HOW much to read scripts for your contest?! Wow! by Phil Parker

Phil. So screenwriters are making a lot more money reading screenplays than they are writing them. lol

Dan - Only if they can make a sale! Plus you can spend a lot on classes, feedback, if you enter contests, fests and just trying to get representation before you can even get an offer. In the long term IF you make it as a screenwriter, yes. If you're still just spinning your wheels, no.

$20 a script x 100 scripts equals $2000. That pays for a laptop, writing software, screenwriting classes & paid pitch websites. You don’t have to leave your house to be a Reader. Stay home in pajamas.

The thing is, even if you have another source of income to support you while you read scripts for $20 a pop, contests don't just ask you to read one or two scripts. You end up having to read many, many scripts as part of the bargain. The reader is left scrambling for time to read them all by the deadline they're given, while also doing the job that's actually paying their bills. This then forces the reader to take shortcuts with how much of each script they actually read. What would be interesting, and instructive for newbies, is a blog article - "Secret Confessions of Contest Script Readers". I'm sure one take-away lesson would be that screenwriters should not rely on readers reading every page in order to "get it". Each scene needs to be compelling, both in how it reveals character and plot. Maybe then the reader will read the whole thing ;-)

My basic professional fee (10 years ago) was $1,000 per day, $750 per half day. That was pretty standard then, I'm sure it's higher now. How many days do you want?

You do have to wonder, what calibre of feedback are you getting for $20 a screenplay? And, no offence meant, but what calibre of reader are you getting for 20 bucks?

Matthew Barker unfortunately the answer to both questions is low. It most likely is a read of between the first ten and thirty pages, maybe a scan of the rest and a hasty, shoot-from-hip score.

Laura Scheiner if you don’t believe in contests, how would you suggest to “break into Hollywood”, a world of Agents and Union workers WGA, SAG, PGA, DGA, IATSE, Academy.

If 1 person out of 6000 becomes a working writer (say 5 consecutive years) that is a success.

The odds are just as bad/same as 1000s attending Film Schools. USC tuition is over $200,000 and you still have to pay for your own student movies.

I don’t enter screenwriting contest and I don’t include winning the lottery in my business plans.

Correction: Not all competition readers have zero integrity. That's an unusual stance, and a casino analogy is specious - at best. The term "cult" is a dangerous one inferring the people who enter comps have a blind devotion. There are as many valid reasons to enter a comp as there are people who enter them.

While there are many dead end competitions designed solely to separate people from their money, there are some meaningful ones. It's our choice to enter. While all opinions are valid, what's the point and why care if someone slips a few bucks in one direction or another.

Everything we do is a longshot. Entering a contest is no different.

As a "waiting to be discovered" writer any notes that I can get are invaluable. I have received some though that are, well, lacking. I get it. Time constraints and the paltry fees prohibit any kind of real analysis. For those of you who do read and give notes, just know how very much appreciated you are. If there were a petition to up the fees you get paid I would have no trouble signing it. Notes can make a difference between a sale and a pass for those who follow them. I hope that $20 fee you are offered was not a $150 front-end charge for contestants. Maybe if enough of the working writers get together a new Guild could spring to life, or at the very least push to have reading be recognized by WGA. After all, writing is worthless without reading it afterwards. No real answers here, just appreciation for all of you.

James: why not pay a reputable professional consultant if you want a reputable professional critique? You can get that done here for as little as $149. They'll read your script, give you a 30-minute phone call and go over their notes with you. That's as good as it gets, bro.

Check out the Script Services link. Those are some pretty reputable industry people that offer their services here, and I bet you'll feel like what they gave you was worth a lot more than what you paid.

People have success in their way and time. Thanks for the heads up and opinion. Cosmic tumblers do not often align in exactly the same way. That leaves us to wander our own experience whether it's believed to be righteous by anyone or not.

People who are successful can always use that success and start a mentor program. That would be a positive. For the rest there's an old saw, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Bill Costantini We have in the past. Thing is, we aren't wealthy or high-paid writers, so the plethora of services offered cannot be had all at once. Sometimes simple economics - 4 pitches or 1 read - dictate the decisions. Also, contests have been good for us in getting attention and minor traction even without winning. We've done webinars, reads, pitches, pretty much everything but the pocketbook cannot sustain continued purchases. As the whole contest thing is truly a separate issue I was merely putting in my support for those who do read but get paid (or as asked to get paid) next to nothing. If I ever end up in a position where I'm asked to offer my services for a contest I would certainly want to get paid a reasonable fee, and have a reasonable amount of time to formulate some truly useful notes. I completely understand the desire of those who are doing contest reads to expect the same.

James: I hear you, bro.

I knew when I asked that of you that it wasn't the issue being discussed, but just thought it would make sense to mention it.

Keep up the good fight, James and Company.

Bill: Well received. Some members reading these threads may not know so no harm in mentioning services when the opportunity arises.

At the risk of straying off topic, I'd like to say that any reader who walks into/calls/ expects/ assumes an Asian massage store will provide a 'happy ending' is exhibiting what Bill Maher likes to call the "soft bigotry of low expectations' and thus deserves to get $20 per script. Or a kick up the ass ;-)

A kick up the ass will set you back $40!