Screenwriting : Why is there no "Proof of Concept" screenwriting competitions? by Steve Sherman

It’s too ambiguous to be given a category. I mean, how do you know proof of concept when you’re looking at it?

That is sort of the function of a Logline.

I believe a proof of concept is produced for the purpose of attracting funds to make the feature, so why would anybody use that to enter a competition? It seems a little pointless to me. You either want to be serious and look toward making your feature or you want to play around with competitions. That's the way I see it.

Some shorts are basically a proof of concept. One of my favourites from last year's Stage 32 Short Film Festival was MONDAY which went on to win an HBO Visionaries award. It was basically an intro for what could be a brilliant TV series and it got execs talking to the director about doing just that.

A short film has an actual ending or result. Proof of concept leaves the story open and the reader wondering what's going to happen. It's basically the guts of the story the middle turning point. A contest would be an indicator, of sorts, to tell how intriguing your concept actually is? That's the way I see it.

No, you're just being really reductive with your personal definition of a short film. They can be ambiguous, inconclusive, and abstract. Go to a screening and you'll see this.

However, you are right to assume that any competition will likely share the same view and judge accordingly. The flowery, politically motivated, artistic short designed to "raise awareness" of whatever is socially de rigueur is pretty much a trope at this point.

But we need to stop looking toward competitions for the answer. Check out Shootin' the Shorts which regularly features proof of concept style scripts.

If you write a proof of concept and cannot tell on your own if it’s intriguing, a contest won’t help.

Still waiting on that IMDb link from you, Kay.

CJ, when the likes of Christopher Nolan play the where’s-your-IMDB-credits game, I think we can call it a good idea. Until then, call it off.

Shutting up now.

CJ. Good idea. Why waste your time. I sure as hell wouldn't.

Kay Luke Hawking would imply CJ is selling something. Except his site is completely free.

He is offering a free service, that has generated work for many people here.

He isn’t telling people of success with no proof. But we’ll just have to settle on getting free work and selling specs on his FREE site.

That's a great idea actually. Anyone can set up a film freeway account and hold their own film festival or screenplay competition. With a fee and enough entrants, the money could go into producing the winner's feature. Thanks for the idea!

Kay. CJ is a good guy and he set up his site so people would be able to post their screenplays for free. When you put down other people in the industry you just make yourself look bad.

Steve Cleary A very good idea. If the competition keeps some %. Eventually the library could generate income for more production

I know, sometimes it's hard for me to hold back from trolling on here and other social media too. I think it's called 'keyboard warrior syndrome'. Proud ScriptRevolution patron right here!

Steve Cleary I believe there is a business model out their where people could supply funds and work. This organisation would produce the best work and everyone would benefit.

I know that it can work. Just not sure of the fine details of the model. But there are millions of specs. Amongst them are gold that will remain undiscovered.

Steve Cleary let me know when you get that competition started I've got some great proof of concepts and the complete scripts to go along with them.

Steve Sherman: no disrespect to you, but I don't think you're using the term "proof of concept" in the way that it's intended to be used. If you have a screenplay that is the result of a "concept", that in itself isn't proving anything. The "proof" would be a film based on that screenplay - feature or short. And even then...the measuring stick of the result of that "proof" would be the same as with any product: the potential marketability of it, and not just "it's makeable."

One could argue that a contest win or high placement could be "proof" that it works, but I personally don't think that's proof. That's more like a validation that somebody liked those scripts enough to award an honor to those scripts - at least to me.

And yes...there have been many short films - dozens, actually - that were later produced into feature films. Among my favorites are District 9, Sling Blade, Boogie Nights, and 12 Monkeys. Those short films served as proofs of concepts that were marketable enough to be made into feature films.

Best fortunes to you in your creative endeavors, Steve!

I didn't know Boogie Nights was a short! I'll have to look it up. Also, Whiplash and Peluca (Napoleon Dynomite) are good.

Kay Luke: that's great that you met with Sandra Dewey last night, and we would appreciate any shared advice you may have. Maybe you haven't been posting here that long, but CJ Walley is a great source of advice for writers, though, and an accomplished writer as well. And he is the founder of Script Revolution, as you already know. I wouldn't bad rap him for any of those facts.

You guys don't really need to have a public tussle about a personal issue regarding an IMDB page or the promoting of a web site that helps writers' works get notice.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, all!

Steve Cleary: yeah...I think PT Anderson made it when he was a freshman in college. Another good proof of concept short film is Sam Raimi's Within the Woods, which later spawned the Evil Dead franchise. He was a teenager when he made that, too. Both films are on Youtube.

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Steve!

Kay. No BS. I was here when CJ started his site so screenwriters would have a place to post their screenplays. I think he is a good source of advice. I don't give a rat's rectum what you did last night.

Kay. I am not a hater nor am I a failure. You just got mad at CJ for bring up the fact that you don't have any IMDb credits. The reason you don't have any is because you never earned any.

I've never heard of competitions for "proof of concept(s)" for screenwriting, doesn't make sense to me? Nor are short films necessarily made as "proof" for a feature, but rather they are made as independent works in and of themselves. Creator/director David Sandberg did a short film for the Who's There short film challenge competition at a film festival called the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge. He had no budget. His wife acted in it. They filmed it at home. He did all the production work, digital effects, etc, himself. It's 2 minutes and 42 seconds long. He won best director at the festival. Months later... he posted it on Vimeo and YouTube. Then, it got attention—particularly from James Wan and other producers—and millions of views. It then was adapted into a feature film with the same title, Lights Out. ;)

Geez, enough about IMDb. It is not the be-all and end-all for validation. It's a database—owned by Amazon. Content is volunteer based. People choose to contribute to it or not. Edit their information themselves. Etc.

Please, let's stop the personal attacks. Not very becoming nor professional.

My apologies Kay Luke. I didn't realise such an innocuous request would trigger such a defensive response. Respect to you and all your achievements.

No worries. All the best.

I have access to SS through a third party worker with the company password. I think it's like $3000 a year. Tough to share. It's locked to user IP address. it doesn't have people's home addresses. It's basically IMDB linked to box office mojo, agent & lawyer info, crew credits.

This isn't a "proof of concept" competition, but the winner does get a trailer or sizzle reel shot for their script https://www.emergingscreenwriters.com/shootyoursizzle/

I saw the scene from Whiplash, you know the one where the teacher throws the chair at the drummers head. WTF was that if not intriguing and to the point of proof of concept, or whatever you want to call it? It was the apex of the movie, you watch that scene and you think, how did we get here? Why is this teacher treating a student like this? Is this teacher nuts? lots of questions, things that make you go hmm? Is there a movie here? They could have chose the scene where he goes on the date but that's not very intriguing. What do you call that?

Kay. That is why I am here as well. I have had some success as a screenwriter but I don't like to talk about what I've done or what I am working on. Good luck whatever it is you are trying to do.

Steve, it’s a short. That’s what you’d call it, and that’s how you’d enter it into a contest. If it does not work as a self-contained piece, it’s not a proof of concept because you haven’t proved you can tell a story.

I saw the whiplash bit as well. They (the filmmakers) thought of it as a POC. But the industry disagreed. Hence the Oscar for best adapted screenplay, not best original screenplay.

The academy said the feature was adapted from the short, which they considered to be the original work.

i think Whiplash short movie won a Sundance award. People forget D Chazelle was already a WGA member before Whiplash.

Proof of concept is more of a teaser, usually rewording as part of a sale process, as it's a sales tool. A short is a cohesive piece gratifying the viewers with the full experience (and usually it's harder to produce).

Beth Fox Heisinger & Shawn Speake how do I go about reporting the abuse in this thread?

C.J - I waded through this entire thread - I'm old and have nothing better to do. My conclusion: I'm firmly in your corner.

p.s. I joined your Script Revolution away back in its early days but haven't posted anything. I'll fire off 3 or 4 shorts to you in a day or so.

Doug Nelson yes, do it. I have made real contacts there. The producers seem to be more honest as well. I am

working with a Canadian guy on my script Amy. He is a DOP hoping to do a feature. No bullshit and bluster about being development executives etc.

Someone sold a feature on Script Revolution this week. Got the news yesterday and just putting together a little announcement. Sold for a five figure sum.

CJ Walley: That's big-time great news - both for the writer and for your company that i know that you've worked very hard and put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in building.

Major kudos to you (and the writer, of course). I'm sure they'll be plenty more Milestone Moments to come.

Best fortunes in your continuing creative endeavors, CJ and all!