Script Lab free writing contest is open
Did not see anyone post it.
Posted Feb 27, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC
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Can someone please explain the deal with “early deadline” as opposed to Regular and Late deadline? I noticed something similar in another contest. Especially for a free contest, what’s the logic in having essentially three separate deadlines?
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The deadlines increase the price of their feedback which you may pay for or not.
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That's right.
In general, try never to submit under-the-wire using the late late deadlines. Less chance of success. That late in the game, Judges usually already have a 'set' idea in mind of who they're going to select and they get stubborn about having to revise all their estimates/comparisons.
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Thanks for the tip! One of those things I suspected but was never sure if it was really possible or not.
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Thanks! Glad to know. Makes sense but I can’t say I’ve ever heard that spelled out so clearly.
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For someone who did it last year, did you find the feedback helpful?
$59 is kind of steep, but I'd be willing to pay if it was invaluable. I've submitted my scripts to other places for feedback too, (Austin Film Festival, etc.), and am torn between "every little bit helps" vs. "$59 is more than a weeks' worth of groceries for me"...
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I’m not the best person to answer this, sorry. This is the first time I’ve ever submitted to Script Lab so I’ve never read their feedback. Personally I decided not to pay for it. It’s just a bit much for me at the moment.
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Can you add it in a comment to our 2020 fellowship/contest post? It’s linked in the sidebar. Thanks!
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I can’t recall from last year. Do they cap the number of entries per person?
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One entry per person
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So the part where it says ‘industry standard screenwriting software’ when I click that, it leads to a page that displays links to: final draft, and writer duet. Does that mean that my script which was created on Celtx is not accepted? Can anybody clarify this?
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Write it in anything, they just want industry standard formatting.
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Well, didnt know about that one. It's free so... No reason not to submit.
Thank you for sharing this
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Whats the prize?
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By memory from last year they're only obligated to read the first 10 pages, leave your slow burn entry at home, people.
Slow burn doesn’t mean boring. If your plot isn’t kicking into high gear by 10 pages but your writing is phenomenal, anyone will keep reading. Any halfway decent reader would only put a script down after 10 pages of the writing is bad. This is just the first round of a competition. It’s not some assistant who has their reputation on the line with some major studio head. Don’t try to discourage people from a free competition.
If by page ten you don’t have it, you’ll never have it.
Yeah, this is 100% true. Have your ever read the pilot for “Mad Men”? It was written by some guy from The Sopranos writing staff. The whole first ten pages are just some asshole in a bar talking to his waiter about what brand of cigarettes they smoke! So dumb. No way that could’ve turned out to be a good show.
EDIT: just read another one for a show called “The Wire.” Couldn’t get past page ten. Just some irish cop talking to a gangbanger sitting on a street corner. There’s a dead body in the scene and you don’t even see that guy get killed! Who funded this shit??? The first ten pages suck.
I hate this “first ten pages” shit. Breaking Bad is literally the only pilot I’ve ever seen with a first ten pages that would’ve hooked me.
Sure, there are outliers to any bell curve.
But also we were not privy to the pitch meetings, and “staff writer for the sopranos” sounds like a damn awesome foot in the door. Also what about the treatment, bible, all of those things can lead to a green light and explanation why the pilot is slow. And Mad Med is a slow burning show, the pilot for the overall tone and theme of the series.
Nobody is saying don’t write a slow intro, but you better have a damn good reason why.
A damn good reason that reveals itself within those ten pages.
I totally agree but I think in comps you'd really have to get moving, especially ones like this if they only might read a few pages.
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I have seen good movies that, 10 minutes in, didnt have much going on...but I dont think they were based on spec scripts sold to studios or such