The Seven Rays Script-a-Scene Adaptation Competition

Stick-It-by-Jessica-BendingerOkay… You know me. I don’t normally do this but this is one of our own and because I actually DO admire her work, let’s talk about it… Ever heard of Jessica Bendinger? I actually heard her speak in Austin once and was motivated enough to check out STICK IT. So I rented it… And I gotta tell ya… Normally, that type/genre of movie is not my cup of tea but this movie is structurally about as perfect as a movie gets.

I liked it so much that I had to get the script and give it a read… It took me a while to find it… Had to ask for a few favors and if you know anything about this business, you don’t want to ask anyone for a favor unless it’s something big… LOL. Why? Because they always ask for a payback… Usually a lot sooner than you expect. But I really liked STICK IT that much so for me… It was worth it.

It doesn’t take one very long to watch STICK IT and realize whomever wrote it, definitely had some inside knowledge of gymnastics competition. And even IF, like me, STICK IT is not your cup of tea, it’s completely worth watching because of the way the story is told.

But enough about that… Let’s talk screenwriting competition. The Seven Rays Script-a-Scene Adaptation Competition. Very much like the scene challenges over at johnaugust.com — from what I understand, you take a scene from Jessica Bendinger’s book, THE SEVEN RAYS and turn it into a screenplay scene… Oops. A KILLER SCREENPLAY SCENE.

From THE SEVEN RAYS website:

Find that special scene that speaks to you and inspires you to get cinematic! Use the book as a springboard for your untapped creative energy, and put it on the page. This is a chance for screenwriters of all ages to explore a different side of the craft of screenwriting: the art of adaptation.

Contest Opens November 15 — closes February 15, 2010.

To Enter:
Read The Seven Rays and adapt any scene from the book into a 2-5 page screenplay using Final Draft screenwriting software. Read MORE about the competition here.

Winners get a personal, one-on-one script consultation for any screenplay you have written with acclaimed director and screenwriter Jessica Bendinger, author of The Seven Rays, valued at $10,000.

Damn… Maybe I should enter… LOL.

Unk

November 19, 2009 | Filed Under Competition

16 Comments 

Why I hate screenwriting contests

hi-eat-me

Don’t you just love Sunday fucking mornings?

I should’a could’a would’a just driven my car here to my local coffee shop if I’d have known how cold it was… SHIT! Imagine eating a gallon of ice cream as fast as you can.

So yeah, I’m awake now as I sip my Americano ever so gently because it’s so fucking HOT.

Life is full of contradictions AIN’T IT?

I don’t really have one of those rituals a lot of writers seem to have… Hell, I have a friend who’s a best selling author and he has a friend who’s a best selling author who has to wear the same clothes every day in fear that he won’t be able to LOCK into the zone.

But I AIN’T talkin’ about the ZONE write now… GET IT?

No… I just walked to the back of the ‘puter room like I always do… I threw my shit on the table like I always do. Hey, maybe that’s my ritual? Anyway, I power up the old writing implement and start checking my email…

The very first email I get is from Creative Screenwriting. Don’tchya just love them folks?

Sure you do.

So as my index finger hovered over the left mouse button to click the delete button, I started reading… I don’t normally do this. I usually just delete but this time their email actually caught my attention…

Why did it catch my attention? Hell, just look at the subject line:

Hey hey… If that doesn’t STOP you dead in your tracks, nothing will.

Right?

So I’m readin’… What was the hot tip? Okay, I’ll share just in case YOU didn’t get the email…

Make sure your title is the filename of your screenplay document! Yup.

Why?

Hmmm. What did they say?

Something along the lines of:

Is this really important? Put yourself in the position of a contest judge who has just received 50 scripts to read.

Interesting… So what you’re really telling me is that your judges might not be impartial… That they might see a great title for a screenplay and jump to the conclusion that this IS THE SCREENPLAY to begin reading.

Wow. That is a hot fucking tip!

Imagine all those suckers paying their money to a contest thinking they had a fucking chance and spent so much time working their ass off on their screenplay that they neglected to include the title in the document name!

But they should already know this, right? After all… People are just people. Contests are just contests. Money is just money.

But wait…

If this is true… Then why STOP at sticking your title in the filename? Fuck that. What if we try filenames like these?

These are just off the top of my head but you get the idea, right? *WINK* *WINK*

Hmmm. I keeps reading…

Which is the judge LEAST likely to open first if he/she goes by titles? That should be obvious.

Obvious you say?

So I’m gonna read between the lines just a bit here… Does this mean that the screenplays that get opened FIRST have a better chance of winning? Wow! Now that is a HOT FUCKING TIP!

And, if this is true… What if we exploit that little bit of information…

Could that get my screenplay opened up first? Hey… You never know… YOU JUST NEVER FUCKING KNOW.

Uh-oh… BONUS TIP!

Never call attention to the likelihood that some other judge has already rejected your script in a prior contest. Putting something like “new beginning” or “Rewrite 3” in the filename tell the judge that this script has been around the block.

This shouldn’t matter, but it does. Every judge and reader wants to be the one to discover the next “Juno” or “Slumdog Millionaire.” Let every judge believe that he/she is the very first to receive your wonderful creation.

So does that mean SOME JUDGES don’t give your rewritten screenplay a second chance? Hmmm. What a fucking chucklehead I am… I figured if you pays your money, you gets an even break… Even if some other chucklehead already read my screenplay before.

Why?

Because this is a different contest, right? With a completely new and different contest, shouldn’t this give us a ?

Geez… I am a chucklehead. The Unknown Chucklehead. That’s me…

Uh-oh… FINAL TIP!

Final Tip: Improve Your Chances Of Winning With Screenwriting DVDs — Now On Sale At Half Price, $9.99

Wow. This just SCREAMS:

Hmmm. 60 DVDs at $9.99 apiece… That’s 60 X $10.00 = $600 – $.60 = $599.40!

Does that include free shipping?

Unk

January 18, 2009 | Filed Under Bullshit, Competition, Tips

23 Comments 

British Feature Screenplay Competition

BFSCSay what? A screenplay competition? That’s right… Not just any screenplay competition but .

Why this competition you ask?

Because the winning Screenplay goes into production with a budget of up to $2 million U.S. Let me say that again… The winning screenplay GETS MADE INTO A FILM.

And that’s what we’re here for, right?

As their web site also says, this is the BIGGEST PRIZE of ANY screenwriting competition — EVER. You also know that I’m not very fond of screenwriting competitions. I get it but I don’t get it. I certainly understand it with the bigger competitions but that really leaves a hell of a lot of other screenwriting competitions existing to simply take your money and have some idiot MAYBE review your screenplay.

I have a friend who wrote a screenplay a year ago and his plan was to enter it into the big competitions as well as many of the smaller ones that — HOLD ON TO YOUR FUCKING HAT — offered analysis or critique.

One of the IN-DEPTH critiques he received contained FOUR FUCKING WORDS: I DIDN’T GET IT.

I read the script and it has potential but for some fucking backwater screenwriting competition to even bother writing I DIDN’T GET IT as their in-depth critique makes me wanna puke.

So here you go… You want to enter a competition? This is IT. This is the BIG ONE. I have it on very good authority that the winning film will in fact get made even if it takes a couple of years to bring it off.

In other words — it AIN’T no different than Hollywood, Baby…

The British Feature Screenplay competition is actually being brought to you by and .

Who can enter? ANYONE from ANYWHERE.

How does the prize work? The winning writer will be required to sign an assignment (writers agreement) which offers the writer a purchase price (rights fee) of not less than 1% of the budget with a floor of $15,000 Dollars (U.S.) and a ceiling of $40,000 Dollars (U.S.) less any sums paid — payable on the first day of principal photography of the film. The fee will be pro-rated downwards if a credit were to be shared with any other writer.

When’s the DEADLINE? EARLY DEADLINE is 12 September 2008 while FINAL DEADLINE is 14 November 2008.

Hmmm. That’s over three months to finish, tweak, rewrite, or begin and finish a screenplay of any genre.

Get it?

Some important notes:

The judges:

Links:

Suffice to say, visit their site and read EVERYTHING until you completely UNDERSTAND it. If there’s something YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, contact them. Their email address is located right there on their web site.

If you enter only one screenplay competition in 2008 — I believe this is the ONE.

Unk

July 30, 2008 | Filed Under Competition

47 Comments