Screenwriting Competitions

[happ]

Recently a friend asked me to help him write a script for Amazon Studios' screenwriting contest. This got me thinking about screenplay competitions. Has anyone here entered their work in one? I have never written a screenplay before and thought maybe a competition could give me a goal to try for and help me to improve my writing skills. On the other hand, I've heard that it's extremely hard to win and that instead of wasting my money on entering such contests, I should just try to write the best screenplay I can and then go straight to an agent and try to get my film made "the old fashion way," by attracting the attention of the Hollywood studios.

However, I have the added complication of not really wanting to "break-in" to Hollywood. I'm not really interested in making genre films, but rather stuff that would probably get classified as "art films." So I'm not sure how helpful winning a screenwriting competition would be for my filmmaking aspirations. Would it be better to just go to film school?

Also, does anyone have good screenwriting resources to recommend?

[Ezee E]

Welcome to Match Cut happ. I hope your contributions extend beyond this thread!

[Spaceman Spiff]

I've written scripts before (nothing I've ever submitted though). I've even turned some of them into short movies. I study Linguistics at the University of Toronto.

If you can afford film school, then sure I guess. But it's certainly not a requirement. Just write some scripts and make some movies.

[happ]

Welcome to Match Cut happ. I hope your contributions extend beyond this thread!Thanks for the encouragement.


If you can afford film school, then sure I guess. But it's certainly not a requirement.Yeah, that's a problem. My situation is rather precarious right now. My parents convinced me to go for something "practical" in college, which to them meant no art or film degrees. Of course, my mediocre university didn't have a film department anyway, and I'm not rich at all.

I live in a small Midwestern town, and to be honest, have been feeling rather depressed lately because I have no clear job prospects, I'm taking night classes to get my teacher certification because after I got my B.A. in history, I had trouble finding a job, and decided that I might as well teach. I don't really want to teach, and the pay's not going to be great, but I've got a lot of student loans to pay off and have to do something.

I desperately want to make films (that's really what I want to do with my life), but I have no connections; I know no one around here who shares the same passions. I imagine that film school would be a place to make connections and learn the craft. But I don't think I can afford it. I don't know really what to do, but maybe writing screenplays would be a step in the right direction.

Perhaps this is too much information, but I just wanted to explain what my situation is.

[Irish]

You seem ambivalent about a career in the industry, so I don't think screenwriting comps or more school will do much for you.

If you really do want a shot at it, though, do this (in any particular order):

- Submit to the competitions sponsored by studios out of UCLA. (Blanking on the names right now).

- Move to LA.

- Attend UCLA's screenwriting courses. (Might be graduate level, can't recall).

- Read as many published screenplays as you can. Do this while watching the movie at the same time.

- Get a copy of Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter (and learn proper formatting).

- Do a helluva lot of work that you'll be too ashamed to show anyone. Then do some more.

[happ]

You seem ambivalent about a career in the industry, so I don't think screenwriting comps or more school will do much for you.I am ambivalent about an industry career, but if I try to make a career as an independent, I imagine I'll need screenwriting skills there as well.


If you really do want a shot at it, though, do this (in any particular order):

- Submit to the competitions sponsored by studios out of UCLA. (Blanking on the names right now).

- Move to LA.

- Attend UCLA's screenwriting courses. (Might be graduate level, can't recall).

- Read as many published screenplays as you can. Do this while watching the movie at the same time.

- Get a copy of Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter (and learn proper formatting).

- Do a helluva lot of work that you'll be too ashamed to show anyone. Then do some more.Thank you for this advice. I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point, but I'm sure that doing these things would be a good idea whether or not one is trying to break-in to Hollywood. Just how important is formatting, or how difficult? I didn't know there was very much to it. I do want to try to read more screenplays, and start writing, because as you point out, it'll probably start out as crap and I'll have to work from there.

I want to become a director, but any job related to filmmaking would be okay with me (as a starting point).

[eternity]

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