Years ago, I thought screenplay contests were, at least, a worthwhile approach to getting work read and recognized. I understood that the chances of winning were nearly like playing the lottery depending on the contest. But, it’s always the belief that someone has to win, right?
In days gone by, one of my scripts, “Catherine of Siena,” was a finalist in a screenplay contest. It was a phase when my personal life was on a roller coaster ride so the news didn’t register. I filed away the certificate thinking it meant little to nothing. I was very close to giving up on screenwriting after completing five spec scripts, the first based on a short story I had published.
But, life changes, and so do our attitudes. Last year, I discovered ScreenCraft with a mission “to foster the careers of emerging writers and filmmakers by providing inspiration and insight into the craft of screenwriting and the business of Hollywood, and by connecting emerging talent with working industry professionals” as copied from their website. I entered their Family Film contest with my script “Strike it Rich” about a high-powered wealth advisor who inherits land in Ireland and befriends a leprechaun threatened with banishment if she sells.”
Boy was I excited when I made it to the quarterfinals and then semifinals! I was like a kid on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa Claus the night before the finalists were announced on Monday, March 15. Hoping beyond hope, I opened the email to the news that I didn’t make it to the finals. Disappointed? You bet!! I felt so defeated because I just wanted to market the script with the news of its finalist status, thinking maybe it would get more reads and possibly optioned. The script had been optioned, or more accurately the promise of one, a few years back with a meeting with the director and star. Over an extended lunch, we talked about what the leprechaun would appear like. Yes, it was fun discussing the story and believing that the project would develop into a film. But, it didn’t get beyond the talking stages, an option agreement signed by yours truly but not the other party, and umpteen revisions that I worked on with the director. I’m not sure what I learned from the whole process, but it did give me resolve to go back and change the script to what I envisioned. And that’s the version that ended up a semifinalist in the Family Film contest. Before the finalists were chosen, I had the opportunity to revise the script and/or seek notes from the reviewers. I didn’t do either, which may have been a hindrance. I’ll never know if it would have made a difference in advancing to finalist status.
Through my Coverfly account, I went a little crazy with contest submissions, relatively speaking. By year end, 2020, I had five entries, the leprechaun movie, my book “Unearthing Christmas,” my second book “The Years In Between,” entered in two contests, and a short doc project about a blind couple raising their own sighted twins. Although listed as “Discoverable” none of the other projects made it to the quarterfinals.
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Meanwhile, I’ve entered yet another contest, a true story one, through, yes, ScreenCraft. It’s a screenplay that had been optioned twice by the same producer and the one that made it to finalist status years ago. The script, “Catherine of Siena” is about a fourteenth-century mystic saint that convinced the reigning Pope to leave the decadence of Avignon, France and restore the papacy to Rome. Catherine is my woman for all seasons.
Some writers believe that the only one worth entering is the Nicholl Fellowship Screenwriting Contest. But in 2020, there were 7,831 entries!! Although I entered it when I first started screenwriting, I think I’ll pass on that one!
Maybe with the current contest submission, I’ll ask for feedback OR revise the script before the competition is decided on. I’m not sure yet. But I do know that my screenwriting days will continue, even with my personal time and energy committed to writing novels. I’ve said, half-jokingly, that “I’m miserable when I’m writing and even more miserable when I’m not.” I’m beyond those years and sentiment because, for me, writing is close to breathing! And contests? Well, I won’t hold my breath!