Competition Caution

There was an interesting blog on the Writers' Guild website the other day, generally speaking about script competitions, and more specifically about the ones run by Kaos Films.

What was particularly interesting is that it came after a reader of this blog had emailed me, during the period where the Kaos website was down and their emails were on the blink, to ask whether I'd heard anything about what was going on. I hadn't at that stage but we both did a little digging and then Kaos was suddenly up and running again with an apology and explanation as to what had happened.

In the comments section the subject of the somewhat AWOL Rise Summer Challenge was raised, as well some other interesting points that are worth checking out.

I should say clearly that as far as I'm aware, and as far as the general consensus seems to be, Kaos have always been true to their word, and although I don't know any of them personally, I don't have a bad word to say about them.

But the question of Script Competitions is certainly worth giving some thought. For example I know there are some that are dead against any of them. The theory being that if your script is good enough to win a competition, it's good enough to be picked up by a producer where you'll get a better deal anyway and not be locked into the competition company and rules.

The trouble is, it's increasingly hard to find people willing to read unsolicited scripts if you haven't got an agent, and when you're starting out, you're not going to have one. So competitions can provide both motivation, and an outlet for your work.

Is there a difference between competitions that charge an entry fee and those that don't? The fact is script competitions are a lot of work to run, never mind about what the prize on offer might be. So I don't think an entry fee is unreasonable. Three of the most established and respected, The Nicoll Fellowships, Blue Cat and Scriptapalooza, all require an entry fee. Then again, the biggest ones in this country, The BBC Writers' Academy and The Red Planet Prize, don't. The Sir Peter Ustinov Award also doesn't. There may be other stipulations, but that is a different issue. Kaos did require an entry fee, Rise didn't. But Kaos keep delivering films from their winning scripts, and Rise has disappeared without a trace.

So I think the most important thing for me is credibility. My own philosophy is that if I'm going to enter a competition with an entry fee, I decide first whether I can afford it! And then what is the track record? If it doesn't have one, if I haven't heard of any of the people involved, I will probably think twice. If it's free, then I might just bung it anyway cos what's to lose?

Unsurprisingly, my experiences with The International Emmys and Red Planet mean I am mostly in favour of script competitions. But it's definitely worth being cautious, especially with those who charge a fee.

Kaos Films British Feature Screenplay Competition

Somehow this fell under the radar but Kaos have relaunched their feature screenplay competition.

Full details are here

I've always felt their entrance fees are a bit steep, and I won't be entering this year anyway cos I am knee deep in Dough, but at least they seem to make good on their promises.

Last year's winner, John Paul Sheerin, has his film The Legend of New York Pizza, in development and is now represented by Katherine Vile from United Agents.

Early deadline is 3rd Jan - late deadline is 28th Feb.

So I wouldn't recommend starting something new. But if you've got something you've been working on, there's certainly enough time to do some rewriting and polishing and get it in.

And of course, (shameless plug coming up) if you want some feedback on it, you know where to come!

jezfreedman"at"hotmail.co.uk

Happy holidays and happy writing!

It was the night before Passover and all was quiet

Or not. It is the night before the Jewish festival of Passover, which kicks off tomorrow evening, but it's been anything but quiet. Passover commemorates when God took the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt (basically see Prince of Egypt, with a few creative liberties thrown in.) And like most Jewish festivals, this one involves a lot of food. So it was an inauspicious moment for the fridge freezer to break last night. This meant running stuff round to my parents and ordering another fridge freezer that had to arrive Wednesday. Kudos to Comet then for being the only ones we could find who would guarantee next day delivery. They just better turn up now.

On to today and I wake up with a horrible head cold. But I couldn't stay in bed because I had an ultra sound to get to - which then revealed I have the makings of a hernia that will probably require surgery before it becomes a bigger problem. Well that's bloody fantastic. Really looking forward to going under the knife, but for now just gotta wait until I speak to my doctor.

Didn't think the day would get worse than that, and I suppose it didn't. But not being in the best of moods as it is, it didn't help to then find out I've been knocked out of the Kaos Feature Comp at the 2nd Round (which I naturally thought was an outrage) and would not be receiving any money from the Jewish Film Fund to make a short (another outrage.) But, through not too gritted teeth, good luck to those left in the comp and whoever gets the funding - your movie better be better than mine or I'll be after you.

So with all that going on, posting has been a little slow. I was going to write some TV reviews, but have not got round to it. I'm enjoying Channel Five's new show The Mentalist though, and just caught up on the daytime drama Missing, stripped across the BBC a few weeks ago. So I may return to talk about them at some point. And as I'm the only one on the planet who has never watched The Wire, the DVR machine has been working overtime to store them up (did BBC2 really have to show them every night!?) so I will let you know if I think it's worth the fuss when I can. I'm sure you can hardly contain yourselves.

But for now I think I am going to take some time off. Hopefully recover from the cold, sort out some other stuff, and enjoy Passover. However writers are never 'off' though really, are they? So it almost goes without saying that my Coming Up entry is done and will be in the post tomorrow, with focus now switching to the cluster**** to the Writers' Academy.

But the blog might be a bit quiet for the next couple of weeks or so. However I'm still available if any scripts need reading - just email at the usual address.

For now, keep reading scripts, keep writing them well, have a Happy Passover, and Happy Easter too!

(And I don't wanna hear about any typos in this post - cos my head is all messed up!)

Competitions

There's just over a week to go until the deadline for the 4Talent Awards. The main restriction is that all entrants must be 30 or under on 31/12/2008, and a resident of the UK. So if that's not you, there's probably not much point reading on.

But if you do qualify, click on the link and get involved with this scheme. There are 20 categories ranging from writing, directing and performance.

I can't stress the importance of entering competitions enough. If you haven't got a track record, or an agent, it's hard to get read. And even if you do get someone to accept and read your script, it's still hard to get a break. But in competitions, all entrants are created equal! You will stand or fall by your submission. So make it a good one.

There are three big competitions coming up in September, Kaos Films, Rise Summer Challenge and Red Planet Prize, and I will be talking about them a bit more soon. But click on the links, find out more, and enter them all if you can!

My submission to the 4Talent Dramatic Writing category went off today. Fingers crossed!

Good luck everyone.