And all your RPP questions answered

Courtesy of Danny Stack - here we go...

1. What is a single play?
A single play is a one-off story. For the purposes of the competition, this would be a one-off 60-minute TV script (typically 50 pages min - 80 pages max). In general, pilot scripts are more popular and common for submissions to the competition but feel free to submit a single play if you don’t have an idea for a pilot script.

2. What is a pilot script?
A pilot script is the first episode of a potential new TV series.

3. Will you accept 30-minute scripts or feature length (90-minute+) scripts?
No. 60-minute original TV scripts, please.

4. Is there any particular genre you’re interested in?
We’re interested in great writing, and don’t mind what genre it comes in.

5. Can I submit an adaptation I’ve written of a book/game/other source?
No. Original scripts only please, even if you’ve adapted from your own book/game/other source.

6. What’s a logline?
A logline is a brief description of your story idea. For example, ‘A British cop gets sent to the Caribbean to solve murders.’ A logline shouldn’t be mistaken for a tagline e.g ‘In space, no-one can hear you scream’ (from Alien).

7. Should the 100-word synopsis summarise the script, or the series as a whole?
Whatever you think best represents the idea, story or script.

8. For the first round of submission, why just the first ten pages of a script?
It’s a truth universally acknowledged in the industry that the first ten pages of a script indicate a great deal about a writer’s talent as well as how the script is shaping up.

9. If my first ten pages end in the middle of a scene, should I submit additional pages?
Please submit the first ten pages only, regardless of where the scene ends. Similarly, please do not send the full script at the first round stage. These will be immediately disqualified.

10. Can I enter more than once?
Writers can enter once as themselves, and once as part of a co-writing team. Multiple entries from an individual will result in disqualification.

11. Can I get feedback on my first ten pages, or on my script?
Unfortunately, due to the large number of submissions received, feedback cannot be given for scripts that are unsuccessful.

12. Should my script end on a cliffhanger?
That’s up to you, and the story!

13. I’ve rewritten my script that got rejected last year. Would it be a bad idea to resubmit it for this year’s competition?
Not necessarily. If the script represents your best writing, then feel free to resubmit.

14. When is the deadline?
16th January, 2012.

15. Should I wait to write the rest of the script?
We strongly advise that you write the entire script, as there will be little turnaround once we request the full script to read.

16. Can I submit a script that has been optioned by another producer or production company?
We want original scripts that have not yet been optioned or produced. If your script gets optioned (or an offer) whilst in consideration for the competition, please get in touch to let us know.

17. What happens if my first ten pages get through to the second round?
We will request the full script. Once all of the full scripts have been read and assessed, we will make a longlist of the scripts/writers we wish to put forward for the competition’s final stages.

18. What are the competition’s final stages?
A shortlist will be compiled. Tony Jordan and the other judges will choose a winner. We expect this to be around Spring 2012.

Red Planet Prize

It's back :)

The Deadline is 16th January 2012.

Mark it in the diary folks.

Good luck!

Festivale!

On Sunday I'll be at London Screenwriters' Festival.

If you're not there - why not? *

If you are, come and say hi.

It's gonna be awesome. Full write ups of every session I attend as soon as possible.


* I mean that seriously. Genuine question. If you didn't go, tell me why. Comment here or send me an email, and I will try and pass it on to the organisers to see if it can be addressed for next year. Put simply we need everyone who can go to do so, and support the festival. Otherwise it will fold. That's just basic economics and times are tough. The festival is financially touch and go every year.

Does this make me official?

Yesterday I discovered this

Smallest profile ever.

But hey, it's a start. And in the words of David Brent - coolio

:)

Pitch Your Script To The Industry With Advance Films

You may have already heard about this as I'm sure a few of us got the same press release. But just in case... and don't forget to do your own checking:

Get ready to pitch your script to the most influential people in film with David Pope, the director of advance films, whose directing credits include the award winning feature film, MILES FROM NOWHERE. Advance films have teamed up with online writing platform, Circalit, to host a screenwriting competition to find great ideas for film scripts. As the former head of the New Producers Alliance, David knows the who’s who of the industry, and he will get your pitch up to speed so that you’re ready to be introduced to a network of contacts tailored to your project. David will help you position your screenplay for the industry and recommend to you the producers and executives who are just right for you.

Advance films is a London based production company that also provides training, support and consultancy services. Advance consults on projects at all stages from development to finance to distribution and David’s clients and collaborators have included everyone from the BBC, BFI and the UK Film Council to the Cannes Cinefondation, The Rotterdam Lab and Edinburgh International Film Festival; so make the most of his experience to get your script pitch perfect.

All entries will receive a professional feedback report on their script. The deadline for submissions is Dec 1st 2011. Please visit www.circalit.com/projects/competitions/davidpope for more information.

£15 Entry Fee

Film London - Borough Short Film Funds

The London Borough Film Funds are currently open for entries for short film ideas from filmmakers (either the writer / director or producer) who live, work or study in the boroughs listed on the website:

http://filmlondon.org.uk/borough_film_funds

Various deadlines apply towards the end of the month.

Portal Entertainment Create £6k Writing Competition for Multiplatform Storytelling‏

PORTAL ENTERTAINMENT AND CIRCALIT ON THE SEARCH FOR THE WRITERS OF TOMORROW
£6K GLOBAL WRITING COMPETITION TO CREATE A STORYWORLD

Portal Entertainment today announced that it has launched a £6k global writing competition to create a storyworld: a story told using different types of media across multiple platforms. The winner of the competition will receive £6k to develop their storyworld with Portal Entertainment. The Top 5 entries will be given professional feedback from BBC Multiplatform Executive Producer Sarah Clay (Becoming Human, Waterloo Reunited, E20).

The competition was launched at the Immersive Writing Lab - a global creative event to help writers learn the tools to tell multiplatform stories. To find out more about the launch event and the to watch videos from the event go to www.immersivewritinglab.com.

‘Coming up with a storyworld is not easy and we know that,’ said Julian McCrea, Founder of Portal Entertainment. ‘We have designed the competition, to help develop the writer's storyworld over three months, across five different stages: world, characters, story, audience, and medium. We will be giving feedback at each stage of the competition.’

The competition is hosted at Circalit, a platform that enables writers to showcase their work to industry professionals online. To enter the competition or for more information please visit www.circalit.com/projects/competitions/immersive.

Raoul Tawadey, CEO and Founder of Circalit commented, 'It's clear after attending the Immersive Writing conference that digital convergence hasn't simply affected the business end of media, it's affected our notion of narrative storytelling itself. We're extremely happy to be hosting a competition to explore what the stories of the future will look, feel and sound like, and on what devices we will experience them.'

The Immersive Writing Lab event is being supported by Stellar Network, Circalit, Imaginox and Varytale.