Congratulations! You finished 100 pages of script in 30 days. It's a great feat, but you can't bask in the glory of your April accomplishment for too long. There’s still a lot of work to be done and, sadly, your computer will not magically revise and submit your script for you. Which is why we're here to help you get back on your writerly feet, and direct you to some places where you can take your script to the next level.
1) Revise
Whether it’s with a writing group, your close friends, or your mom, sharing your newly written script with other people (especially with other writers) makes the revision process much easier. The Script Frenzy forums are a great place to find a revising partner. Another good bet is the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, where you can share your finished Script Frenzy draft with others for feedback, or you can give feedback on other scripts that have already been posted. The criticism is usually very constructive, and you can learn as much just writing reviews of other people's scripts as you can by submitting your own.
There is a similar virtual workshop on the Celtx website. Sign up for a free account, go to Celtx’s Project Central, and post your script. If you are not already using their free software, you will have to download it in order to share your script with other writers. Just like the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, you can give and receive feedback. Both of which are very helpful in the revision process.
Here are a couple more screenwriting-based community websites:
2) Register
If you are planning on selling your script or entering it in contests, it's a good idea to register it with the Writers Guild before you do. In order to keep your ideas legally safe you can register online or by mail. It is super easy, and the fee is only $20, which is definitely worth the protection for your newly written intellectual property.
3) Submit
Once you’re done with revision, it’s time to submit to contests and make tons and tons of money, so we can ride on your coattails, say we knew you back when, and borrow money from you. Most of these contests are annual, so if you miss them this year, they'll be back again in 2009.
Withoutabox.com is the place to find the most current festival information.
CONTESTS
Screenwriting Contests
Broad Humor Film Festival
Deadline: 05/02/08 | Entry fee: $10-$50 for Script Frenzy participants.
About: The Broad Humor Film Festival accepts comedic short and feature-length screenplays written by women, with the winners getting a chance to attend the festival in August. Script Frenzy 2008 winners get a $10 discount on submissions. Just print out your winner's certificate and send it with the packet.
Gimme Credit Screenplay Competition
Regular Deadline: 06/16/2008 | Entry Fee: $19.50-$34.50
Late Deadline: 10/06/2008 | Entry Fee: $24.50-$39.50
About: The winning short screenplay is professionally produced and entered into top festivals.
Script Savvy's Monthly Screenplay Competition
Deadline: Last day of each month | Entry Fee: $35
About: Sponsored by film producers seeking new projects. Feedback or full analysis available with entry. Winners are recommended to sponsors for production consideration each month, and a grand prize award is given at the end of the year.
Screenwriting Expo 6 Screenwriting Competition
Early Deadline: 07/01/08 | Entry Fee: $15-$45
Late Deadline: 07/01/08 | Entry Fee: $20-$55
About: $150,000 in prize money is given away, and one script will be transformed into a graphic novel by the comic book studio Dabel Brothers Productions. Winners will also get a free ride to the Expo in Los Angeles.
Zoetrope Screenplay Contest
Early Deadline: 08/01/2008 | Entry Fee: $35
Late Deadline: 09/02/2008 | Entry Fee: $50
The winner and top-ten finalists will be considered for representation by ICM, UTA, Paradigm, William Morris Independent, The Gersh Agency, CAA, Exile Entertainment, The Schiff Company, and The Firm.
Academy's Nicholl Fellowships Screenwriting Competition
Deadline: 05/01/2008 | Entry Fee: $30
About: The NFSC is an international competition open to screenwriters who have not earned more than $5,000 writing for film or television. Scripts must be the original work of a sole author.
PAGE International Screenwriting Awards
Deadline: April 30, 2008 | Entry Fee: $59
About: This year the PAGE Awards judges will present awards to 31 screenwriters in ten different genre categories. Winners will receive over $30,000 in cash and prizes.
Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship
Deadline: Check website | Entry Fee: Free
About: Fellows receive a weekly salary for a one-year period, subject to change (currently amounting to $50,000/year plus benefits), plus hands-on experience involving workshops, seminars, and mentorships with creative executives from ABC, ABC Television Studio, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Lifetime, and Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group.
Play Writing Contests
Write Act Repertory
Deadline: Ongoing | Entry Fee: None
About: Write Act Rep is dedicated to development and production of original plays, lesser known works by established writers, adaptations of classical-themed materials and musicals.
Atwater Playhouse and Write Brothers, Inc. Playwriting Festival
Deadline: 05/30/2008 | Entry Fee: $30
About: Grand Prize is Write Brothers software, plus the Atwater Playhouse professional company will perform your play in a six-week run.
The Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission
Deadline: 06/01/2008 | Entry Fee: None
About: The winner will receive a $15,000 commission to write and develop a play based upon Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission Guidelines.
New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest
Deadline: 06/30/2008 | Entry Fee: $25.00
About: Works of Merit Playwriting Contest accepts and encourages exciting new works that enhance self-realization and support peace and social justice. The winner will get a five- to eight-week production in New York City.
Kansas City Women's Playwriting Festival
Entry Fee: None | Deadline: Past for 2008. All entries will be held for consideration in the 2009 Festival.
About: Winner will receive a two- to three-week, full-production run in front of an audience at the festival.
O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference
Deadline: Past. Check website in Spring/Summer 2008
About: Fifteen people are chosen each year to attend the conference. During the conference, playwrights live on the grounds of the O’Neill Theater Center for a month and engage in a six-day process of rehearsals and two script-in-hand readings of their play. Up to 15 plays and playwrights are chosen for this process each summer.
Other Really Fun Scriptwriting Events
If revision is not going to happen, if you want to put that script you just wrote in the farthest reaches of your hard drive and mind, never to see the light of day again, or if you’re ready to put your newly learned skills to the test there are options for you:
National Play Writing Month
Event Entry Fee: None | Event Dates: 11/01/08-11/30/08
About: If you are a playwright, this is your chance to write another play in a month with other playwrights around the globe.
NYC Midnight’s Screenwriting Challenge
Deadline: Past. Check back in Early 2009
About: After you sign up, you’re placed randomly in heats of twenty writers, and each heat is assigned a genre and a subject. You then have one week to write a polished short script about it. The top script (sometimes two) from each heat advances to the finals, and the finalists have just 24 hours to write another short script in September. $13,000 in cash prizes are handed out to the winners. The first heat begins on July 13, so sign up now.
MoviePoet.com
Entry Fee: None | Deadline: Monthly event
About: Movie Poets’ monthly contest starts on the first of each month. For each contest, a new challenge is selected. The challenge might specify genre, character, dialogue, location, etc. Members choosing to participate in the contest must enter their script before midnight on the last day of the month. During the next month, members can read, score, and leave comments on each script. Finally, during the third month, the writers of each script will be revealed as well as the scores and comments received. Each script will be saved and searchable through their online database.
National Novel Writing Month
Event Entry Fee: None | Event Dates: 11/01/08-11/30/08
Okay, so it doesn't have anything to do with scriptwriting, but you shouldn't miss Script Frenzy's older, sister event, National Novel Writing Month. This year we are celebrating our 10th anniversary! Join us for a month of dangerous noveling!
Congratulations once again on your 100 pages. Please email us if we’ve missed any cool, online scriptwriting resources or contests that Script Frenzy participants should know about.