Screenwriting Competition Update

"Fall seven times, stand up eight"
Japanese Proverb

I returned from vacation to a fresh pile of rejection letters.

The bulk of the mail came from a gaggle of literary agents expressing disinterest in my latest picture book manuscript but there were also a couple of pretty big disappointments in the screenwriting department as well.

Sundance Screenwriter's Lab: Despite Sundance's excellent reputation for finding and nurturing new filmmakers, this is my first year submitting to them. Sundance asks for the first five pages of your screenplay, along with a bio, cover letter, synopsis and letter of interest. Based on the strength of your first five pages, the directors of the program determine whether or not to request the balance of the script. The folks at Sundance didn't say why they chose not to read the other 109 pages of my script, but the fact that it's a historical drama probably didn't help -- Sundance tends to favor lower budget independent films in the vein of "Reservoir Dogs" or "Boys Don't Cry" .

Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting: Nicholl is regarded by many to be the most prestigious screenwriting competition out there, so I was encouraged when my script last year placed in the top fifteen percent (there were 5,879 entries in 2005). This year, my rewrite of the same script finished in the top six percent, missing the quarterfinals by a lousy one percent.

I submitted to a few other competitions this year but I'm not nearly as concerned with those results. Free software and magazine subscriptions just don't carry the same weight as actual industry recognition and the chance to meet with agents, managers, producers, and studio executives. I keep reminding myself, too, that submitting to screenplay competitions is just a small part of the overall plan. There's always the chance (however rare) that I'll get a call from that producer or agent I queried last month.

And if not, well then there's always next year's Nicholl Competition.