Are All Screenwriting Comps Equal?

Last week, I wrote a newsletter article outlining my opinions- in general- about screenwriting competitions (https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/lisa-lavigne-42ba81ab_question-how-do-you-feel-about-screenplay-activity-6973075122228277248-KiJj?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop). I highlighted the pros and the cons, as I saw it. With twenty-plus years in the industry, I think I'm a good judge of which competitions and film festivals CAN advance one's career, and which one's cannot.

A gentleman by the name of TJ Keenan commented on the thread, advertising his own brand new screenwriting competition, pointing out how they won't offer monetary prizes, but other things designed to advance one's writing career- which he then defined;

"...prize is a 1-1 with a Netflix producer, a sizzle reel and a live table read of your short script."

That's all well and good; I found it to be a nice exchange of ideas, from which I shared MY opinion on why I wouldn't PERSONALLY enter such a competition. I believe I began this post, I'm more than entitled to share my opinion on any responses. If ANYONE knows me, they know I'm brutally honest when it comes to the screenwriting?industry.

First, I explained that I wouldn't enter such a competition- for three reasons:

1) Writing short film screenplays are a complete waste of time, in my opinion. It's even a bigger waste of time- AND money- to have them judged in a competition, usually at the same price of admission as a feature length screenplay. Now, contest operators and readers LOVE shorts; it's a hell of a lot easier to read fifty bad short screenplays of 3-30 pages, then fifty feature film screenplays. In any event (and spare me the Spielberg argument), you can make an entire career out of writing, producing, directing shorts and it won't make a hill of beans. You know why? Without researching, name one short film writer or director who won an Academy Award. Ever. You can't. They win them every year, and no one cares. I don't care. It's like writing poetry. There's a market for them- sure. Some people LOVE to read poetry; write poetry; live by the poetic words. To me, if it doesn't start start with "There once was a man from Nantucket", I'll pass.

Again- just my opinion.

2) The one-on-ones are a great part of the prize but, in the case of this contest, the producer is too UK-based. Great if you live in Europe, which should be your target audience. I'm not familiar with ANY of his work- BUT he was directly involved in those projects. Too often they'll advertise a meeting with a Netflix exec, and he/she turns out to be an HR assistant, or something completely innocuous.

3) Table reads; talk about a complete waste of time. The only thing worse than winning a "table read" is winning a "short script table read".

I did like the idea of a sizzle reel, although you can make one for yourself.

Again, I stated that "this contest might 'advance' the UK short script writer into getting short scripts produced- and there is a market for that. It's just not for me or most of the writers I know."

Well, Mr. Keenan took great exception to this response, disconnecting our link-in and telling me how "offended" he was;

"I did find (the comments) quite rude and offensive actually, despite your intentions. But that’s ok, because I’m going to remove you from my network."

How soft. This guy must live in a plastic bubble.

People pay for my services, my mentorship, in a large part because I'm completely honest about what I think- on just about every topic I'm passionate about. Do you know how many times I've been asked to "refer" or "recommend" various competitions, and wouldn't dare do so because I thought they were simply money grabs? Too many times to count. There are 3500 competitions out there, and less than 10 can actually help you in your career if you win, or do well in them. Another twenty may offer decent money prizes, maybe a meeting or phone call with an industry "name".

In my contest career, I've won over $25,000 in cash and prizes; unfortunately, $20,000 were "prizes". Those prizes included software which I already had, books which I would never purchase, services from various websites which I would never use, and one $10,000 "scholarship" to attend a writing boot camp (IF I ponied up an additional $5,000).

I have many articles about screenwriting competitions, what to look for, and what to avoid. This is one of many subjects I AM passionate about. Screenwriting competitions CAN be very good for your career. It certainly jump-started mine, to the point where I was making six-figures a year for many years. Now, my goal is simply to impart the wisdom I collected during those years so you can do it, too.

WRITER'S BIO:?Geno Scala, known professionally as?"The Script Mentor"?as well as the?"Ghostwriter to the Stars", was the former?Executive Director of the?2000 Academy Awards, and held a similar position with?The Grammys, The Blockbuster Video Awards, The Soul Train Awards?and?The Saturn Awards. He is highly skilled at adaptations; converting novels into screenplays; having written over 47 of them to date. He currently mentors over five hundred lifetime Script Mentor members and is frequently requested by producers for writing assignments.

His screenplays?"Black Easter",?"Assassins 33 A.D."?and?"The Tombs", can be found on Amazon Prime and Tubi. You can network with Geno through?Lisa Lavigne- his social media manager- or through Facebook at?The Script Mentor page?and the?Shark-Eating Man Productions page.

Geno also invites you to?subscribe to his YouTube channel?at:

The Script Mentor - YouTube

(1) The Script Mentor | Facebook