This may sound like a very silly question and it probably is, but I was wondering about contests and being selected as a winner. What makes a script a contest winner? Is it the story you are trying to tell, your writing style? Or is it a brilliant story combined with excellent writing?
Screenwriting : Contest Winner by Surina Nel
Contest Winner
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Not a silly question at all. Actually it is interesting and would be looking forward to some answers. Thanks for asking..
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The most important factor is a great story, well told, but two other critical factors are beyond your control::
1. who reads your script
2. how many people enter the contest
if you have a decent script, you can always improve your chances of winning by entering a contest that has a history of fewer entries than the more significant contests. What those are worth is up for debate, though.
The unfortunate truth is that there are VERY few screenwriting contests that are worth their salt. Fortunately there are a few,
Most of them are just money making schemes for some seedy operators - you send 'em your script & money and they will have some high school volunteers read 'em. They tell the high school kids 'It's an opportunity to learn'. Who wins & who loses? The seedy operator makes money (a win), the kids might learn something (+/-) and the entrant loses money and gets nothing in return (lose).
Fortunately there are a few worty contests out there. Due diligence is in order.
Doug Nelson is correct about contests. Nicol and Austin get you noticed. Everything else is nice. I remember a thread where a person said their script won over 100 contests but they couldn’t sell it or get repped. I think that tells you the quality of most contests.
Depending on the contest. A Horror contest will want fear over everything else etc.
But I believe it is the overall package. Everything you mentioned. A great story that is unique, characters that are real and relatable, a theme that is understandable and a “now” (the story needs to be told Now”).
All that will give you a chance.