I was thrilled when I saw that my screenplay for “Lock the Doors” was selected as a finalist in the 13Horror competition. I had just traveled to Arizona to spend time with my cousins, and this was a great way to kick off the vacation.
I…also didn’t know what placing as a finalist meant.
I had taken that to mean that I had successfully advanced through the first round of judging, and would be considered among the other finalists for the grand prize. But as much as I read and re-read through an admittedly short email, I couldn’t find any indication of when they would announce the winners. I had an attachment of a digital laurel for my achievement, a pitch to buy a physical copy of my script, as well as some other offers to help promote my screenplay.
I will admit I read and analyzed this (again) short email, and even read through their website for a couple of hours before putting it together, which is much longer than it should have taken. I had been waiting for this email on this particular day because this was when the contest was announcing its winner. It just took me a little longer to piece together that I hadn’t.
In screenwriting competitions, they will typically announce the winner, maybe even a second and third place, and then the finalists. If a screenplay competition is big enough, it will also list some honorable mentions. What I didn’t realize at the time but understand now is that when you place as a finalist, that is your final placement. You did well, just not well enough to win.
I honestly wasn’t disappointed in the result, and any frustration was over how long it took me to figure this out on my own. I was thrilled! I had entered “Lock the Doors” just looking for feedback, and the response I got was that this was one of the best screenplays entered into a competition designed for its genre.
I’ll go into the results of the other screenplay contests I had entered, next time.