As I mentioned in my previous post, after scoring some initial success for my script of Lock the Doors in the first screenplay contest I entered, it started trending in the wrong direction. Not only was I not building off the initial results, I wasn’t getting any results.
At that point, I was open to considering the possibility that while I had received positive feedback, this may be the outlier in the experience that all script readers were having. It had been the only contest that had offered feedback, which was what I originally sought after and was extremely helpful, but didn’t guarantee that the positives they saw in it were what other competitions saw or were even weighing equally.
I decided that what I needed was to find an avenue that offered me feedback on my script. While I had gotten what I was initially after, I could also see that I stopped pursuing feedback in lieu of similar results in the competitions. I had gotten a taste of success, and though I think its justifiable to believe that I would’ve gotten similar results, there was still the opportunity to grow and develop in a new medium.
After doing a little research for script analysis online, I found that Scriptapalooza was offering a review and analysis of the first 20 pages of screenplays submitted, as well as a scoring system. While I would have preferred a review of the entire screenplay, I understood that in this industry, because so many scripts come across people’s desks, it’s important to hook people within the first ten to fifteen pages.
Also, in the 13Horror.com contest where I was selected as a finalist, I received feedback on comments to get a better understanding of why I placed where I did. In TIFF and the other screenplay competition where I was not selected…well, that’s all the information I got. I had no idea where I stood among the other entries, had no idea what my script had done right, and -more importantly- what it did wrong.
Also, the only feedback I had gotten on the revisions I had made was that I placed as a finalist. But I didn’t actually know if I had implemented the changes in the most effective manner.
The additional feedback Scriptapalooza would provide offered the possibility of finding out what might still be lacking in my script that could get me over the hump of these pesky “Not Selecteds.” The notes would be something to compare and contrast to the previous notes I received, to see if the issues identified were still prevalent, or if something else was holding it back.
I’ll share the results from this 20 page feedback, next time.