With my next screenplay competition targeted, I began to look into the ways to enter Scriptapalooza. Just like with the other contests I had entered, this offered many options – from a general entry, to providing notes/feedback, and even an option offering coverage. And this was very appealing to me, because while I had just gotten comprehensive feedback on my script for Dig Down, and had placed as a finalist in two of the three competitions I had entered, with the third still pending judgment, that had been on my initial submission.
This is where I feel I started to go wrong. I had gotten great notes and advice from all three contests, but that had been on the draft I submitted. I worked really hard to apply the notes, and placed as a finalist…but it wasn’t a win. A win I thought was within reach.
While I was thrilled with my placement, I wondered what it was that I had or hadn’t done for Dig Down to not get the win. And although I had feedback on my initial submission, I didn’t have any on the revisions I’d made, other than placing as a finalist.
For this reason, even though I’d already gotten three sets of feedback, I kept thinking that there might be something my script was still missing, something that was keeping it from being the best version of itself. So, instead of going with the general entry for Scriptapalooza, I began exploring the options available that would provide notes and feedback.
More accurately, that would provide feedback on the feedback.
The coverage option was also something I was interested in. While I now had written Dig Down in two separate mediums, I still felt I was lacking in terms of having a successful way to pitch it to people.
Not all the options were for me. There was a proofreading coverage service, but I figured after all the edits from the manuscript and script itself, it was unlikely I’d get the full value from this, as I expected grammar issues to be minimal. There was also a logline service, and although this was something I felt I could use, plenty of the other options had this included with the rest of the services provided. I also wasn’t as interested in the phone consultations for the script. While I did see the benefit in continuing to talk with a professional about ways to further enhance Dig Down, these conversations were only for a half hour, and I didn’t believe this was enough time to cover what I would want addressed for the script.
Reading through the options, I got the sense they would promote a script to industry professionals if it scored high enough, although when I called them up about that option, they informed me that this rarely the case with screenplays that were submitted.
Even after the call, I was still considering this option. I had just placed as a finalist in two contests, and I was feeling it with my screenplay. I ultimately decided not to go down this path however, because if I placed high enough in the competition, I would get a lot of these services anyway (though not them actively promoting it themselves).
Once I had chosen the coverage option for my entry, all I had to do was actually enter the contest. I had done so multiple times, three times for this script alone. How could any problems arise now?
Well…