A quick blog on pricey writing contests
- Kevin Ryan
- Feb 6, 2022
- 5 min read
Hello,
If you have had a read of last week's blog then it would have left you with the impression that I had some sort of idea of what I was going to write next for my contemporary fantasy short. Unfortunately, that is not the case. I have until tonight, midnight to have it written. I find it very hard to work without some idea of an ending. Especially that final shot. The one before we cut to black or fade to black. That image is really important to me. It's almost like a punchline. I feel if it's boring or not interesting enough then the whole story is pointless. So I will need to think about that over the next few hours.
Onto todays blog:
The Most Expensive Screenplay Contests:
Here are the three most expensive screenplay contests we can enter. I am using FilmFreeway as a resource here to find the contests. I am only using their regular deadline prices. It seems that is a fair point to take as a standard price. Plus, I will bring up these contests but I am probably not going to judge the contests on whether they are worth the fee or not. That's not my decision really, maybe they are clearly worth it for someone with enough disposable income whereas to others who don't have that luxury, they are ridiculous prices to look for. I think we all have different views on contests and their worth, without me acting as a judge on the whole topic.
Saying that, here are the top three:
The price for entry of your script is $81.98. The added benefit for someone like me is I can convert these prices to euro and it should come down slightly. So I would actually pay approx €71.60. My side note here is I could spend €68 to get myself a return flight to Nice. Arriving in Nice on Saturday 2nd April and coming back to Ireland on Monday 4th April, which is a little tempting.
As for the festival itself. It is one of many that Film Fest International organize in various cities around Europe, Edinburgh, Milan, Antwerp are some more locations. Winners from each of our categories walk away with a prestigious trophy awards in recognition of their talents and achievements in film. Because Nice is situated along the French Riviera and is a 35 min drive from Cannes, the festival is held a few days before the Cannes International Film Festival. This is done in hope of providing a larger audience to take in the films on show at the Nice International Film Festival.
Apart from its prize for the winner, the festival advises that there will be Films for sale, Conferences, Meetings, Panels, Networking Events, Pitching Essentials, Production Finance Opportunities, You Had Me at Page One Writers Workshop, Passion Documentaries, The Film Finance from Script to Screen, Distributingc& Monetising Feature Documentaries, Microbudget, Networking Receptions too.
Now I have written that but at this point I must explain that this information on their website shows the date as 2020. Also, the details regarding conferences, panels etc. seems to require a purchased ticket, which there is no information on how someone can obtain. I am going to assume this is a ticket you would have to spend more money on. So while the website itself shows the date as 2020. However the blog on the website has been updated more recently (including today 6th February 2022) with notifications of winners in the different categories.
On Film Freeway, the competition has an open contest, currently with its early bird deadline which is $79.20.
The price for entry of your script is $195. This is across different categories like Western, Diversity Films, Women Empowerment etc.
And no, I cannot fly to Hollywood for €195. I could easily go to Portugal though and if you haven't been ,you really should. Such a lovely place. Actually the first foreign holiday me and my fiancée took. But anyway...
Hollywood Weekly Magazine Film Festival offers as a prize...something...it was a little hard to find. I believe the prize is the top 10 finalist in our screenplay competition will be invited to attend our film festival to meet producers and agents.
(Held here at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills)
As written on the competitions FilmFreeway site
Upon entrance, live musicals acts serenaded the crowd and everyone discovered that the lobby had been upgraded and was transformed into jazz lounge.
Networking between distinguished guests and celebrities were seen mingling with established Hollywood film makers. As people filled the lobby they lined up to enter into the 410 seat Beverly Hills theater. Everyone I spoke to said the atmosphere was electric.
The event featured two unique production companies each hosting their own 90 minute session. It started with the Awards, an organization that has been in existence for more than twenty years. They paid tribute to comedy legends including Eddie Murphy, Steve Harvey and many others.
This was followed by a historical overview of the Hip Hop music scene. The stories, struggles and glory of some of the world's most well known rap artist who were catalyst of that musical industry spoke to the audience. This was followed by a panel discussion, then Q & A with our guests.
This was a summary of our opening. It is written to give you an insight into the work involved in putting on our live event.
I have not been able to find information on who judges the entries
The price for entry of your script is $240.
TBH, there is little information that I can gather about this festival. The website shows a prize category which shows awards for each category but there is no text explaining anything else. The same with Hollywood Weekly, there looks to be an event held for the festival itself, which I can only assume requires a ticket to take part in. Of course with Covid-19 the event looks to have been cancelled or else there is just no information at present about the festival being held.
It also states the festival jury comprises of executives from distribution companies with a singular focus, I haven't been able to find exactly who the judges are BUT I will make note that this is not an extensive search for the names of the judges. I don't feel like I should need to investigate for the information. That is my own personal opinion.
Forgive me for this small blog. I have a contemporary fantasy to write. I also want to show this unfortunate error I found on one contest's page. Either that or the contests really dislike students creating feature length documentaries.
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