MovieBytes Interview: Alex McPhail

An interview with Alex McPhail regarding the Austin Writing Competition.

A: The competition is sponsored by the Austin Film Festival (AFF). The film festival was founded in 1994 by Marsha Milam and Barbara Morgan (who is our current Executive Director). It was the first event of its kind to focus on the writer's contribution to the film and television industries. AFF furthers its focus on writers through its Screenplay and Teleplay Competitions, which were established the same year as the festival. The festival and the competitions have been integral to one another from the very beginning.

It has never been just another competition. We were the first to invite studio executives and production companies to judge the finalists scripts. The combination of the competition and the Conference (October 16-23, 2008) gives us a unique opportunity to put writers in contact with production companies, managers, agents and many others that can help them along their way.

A: I am the Screenplay and Teleplay Competition Director. I oversee the competition, reading and judging processes. I am also in charge of marketing the competition and managing the coverage program (which is seperate from the competition).

I also run the Writer's Ranch which is a relatively new program for AFF. It is a nonconsecutive two week program offered to three writers from the previous year's competition. The first week focuses on intense workshopping and brainstorming on their scripts. After three months to rewrite and work on their scripts, the second week is reserved for meetings in LA to promote both the writer and their work. For more information check out our website (http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/new/writers_ranch)

A: Even in our first year the winner Excess Baggage, written by Max Adams, was sold and produced. This starred Benicio del Toro and Alicia Silverstone. Just recently our triple 2005 winner, Karl Williams, had one of his winning scripts, PUNCTURED, picked up for production this May. In 2006, Brian Jung screened his directorial debut film Steel City, based on his 2003 Adult/Family Semi-Finalists script at the our festival. It also played at that year's Sundance Film Festival, as well. 1995 Adult/Family winner Ron Peer's script Goodbye Lover was picked up by Gotham Entertainment. The movie stared Patricia Arquette, Don Johnson, and Ellen Degeneress. 1998 Adult Finalist Happy Hour, written by Richard Levine in1998, was also sold and produced starring Anthony Lapaglia, Eric Stoltz, Caroleen Feeney and Robert Vaughn, and was directed by Mike Bencivenga. 1999 Finalist LITTLE ANGEL will be shot this summer. It was written by Alfredo de Villa & Nathaniel Moss whose film Washington Heights won the Narrative Feature Film Competition here at AFF and the Narrative Audience Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2002. A lot of these films were screened at our film festival. It is exciting for us to recognize a script through the competition and then screen the finished film for an audience at the festival "full circle." Many of our entrants find managers or agents through the competition too. For a complete list of success stories you can check out our web site.

A: We have a very intense criteria for judging the first rounds of the competition. We have a team of readers to judge the first round in the competition. All of them are experienced readers and most of them are writers themselves. They go through a rigorous screening process including interviews and reading and evaluating test scripts. Readers that enter the competition are not eligible to read in any category they entered in.

The final rounds are judged by production companies, agents, and managers. Past judges include representatives from: Focus Features, Lightstorm Entertainment, CAA, Donners' Company, Village Roadshow Pictures, Saturn Films, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, Josephson Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies, Flower Films and more.

A: Every script is read at least twice, by two different readers. The first round readers are required to read through page thirty, but the majority will read past this. Any script that advances past the first round must be read in its entirety. The second round ranges between 10-12% of the scripts entered.

A: Our judges are instructed to look for the best writing. Period. The aspects we look for are strong characters, good dialogue and a well developed narrative. Our categories are purposely kept broad as to include all types of genres, although, we have created categories like Sci-Fi (which includes fantasy, horror, surrealism, etc) which are read by a different set of readers so as not to fall through the cracks. Overall, one genre does not have preference over another. We are always just looking for great writing.

A: Each year we create a Producers' Book, which provides the names, log lines, and contact info of all the Semi-Finalists, Finalists and winners. This is distributed to people in the industry like production companies, managers and agents. A press release is also created and released nationally. We also run advertisements in industry publications. We hope to also promote scripts through partnerships like the one we have with Latitude Productions this year. Our goal has always been to help launch the writer into the industry. We want writers to succeed. Programs like the Writers' Ranch, for example, are aimed at helping encourage and discover new and lasting film industry talent.

A: Before sending your script anywhere, you should always be happy with the product. I recommend not sending in a first draft. At the very least have your friends and family read it and give you notes so you know you are sending off a great product. While we try our best to look past formatting issues (again, we are looking for the best writing) they can be a big distraction from the writing. Making sure your formatting is correct is an easy way to make your script easier to read.

Most importantly, always be proud of your work. Never be too shy to put it out there and let people read it, otherwise you will never improve as a writer.

Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2008