Message Board

Before entering a screenplay competition, you might want to read the fine print to see the goal of that competition. Some are searching for material for their own production company/agency. Some are looking for writers to cultivate to become part of their team. Some are focused on recognizing new writers or great screenplays.

If the goal of a competition is to find inhouse material, they might have less incentive to promote the winners to other companies. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't.

At Slamdance, our goal is to recognize and promote new writers. Since October, over 45 production companies, studios, agents and managers have contacted us requesting to read our top twelve scripts.

The more industry contact, the greater chance something might happen.

Last year's Slamdance top finalist, Kate Alfieri, signed with ICM. The winning script from the previous year, Chinaware:Fragile, was optioned by New Line.

There's no guarantee that great things will happen, but winning a screenplay competition can make a difference.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi Nancy,

I just spoke to Lenny Juliano, one of the 1998 top twelve Slamdance finalists. His script, Road Rage, won the gold in the Action/Adventure category in the Austin Worldfest. It boasts great dialogue, distinct colorful characters and some exciting action scenes. Also, it's surprisingly bloodless which is kind of refreshing for that genre. I haven't heard word about the other categories.

Hope all is going well.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Nancy,

Oops, you're right! I meant Houston, not Austin. You know Lenny? What a small world! Glad to hear you're doing well with "THE COUNTERFEIT CONFEDERATE". I'll email you to let know how things are going on my end.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi Sandra,

Many formatting issues aren't set in stone and hopefully a screenplay competition, development company, agency, etc. won't reject a great script because of issues such as capitalization.

The convention in most screenplays I read is to capitalize characters with speaking parts and significant non-speaking characters, i.e., Benji. In a spec script, this helps alert readers that a new character is being introduced.

It's not a big deal if "crowds" is capitalized, but it probably isn't necessary.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

I just spoke with our 1998 third place winner, T.S. Faul. After the competition, he became a client of Zide Management and is quite happy with them. They're guiding him while he does a rewrite on his winning script, "Hallowed Ground," a feminist ghost story about a very nasty haunted house.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi Captain Jack,

I'm not sure if there's a set rule about capitalizing sounds. Some specs do, some don't. Hopefully it wouldn't play a factor in how a script is judged. Ditto for many other formatting issues. If a script has a great story, dialogue, characters, etc. and is an amazing read, hopefully no one will care if there's an occasional camera angle or the margins aren't precise. However, if one of our top twelve finalists had really awkward formatting, I might suggest they clean it up before sending it out to the rest of the industry.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

T.S. Faul, who won third place in the Slamdance 1998 Screenplay competition, recently became one of their clients. He says he's happy with them.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Yep, "Making a Good Script Great" is on the top of my list! I also like "The Writer's Journey" by Chris Vogler.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Steven,

I know the first place winner in one of this year's genre categories. So far, he hasn't received a single phone call or letter from the industry in response to his success in the Houston competition. It seems Houston does very little to promote their winners. For example, they've sent press releases to Moviebytes calling for submissions, but then never bother to send a follow-up release announcing the winners. Since prestige and access to the industry are main reasons for entering a screenplay competition, it might make one wonder about their priorities.

However, these problems could be rectified by making more of an effort to promote their winners.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi Renee,

Thanks for the plug. We've received about 1000 scripts so far and I imagine we'll get more as the final deadline approaches. Last year, our total number of submissions was 1020.

One minor note: You stated that our top two 1998 finalists signed with ICM. Actually, it's two of our top twelve 1998 finalists. One was the first place winner, Kate Alfieri. However, the other, Trevor Munson, was in the 4th - 6th place category. The 3rd place winner, T.S. Faul, signed with Zide management. A minor point, but I just wanted to be accurate.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at AGlazier@Slamdance.com.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Weren't there orcs in Tolkien's books? The Hobbit was first published back in the 30's. I don't know if orcs are public domain but I've seen them in a number of places. I'm not a lawyer but I wouldn't worry about it. A studio can always change the name later.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

While Slamdance doesn't have a sci-fi category, we do tend to be genre friendly. Last year, one of our top twelve finalists was a script called "Roboticide". The year before, one of our top twelve was a script called "Robots Never Die". So if you have a script called "Kill That Robot" or "Burn, Android, Burn", you might be in luck. :)

Last year, we also chose two horror stories and a children's fantasy. Of course the top twelve depends solely on the quality of the scripts. There is no specific horror or sci-fi slot. It's just that we're receptive to that sort of thing.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

The outside cover might be easier for the office staff. Either way, it won't have any impact on the judging of your script.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Comedy seems to be the genre which most benefits from having more than one writer. (More gags, a partner to weed out the bad material, an infection approach to the humor which builds off each other's strengths.) I believe the Nicholl Fellowship and several other contests only accept submissions from solo writers. Along with the reasons Greg stated, this may be a factor in why comedies may not do as well as dramas.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

I've never read a screenplay where I thought, "Gee, this writer should add more beats." But I've read tons where the technique is overused.

Once in a while is okay, but as stated above, it probably should be used sparingly.

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Thanks for your kind words!

This year we received an amazing wealth of material. While 12 scripts were recognized, many others demonstrated an excellence of craft. I truly believe the overall quality of submissions has improved over the past three years. Perhaps because of all the valuable resources available on the internet.

I think this year's top twelve is by far the best yet! But I'm also aware that a screenplay competition is a subjective process. Scripts that did not make our top twelve might do well in other competitions.

I'd like to thank all the writers who entered and remind them that can call the Slamdance offices at (323) 466-1786 to get feedback on their work. Writers can call during the month of October on weekdays 10:00 - 6:00 PM PST.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at AGlazier@Slamdance.com.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi L. West,

The letters went out this week. It just took a while to sign, stuff and stamp 1,500 pieces of mail. Damn those paper cuts!

Also we invite every writer to call our office at (323) 466-1786 during the month of October to get feedback on their work. During the past two weeks, I've spoken to a couple hundred writers. (Two more weeks to go!)

Feedback is available weekdays 10:00 - 6:00 pm until Friday, October 29th.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at AGlazier@Slamdance.com.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Best of luck with your film! It's nice to see that you have so much enthusiasm for your project. I guess that's part of being a producer. However I'm not sure it's appropriate for the screenwriting community to help hype a film that hasn't been made yet. Sounds like putting the cart before the horse.

At Slamdance this year, we may receive up to 1000 indie features, but the sad truth is that a large percentage of them will be bottom of the barrel bad. Barely watchable. I imagine each of these also had an enthusiastic director and producer. And many will be about a group of twenty-somethings saying "witty" and "cynical" things.

My advice is to make a great film and then worry about self-promotion. A great film will stand out. Blair Witch got into Sundance because of its craft. Then it was picked up after showing at Sundance. The internet marketing campaign came next.

Make your movie incredibly visual, entertaining and intelligent. That's a great start. Then the world will be knocking at your door!

Again best of luck,

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Ditto. I would not appreciate being quoted in a business plan for a project with which I have no connection.

Hope you understand.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

My ditto was regarding Didi's message, not L West. We both posted at the same time.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Hi,

Just a reminder that Friday, Oct. 29th is the last day for entrants to call in for feedback on their submissions to the 1999 Slamdance Screenplay competition. Writers can call the Slamdance office at (323) 466-1786. between 10:00 - 6:00pm PST.

Kind Regards,

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Yep. I know he's done some HBO stuff and some indy films. He's for real.

Allen Glazier Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Ignore your friends. Follow your gut. There's plenty of room for a top notch action/adventure with a female lead. Would your friends prefer that you go against your instincts and write something for which you have no passion?

Allen Glazier (AGlazier@Slamdance.com) Director of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition

Just a question...

What's to prevent an overly aggressive screenplay competition from stuffing the ballot for their own contest? I noticed one new competition had more responses than the Nicholl and an almost unbelievably high approval rating, even for coverage which the contest doesn't even provide. Some of the memos seemed like textbook advertising and the people who left the messages didn't have login names...

Just wondering.

Allen Glazier (no longer with Slamdance)

It's a great feature and it would be a shame if one rotten apple screwed things up. It is kinda irksome that they would choose to be so manipulative. (I was already suspect of them because of all their lame press releases.) However, they did pick some good scripts.

Allen Glazier

Richard,

I left in December. Basically, there was a clash of management styles. Go figure. I had fun, the competition's been amazingly successful and the response from writers has been terrific.

During the past three years, I've read over 1,100 scripts for Slamdance. (Approximately 1/3 of the entrees each year.) I also handled about 90% of the phone calls for people requesting feedback. I've also tried to reach out to the screenwriting community via the internet.

Management wanted someone who would be more diligent regarding the placement of magazine ads and coordinating print jobs with their type-setter. Whatever. I guess it's all a matter of priorities. (Their early deadline is March 8th and they still haven't posted it on their website or updated their online entry form. Also, I don't think there were staged readings at this year's festival.)

I have been approached by a company to start a new screenplay competition with a higher cash prize and guaranteed reads from some major agencies and development companies. Also I was thinking of having rolling feedback, so people didn't have to wait six months to get input on their work. If things pan out, I'll make an announcement.

Allen Glazier

Berkus,

Different competitions are run differently. Some contest directors don’t read. Some do. Depends on the contest. I was one judge in a group of judges -- mostly enthusiastic young writers who’ve also done a bunch of reading. IMHO, the more one reads, the more one is able to compare and contrast the strengths of various scripts.

In regards to the credentials of the judges... To me, the proof is in the pudding. We picked good scripts. Two of our 1998 finalists signed with ICM. One signed with Zide Management. Trevor, one of the writers who signed with ICM, had his script optioned by Bedford Falls. Another 1998 finalist just had his script optioned by Katz Entertainment and they’re going to let him self-direct. The 1997 winner was optioned by New Line. I expect great things for the 1999 winners.

My credentials were tested every time I gave feedback of a script I’d read. Each year I spoke to hundreds of writers and the vast majority reacted extremely well to my comments. I have an MFA in screenwriting at USC, and was an English major at Harvard. I also feel that at some point, reading over 1,100 spec scripts becomes its own credential. Well, at least if you’ve got a knack for that sort of thing...

If I'm involved in new competition, I'll be one judge of many judges. I know some very experienced readers who have agreed to help out.

Allen Glazier

Perhaps it's a matter of personal style but I think LATER is more elegant than INT. LIVING ROOM - LATER. I also think it's more common.

Aside from mentioning camera angles, one way a writer can over-direct a scene is to be overspecific on unimportant images. This is sometimes found in montages:

Soldiers marching. Feet trekking through mud. Rain falling Soldiers pointing guns. A bird flies overhead. A soldier shoots an enemy soldier. Buildings burn... Another soldier is shot in the head More soldiers march. A bleeding soldier clutches his wound.

Instead of telling a story, it's a shot by shot account of what's supposed to appear on screen. Some directors might frown on this.

Allen Glazier

If your script is brilliant, people might not quibble about the formatting, but since you asked...

In the example you've given, it's more common for the slugline (ON LUCIFER) and the description that follows to be on the same page. It might not be a big deal, but if it were my script, I'd fix it.

Allen Glazier

If the character's not likable, then we should probably like him being unlikable, i.e., Danny Devito in Ruthless People, Malcolm McDowell in Clockwork Orange, etc. Is he funny? Compelling? What about this person would make us want to spend eight bucks?

IMHO, an unlikable main character doesn't work when he/she is too unpleasant, boring, irritating, whiny to hold your attention. We don't need to someone virtuous, but he should interesting.

Allen Glazier