Message Board

Hi there,

My latest short, "Ten Minutes to the New You," won a staged reading along with the four other finalists of the Kansas City Women in Film and Television Short Screenplay Contest. If you happen to be in Kansas City on Sunday during the AMC/KC film fest, come on over to the Nelson Museum of Art. I'll be there, and Gordy Hoffman of Blue Cat fame is serving as a moderator and judge. Link to more info: http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=533417d9da48dcfe8933b5028&id=11108f11cd

Thanks! Margie Kaptanoglu

Awesome! Congrats!

congratulations to you! pls let us know here how it goes.

peters

Congrats, Marjory. I could use a new me. :)

Congrats! The BBQ in KC is pretty good!

Wow! Congrats, Margie. Your roll just continues to pick up speed. My internal map of the US is very hazy but I'm pretty sure that Kansas City is out reach this weekend...

Maybe you could send us the link if you film it. Have a great night!

Thanks a lot, you guys!

Peters, I'll let you know.

Julia, the method in my script calls for a time machine:)

Philip, you're not the 1st to tell me that. Will have to try it.

Lana, I don't plan to film it (not sure if they'd allow this) but if anyone does I'll let you all know.

A time machine. Can I keep what the years have taught me, or do I have to give that up to look younger and thinner? I know. I have to come see the performance to find out. Hmm. If someone could film your short, that would be great!

Julia, you get to keep what the years taught you!

YES! I love science fiction. Good luck. Hope they pick you!

Kansas. There's no place like home. Congratulations, Marjory. Definitely YouTube this badboy -- or girl -- if you can film it.

Yeah! Congrats, Marjory.

Good stuff! I lived in KC for a year a while ago. I remember a great area, Westport, with a bunch of good restaurants and nightlife. You should check it out while you're there.

Just back from Kansas City, where I got treated like royalty (wait, is that a pun?). Seriously, the leaders and other members of Kansas City Women in Film and TV are amazing. One member met me at the airport with an incredible goodie bag filled with specialty chocolates and a free film festival pass. The next day I got to watch a rehearsal and then the actual staged reading of the five finalist scripts from their short screenplay contest. The actors were outstanding and so was the quality of the other finalist scripts. It was a little hard to hone in on the weaknesses in my script because the actors did so well making up for my shortcomings. The reading took place in the Nelson art museum and we got a pretty sizable turnout. Everyone seemed to enjoy it very much.

KCWIFT also presented us with flowers and framed awards and took lots of photos. I am so impressed with this organization... they really know how to make a screenwriter feel special.

I finally got to meet Gordy Hoffman of Bluecat, who was one of the finalist judges. He offered some impromptu advice on my script that I plan to incorporate asap. He also gave a workshop the day before I arrived; unfortunately, I was not able to go earlier.

A lovely script called "The Rest of Her" won the grand prize of $1000. But strangely, I didn't mind not winning at all; the staged reading was worth every penny I spent to get there. Plus KC is a beautiful, clean, friendly place! In conclusion, I highly recommend this contest to women who have written / will write short screenplays. Sorry guys, this one's not for you.

hey, even though it's not for us guys, a fest like this restores my faith. how wonderful to hear they went the extra mile to let you know how much they appreciate you and your writing. thanks so much for sharing, Marjory. peters

Too bad you can't incorporate Gordy's suggestions, get in your time machine, re-enter the contest and come out on top. :)

But, it sounds like you had a great experience and opportunity and made the most of both. Writing shorts just might be the way to go and something to seriously consider. Thanks, Marjory. And congratulations again on being selected for a reading. Invaluable experience. One I can only hope to have someday.

Great news, Marjory. Would love know how it feels to have others read my words. This contest and your experience of it almost makes me want to be a woman. Almost.

Speaking of which, why isn't there a contest strictly for guys? We men need validation just as much as women. You have any idea how hard it is for a man to live up to the expectations this unforgiving society has placed on them?

Just a thought.

Everything sounds great Marjory! Congrats again.

Thanks, everybody!

Julia, lol, if only I were an inventor as well as a writer!

Paul, you have my synpathy. No doubt breaking into this business is super-tough for guys as well as for women. But if you look at the names of contest winners, you might notice that men are the top winners a good 75-100% of the time, whereas I believe the female entry rate is said to average at about 30-40%. For example, unless I'm mistaken, in the Austin contest last year, not one of 23 feature finalists was a woman. Is this because women are not writing screenplays as well, or because there's a gender bias in terms of judges preferring the type of material or the pov that might be projected by male writers. I really have no idea and I'm not bringing this up to complain about it. But maybe if people running contests are more aware that this is happening, they might consider trying to analyze why this is.

That should be "sympathy" not "synpathy"!

Marjory,

I can't believe you took me seriously. I meant it as a joke. I know all too well the gender disparities in the market/industry. In fact, they should have more contests just for women. (Btw, I was also rooting for Catherine Bigelow to win the Director Oscar.) And I intentionally create more female characters than male characters in my stories just to even things up.

Ha, Paul, you fooled me. But seriously I really don't like to get on a soapbox about women trying to break in, because I know that it's hard for everybody. Still, glad to hear you are trying to help:-)