All these damn project submissions!!!!
A couple of years ago, when I finished my script Motel, I was so excited to finish the thing and get it into the world that I dove headfirst into submissions. Submit. SUBMIT! I drew up spreadsheets with all the different contests I’d slide my script to, cleverly avoiding totaling up the price of each contest, and let the script fly.
As rejections and placements started rolling in, I didn’t have the ability to compartmentalize what each email meant, what kinds of doors each laurel would open for me. And while I have had many opportunities come from Motel, honestly, none of those opportunities were due to those submissions. My introductions were made by friends that I’ve had the privilege of getting to know through Instagram, or other such acquaintances in the industry. And if I’ve had opportunities, they weren’t stumbled into, I worked hard for them, on that page, you know the ol’ “blood, sweat and tears” rigamarole.
Once I began to realize that the countless contests were really providing nothing, except a few that exceeded my expectations with their contact and feedback (Finish Line stands out as a great and supportive contest), I pivoted to film festivals. I entered Motel into the Pasadena International Film Festival and Oaxaca Film Festival and was selected as a finalist at them both! This was exciting because I was able to fly myself to a specific spot and be surrounded by other creatives. It wasn’t just an email and a new post for Insta. It was an opportunity to network.
Film festivals became the only spot I’d submit. I didn’t place in every one I entered, but I felt better about the process. These were real people who wanted to provide an experience for filmmakers, and I respected their effort and wanted to be a part of it. I still do! This damn year stole another trip to PIFF (Pasadena) because of the damn pandemic. But that aside, there was a sense of fulfillment that I simply didn’t get from online screenplay contests.
I see so many talented screenwriters online who post their submissions and I respect every one of them. I’m not here speaking ill on the process or the hope that springs eternal. But the weird truth is, we screenwriters have fucking multiplied, and now the competitions are getting thousands of submissions each season! Like more than thousands, I don’t know. That’s when my inner skeptic squints hard and tries to figure out just how someone can stand out of the crowd.
My particular screenwriting style is not exactly high concept. I am drawn to dark subjects and repelled by popular storytelling format, i.e. linear and proper three-act structure. I understand that if I get the wrong reader on the wrong day, it’d be easy for them to toss my shit aside and there’s my $40 down the drain.
It’s hard to take a chance. It’s hard to keep the faith and hope that is required in this industry. We all have a vision and a story that is worth seeing on the screen. It’s up to us to find the avenues that will serve our purpose without getting taken for an expensive ride.
I hope you place in every contest, festival, fellowship, workshop, and every single other thing you submit to. But remember, writing a script is an HUGE accomplishment. Laurels don’t make that more legitimate, that email doesn’t make it more legitimate. You are too legit to quit. And you will succeed if you work at it, make those connections, and keep that fucking head up.