I submitted to them in 2012. I submitted 3 scripts. Two were my best horror scripts, the third was a dark psychodrama.
The reviews I received were a mixture of scathing (some of the comments were horribly ill-informed and simply mean-spirited, though) and semi-constructive criticism.
Really, it just seems like the judges play good cop-bad cop.
It does seem awfully calculated.
One of them will absolutely loathe my scripts, while another absolutely loves them.
One of them was considered an "Honorable Mention" (my horror script Cubs).
And I was rewarded with the judges' forms and notes mailed back to me, along with "gifts" (really free movie promo junk the St. Louis Cinema office probably had laying around their cubicle).
I received a free T-shirt for that terrible-looking movie Armored (and it sucks that that movie looked so awful... I love Nimrod Antal).
A copy of the published screenplay for the film Win, Win.
A published copy of the script for the film The Descendants (which I gave to my Mom for Christmas... She loves George Clooney).
And a copy of the DVD Let's Sell Your Script featuring Ken Rotcop.
Incidentally, I published an Amazon review where I rip apart how inaccurate the information was on that DVD and how shoddily-produced it was.
Maybe that's why I didn't even get an "Honorable Mention" this year.
That or maybe the judges are just morally puritanical and have some aversion to porno (the subject of the script I submitted)... Or, my script was just terrible. It's entirely possible. I'm not objective enough to able to tell you.
Anyhow, this year I received the published screenplay for the film The Sessions.
I'll probably take a day & read all the script book "gifts" I received... Then sell them to a used book store.
But back to my returned script.
I thought you only got notes back if your script was a finalist, semi-finalist or honorable mention.
Looks like you get notes back either way.
Now in 2012 I didn't receive my scripts back (I guess 3 scripts was too much to mail back). I only received the title pages stapled to their evaluation sheets.
This year I received a heavily written-on script and their evaluation sheets with notes.
The judges were Mary & Denis and, well, they did good cop-bad cop on me: one hated my script, the other loved it.
Now, when they went through my script and read it and marked on it, the good thing is that they fixed all the typos and gave me formatting best practices.
The bad thing was that the judge who hated me (I think it was Mary) was pretty typically (at least for this contest... could be for all screenwriting contests), cruel regarding her comments and criticisms. This was simply my perception, though. Perhaps they thought they were being helpful.
This is why, in 2013, when CinemaSpoke e-mailed me, encouraging me (though I'm sure it was a form e-mail) to submit that year, I declined. Sure, I've worked on acquiring thick skin in my life as a writer, but I just didn't feel like taking the abuse that year.
But I digress, this year they complained about how my script had no discernible antagonist (wait... was there a clear antagonist in Boogie Nights... Nymphomaniac... Juno... Or Leaving Las Vegas... And those movies made how much money... And won how many awards... Okay, anyhow...) and that there was too much dialogue (would they heap that same criticism on a David Mamet or Bret Easton Ellis script?... Oh, wait! Those guys are established... they are immune to the rules the rest of us have to follow in order to become established... forgot about that double-standard...) Incidentally, that parenthetical rant wasn't directed at Mamet or Ellis, both of whom I admire, but the agents & judges who rail on me for doing what those two writers clearly do and are successful at it. It would be one thing if they thought I wasn't successful at it, but they noted that my dialogue was genuine and organic. They just complained that I had several pages of dialogue and no action... But this is a drama... And a movie about people and how they treat one another (socially, more than anything). I guess I just feel they either didn't get the purpose, genre or dynamic of the script, or I'm just angry that they felt like they needed to complain about something.
Besides, how many people complain about the pages after pages of dialogue (with no action) in Quentin Tarantino films?
Some scenes are nearly 20 minutes of talking heads.
But again, there's that double-standard... he's established.
Oh, well.
Here are the evaluations from both judges and their notes:
And while the good comments do reassure me and the harsh criticisms do tend to rile me, I try not to put too much stock in what they say... Sure, if I won it would feel good and I'd probably get a smear of attention from Hollywood and it might actually amount to something. But, really, if these guys are such big shots, who know they're talking about, then why are they running an annual screenplay competition in St. Louis?
Conversely, then, why am I still living here and submitting to their competition... I guess because it's cheap, easy and kinda fun... but mostly painful (incidentally, that's my answer for both why I still live here and submit to them).
All the more reason for me to look forward to PitchFest and be on my game when I head out there.
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