OVERVIEW OF THE BIZ OF SCREENWRITING CONTEST LEVELS
Levels 1 - 3 are the educational part of the contest. With each level, you’ll receive a lesson and an assignment. Based upon the performance in the first three levels, a percentage of the writers will be moved to Level 4. That’s where the elimination part of the contest begins.
Level 4 contestants are the semi-finalists and Level 5 contestants are the finalists. The top three will be selected from the finalists and will receive the appropriate prizes. All finalists will have their scenes, logline, bio, and contact info posted in the “Producers Only” area. Semi-finalists will have contact info posted in the “Producers Only” area as well. Learn more about the prizes.
THE LEVELS IN DETAIL
LEVEL 1: You’re given a logline of a scene and the roles of two characters. Your job is to write a 2-5 page scene.
L-1 Lesson: How the writing assignment process works and how you can get paid screenwriting jobs. Plus basic tips on writing a high-quality scene.
Feedback: Basic feedback on the overall quality of the scene.
LEVEL 2: You’ll receive a new scene logline with two characters that include four core character traits each and the subtext of each character.
L-2 Lesson: The Secret to Writing A Producer’s Vision. Plus: Writing unique character dialogue and adding subtext to a scene.
Feedback: How you used the character traits and subtext in dialogue.
LEVEL 3: You’ll be asked to make a major change to the scene you wrote in level 2 (equivalent of getting notes from a producer on your writing).
L-3 Lesson: How to “take notes” from producers to improve the script and what to do if you disagree. Plus: Seven ways to make any scene more interesting.
Feedback: Quality of the change that was requested and how you made the scene interesting.
LEVEL 4: (Semi-finalists) You submit a scene from their own script that is extremely compelling and gives us a feel for the story. It should reveal character through action, have at least one twist, and stand alone so a reader can understand it without reading the rest of the script.
Feedback: Quality of the scene based upon the use of character traits, subtext, action, interest, and emotion.
LEVEL 5: (Finalists) Make MAJOR changes to your scene based upon the feedback you’ve received and re-submit it. Also, you’ll do a phone interview as 33% of your final score.
WINNERS: The top three will be selected from the finalists and will receive the appropriate prizes. All finalists will have their scenes, logline, bio, and contact info posted in the “Producers Only” area.
NOTE: Levels 4 and 5 serve as the “elimination part” of the contest. You’ll be using the skills you learned in Levels 1 - 3 to shine and hopefully, win the contest.
QUOTES FROM PREVIOUS FINALISTS
“Each level of the contest helped me elevate the quality of my work because of the excellent and objective critiques I received from the anonymous judges. Their detailed feedback allowed me to see where I could still improve. I really appreciated that.” - Eliza Crosland
“The [second] level pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to dig deeper to achieve a great result, then the drastic production notes challenged me to overcome in a way that makes other writing assignments look easy. Now I feel like I can tackle anything and working to perfect my scenes is much easier.” - Steven Hammon
“In Level [3], I learned to take a note and switch my ‘framework’ for how I envisioned the scene. I couldn’t try to shoehorn the new information into the old scene — I had to break down the scene as if coming to it for the first time, a great skill to have.” - Victoria Wu
Join the Biz of Screenwriting 2 Contest/Class.