Last month featured 3 Screenwriting Conferences here in LA: Story Expo, InkTip Summit and Screenwriter's World.  And I was at all of em! 3 Days each, 12 hours a day, dozens of private pitch consultations, and lots of books sold. All 3 conferences were great experiences in different ways for both me and all the writers in attendance.

The lesson that can be taken from all of these conferences is really about two things - preparation and capitalizing. I saw so many writers who came to these pitch events without a logline, without a finished script, without a one-sheet.  Having a dream and an idea is NOT being prepared! Luckily, many of them took my class and went home and GOT prepared before pitches started. And the next day, I had DOZENS of writers coming up to me saying "Thank God you told me to do a one-sheet! All the producers asked me for one and they all loved what I came up with."

I also learned the importance of capitalizing on experiences and opportunities. At Story Expo, I went to see Chad and Carey Hayes speak. They are the A-List writers of The Conjuring, my favorite horror movie of the year which has also made $250M at the box office.  I just went to sit in the audience and hear their panel, but because my friend was the moderator, I saw the opportunity to maximize the experience and I ended up having a 90 minute private conversation with the Hayes Bros afterwards and they've since sent me a couple clients and I'm helping them find some more speaking opportunities. And FYI, they could not be nicer!

At Screenwriters World, I was on a "rewrite" panel with writer/director Pen Desham, who I've always wanted to meet and afterwards, we had a nice chat and he gave me a copy of his book Riding the Alligator (which I highly recommend). When pros at the level of Pen Desham and Paul Chitlik tell you they are "stealing" one of your character exercises...that's a good day!

All of my classes and panels went great and were very well-attended. The pitchfest itself was well attended by writers, though some of the bigger companies sadly were no-shows. But I've heard that from the companies that were there, there were numerous script requests.

While at SW, I recorded a bit for Pilar's Podcast, got book proposal tips from my friend and colleague Kathie Fong-Yoneda, and I had two clients pay for notes before the conference was even over. It's all about capitalizing on opportunities as much as possible.

Every conference I attend leads to another opportunity, and it's the same for writers - if you do it right. There were two lovely young women (just a bit younger than myself) who took the opportunity to network with all the speakers/staff who went out afterwards and now they've got a rolodex of people to call. Never underestimate the power of buying someone a drink.

Screenwriters World was the last major LA event of the year, but don't worry - there will be many more in 2014 and now is the time to start preparing.

  

MAKING YOUR FIRST 10 PAGES SHINE! 

  

  

Attend from Anywhere!

This was a major week for Screenwriting Contests. The winners of both the Nicholl's Fellowship and Page Awards were announced!

 

While none of the 4 No BullScript clients who were Nicholl semi-finalists or the 7 that were Page Award semi-finalists won this year, I have high hopes for next year!

 

There were 4 Individual Nicholl Winners plus 1 writing team. For the full announcement and a list of the winners and details on the Awards Ceremony on November 7th, please click here -  http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2013/20131021.html

 

I will be at the Ceremony, hope to see you there!   

 

The 10th Annual Page Awards Winners were also announced. For the first time in quite a while, the Grand Prize Winner was a TV PILOT!  Congrats to Brooke Eikmeier and her project, LEAVENWORTH.   

 

Is this a sign that much like in Hollywood, the best writing is in TV? Who knows.  But I thought it was worth noting.  

 

For the full list of Page Award WINNERS in all categories, you can click here - http://pageawards.com/past-winners/2013-winners/ 

 

I also want to congratulate the winner of the Horror/Thriller Category, EVEN by Patrick Mahon. This is  the category I have been judging for 4 years and it's always interesting to see which project wins out. 

 

I'll be honest - this is the first year where only ONE of my top picks landed in the top 3. I guess all good streaks come to an end. But that's the beauty of contests - different readers, different judges, different days, different POVS...it's anyone's game.  

 

Between Page and Nicholl, there were 13,000 submissions. And between them, only 15 1st Place Winners. Is your script and writing good enough to be the top 15 out of 13,000? 

 

In other CONTEST news, the TRACKINGB Screenplay Contest Final Deadline is OCTOBER 27! This is a great contest that gives you what every writer wants - REAL access! No Coverage, no Cash. Just Access to a great panel of industry experts. 

 

THE PRIZE:

Three finalists will be promoted on trackingb.com to their community of entertainment industry insiders AND will also be read by each member of the esteemed judging panel who will pick an overall winner. Five honorable mentions will also be selected to receive exposure on trackingb. To enter, please go to -- http://www.trackingb.com/?page_id=861 

 

 

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