Got a great movie idea? Pitch it down below! Better yet, pitch 5 of them!
If you’re just stumbling across Scriptshadow for the first time, what you’re seeing is probably overwhelming. But it is reality. This is a screenplay contest where you have to pitch a great idea to get in.
Exactly 50 ideas have gotten in so far.
I’m hoping for something big this final weekend. I’m hoping for TWENTY-FIVE ideas to get in. That’ll give us exactly 75 scripts with legitimate chances at selling. That’s because here at the High Concept Club Contest, every script idea is vetted by myself and you guys.
If you haven’t been to one of these yet, here’s how it works. In the comments section, you pitch your script title, your genre, and your logline.
You get to pitch 5 loglines. We are in weekend 4, aka the final weekend. If you want to see how high the bar is, you can check out the 16 loglines that made it through in Week 1, the 20 that made it in in Week 2, and the 14 that made it in in week 3.
If you aren’t sure what a high concept is, go back to the inaugural contest post where I explain what ‘high concept’ means, and give you examples of high concept as well as what’s NOT high concept.
If you come up with a script idea strong enough to get into the contest, you will have 6-7 months to write your script. The prize is the exposure. Industry people are watching this contest. I’m speaking to them all the time. They like what we’re doing here. So keep the loglines coming!
Okay, now to the rules.
1) Pitching ends on Sunday at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
2) You can pitch five loglines each weekend.
3) Make sure you pitch each logline in its own comment. Do not pitch all 5 loglines in a single comment. This is because I need to vote yes or no on individual loglines.
4) I will vote on every single logline pitched. I will give you either a “yes,” a “strong maybe,” a “maybe,” or a “no.” A “yes” is the Holy Grail. It means you not only get in, but you can also send me a 5 page outline of your script before you write it and I will give you notes on it. This is HUGE because what I learned from the Blood & Ink contest is that a lot of writers went down weak creative paths that I could’ve prevented had I seen their outline.
5) If you get a “maybe” or a “strong maybe,” your loglines will be moved into a separate voting day, either Tuesday (the strong maybes) or Wednesday (the maybes). The readers of the site will vote on the best of those loglines and only a portion of them will go through. Also, not every “maybe” will make the Wednesday list.
6) The large majority of ideas will get a “no.” The bar is high here. I will try to explain why I didn’t pick a logline after my vote. If you want a more extensive breakdown of your logline, e-mail me at carsonreeves1@gmail.com and get a $25 logline consult.
7) Upvoted Entries – Upvote any loglines that you like (besides your own). If an idea gets 20 upvotes, the concept gets in. However, if I don’t like the concept, I can veto it.
8) Golden Weekend Ticket – The ‘strong maybe,’ ‘maybe’ or ‘no’ entry with the most upvotes each weekend automatically gets in. Therefore, even if I’ve voted “no” on something, and you like the idea, you still want to upvote it because that entry might win the Golden Ticket.
9) (**CHANGED**) Posters – You can include an AI poster with your logline for THREE IDEAS THIS WEEKEND. I’m doing this because 5 or so entries got in specifically because the poster helped me understand the idea better. However, I’ve seen some crappy posters over the last two weeks. Sometimes they actually hurt a logline. Ask the people who are good at posters how they did them. It’s easier than you think.
10) You can get multiple ideas into the contest. But you must choose only one to write.
11) You CAN pitch scripts that have already been written.
A quick reminder that my popular logline consultation service ($25 per logline, $100 for 5) is available. If you want a more extensive reason for why I didn’t pick your logline, order one. If you want to see ahead of time if a logline has a shot, order one. You can also do a deluxe logline consult ($50) where we keep workshopping the logline until it’s perfect. 4 loglines got into the last pitch contest that way. But most of them did not. So, don’t think it’s a guarantee. If you want to use this service, e-mail me at carsonreeves1@gmail.com.
This weekend for Carson will include sleep, Spider-Man, tennis, a couple of farmer’s markets, a visit to the new Laurel Supply store, a visit to Courage Bagels, and a Beverly Hills meeting where this very contest will be talked about. Therefore, DO NOT HAVE A MELTDOWN IF I DON’T RESPOND TO YOUR LOGLINE RIGHT AWAY OR YOU GET STUCK IN MODERATION. I’ll make sure to get to it by the end of the weekend.
If you want to bypass moderation, comment: “Bypass me please,” and I will try to whitelist you. From then on, your comments should appear immediately.
Who gets the “HOLY SHIT LOGLINE OF THE WEEKEND” award this weekend???
Pitching begins… NOW!!!
