You can begin pitching loglines in the comments section RIGHT NOW!
The contest is COMPLETELY FREE!
This is unlike any screenplay contest you’ve been involved with before. All of those contests let anybody in as long as they pay. My contest is free. Therefore, I demand only the best ideas. I’m looking to create great screenplays that every studio in town is going to want to read because the concept has already survived a public trial by fire.
How does it work?
You get to pitch 5 loglines every weekend for four weekends. We are already in weekend 2. Weekend 1 resulted in 16 screenplays making it into the contest. You can see all 16 of those loglines here. There are some REALLY GOOD ONES. That’s the bar you’re up against.
If you aren’t sure what a high concept is, go back to last week’s inaugural post where I explain in detail what ‘high concept’ means, and give you examples of high concept as well as examples of what’s not high concept.
Before you start pitching your ideas, you’re going to want to look at the rules. For those of you who were here last weekend, the rules are basically the same, however I’ve tweaked a few things. So you might want to re-read them.
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. If you write something good, I will review it. And if you write something extremely good, I’m going to get on the phone and do everything I can to get you representation.
But what I love most about this contest is that even if you don’t knock it out of the park with the screenplay, you’ll still have a concept that’s better than 95% of the ideas being pitched out there. That’s a huge advantage. Great concepts get read requests off the logline alone. And unlike most writers, you won’t just think your idea is good. You’ll have proof that hundreds of people responded to it. Most writers never get that. They write their ideas on a wing and a prayer.
Okay, let’s get to the rules!
1) There will be 4 pitch weekends. Friday through Sunday. Pitching ends every Sunday at 11:59pm Pacific Time. This is the second of those 4 weekends.
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 “yes,” a “strong maybe,” a “maybe,” or a “no.” An all-capital “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) A “yes,” still gets you in. Just without outline privilege.
6) If you get a “maybe” or a “strong maybe,” you then have, if you want, 300 words to pitch that idea to me. Tell me more about the story or the characters or what you’re thinking of doing with it. I will then use that information to decide, on Tuesday and Wednesday, whether that idea moves on.
7) The large majority of ideas will get a “no.” Try not to get offended. The bar is high here. I’m not here to make you feel good. I’m here to find great movie ideas.
8) Upvoted Entries – Upvote any loglines that you like (besides your own). If an idea gets 15 upvotes, the concept gets in. However, if I don’t like the concept, I’m vetoing it.
9) Golden Weekend Ticket – However, the ‘strong maybe,’ ‘maybe’ or ‘no’ entry with the most upvotes each weekend automatically gets in. So one user-voted entry will get into the contest each weekend. 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 Weekend Ticket. I have special plans for those scripts once written which will involve users reviewing them.
10) Posters – You can include an AI poster with your logline for TWO IDEAS PER WEEKEND.
11) You can get multiple ideas into the contest. But you must choose only one to write.
12) 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. I believe 4 loglines got into Blood & Ink 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.
Finally, keep in mind that I am going to be living my life during these weekends. In fact, I’m going to see The Odyssey today (Friday) which is like 9 hours long, and then I have a fairly extensive list of errands I have to do. So if your idea is stuck in moderation or waiting in the comments section for a vote, I WILL vote. It just might take a little longer than you want.
I’m going to blast out a newsletter letting everyone know about the pitch weekend. So, it should get crazy. :)
Who’s going to have that standout “HOLY SHIT!” idea this weekend?
I can’t wait to find out!
