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I had a thought for an annual OWC – just spit-balling here so basically looking to see if it strikes anyone is interesting.
ANNUAL SS SHORT CHALLENGE – MIXED GENRE
Two weeks to submit from announcement date.
Two weeks to read and vote for round 1.
Four Genre brackets will be created. Example.
1. Drama 2. Horror/Thriller 3. Comedy/Romantic Comedy 4. Sci-fi
Writer can select the genre they want to compete in but will only be allowed one submittal. There are no restrictions other than page count - no more than 15 pages.
Scripts will be batched in genre groups no larger than 15. Once a genre group exceeds 15, it’ll be split into two brackets. For example, let’s say there were 10 drama, 17 horror/thriller, 16 Comedies/Rom-Coms and 11 Sci-fi. The Brackets would be:
You will only be required to read and vote on all scripts in one bracket. And it won’t be yours. For example, let’s say Dave submitted a Comedy script. His script would be in the Comedy/Rom-Com bracket. He would be assigned to read and rate all of the scripts in one of the remaining brackets.
The script may be something you were working on before the challenge. However, it can not have ever been posted on this site or anywhere else prior to the contest entry date.
A participant must read, comment on and rate all scripts in his or her assigned category in order to have his/her own script eligible to advance to the second round.
Participants will be prohibited from commenting on their own scripts.
The top two rated scripts from each bracket will advance to the second round. Using the above example, there will be:
1. Two Drama Scripts 2. Four Horror/Thriller Scripts (two from each bracket) 3. Two Comedy/Rom Scripts 4. Two Sci-fi Scripts.
The readers will rank all the round two scripts. The votes will be tabulated, and we will have a:
• Most Liked Script in each Genre category. And • A Most Liked overall.
The Genre Category winners receiving the coveted Mug. The Overall Winner receiving a Mug and a paid entry into a prominent Short Contest. The specific contest to be determined by SS community (i.e., we'd poll to find out what you all think the best one is) and I will fund the prize/entry fee.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF THIS FORMAT
No one will have to read more than 15 scripts in round one and probably less than that regardless of how many participants there are. There could be 100 entries and the max you’d have to read in round one is still only 15.
You have to read, comment and vote in order to stay eligible. No more free reads.
The reads may be more interesting since there is little chance that you’ll seem similar stories since there are no story restrictions.
Writers will have more freedom to write something that they think is marketable/filmable.
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS FORMAT
May be complicated. Peeps will have to be assigned to reader brackets, we will need to track that all participants completed their required reviews, etc.
People may cheat and submit scripts that were previously posted and vetted. We will have to count on people acting in good faith. That may happen in normal OWCs anyway to the extent folks could take work they’ve already done and merely adapted it to meet the parameters.
PS I’d really want this to be something geared towards the SS community rather than everyone. i.e., it’s like our annual company picnic. So. Thinking there should be some kind of restriction to accomplish that – e.g., most have at least 200 posted comments on SS or something like that.
Anyway - I'm just spit-balling here. Any thoughts?
One question, would this be an anonymous challenge? I think it'd be better if it wasn't. Either, I really like the parameters you've pulled together. Let's get this thing going!
One question, would this be an anonymous challenge? I think it'd be better if it wasn't. Either, I really like the parameters you've pulled together. Let's get this thing going!
I viewed it as Anonymous - doesn't have to be -
Not something that would be done until the end of the year though (mid Nov) - if at all. I'm still in the kicking it around phase.
Some issues, I think the genre spread might be problematic. What happens if there are 15 horrors and 1 romcom? I think you're being quite generous with the numbers.
Also I can't see a challenge that isn't anonymous working, seems hard enough to keep things in line when people only suspect a script belongs to someone. I think keep the scripts anonymous but make the scoring 100% transparent. This of course will have it's own set of dramas but it's never going to be perfect.
15 pages might strain attention spans. I think the shorter page lengths keep things buzzing along more. And, anon imho, would be the go.
Limited to regulars? I thought the idea was to generate new blood... Okay, maybe the Annual comp is an established members.comp. There's incentive there to be more active and reap the rewards.
My feeling overall though is that we need more regular challenges (micro-short, short, feature, Feature first ten, Halloween OWC, March Tournament, etc) on a continuing basis to keep the site humming.
P.S. I see by Don's chilling to the Chili Peppers post that there's an August challenge in the wings.
Well, this could be a straight-up contest sponsored by SimplyScripts with a nominal entry fee of $5 or so to cover marketing, mugs, and prizes (contest entries, table reads, ___ List submission, whathaveyou). Since we'd most likely hand out free-entry codes to regular members, it will bring in very little actual money. Whatever does come in should go to Don to cover mugs, ads, and his general inexhaustible dedication.
To help fix the bracket problem, have the initial entry require each person to pick two (probably three to be safe) genres in which they'd be willing to submit and/or review.
When the throw-hat-in-the-ring deadline passes, assign each person to a genre bracket for their script and a separate genre bracket for their reviews. If a genre is really popular, some lucky contestant might end up writing in their first-choice genre and reviewing a second bracket in the same genre.
The contest Q&A can have a tongue-in-cheek "How can the entry fee be so low? Because YOU will be our first-round readers..."
I'm sure there are a million other details that need to be worked out, but this is just my initial reaction to what I'd seen suggested so far.
Some issues, I think the genre spread might be problematic. What happens if there are 15 horrors and 1 romcom? I think you're being quite generous with the numbers.
I think that is the biggest problem - no way to pick where scripts could be submitted. So, I think there will be some adaptability needed - e.g., may have to make brackets 5 scrips - or may have to combine two low participation genres. - percolating.
I like this idea but we already have an OWC. In fact, we have several every year. Perhaps we could organise something where points are carried over in each OWC. Maybe we could all pay $5 each per OWC and 50% of the entry fee is carried over throughout every round and given to an over all winner at the end of the year.
So, if we had 20 entries each OWC as an average and we had 5 OWC's in a year, at $50 each round, the over all winner could see $250. The rest of the cash goes to the forum.
It is illegal to charge people money and promise prizes. It has to be registered with the government. Usually in the state where the person or company is running it. If I remember correctly, it is done through the state attorney´s office.
It is illegal to charge people money and promise prizes. It has to be registered with the government. Usually in the state where the person or company is running it. If I remember correctly, it is done through the state attorney´s office.
Ah, here in the UK, running a competition is completely legal so long as winning relies on skill. Are you sure you're not talking about operating an illegal lottery?
In the US, the elements of a lottery are prize (something of value to the winner), consideration (something of value to the sponsor), and chance. Eliminate any one of those, and you're generally fine.
A sweepstakes eliminates consideration by allowing free entry.
A skill contest eliminates chance by basing victory on skill.
Most regulations for skill contests are at the state level unless you use the US Postal Service to send out your materials, in which case a raft of deceptive-mail laws apply as well.
I found two general guidelines with a quick web search. This general one and another specific to franchises only because it goes into more detail.
On its face, it appears that requiring an entry fee for a skill contest is illegal in Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Vermont. But there must be more to it because the well-known screenwriting competitions don't exclude those states.
I was surprised that chance can play effectively no role whatsoever in a skill contest, even to break a tie. The strictness of that varies from state to state, but to be national a contest needs to have deterministic tie-breaking rules (even if that means an additional round of competition), and they must be in place before the contest starts.
Registration requirements seem to kick in at $500 of prizes. Some states require the prize money for a registered contest be in escrow (or surety bonded) to ensure you can pay if there are fewer entries than expected.
I'm curious if we have a lawyer in the house who knows if there's a simple "kit" for Internet-based contests with small prizes.
I don't like the idea of SS and monetary prizes. There's enough squabbles during OWCs and accusations of cheating during Tournaments without adding money to the mix. Perhaps I'm alone in this opinion.
I don't like the idea of SS and monetary prizes. There's enough squabbles during OWCs and accusations of cheating during Tournaments without adding money to the mix. Perhaps I'm alone in this opinion.
I don't think a cash prize would be a good idea either. Dave suggested covering the entry fee for a high-profile contest and maybe a mug. I listed a couple alternatives that writers might like, but big-ticket stuff like cash or expensive software is probably not going to fly with contestants-as-raters.
And good news that we have attorneys around. I aspire to advance to the point of actually needing an attorney's help at some point in my writing career, and I'd rather it be someone here (or at least referred by someone here).
Bounty (TV Pilot) -- Top 1% of discoverable screenplays on Coverfly I'll Be Seeing You (short) - OWC winner The Gambler (short) - OWC winner Skip (short) - filmed Country Road 12 (short) - filmed The Family Man (short) - filmed The Journeyers (feature) - optioned
I don't like the idea of SS and monetary prizes. There's enough squabbles during OWCs and accusations of cheating during Tournaments without adding money to the mix. Perhaps I'm alone in this opinion.
It would only be $250 or so but I do see the points made on cash being more of an incentive to cheat... and even to make people more inclined to accuse somebody else.
(reviews situation, takes off glasses) Don't do it.
When you start offering prizes (other than coffee mugs -- damn it, I will get one of those one day!), there are two dynamics at play here. One is alluded to by Dustin above, and the other is that the entire contest would likely need to be vetted by an outside attorney, probably in Virginia (I think that's where Don is, or DC), and would have to comply with Virginia state laws. The cost of having an attorney look at it, even if it's just a precursory glance, would cost significantly more than all the entry fees put together. That shouldn't be on Don to have to deal with.
As Frank mentioned, this would obviously be a contest of skill, not chance (although aren't we all leaving it up to chance with some of the crappy reviews we receive?). But contests of skill require written rules and procedures, especially when funds are being transmitted via banks through PayPal or Zelle or credit card. That's where issues of wire fraud and other stupid laws come into play and hence the need to get everything vetted. It's not sitting down with your friends at a card table where you're all in the same place and no money is being transmitted electronically.
Anyway, my silly legal opinion is leave money out of it, and it will be much neater and cleaner.
I'll submit my invoice later.
Gary
Some of my scripts:
Bounty (TV Pilot) -- Top 1% of discoverable screenplays on Coverfly I'll Be Seeing You (short) - OWC winner The Gambler (short) - OWC winner Skip (short) - filmed Country Road 12 (short) - filmed The Family Man (short) - filmed The Journeyers (feature) - optioned
Nothing intended yet - as I said, just spit-balling this as an idea.
In my mind...
This would not be intended to be an OWC as we know it or to replace any OWCs, micro challenges, feature challenges, already scheduled, etc. It is just me ruminating about an end of the year Script challenge.
Not a formal competition - no fees. Everything would be funded by me so there would be no need to raise money.
In my mind, it was not intended to bring new people to the site. It was intended to have a short challenge for participating members (obviously, the definition of participating is fluid). For writers it was kind of like - write your best short in your best genre - something you would write to market/sell. And to readers it would be interesting since one would not have to go through scripts with the same genre, theme, location, objects, etc.
ALL THAT BEING SAID
I just realized I jumped the shark. For some reason I thought I had cleared the concept through Don. Checking my email I see that I have not - which I think is critical because I have no idea of whether the logistics on his end would be feasible. SO:
- Apologies for that.
- I'm going to ask Don to lock this thread until he gets a chance to let me know if it is even doable.
Dave has a great idea, here and I'm going to lock it and put it somewhere so we can bring it up at a later time (after the "Nothing to see here" challenge.)
With regard to paid contests, at this point in time and for the forseeable future, I will be sticking to free challenges. Considering the amount of trouble a free challenge is and while we make every effort to run the challenges with the same rigor as a paid contest, I do not want to introduce money into the mix.
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