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I think this is a good example of how it pays to try and see things from someone else's point of view. I can see why Jeff is upset, as it would've helped some people's scripts if they had an extra couple of pages to play with. Nothing personal against Rick or Seth but at first I was surprised to see that the scripts had been accepted due to the page counts. I had submitted two scripts for this OWC but the second was (quite rightly) rejected by Don for not meeting the theme. I thought the same might apply for page count. Again, that is nothing personal against the writers.
But I can see things from Cornetto's point of view who is simply looking for the stories he feel will work best for his project. I guess this parallels Hollywood in that producers are not necessarily looking for the best technically written screenplay, but the best story that suits their needs. And a lot of the 'rules' that we talk about in screenplay writing get broken all the time, but it's not going to stop a script from getting produced if there is a great story buried in there.
It would be a shame for anyone not to enter future OWC's because of this incident, as they are a lot of fun. Maybe the rules can be made a bit clearer next time about what will or will not be officially accepted.
And congratulations to Stevie on having The Dark selected, I didn't see that one coming. I did find it very funny though, maybe the humour in it is an Aussie thing
Yeah, that's a shocker...I doubt it's that you don't ski...more like you can't ski...
I don't know, I never tried cause I always thought the pants looked kinda gay, but when I was a kid I had this wicked toboggan with a lightning bolt on it.
I called it Wonderboy like Roy Hobbs' bat. Good times we had, me and Wonderboy.
We also used to "skitch" from the back of UPS trucks.
As far as I'm concerned, it's a no brainer (brains equal smart...), in that when something does not meet the criteria set, it doesn't qualify for a "winning" position.
Just to avoid argument here, the criteria that was given to the judges.
1.) It's about The Dark and isn't just a dark script. 2.) It's one of the mentioned genres. 3.) It's a good story.
Any production limits were discussed after the votes.
The page counts were there to ensure a reasonable running time of the scripts, they weren't there to disqualify any script because they might have gone over or under them by a page or two.
There was no winning position. The scripts were selected for an anthology that I personally am producing. I think I have every right as the producer to pick the scripts through whatever process and for whatever reason I want. To be fair I chose to do this with a panel of people and I stuck to the ranking of selections (even The Dark)
I could have just asked my buddies to write some scripts for me but I didn't. I brought this to the OWC in the hopes that you would be able to learn from this. I tried to be as open with the process as possible and I hope you've taken something from the experience.
If you'd like then I will continue to keep you updated with the process while I'm making these. It's going to take a number of months. The idea is for you to learn and understand this emerging media form so that you are prepared for an area where there is likely to be future writing assignments.
Just to avoid argument here, the criteria that was given to the judges.
1.) It's about The Dark and isn't just a dark script. 2.) It's one of the mentioned genres. 3.) It's a good story.
Hmmm, I don't recall these criteria in the OWC challenge "rules".
Yes, Michael, it is obviously your baby here and as Producer, you are in charge. That's completely understandable. Maybe next time, this shouldn't fall under an OWC challenge, or a I said earlier a few times, I guess next time, all entrants should just write the script they want to and not worry about page length, as it obviously doesn't come into play (that much, as Mike "Wonderboy" Shelton, told us how he deducted valuable points for only going over the limit by roughly 17%...I wonder if the deduction would have been even steeper for something like 34%).
IMO, a complete debacle and travesty, but who am I to throw stones?
Congrats to everyone...especially Stevie for that awesome script! Hell of a job!
...the producers are the gatekeepers...if they wanted to, they could have produced that script (or any other) outside the boundaries of the owc without notifying anyone other than the accredited writer...it's their project and we should be honored that they allowed us to be a part of it (by either writing or reviewing)...congrats on those who participated with class and dignity on a job well done...
I guess next time, all entrants should just write the script they want to and not worry about page length, as it obviously doesn't come into play (that much, as Mike "Wonderboy" Shelton, told us how he deducted valuable points for only going over the limit by roughly 17%
That's exactly what I did, and when it was all said and done, it came out with a high enough score to warrant a vote from me. It didn't gain the highest score from me, but other people liked it as well, and it got enough votes to make it in.
Why did I go about things the way I did? Because my job was to pick what I thought were the best scripts suitable for the series. In my opinion, I did that, even if all of my selections weren't ultimately chosen.
I even voted for a non-starred script. Care to bitch about that as well?
On another note, if someone had gone over by an extreme amount, it probably would have been classified as unproducible.
We also used to "skitch" from the back of UPS trucks.
Skitchin.' That's what empty, iced-over mall parking lots were made for. But from the back of UPS trucks? Sounds kinda deadly.
To weigh in on this smoldering controversy, I can understand Jeff's feelings on this. I always regarded the page and time limits as the two unbreakable rules in these OWCs. It really is part of the whole "challenge" aspect to not just finish that story in one week, but to get it in at 12 pages max. I came within one minute of missing the deadline. If I hadn't got the script in, I would never have expected my script to be accepted.
Now, this was an unusual OWC, not just because the theme was very broad, but because we had to consider the constraints of moviestorm. It's incredibly ambitous of Michael to produce six of these scripts. So as producer, he does have final say in this particular challenge. But I think to avoid any future carnage with these OWCs it should be made clear beforehand which rules are flexible and which are non-negotiable.
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Feb 2010 OWC Who Wrote What.
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