Anyone braving this beast in 2021?

One more day to get an entry in and I'm still undecided. I probably will do a last minute submission, but I don't have high hopes for the script. I am however interested to see how it goes because it ticks all the Oscar inclusion guidelines.

https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-establishes-representation-and-inclusion-standards-oscarsr-eligibility

Good luck!

Sent one in Saturday. Don’t have high hopes but always regret not submitting to the most important comp of the year for amateurs. $128 late entry with feedback. Ouch.

Good luck to any who enter.
James

I put two in against my better judgement

Thanks, Anthony. And good luck all!

I don't have anything suitable for Nicholls at the moment. Good luck to anyone who enters.

Quoted from Warren Anyone braving this beast in 2021? I am however interested to see how it goes because it ticks all the Oscar inclusion guidelines. https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-establishes-representation-and-inclusion-standards-oscarsr-eligibility

Nothing makes for a good movie like a story that ticks all the boxes.

Personally I wouldn't bother sending it to The Nicholls though. I'd send it to the BBC as those guys are now so woke they make the Oscars look conservative.  

Quoted from Pleb Nothing makes for a good movie like a story that ticks all the boxes. Personally I wouldn't bother sending it to The Nicholls though. I'd send it to the BBC as those guys are now so woke they make the Oscars look conservative.

I absolutely hate woke culture.

Definitely not saying it's a great script. It was written with the sole intent of ticking boxes and seeing how it went just because it ticked said boxes. This script really shouldn't progress in any comps but interested to see how it goes.

Hahaha to be honest I've had similar thoughts too!

Have even considered changing my name to something less disgustingly Western too, and if anything is actually picked up having my mrs (who is Chinese) pretend to be me. Seriously.

Wasn't meant to be a dig at you or your script btw.

Quoted from Warren I absolutely hate woke culture. Definitely not saying it's a great script. It was written with the sole intent of ticking boxes and seeing how it went just because it ticked said boxes. This script really shouldn't progress in any comps but interested to see how it goes.

Yeah.... those guidelines for nomination perfectly paint the line from good intent to insanity.

The NFL is a good example. So, in order to increase the percent of Black coaches - an admirable role, they implemented the Rooney Rule - it requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and general manager jobs. Doesn't require them to hire them, just to interview them with the thought of - even if not selected, at least they are getting training and experience and networking.

What the Oscars have done is closer to saying - if you want to qualify for the playoffs, you have to have a minority coach.

A bridge way too far.

Quoted from Pleb Hahaha to be honest I've had similar thoughts too! Have even considered changing my name to something less disgustingly Western too, and if anything is actually picked up having my mrs (who is Chinese) pretend to be me. Seriously. Wasn't meant to be a dig at you or your script btw.

Dig away, it was literally written in 2 weeks and at a final draft in 3 :)

It's definitely an interesting exercise IMO, but in reality scripts can be pretty subjective so people might like it for none of the reasons I baked in or hate it for all the same reasons. I'll never actually know. All I do know is that I banged out a feature with no planning, minimal effort with the express purpose of making it socially palatable in today's climate.

Quoted from eldave1 Yeah.... those guidelines for nomination perfectly paint the line from good intent to insanity. The NFL is a good example. So, in order to increase the percent of Black coaches - an admirable role, they implemented the Rooney Rule - it requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and general manager jobs. Doesn't require them to hire them, just to interview them with the thought of - even if not selected, at least they are getting training and experience and networking. What the Oscars have done is closer to saying - if you want to qualify for the playoffs, you have to have a minority coach. A bridge way too far.

Yeah totally agree.

Quoted from eldave1 Yeah.... those guidelines for nomination perfectly paint the line from good intent to insanity. The NFL is a good example. So, in order to increase the percent of Black coaches - an admirable role, they implemented the Rooney Rule - it requires teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and general manager jobs. Doesn't require them to hire them, just to interview them with the thought of - even if not selected, at least they are getting training and experience and networking. What the Oscars have done is closer to saying - if you want to qualify for the playoffs, you have to have a minority coach. A bridge way too far.

I gotta admit that turned me off, too. Kinda reminds me of a certain Christmas special they aired on Netflix this year. What was the name of that one again....?

Quoted from SAC I gotta admit that turned me off, too. Kinda reminds me of a certain Christmas special they aired on Netflix this year. What was the name of that one again....?

Ha!

Quoted from Warren Dig away, it was literally written in 2 weeks and at a final draft in 3 :) It's definitely an interesting exercise IMO, but in reality scripts can be pretty subjective so people might like it for none of the reasons I baked in or hate it for all the same reasons. I'll never actually know. All I do know is that I banged out a feature with no planning, minimal effort with the express purpose of making it socially palatable in today's climate.

Wow. Good for you, Warren! You will get some feedback though if you've paid for it, right?
Curious what genre it is...
You've piqued my interest. Good luck with it.

Quoted from eldave1 Yeah.... those guidelines for nomination perfectly paint the line from good intent to insanity.

I read the guidelines. I don't know why, but it reminded me of a quote from the Doorman on Knocked Up

"I'm only allowed to let in 5% black people. He said that, 5%. That means if there are 25 people here I get to let in one and a quarter black people. So I gotta hope there's a black midget in the crowd."

But that has nothing to do with anything, so to make my comment valid I will say...

Good luck, Warren. Will be interesting to see how it does.

Quoted from Warren Dig away, it was literally written in 2 weeks and at a final draft in 3 :) It's definitely an interesting exercise IMO, but in reality scripts can be pretty subjective so people might like it for none of the reasons I baked in or hate it for all the same reasons. I'll never actually know. All I do know is that I banged out a feature with no planning, minimal effort with the express purpose of making it socially palatable in today's climate.

Just imagine if it actually does so well you become the go-to-guy for that kind of thing whilst the screenplays you’ve actually bled for go unnoticed.

Quoted from LC Wow. Good for you, Warren! You will get some feedback though if you've paid for it, right? Curious what genre it is... You've piqued my interest. Good luck with it.

These comps are expensive enough as is ($114AUD), I generally don't pay extra for the notes.

It's a drama, I'm happy to send it over if you want a read. I'm not looking for any notes though as I don't plan to do anything else with it.

Thanks, can't imagine it will do well but we'll see.

Quoted from Matthew Taylor Good luck, Warren. Will be interesting to see how it does.

Thanks, you and me both.

Quoted from Pleb Just imagine if it actually does so well you become the go-to-guy for that kind of thing whilst the screenplays you’ve actually bled for go unnoticed.

I've only ever submitted one other script to the Fellowship, one I think is 100x stronger than this and that didn't even make it off the starting blocks. It was a script I worked on for almost 3 years and was heavily shaped by Dave's input.

Quoted from Warren ... It's a drama, I'm happy to send it over if you want a read. I'm not looking for any notes though as I don't plan to do anything else with it...

Would love to read it, Warren! No notes needed - cool.
Send it on down.  :D

Quoted from LC Would love to read it, Warren! No notes needed - cool. Send it on down.  :D

Will send it over when I get home from work :)

Well, they're pretty late on announcing the quarter-finals.

I, against my better judgement, put two thrillers in.

Just read that link on inclusion rules, Warren. I think it comes from a good place but makes for quite scary reading. When you start making rules on what colour or sex people have to be ... well I don't think it leads to good things, even if it does come from a good place.

The academy should focus on supporting and training people in underrepresented groups rather than dictate what groups must be represented.

Interestingly a couple of years back i sent my first script “7 days in la Suerte “ to Nichols. Got a notice it made the top twenty percent. Got coverage and advice from producers - polished and re entered it flopped. These contest often depends on the luck of the draw on who reads it. Mine was a crime comedy / drama - if i got a horror fan reading wouldn’t get it

Quoted from JohnI Interestingly a couple of years back i sent my first script “7 days in la Suerte “ to Nichols. Got a notice it made the top twenty percent. Got coverage and advice from producers - polished and re entered it flopped. These contest often depends on the luck of the draw on who reads it. Mine was a crime comedy / drama - if i got a horror fan reading wouldn’t get it

I got to the final - top ten in its genre - in the Page last year. Not even the quarters this year with a polished version. Writing is subjective. And some readers are probably c**** hahaha!

Quoted from Anon I got to the final - top ten in its genre - in the Page last year. Not even the quarters this year with a polished version. Writing is subjective. And some readers are probably c**** hahaha!

I had a sort of similar experience but with feedback. Old script I had was a mess but people loved it then. But as a writer - we see things differently with our own stuff. Anyway, went about perfecting it - in my eyes and now it's met with "Meh". I don't care. I feel more confident in it and proud to have my name on it. That's all I can control, the rest is all bullshit.

Quoted from JohnI Interestingly a couple of years back I sent my first script “7 days in la Suerte “ to Nichols. Got a notice it made the top twenty percent. Got coverage and advice from producers - polished and re entered it flopped. These contest often depends on the luck of the draw on who reads it. Mine was a crime comedy / drama - if i got a horror fan reading wouldn’t get it

Reminds me of the study into wine competitions a while ago. The study was to see if the same judges scored the same wine consistently across multiple years - turns out they don't, at all.

In order for these competitions to judge script quality fairly, they need multiple judges to read each entry, each round to reach a meaningful consensus.
Having 1 person judge your script each round is not a fair evaluation (Do they dislike the genre? Do they take issue with my style? Did they get a bad night sleep the night before? Does my protag share the same name as their bitter Ex?)

It sucks because writers (especially newer ones) will get disheartened if their script doesn't progress the early rounds when, in fact, it could be that it just fell into the wrong judges hands.

Quoted from Matthew Taylor It sucks because writers (especially newer ones) will get disheartened if their script doesn't progress the early rounds when, in fact, it could be that it just fell into the wrong judges hands.

Agree. I made the Nicholl quarter finals on 2016 with a horror script. I placed it into smaller horror contests and it never went anywhere. You have to have a good script and a lot of luck when it comes to judges in these contests.

James

Quoted from jwent6688 Agree. I made the Nicholl quarter finals on 2016 with a horror script. I placed it into smaller horror contests and it never went anywhere. You have to have a good script and a lot of luck when it comes to judges in these contests. James

So true. It's not totally random, thanks the majority of them probably being awful. But if you're in the good pile, it is subjective. There was a Nicholl winner last year that was a 7-year-old script the person entered before - got nowhere - but randomly decided to dust it off and put in again.

It's not totally random, thanks the majority of them probably being awful. But if you're in the good pile, it is subjective. There was a Nicholl winner last year that was a 7-year-old script the person entered before - got nowhere - but randomly decided to dust it off and put in again.

They released the names of the quarter finalists on their Instagram account. I didn't make it. Anyone here pull through?

James

Not me..........

Hopefully someone got it

I didn't enter, otherwise I'd have definitely won.