Our 5 X 5 Concept
Today?s Hollywood Reader has increasingly more material to examine, and has
therefore developed increasingly less tolerance. Because of that, we have decided
there is great wisdom in encouraging our writers to become compelling
sooner rather than later. We are therefore calling for the first 5 pages of
your screenplay. There will be 5 winners. Good luck.
How It Works
Five talented attendees to the Screenwriting Symposium
or The Hollywood Connection will receive SCSFe 2008 Actors Choice
Awards based on the first 5 pages of their screenplays. These
winning pages will be presented in live readings by our actor-judges.
Brief critique sessions will follow each reading. As there are no prior announcements
of the five winners, these have proven to be exciting evenings.
Prizes
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The winners will receive the following...
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Certificates of Achievement from SCSFe.
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Their winning pages forwarded to the Producers
attending The Hollywood Connection.
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Their 5 pages presented in a live reading at
the Actors Choice Awards ceremony.
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How To Enter
If you choose to participate in the competiton, please include the
following...
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The first 5 pages of your screenplay (paperclipped).
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Title page with title only.
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Cover page with title, your name and contact info.
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$35 check to SCSFe (or pay when registering).
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Signed release form (see below).
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Mail it to...
SCSFe
P.O. Box 29762
Santa Fe, NM 87592
Eligibility: This competition is only open to conference attendees.
You must register for either the Screenwriting Symposium or The Hollywood
Connection to enter.
Release Form
The following release form must be completed, signed and included
with your submission.
Deadline
To allow time for duplications, judging, and rehearsals,
submissions must be postmarked no later than May 7th, 2008.
Judging Criteria
The following criteria are used by the actor-judges...
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Formatting:
Does it look like a professionally written screenplay?
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Story:
Is it original? Does it move forward logically and
show promise? Does this appear to be the beginning of a
good story? Grade it as an interesting read.
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Dialogue:
Does it work? Is it cliché? Does it have a nice flair?
Is it distinctive from one character to another?
Does it have drama? Passion? Significance? Is it
interesting? Does it move the story forward or is it mostly
expository? In other words, evaluate the lines.
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Characterization:
Are the characters stereotype or are they well drawn?
Do you or could you care about what
happens to the lead character? Are the supporting
characters distinctive? Are these characters an actor
would like to play? Are they interesting?
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Clarity of Writing:
Does the piece clearly depict time, setting, location,
action? Grade it on whether it is a
comfortable read or one where the reader has to guess or
manufacture elements that are dubious in description.
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The Package:
Taking all the elements into consideration, and
denying your own prejudice or genre bias,
do you feel this is the beginning of a movie folks
would pay to
see and not regret having done so?
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Recommendable:
If you knew a movie Producer who was looking for a
good premise, would you enthusiastically take this piece
to them ? without a rewrite ? and recommend they look into
it before someone else grabs it up?
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Tips From Larry
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Click here
to view Larry Stouffer's Tips
on screenwriting.
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Past Winners
Winners - 2006 Actors Choice Awards
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Paul Clingan - Plano, TX
"Division One Rules"
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Paul Clingan - Plano, TX
"Karst"
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Ken Pearson - Tempe, AZ
"Tears of the Inca"
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Ron Andes - Santa Fe, NM
"Amen's Corner"
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Winners - 2005 Actors Choice Awards
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Cindy Brown - Phoenix, AZ
"As Time Goes By"
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Bruce Dundore - Los Angeles, CA
"The Seduction Diet"
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Laurence Sarezky - Fairfield, CT
"Rap City 'n Blue"
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John & Patricia Zussman - Portola Valley, CA
"Piano Trio"
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Winners - 2004 Actors Choice Awards
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Ed Cosgrove - Seattle, WA
"Perception"
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Juli King Royea - Santa Fe, NM
"The Long Ride Home"
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Mysti Rubert - San Francisco, CA
"St. John"
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Betty Ellington Smith - Santa Fe, NM
"Blind Trust"
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Patrick Champ Wier - Albuquerque, NM
"Blood Pressure"
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Winners - 2003 Actors Choice Awards
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Lyn Davis - Albuquerque, NM
"Drumsticks"
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Kristin Goodman - Chicago, IL
"La Llorona"
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David Hames - Colorado Springs, CO
"The Faith Equations"
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Paul Taegel - Los Angeles, CA
"Fast One"
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Charlie Tramontana - West Pittston, PA
"Dead Alice"
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Winners - 2002 Actors Choice Awards
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Carolyn Pizzuti - Aurora, OR
"Her Husband's Wife"
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Regine Ebner - Tucson, AZ
"Understanding Edison"
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Ed Pell - Morristown, NJ
"Jerky"
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Arthur Kanegis - Coronado, CA
"OOPS"
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Eric Cooper - Malibu, CA
"Half-Empty & Half-Full Do A Road Trip"
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Joan Green - Durango, CO
"The Big One"
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Chris Redish - Phoenix, AZ
"A Cat's Tail"
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Bob Duerr - Hilo, HI
"No Money Down"
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Ari Aster - Santa Fe, NM
"The Black Duffel Bag"
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Jim Polk - Abilene, TX
"Blind Date"
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