So I got rejected by the Northern Lights Film Festival Script Award this week. I wasn’t expecting to get through – I heard literally *just* before the deadline and hacked a so-called “treatment” together from another one page pitch in a real FRANKENSCRIPT “better than not entering” kinda way.
I will definitely enter next year though (and plan ahead!). Not only did they bother to reject me (so many schemes don’t), they did it nicely AND when they said they would. They even gave me a little insight into the contest itself, so I didn’t even mind there was no individual feedback as I was interested to see I was only one of 6 who submitted a comedy treatment. Best of all, it was FREE.
Dear Lucy,
Thank you for submitting your project to the Northern Lights Film Festival.
We received 85 entries from across the UK, with drama proving to be the most popular choice of genre (43). Both horror and thriller made it to double figures, comedy came up with six and and we had a single western. The most popular story concerns were terror threats, identity theft and atoning for past sins. Thirty five of the applicants were women.
We very much enjoyed reading your entry but unfortunately it didn’t make the long list. We wish you all the best with this project and your writing.
Best wishes,
The Script Award Team
What more could you want (apart from winning, natch)? Bookmark their page and plan your entry for next year… Get set… Go!
On the subject of competitions etc. , please tell me that Red Planet don’t email entry acknowledgments…
The pitch competition for the screenwriters festival do, the BBC do with the writers room do. Having not received an acknowledgment from RP I’ve been assuming they don’t unless anyone knows any different…
Looks like I may need to rethink my redemption plot about a terrorist who steals other people’s identities then. Maybe I’ll write a western.
I meant to submit to this but when I sat down to do it I’d missed the deadline by two days. Was very annoyed with myself. 🙁
Sorry you didn’t get to the next stage but that is quite a nice ‘no thanks’ letter – better than nothing, anyway.
I found out about this late as well. Will definitely keep my eyes peeled for next year.
Well, I was another of the six comedies. Equally rejected.
What if we were to hunt down the ‘other four’? What then? Would we create a critical mass of funny so profoundly, universally hilarious that the entire world died laughing?
Let’s do it! God knows, we need it.
Never mind Lucy, next year.
Terraling, I sent a prepaid postcard to RP and got it back within a week so I know the ten pages got through. Can’t now remember if they e-mail you.
I haven’t had an email either Terraling, so don’t think they do send confirmations. Will see if I can find something out.
Thanks for the commiserations everyone but
my treatment didn’t even have a proper ending (and it needed one for the contest!), so I’m pretty lucky not to have been disqualified! I literally wrote, “In the end… Everything ends happily like every rom-com should, [main characters] get together and [antagonist] gets his rightful comeuppance”! Lol.
Interesting that you wrote one of the comedies too, Tim! I think we SHOULD track them all down and become some kind of comedy genius prodco…
Hot off the press from The Stackmeister:
“No email confirmations, as far as I know ( I didn’t log the entries), so all should be fine.”
Hope that puts your minds at rest.