The community for long-form fictional television
Hey all,
Just wanted to say how excited we are to be accepting submissions again! We were beyond pleased with the results from contest #1 and so can’t wait to see what you have in store for us over the next two months.
Remember: this time around, we’re open to script of both one hour AND half hour shows, so if you’ve been waiting to send in that sitcom, now’s your chance!
Just a quick reminder: If you haven’t already, please set aside some time this week to read the three Finalist scripts and vote for your favorite one by clicking on “I would watch this.” The winner of this competition is determined by our members and we want to make sure everyone’s voice is heard!
Last night, Storyboard TV presented a reading of the three finalists in our inaugural Television Pilot Script Competition. Equity actors Michael Braun, Matt Carlson, Andrew Garman, Lucas Kavner, and Melissa Miller performed 20 minute excerpts from the teleplays FALSE PROFIT (by Michael Barker and Jason Groessel), THE RESERVOIR (by Eddy Vallante and Dylan Allen) and JEN-16 (by Craig Berger). They were directed by Stephen Brackett.
If you were unable to make it there, never fear – we taped it!
http://www.youtube.com/user/storyboardtvchannel
Please join us to hear selections from the FINALISTS in Storyboard TV’s inaugural pilot script competition.
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Refreshments will be served immediately following the event.
When: Monday, June 7, 2010 at 7 pm
Where: The Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street, New York City
RSVP: rachel@storyboardtv.com
The Finalists will be announced one week before the event, but in the meantime feel free to take a look at the competition here.
Some of you received messages from rachel@storyboardtv.com this weekend that turned out to be spam. Apparently, a very smart robot claiming to be a woman named Dora Tru figured out how to hack into our system and how to email members who opted into the “let others email me” function on our site. If you were one of the unlucky receivers of this email, please accept my sincere apology for the annoyance.
As of this morning, we have updated the email system with a new security measure. Now, if you want to send an email through the site, you will be asked to type in a computer generated password. The recipient of any email you send will still be receiving this email from MY address (another privacy measure), but if he/she clicks respond, YOUR address will appear in the address line. This should solve the problem.
Thanks for your patience.
First of all, WOW. 86 scripts. We are both excited and humbled by your participation in the first Storyboard TV competition. We are currently reading (and re-reading) all of your scripts and will narrow down the field to ten semi-finalists by the end of this month. We just wanted to send you all a quick email with some information about what happens now.
So here are the NEXT STEPS:
1. Storyboard TV will inform the ten semi-finalist scriptwriters of their status by the last week in April, and we’ll make a general announcement on our website on April 30.
2. These ten scripts will be sent to our industry panel on May 1, which will in turn narrow down the field to three.
3. The three finalist scripts will receive an industry reading in NYC on June 7 (more details TBA closer to date).
4. These three scripts (cleaner, re-written drafts) will also be posted on the website in June for member voting. Any Storyboard TV member can vote for the winner of the $5,000 prize.
That’s it in a nutshell. Meanwhile, HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS for things you can do during the month of April while waiting for results:
1. READ: We hope you’ll take the time to read scripts on the site and offer comments to your fellow writers. Not only is it a good deed (I’ve already heard from a few writers who say they are extremely grateful for the feedback), but your comment on someone else’s work is more likely to garner some feedback for your own. So – offer comments, read your own comments, and think about incorporating these notes into future drafts of your script. Which leads me to…
2. RE-WRITE: Before we pass the semi-finalist scripts onto the industry panel in May, we will give each of these writers the opportunity to supply us with a new draft. Yes, this means that the semi-finalists will have the opportunity to fix typos, move scenes around, kill of characters, etc. BEFORE their work gets into the hands of agents, managers, and other execs. We suggest that everyone go through their script during the month of April and punch it up. Have a trusted friend read it slowly and point out grammar mistakes, misspellings, and confusing syntax. Even if you are not picked as a semi-finalist, your script will thank you for cleaning it up!
While not complete (we’re waiting on confirmation from a few more people), we thought it would be a good time to announce our industry panel. These fine people will be reading the ten semi-finalist scripts and narrowing down the field to three:
Jessica Brickman, Writer, Dirty Sexy Money
David Bushman, Television Curator, Paley Center for Media (NYC)
Scott Gregory, VP of Programming, TV Land
David Guy Levy, Producer, Periscope Entertainment
Jonathan Sherman, Director
Michael Shulman, Producer, Starry Night Entertainment
Chris Till, Literary Agent, Creative Artists Agency
Sarah Treem, Supervising Producer, In Treatment
Greg Weiss, Manager, Vanguard Management Group
David Kohner Zuckerman, President, VirtualPitchFest.com
In four weeks (actually, four weeks and one day), the submission period for Storyboard TV’s first scriptwriting contest will end. And I have to say, we’re extremely excited by the 38 scripts up already and the one’s we’ve heard about yet to be posted. Also very cool: we have script from New Zealand, a good handful from the UK, and of course a great many from the US.
I’m also noticing some interesting themes: There are several shows dealing with US characters living the UK, some of which include members of the Royal Family. A couple of shows explore what it’s like to live in the spotlight – either young and rich in Britain or rich and famous in LA. We have two pilots about lady thieves (which, lets face it, are WAY sexier than male thieves). We’ve got scripts delving into the psyche of murderers and crime lords. And some really funky science fiction. I wonder if its true that our shows are supposed to reflect what’s going on in the American psyche. If so, then… huh.
Anyway, we here at Storyboard TV are thrilled with what’s been posted and look forward to seeing what comes in March. Thanks to all who’ve submitted so far!