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Author	Topic: Luck of the Draw?
next will hunting Member	posted 10-18-2000 10:01 PM Let's say your script is reviewed 100 times. 99 feel inclined to rate it as "Excellent". One reviewer, however, cans it as "lousy". But the one bad review happens to be one of the three initial mandatory/blind reviews. Is that screenplay done? Or will two positive votes be enough to crack into the top-250? Any thoughts? IP: Logged
Quinnibuck Member	posted 10-19-2000 08:54 AM quote: Originally posted by next will hunting: Let's say your script is reviewed 100 times. 99 feel inclined to rate it as "Excellent". One reviewer, however, cans it as "lousy". But the one bad review happens to be one of the three initial mandatory/blind reviews. Is that screenplay done? Or will two positive votes be enough to crack into the top-250? Any thoughts? I think that if 2 of your mandatories say the screenplay is "excellent" and one says that it's "lousy" then GREENLIGHT will look pretty hard at the "lousy" review (and contestant) and then go find the registered REVIEWER's review and see what they had to say and use that instead. IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-19-2000 03:15 PM quote: Originally posted by Quinnibuck: I think that if 2 of your mandatories say the screenplay is "excellent" and one says that it's "lousy" then GREENLIGHT will look pretty hard at the "lousy" review (and contestant) and then go find the registered REVIEWER's review and see what they had to say and use that instead. That sounds logical to me. I hope they follow that brand of logic as well. Here's hoping... because I know for a fact that of the eight reviewed postings on these boards of my script (seven "goods" or "very goods" and one "it sucks") that the one "it sucks" was from a mandatory review. I just hope it doesn't sink me. I also hope that one bad review doesn't kill any really good scripts out there... IP: Logged
Ana Mae Junior Member	posted 10-19-2000 03:43 PM I think the truth is that the "Winning" screenplay most likey won't be the best. There is a little roll of the dice in this contest. The important thing to take away from the contest is the reviews that you get. I have been really trying to give some feedback and advice to some of the not so hot scripts. But still you can kick you self when a really Bad movies get Big budgets! IP: Logged
dogwover Member	posted 10-19-2000 03:47 PM I think there's gonna be a lot of winners. One Greenlight winner, and many, many fine writing winners. This contest is huge! I can't imagine that there aren't producers and whatnots perusing the scripts for ideas who will eventually get a hold of people for 'serious talks.' This is the break that a lot of us needed. IP: Logged
bbrooker88 Junior Member	posted 10-19-2000 05:36 PM As far as you know, your three mandatory reviews might all have sucked, and the five positive reviews aren't going to amount to a hill of beans, except that you might feel a little better about yourself. I'm quite sure that with as many scripts that are getting submitted, you'll need three great reviews, not just three "passes" to advance to the 250. On Nov. 18th a computer is going to calculate and spit out 250 names. No one is going to sit there and say, "well, this script had two good reviews and a bad review, but a lot of volunteer reviewers loved it." The volunteer reviews are just that, volunteer and for your own eyes only. One bad mandatory review and as far as this contest is concerned, you're sunk. IP: Logged
Room409 Member	posted 10-19-2000 05:38 PM I've rolled the dice---let's see what happens. IP: Logged
bbrooker88 Junior Member	posted 10-19-2000 05:39 PM And while some professional readers might peruse the top 250 scripts, absolutely no producer or reader has time to wade through 5,000 amatuer scripts. They're inundated enough with scripts to read by professionals who have been writing for years. It would be a huge waste of their time. IP: Logged
mmdean Member	posted 10-19-2000 09:45 PM quote: Originally posted by Ana Mae: I think the truth is that the "Winning" screenplay most likey (sic)won't be the best. There is a little roll of the dice in this contest. The important thing to take away from the contest is the reviews that you get. I have been really trying to give some feedback and advice to some of the not so hot scripts. But still you can kick you (sic) self when a really Bad movies get Big budgets! "I have been really trying to give some feedback and advice to some of the not so hot scripts." This is the advice Ana Mae gave me on my screenplay VIRTUALLY PRESIDENT. "gibberish" Yes, folks that is it. "Gibberish". This is "really trying" according to AM. Now here's the last sentence of Ana Mae's post: "But still you can kick you (sic) self when a really Bad movies get Big budgets." What word would one use to describe that piece of prose? I'll leave it to you. The idea that illiterates are wandering around here shooting down scripts at random simply because they can't understand them is pretty discouraging. If you are going to criticize a script negatively (and/or positively BTW), please give the reasoning behind your criticism. It's called coverage. mmdean IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 06:57 AM quote: Originally posted by Ana Mae: I think the truth is that the "Winning" screenplay most likey won't be the best. There is a little roll of the dice in this contest. The important thing to take away from the contest is the reviews that you get. I have been really trying to give some feedback and advice to some of the not so hot scripts. But still you can kick you self when a really Bad movies get Big budgets! Yes - every week I look at the new releases, and I'm once again amazed at what has gotten the "greenlight" from Hollywood execs. I've already read better scripts here... let's hope some get made eventually. IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 06:58 AM quote: Originally posted by dogwover: I think there's gonna be a lot of winners. One Greenlight winner, and many, many fine writing winners. This contest is huge! I can't imagine that there aren't producers and whatnots perusing the scripts for ideas who will eventually get a hold of people for 'serious talks.' This is the break that a lot of us needed. And realistically, that's what I'm hoping for and shooting for if possible... IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 07:04 AM quote: Originally posted by bbrooker88: As far as you know, your three mandatory reviews might all have sucked, and the five positive reviews aren't going to amount to a hill of beans, except that you might feel a little better about yourself. I'm quite sure that with as many scripts that are getting submitted, you'll need three great reviews, not just three "passes" to advance to the 250. On Nov. 18th a computer is going to calculate and spit out 250 names. No one is going to sit there and say, "well, this script had two good reviews and a bad review, but a lot of volunteer reviewers loved it." The volunteer reviews are just that, volunteer and for your own eyes only. One bad mandatory review and as far as this contest is concerned, you're sunk. That remains my general contention... but let's hope that some of these other thoughts come to pass as well - sharing the wealth and opportunity so to speak. But if a producer or agent did find a script out there that they are really interested in... how are they suppose to contact the writer? Do they have access to our email addresses? Or how else can they track you down? These messageboards are a little hard to stay on top of - too many strings to search constantly... IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 07:06 AM quote: Originally posted by bbrooker88: And while some professional readers might peruse the top 250 scripts, absolutely no producer or reader has time to wade through 5,000 amatuer scripts. They're inundated enough with scripts to read by professionals who have been writing for years. It would be a huge waste of their time. So do you think that industry pro's are just waiting until the first cut to start looking around in the pile? IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 07:07 AM quote: Originally posted by Room409: I've rolled the dice---let's see what happens. Yes - it's just a crap shoot... let's have some fun with it. IP: Logged
rrusczyk Junior Member	posted 10-20-2000 08:26 AM Somewhere in the morass of rules it states that our email addresses are not confidential and can be given out to third parties upon request. So, yes, if a producer falls in love with your script, she/he can find you. IP: Logged
next will hunting Member	posted 10-20-2000 10:37 AM quote: Originally posted by rrusczyk: Somewhere in the morass of rules it states that our email addresses are not confidential and can be given out to third parties upon request. So, yes, if a producer falls in love with your script, she/he can find you. Cool NWH IP: Logged
SketchyOne Junior Member	posted 10-22-2000 05:23 PM I decided to give this post a bumb because I think it is key in this contest. The break down to the top 250 is in fact a lottery of sorts. I will speak only for myself when I say that I believe that many of you out there who have a script that is edgy, dark, or twisted, will probably NOT make the top 250. The reasoning will have nothing to do with your script or your talents, but more to do with the fact that probably at least one of your first three reviews will come from someone who is so out of touch with the actual business that they will just base their review on their own "taste" , and not on the creativity and merit of the material itself. At least in Hollywood (most) script readers judge a script on its marketability and creativity, even if it is something that they are not necessarily interested in. My point in all of this is to remind you all that if you dont make the top 250, don't give up. Just because one person (unfortunately, in a position to make or break you) on this site may not understand your script, dont let that be a road block for you, and keep plugging away! IP: Logged
hbeachbabe Member	posted 10-22-2000 07:26 PM If we assume that the top 250 will be determined by a computer based on some point talley of the 3 mandatory reviews and one bad review can sink you, how do we factor in someone who gave you a bad review and then also answered "not my kind of film" Will that hurt the credability of the review? cause it to be weighed less in the overall score? What are the odds of 250 people all getting 3 good reviews? IP: Logged
mongoose Junior Member	posted 10-22-2000 08:11 PM I think it's all relative. What we are writing are commercial scripts. Some of these stories might seem a wee bit recycled, but we all have our influences. You can relate any screenplay in this world to some movie you've seen at some point in your life. None of us are editors here, but many of the writers seem to pawn themselves off as someone knowing what makes a quality screenplay. How many have you sold? That's what I thought. Just decide if its commercial enough, or a no go. That's why the review asks if you would go to the movies to see this. Do you think Waterboy was a good read? I read the Pulp Fiction script, and it wasn't all that good of a read. 220 pages at that. But it made a great movie and revitalized some careers. So I would ask you, if you review mine, try not to be an editor, unless you are one and have helped many people actually SELL scripts. Other than that, please just assume your opinionated role of PASS -- RECOMMEND. IP: Logged

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