Notifications are out. My entry failed to advance but fell in the next 100 scripts after the cutoff. Anyone in the quarterfinals?

Patrick Sweeney I Blame Ninjas

My entry also was in the "Next 100." At least they think it's getting better. The first time I put this one in, it was in the "Top 15%," last year the "Top 10%," and Next 100 this year, which I calculate puts it in the top 7%. At least my revisions seem to be headed in the right direction. Now I regret not putting my last year's Semifinalist back in, even though I haven't had a chance to rework it. Ah, well.

I didn't enter this year but I plan on entering next year. I was very close but I just knew my script wasn't ready. Does Nicholl post their Quarterfinals?

I entered back in 07 and I know they send out letters to notify people if they made it or not, but I'm not sure if they post on their website.

L.J., here's the link to the 2007 Quarterfinalists.

http://old.oscars.org/nicholl/fellows/2007quarterfinalists.html

Lol, thanks Robert but I was talking about if they posted this year's quarter finalist.

I'm in.

Congrats Andrew and I hope you'll stay in for the long haul!

Patrick and Robert, next 100 is pretty sweet, though you must have that "just barely missed the train" feeling!

I got the blah form letter with no PS (bottom 4000, heh). There's always next year!

I think Nicholl posts QF after the winners are announced each year. If you look up Nicholl on facebook, Greg Beal posts lots of info.

Congrats Andrew.

I didn't make it. Don't recall anything about the PS.

Don

BTW if I recall the stats correctly, it was brutal this year. Only 850+ made it out of close to 3000?

Am I right in that?

Don

It's 326 quarterfinalists out of 6,100 or so entries.

Patrick Sweeney
I Blame Ninjas

Andrew, congratulations!!!!!

Congrats Andrew!

Thanks to everyone. It's appreciated!

Congrats, Andrew! That's great; enjoy!

I crapped out again; 3 in the top 20%. Can't seem to get over the hump.

Good luck the rest of the way!

Congrats, Andrew.

Congrats Andrew :) !

They wrote a letter and told me I won! They're just not telling everyone yet.

Then I woke up and discovered I was living Inception. Bad dream, worse movie.

Did you actually not enjoy Inception?

Congrats Andrew! At least we have won Moviebyter to root for.

I crapped out, 0 for 3. My weakest of the three made top 10% according to the P.S., the middle one received two positive reads and the strongest got nada, zero, zilch in the P.S. department. It is a political satire that has really pissed off a few readers....and has done very well in contests if I can get past their bias.

A new script I wrote, ROUGH JUSTICE, made the quarters. I was thrilled, since it was a new script, and I normally write comedy. I doubt I'll go any further but the top 5% is quite an honor. It also did pretty good in American Screenwriting (ongoing).

Politics is tough in scripts, Steve. It's so hard to get thru the door that when roughly 50% of your readers are rooting against you.

To the extent that I address politics at all (and my scripts are more silly than political) I try to be even-handed. Not only does this increase the conflict, it also makes everyone think you're on THEIR side.

I wrote a comedy called DEATH TAX about people who murder their parents before the estate tax exemption expires. It's a grossly offensive premise that makes fun of the IRS, Congress, billionaires who complain about paying their taxes, tea parties, government bureaucrats, and anyone else I can think of. Since I'm not particularly espousing a cause, but merely observing absurdities on both sides, I haven't had a single reader who's complained about my politics (which are invisible from reading the script.)

I'm not saying that every script has to drive down the yellow line, merely that it's an approach that you can consider. There's an artistic as well as a commercial advantage, as aiming for the middle can sometimes heighten the drama and suspense. Just an idea...

Congrats on advancing Mike!

Mike...how've you been?!?!

Congrats on advancing, that's awesome.

As for the political satire, those that can get past page 10 have called it extremely well balanced. If they lean too much one way, they might not make it that far. The good news is that it's generating some interest of late. We'll see!

Way to go with the new script. I just completed two new ones...going the Script Savvy route to get the notes so I can strengthen them. Good luck...hopefully you'll make it to Semifinals! Steve

Congrats Mike! The best thing about your post is your are humble. Now I'mr really rooting for you. I can honestly wish you the best of luck!

Thank you, everyone, for your congratulations and kind wishes. I've seen how awesome some of the scripts I'm competing against are, and it's enough to make anyone humble.

Your odds of placing in any one contest are small, and luck plays a big part. I have no doubt that some of the scripts that didn't make it this year will make it next year, because of different readers, script changes, and yes, luck of the draw.

Sounds like you're way ahead of me on the "balance" angle, Steve, which is awesome. In your case, it may be as simple as finding readers smart enough to read to page 15! :-)

My comedy didn't make the Nicholl Quarterfinals but it did make Scriptapalooza's. Hoping it makes the Semi's because Scriptapalooza promotes all semi finalist and above to industry prodcos.