SPEC SCRIPTACULAR

WIN CASH - CONTACTS - CREDIBILITY!

What's Happening in the
SPEC SCRIPTACULAR COMPETITION?

December 1, 2009

16th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR IS NOW OPEN FOR ENTRIES

We're ready and waiting, which means you've got 2 months to polish your gems and submit them. So don't just sit there, write!

And while you're writing, here's something else to think about. In order to ease the congestion caused by the fact that 90% of the entries arrive in the last two weeks of the contest, we're going out of our way to encourage entrants to enter early.

Our way of encouraging you is this: Everyone who enters the SPEC SCRIPTACULAR between now and the end of December will receive - in addition to the usual e-mail of acknowledgement - another e-mail containing the full PDF version of Larry Brody's highly honored and best-selling TV writing How-To book, TELEVISION WRITING FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Cover price is $22.95. We think this is a helluva deal.

Remember, you will only receive the PDF version of TELEVISION WRITING FROM THE INSIDE OUT for free if you enter the SPEC SCRIPTACULAR (or PEOPLE'S PILOT) before January 1st, 2010. Fire up those screenwriting apps now!

November 23, 2009

15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR WINNERS

"And now -"

We say -

"And now -"

Wait for it -

Oh, okay, Bruce Springsteen we're not. The moment is here: Give an appropriately thunderous round of applause to the SPEC SCRIPTACULAR winners!

15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR WINNERS
For contest ending September 1, 2009

GRAND PRIZE

BETTER OFF TED: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY BREW by Christopher Luccy

SITCOM

1st Place: BETTER OFF TED: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY BREW by Christopher Luccy

2nd Place: IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: FRANK RETIRES HIS INDIAN ASS by Dushant Kirpalani

3rd Place: 30 ROCK: CRACK SNAPPLE POP! by Huck Hirsch & Jim Brodsky

ACTION/DRAMA/DRAMEDY

1st Place: IN TREATMENT: MIA by Margaret Lepera

2nd Place: MAD MEN: SUBLIMINAL by Elfi Martinez

3rd Place: BURN NOTICE: BALKAN TRAFFICK by Sarah Copeland

MOW/SPECIAL

1st Place: CARNEGIE'S WAR by Christiana Miller

2nd Place: ROSALIE AND JOZEF by Mary Dobon

3rd Place: WHEN I FALL IN LOVE by Clint Morey

Congratulations, Your Awesomnesses. Ya done yerselves proud! (And you'll be hearing from us about your prizes shortly, if you haven't already.)

November 16, 2009

15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR FINALISTS

Our faves so far. This is some very good writing. The SPEC SCRIPTACULAR Finalists are:

SITCOM

30 ROCK: CRACK SNAPPLE POP! by Huck Hirsch & Jim Brodsky

30 ROCK: JOHN DOE by Russell Schneider

BETTER OFF TED: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY BREW by Christopher Luccy

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: DAMSELS IN DISTRESS by Marla J. DuMont

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: FRANK RETIRES HIS INDIAN ASS by Dushant Kirpalani

ACTION/DRAMA/DRAMEDY

BURN NOTICE: BALKAN TRAFFICK by Sarah Copeland

IN TREATMENT: MIA by Margaret Lepera

MAD MEN: SUBLIMINAL by Elfi Martinez

MOW/SPECIAL

CARNEGIE'S WAR by Christiana Miller

ROSALIE AND JOZEF by Mary Dobon

WHEN I FALL IN LOVE by Clint Morey

Congratulations to those who've moved up yet another notch. Ya did it!

Next week: The WINNERS!

November 9, 2009

15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR SEMI-FINALISTS

We're back from a month in China (the proverbial "Slow Boat...") and look what we've got: The 15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR SEMI-FINALISTS. Here they are:

SITCOM

30 ROCK: CRACK SNAPPLE POP! by Huck Hirsch & Jim Brodsky

30 ROCK: JOHN DOE by Russell Schneider

BETTER OFF TED: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY BREW by Christopher Luccy

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: DAMSELS IN DISTRESS by Marla J. DuMont

FUTURAMA: DOWNSIZE ME by Kyle Arrington

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: FRANK RETIRES HIS INDIAN ASS by Dushant Kirpalani

PARTY DOWN: CHLOE ZIMMERMAN LIFE CELEBRATION by Betsy McNeely

THE OFFICE: THE FUNERAL by Rahmon Kazeem

ACTION/DRAMA/DRAMEDY

BURN NOTICE: BALKAN TRAFFICK by Sarah Copeland

CSI: MIAMI: GONE FISHING by Kelly Jo Brick

DEXTER: SLOW NEWS DAY by Ryan Harris & Brian Lubocki

IN TREATMENT: MIA by Margaret Lepera

MAD MEN: SUBLIMINAL by Elfi Martinez

MOW/SPECIAL

CAPTAIN NEMO'S ISLAND by Simmi Goyle

CARNEGIE'S WAR by Christiana Miller

ROSALIE AND JOZEF by Mary Dobon

WHEN I FALL IN LOVE by Clint Morey

Our congratulations to everyone who faced the blank page and wrote a script for this contest. Come back soon: We'll be announcing the Finalists early next week!

September 30, 2009

IMPORTANT TVWRITER.COM CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT

Time now for some important news about the People's Pilot and Spec Scriptacular Contests currently being judged, and the hip, trendy, and just completed Tweet-a-Logline contest as well.

First, the PEOPLE'S PILOT and SPECSCRIPTACULAR update:

Our plans called for announcing Semi-Finalists in mid-October, Finalists a week later, and Winners the week after that. However, do to circumstances of extreme coolness, we're going to have to postpone those announcements by a month, starting the sequence in the middle of November. We'll probably also postpone the start date of the next runnings of the PP and SS as well. Keep you eye on this space for the scoop on that.

Second, the TWEET-A-LOGLINE update:

We promised prizes, and prizes there will be...but the prizes will be late for the same reason as the results of the other contests. Yes, the same very cool reason...

Which is that yours truly is off to China in just a few hours to spend several weeks researching a film I'm producing in China for Manner Movie, Ltd., the generous folks who supply the 1st place awards for the PP and the SS.

Don't worry. Cloud Creek Ranch has been heavily fortified and will be properly looked after and taken care of. And so will I, even though we will be spending most of our time along the China Sea, traditional home of exotic and not-so-exotic pirates. (Anyone remember "Terry & the Pirates?" or the Dragon Lady? (MAD called her "the Dragging Lady" way back when.)

A thousand apologies for the inconvenience of the delay. But the whole point of coming to TVWriter.Com is to help y'all get that foot in the showbiz door y'all need, right? And one of the reasons for picking this site is that I'm one of the few pros out there busting my hump to help newcomers, so I hope you'll appreciate the sacrifice I'm making by taking on this gig in order to keep current.

(Okay, so it's not exactly a sacrifice. But you know what I mean.)

So that's it for now. Contest stuff is on hold till November, but then, I promise you, we'll rock!

LYMI,

LB

September 5, 2009

15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR IS CLOSED TO ENTRIES

Whew! Pant! Pant! At last!

In other words, our little sprint to the finish line of the most recent SPEC SCRIPTACULAR feels like a marathon due to the fact that we extended the deadline by a month. Now that entries are closed, though, we can breathe more easily...and look at what we have in hand.

As of this writing, the SPEC SCRIPTACULAR has received 67 entries, less than half a dozen fewer than last time around. Sure, it would've been nice to increase the number of entries, but for a contest with almost no advertising except on TVWriter.Com, (because it's primarily intended for TVW.C's loyal visitors, students, and posters), this isn't bad at all. Of the 67 entries, over 95% have come in via the web. We're waiting for the last snailmail entries, but already are thinking seriously of accepting web uploads only next time around. (What do you think, gang? Great idea or pure suck?)

Our plan is to start judging by the middle of this month and announce Semi-Finalists in the middle of October, then Finalists as soon afterward as is practical, and then the Winners in time to open for the next running of the contest November 1. (So stop writing and asking when the announcements are going to be made. You now know as much as we do. Probably more, when you consider what life and age are doing to TeamTVWriter, memory-wise.)

TVWriter.Com, Cloud Creek Communications, Inc. and the SPEC SCRIPTACULAR thank everyone who entered. So far, just skimming through, the work looks...well, impressive. Impressive indeed. Judging's going to be a blast!

August 3, 2009

FORMER SPEC SCRIPTACULAR WINNER'S TESTIMONIAL

Today was a day when, in spite of the usual travails, it was wonderful to wake up in the morning. Mostly thanks to this e-mail we received from 14th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR winner Christiana Miller:

Thought you might be interested in this...

Because I won both your competitions, simultaneously...
Word started getting around...
And a showrunner I had recently run into at a party,
emailed me, to see if I was still unrepped.

Because I won both your competitions...
He emailed his rep. Repeatedly. And met with her...
So she read my scripts...
And I kept sending her updates...

Because I won your competitions...
It inspired a showrunner to take up my cause...
And his huge mega-corp management company,
[name withheld], called me in to meet with them.
And now his manager is repping both my scripts
and my novels.

And all of a sudden, I'm playing on an entirely different
playing field. I've gone from sand lot (writing for myself)
to majors (writing to be a player in the industry).

So who says that entering competitions is a waste of time? ;-)

One step leads to another and another and another. Keep your
fingers crossed that I can maximize this opportunity and turn
it into a career!

xoxo,
Tana

Heartfelt congrats, Tana! You've earned this!

May 14, 2009

SCRIPTPIMP.COM HAS RETURNED TO THE FOLD

Starting with the 15th SPEC SCRIPTACULAR, ScriptPimp.Com will once again be awarding 1 year membership in the ScriptPimp.Com Writers Database to the Grand Prize and Category Winners. Welcome back, Pimpsters - and thanks!

September 6, 2004

SPEC SCRIPTACULAR TIPS

Some things to keep in mind when preparing your entries:

When writing an episode for an existing sitcom, action, or drama show, stay within the parameters established by the series. The best way to attract the attention of producers, agents and judges is to follow the conventions of a series while writing what is simply the best-written version possible.

This means focusing on the series leads and giving them the best lines and putting them into the most interesting situations. One of the basic signals that a writer is not ready for primetime is the insertion of a guest character who overwhelms the leads. Save that for fan fiction.

When writing an episode for an existing series make sure you are using the proper format for that series. Check the web for samples. Our sponsor, WriteSafe.Com has many accurate spec samples in the TV section of its "New Gallery."

This means that the length of your script should be the same as the usual length of the teleplays for the series for which you are writing. No 75 page drama scripts please! (Unless it's a spec for THE WEST WING.)

The best way to attract the kind of attention that gets your own pilot or screenplay or "special" sold or represented awarded is to write as freely and openly and spiritedly as possible. The trick to successfully breaking new ground in your work is to write so that the reader knows that you understand the "rules" and have deliberately chosen to break them. Sending this message is vital, and it can be done via any number of indirect and more direct techniques.

When producers, agents and judges read screenplays and teleplays they are always looking for work that satisfies their definition of "good writing." Within the entertainment industry this usually boils down to interesting characters who involve the reader in their problems; clever, original and yet seemingly realistic dialog; and a fast-paced story that keeps the reader on the edge of his or her seat.

For all practical purposes, the most important of the three elements described above is "clever, original and yet seemingly realistic dialog." Because of their busy schedules, most show business professionals - and too many judges - often just skim down a page, reading only the dialog. If they encounter cliched speech, dull speech, overly-expository speech, or speeches that are too long and "stagey" that's the end of your chances. Dialog that is witty and conversational rules. No film or television writer ever went wrong by concentrating on banter. It works for Nora Ephron and Alvin Sargeant and Larry David and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and David E. Kelly and Shane Black and Aaron Sorkin, and it will work for you.