Is there a “Best-Time” to enter a Screenplay Competition?
by Arik Cohen
When it comes to the best time to visit a buffet, there are two competing philosophies: 1) You want to go when it’s not busy. This way when a good dish comes out, such as delicious crab legs, you don’t have to fight a swarm of guests all trying to grab at it, and possibly leave with only one skinny leg on your plate. 2) You want to go to a buffet when it is busy. When it’s busy, that means the buffet is in constant turnaround. Platters are being emptied quickly, so they’re being refilled with fresh foods at a rapid pace. You might have to battle for the crab legs, but you know the crab legs will always be fresh.
Is it better to be one of a few or one of many?
Last year the Fresh Voices screenplay competition had over 1400 entries. That’s 1400 different stories, 1400 different adventures, and (at least) 1400 different lead characters.
No one judge has to read all 1400 by themselves (the first round consists of a group of judges tackling the ever-growing stack of submissions as an organized unit), but each judge reads a large chunk of them. Assuming an average page count of 110 per script, I personally probably read close to 50,000 pages during my most recent season judging the Fresh Voices Competition.