Winning the Finish Line contest was a shock. Getting the prize was a bigger shock. I didn’t quite realise that those 40 people on the mentor page meant all these people would be having one-on-one meetings with me. And these weren’t interns or junior assistants – they were producers, writers, execs, agents, managers, lawyers working in the heart of the system, all hand-picked as helpful, friendly people. Having lived a life entirely outside the gated community of Hollywood, this was genuinely a prize money could not buy.
The biggest shock of all was that so many of these wonderful meetings led to real interest in my winning script REVELATION. It wasn’t treated as a mere writing sample, it was seen by many as a highly desirable screenplay. In a matter of weeks I was juggling multiple offers from managers and production companies, and in January 2021 I signed with Echo Lake Entertainment to represent me and produce.
This was such a surprise in part because REVELATION had not got anywhere in any of the other script contests I had entered. It didn’t even make it to any quarter finals. Which begs the question… how come? Hollywood itself was biting my hand off for the exact same script, after all. Had I not entered the Finish Line, I would have inevitably deduced that I must be a terrible writer.
Even had I not won, I figured Finish Line was worth entering. I paid for feedback that ended up more use to me than every other set of notes I’d ever had combined, at considerably less than the going rate. 8 pages of insightful, thoughtful comments that made a material difference to a script I already thought was finely honed. I submitted the new draft, and this is what went on to win.
Screenplay contests in general don’t enjoy a great reputation. It’s easy to be cynical, and in my experience there is good reason to be. The Finish Line, and its force-of-nature creator Jenny, are the exception that proves the rule. They both have substance, and integrity. My career changed because of them.
So when I had my next script THE LOVE TRIALS ready, I knew I would be submitting it to Finish Line. I’ve submitted to many contests and most of them take your money and you never hear from them again. I can’t stress this enough, THIS CONTEST IS WORTH IT! The great part of this contest, and it’s the only one of it’s kind, is they let you resubmit your draft for FREE after rewriting it! No other competition I’ve submitted to does that. So even if you don’t place in the competition, your script will still come out better after submitting. Now let’s talk about if you’re lucky enough to win. Expect constant communication from Jenny. She’s extremely eager to get your script read by industry titans. After the contest was over, she worked with me to get the script ready to send out to producers, managers, and production companies. For the past few months, I’ve been talking with tons of mentors, each offering their insights and help pushing my script out to others. I’ve talked with legendary producers who’ve read my script, literary managers, and production company executives and they all are now part of my contacts. I can reach out to them any time for advice and they are all interested in reading my next script.