TSA'S 2010 SCREENPLAY CONTEST Deadline March 31, 2010! Sponsored by: The Tennessee Screenwriting Association InkTip Script Magazine Contest Rules Apply ONLINE! Contest Application in PDF format New this year! Any TSA member who so desires will receive a short one or two paragraph critique of their submission. 1st place - 1st Prize - $500 in cash, a subscription to Script Magazine and your script will be read by established and successful production companies. Listed below is a sampling from last year’s list. 2nd place - Cash prize of $250 3rd place - Cash prize of $100 All three winners will receive a listing on InkTip.com and a complimentary a TSA Membership Submission deadline: March 31, 2010. $30 for members $40 for non-members Ten second level winners will be selected and announced on or before May 1, 2010. The three finalists will be chosen from the second level winners and announced on or before June 1, 2010. A SAMPLE FROM LAST YEAR! Kerner Entertainment Co. (Snow Dogs, Inspector Gadget, George of the Jungle) Misher Films (The Rundown, Scorpion King, upcoming The Interpreter) Radiant Productions (Troy, Perfect Storm, Air Force One) A Band Apart (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) Avenue Pictures (Angels In America, The Player, upcoming Mindhunters) Back Lot Pictures (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, upcoming Vanity Fair) The Badham Co. (director John Badham, Stakeout, The Jack Bull, Evel) Beacon Pictures (Raising Helen, Air Force One, Spy Game) Blue Tulip (dir Jan De Bont, Speed, Twister, Lara Croft) Boz Productions (Scary Movie, Soul Plane) Bristol Bay Productions (The Patriot, Mystery Alaska, upcoming A Sound of Thunder, upcoming Clive Cussler's "Sahara") Camelot (Beyond Borders, SWAT) CFP Productions (How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Out-of-Towners) Circle Of Confusion Productions (up coming Bounty, Jinx) *Cruise/Wagner Productions (Last samurai, Vanilla Sky, Mission Impossible 1 & 2, The Others) Crystal Lake Entertainment (Freddy v. Jason, Friday the 13th, Deep Star Six) Davis Entertainment (Garfield, I Robot, Alien vs, Predator) Donners Company (X-Men, Lethal Weapon, Timeline) Escape Artists (A Knight's Tale, Alex and Emma, upcoming The Weather Man) FilmColony (Bourne Identity, Neverland, Cider House Rules) Guy Walks Into A Bar (Elf, Out of Time) Icon Productions (Passion of the Christ, Braveheart, Payback) ImageMovers (Forrest Gump, What Lies Beneath, Polar Express, Robert Zemeckis' company) Imagine Entertainment (Cat In The Hat, A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, dir. Ron Howard's company) Jerry Weintraub Productions (Ocean's 11 & 12, Vegas Vacation) Kustom Entertainment (Stay) (prod & mgmt co.) Larger Than Life Productions (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville, Big) Mace Neufeld Productions (Sum Of All Fears, The General's Daughter, Hunt For Red October) Morgan Creek Productions (Robin Hood, Exorcist: The Beginning) *New Line Cinema Original Film (Fast & Furious, Urban Legend, XXX) Pandemonium Films (ex-pres. of Fox Studios Bill Mechanic's company) Paul Schiff Productions (Walking Tall, Maid In Manhattan, Rushmore) Phoenix Pictures (Basic, Holes, Urban Legend) The Radmin Company (Twisted, Next Best Thing) (prod & mgmt co) Rat Entertainment (Rush Hour 1 & 2, Red Dragon, Family Man) Ricochet Entertainment (The Sweetest Thing, Double Vision) Robert Cort Productions (Runaway Bride, Save The Last Dance, Something The Lord Made) The Robert Evans Company (Chinatown, Godfather, The Saint, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days) Roth/Arnold Productions (13 Going On 30, America's Sweethearts, Grosse Pointe Blank) Scott Free Productions (Gladiator, Blackhawk Down, Man On Fire) Senator International (Trapped, upcoming Boogeyman, upcoming The Grudge) Spring Creek Productions (Perfect Storm, Looney Tunes, Envy, formerly Baltimore/Spring Creek) Spyglass Entertainment (Sea Biscuit, Bruce Almighty) Stratus Films (Laws Of Attraction, Crash, upcoming Love Song For Bobby Long) Trilogy Entertainment (Robin Hood, Backdraft, Outer Limits) *20th Century Fox - Searchlight Pictures Valhalla Pictures (The Hulk, The Punisher, Terminator) Vertigo Entertainment (The Ring, upcoming The Grudge) Weed Road Pictures (Mindhunters, A Beautiful Mind, Akiva Goldsman's co.) Winkler Films (Rocky, Goodfellas, De-Lovely) The list gets longer each day. Check back regularly! Apply ONLINE! Contest Application in PDF format Sponsored in partnership with... Address to which scripts should be sent, or for more information: 2008 TSA Screenwriting Competition P.O. Box 40194 Nashville, TN 37204-0194 Questions? E-mail us at information@tennscreen.com. Many people ask what criteria is used to grade entries to screenplay competitions. The guidelines outlined below have been assimilated from other contests and serve as our preliminary checklist in TSA judging. This list is found in your TSA Membership Packet, given to new and renewing members. Remember, these just scratch the surface, but are essential if your script is to make a good first impression. BASIC PRESENTATION AND FORMATTING - 2 points each Two paper fasteners No writing or illustrations on cover Title page correctly formatted as follows: The title page that is bound into the script should have nothing on the page except the title of the script in caps, centered about 1/3 down the page. Attached to the script with a paper clip, should be another title page with the author's name, address, telephone number and email directly below. Twelve point type, Courier font, dark and readable 90 to 130 pages in length Pages correctly numbered, numberless first page Dialogue correctly formatted Description correctly formatted Correct spacing between lines No writing on spine Overall good condition, no stains, no tears Everything written in present tense Free from excessive poor spelling, grammar, and typos FADE IN: precedes first scene All characters names in Caps upon introduction ONLY Description is free of run-on sentences Description is free of camera directions Brief description of primary characters Most of these concern a script's physical attributes, but are very critical when you send a script to contests, production companies or agents. That last one is potent. It's your first opportunity to make each character come alive on the page. Don't bore with words like "beautiful", when you can reveal their inner character as "spunky"; an entrance that "lights up the room like a Supernova" or paint your antagonist as a man "who’d swerve just to hit a dog". Use this to your advantage.