Are you a Screenwriter? Submit your Screenplay

Author: Dutchess Xpress

Why is it that it is almost impossible to break into the Entertainment industry? Why do they make it so darn hard? In order to break into the Entertainment Industry, for the most part, you really must  know someone who knows that "someone" that will give you a chance, even if just to pitch your screenplay and give them a chance to say "thank you but no thanks".  Although, there are those very few screenwriters that somehow are lucky to get discovered by an Agent or someone who just happens to be looking for the kind of script they happened to have written.

If screenwriting is your full time job and you are a professional screenwriter, congratulations are in order as you've lived thru many query letters, pitches, and  "No's" before someone gave you a chance. However, if screenwriting is your full time job and you have not yet optioned, won a competition, or pitched your script to someone  then you must find a real day job and continue to pursue your screenwriting on the side. I know this sounds mean but it is the honest TRUTH. Do not give up though, as there are many avenues out there that you can venture and then who knows, you might get discovered.

If you have a short (2-45 pages long), you should check out InkTip. You can post your copyrighted screenplay shorts on their site free of charge. You just have to make sure you have a catchy, intriguing tagline to get people's attention.  Many Agents, producing companies and the like go to this site and review the screenplays posted. If the information you post catches their attention, the agent or producing  company may contact you and request that you submit the short to them.  InkTip offers a good variety of services such as: posting your full screenplay (80-120 pages) for a fee of course, listing in their Magazine, newsletter, leads, and so on. I have posted content on InkTip before, and it's worked out OK for me. If you are on a tight budget, you may want to try the exposure by submitting a short. What do you know, someone may contact you and you may even option out your script. InkTip asks that any material you submit has been properly copyrighted, as they will not be responsible for anything. They are only there to help screenwriters get the exposure they need.

Other avenues you can try too is submitting your screenplay to Scriptapalooza. They have different kinds of competitions, and their screenplay competition is held once a year. Their competition is already underway so you can try to submit your work in next year's competition. Scriptapalooza does charge a fee for the script submission. Another opportunity out there is Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Competition, there is a fee and they also hold their competition once a year. I think in terms of competitions, theirs is very reliable (not that the others I've mentioned above are not). I say this because of their process and who reads the screenplays.

There are other competitions and websites out there, but take my advice and don't fall for them. Personally I have used InkTip , I've also enter Scriptapalooza‘s & the Nicholl Fellowships competitions three years ago. It was my first time trying it out, and I only did because a Professor in College told me I should submit a story of mine as a screenplay. I guess he thought it was that good. Anyway, I entered their competitions, posted my short on InkTip just to see what happened. From InkTip I received several requests to submit my short, then from Scriptapalooza I was a quarter-finalist (out 5000+ entries), now unfortunately I only received a Thank You letter from Nicholl Fellowships. The point I am trying to make is, it was my very first try (like I said, just for the heck of trying and seeing what happened). I didn't even try hard enough and I got all that. It makes me wonder, perhaps now if I try really hard then maybe, just maybe I'll sell one of my screenplays.

Overall, it is true the Entertainment Industry is tough but there are many ways you can break into it. You just have to be careful not to fall for any competition or whatever screenplay editing scams out there that just take your hard earned money. The key is PERSEVERANCE.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/screenplay-articles/are-you-a-screenwriter-submit-your-screenplay-3074123.html

About the Author

I'm a working mom. During the day I'm a Sr. Project Manager for a large corporation, and by night I try to be a mom and wife. Any free time I get away from work, kids and husband, I use for writing anything that comes to mind, and try out my Home Staging and Re-Designing talents. Yeah! I am also a professional home stager. But that is more a hobby than anything else.