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Friday, 8 October 2010

Kid In The Front Row Online Screenwriting Competition 2010

It's time to do some writing! Yes, it means we have to get off Facebook, stop flicking through blogs, and stop telling everyone about the projects we're going to be writing soon; because instead, there is one to write NOW! It needs to be written now because:

The deadline is in two weeks.
and
If you win, it gets made! In fact, it gets made many times!

The winner of the KITFR 2010 Screenplay Competition will have their script made by everyone who enters the upcoming KITFR 2010 Directing Competition! So it's a great chance to see your writing not only made, but made many times! And it will be SOON! I hope that's a great incentive!

This competition is for writers of all levels. Whether you're a pro, or whether you're just starting out, or even if you're interested but worried because you've never written a script and don't speak English very well--- I want you ALL to give it a go. Be creative! Have some fun! Write something!

Here's the rules:

  • Your script must be no longer than FIVE pages (six including a cover page)
  • You must write in industry-standard format. If you don't know how to do that, please read this. If you're still confused, email me, and I'll help you with the formatting.
  • The DEADLINE for the competition is THURSDAY 21st OCTOBER 2010. No exceptions.
Those are the technical rules, here are the STORY RULES.

  • You must have these THREE characters: Margaret, Abdul and Regina.These are the ONLY characters you can have.
  • Your story takes place at the Headquarters of: 'The Equal Rights Committee.' The only locations (within the headquarters) are: Meeting Room, Kitchen, Secret Shelter.
  • You must include this line of dialogue somewhere in the script: "Who the hell is Mark Flamstein?"
If you have any questions, please put them in the comments. Also, feel free to take the banner and share the link on your blogs, websites, Facebook's, etc. I am genuinely excited to read each and every script that is sent to me!

The competition opens NOW!

Send Entries To:
at

30 comments:

  1. T.M. Curzon-Manners8 October 2010 at 13:30

    Fantastic opportunity!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9 October 2010 at 02:24

    Any specific font Kid? Or am I being overly detailed?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Kid In The Front Row9 October 2010 at 02:27

    Anonymous - there is a Courier style font specific to screenwriting. If you get a free screenwriting program from the net, it will do it for you.

    If you have to use word, go with Courier.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9 October 2010 at 02:29

    Sorry Kid, and font size?

    ReplyDelete
  5. The Kid In The Front Row9 October 2010 at 03:16

    12.

    It'd be good for you to get this program I think! http://www.screenwritingbasics.com/2010/07/celtx-free-screenwriting-software-tutorials-index-cards-celtx-screenplay-editor/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Spielbergs Left Hand9 October 2010 at 05:10

    Kid, should we email you our entries or copy and paste into the comment box?

    Love the blog and the effort you put in!

    ReplyDelete
  7. jonah9 October 2010 at 08:48

    Being thick - is the equal rights committee equivalent to the equal rights commission?

    ReplyDelete
  8. The Kid In The Front Row9 October 2010 at 10:09

    Spielberg's Left Hand: Please email them to me. I've added my email address to the competition page; sorry, should have thought of that!

    Jonah: You can interpret it any way you like. But yeah, they could be the same thing, definitely. It's up to you! Maybe it's a small committee started by Abdul with secret donations from Mark Flamstein-- who knows!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The_High_Dweller12 October 2010 at 15:02

    Is there a specific genre that we should gear the story toward?

    Do you think that you tend to enjoy certain genres more than others? Drama over Horror? Comedy over Thriller? Or even SciFi over Family Adventures??

    Maybe you could mention your favorite screenplays so we can get an idea of what you, specifically, enjoy...

    Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Kid In The Front Row12 October 2010 at 16:36

    Dweller, very clever, finding out what the judge of the competition likes :P

    Well; I do personally sway towards comedy, and a good old Jerry Maguire-overcoming-life's-crap kind of stuff.

    BUT, I have very very high expectations with comedy.. so don't try it just to please me if it's not your thing!

    Horror rarely works for me personally.

    But, I can always enjoy a GREAT screenplay, whatever it happens to be; and I'd genuinely love for you to just follow your own instincts and do absolutely whatever you want!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Annika W12 October 2010 at 20:04

    Is it okay to do more than one script? And will you post the top few contenders, so we can all have a read later? I'd love to see what makes the cut.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The_High_Dweller12 October 2010 at 23:31

    Are nicknames for the characters okay?

    Ex: M or Meg for Margaret, or Abs for Abdul??

    If we can show how the nickname originated from the original name, is that alright??

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous13 October 2010 at 01:51

    1. Echoing Annika W's comment, multiple entries OK or not?
    2. Is it free to enter?

    ReplyDelete
  14. The Kid In The Front Row13 October 2010 at 02:47

    High Dweller - be careful with that one -- as long as the reader is precisely aware that their names are Margaret, Regina and Abdul then that won't work. But sure, you won't be punished in one refers to the other as 'Gina or Abs or whatever, but y'know, don't deflect from who they really are!

    Annika/Anonymous - Sure, you can enter multiple times -- just as long as it's creativity that's driving you to pursue more than one script!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous13 October 2010 at 03:40

    The three characters are all required. What about the three locations? Required?

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Kid In The Front Row13 October 2010 at 04:27

    Three locations are possibilities, they're what available, you don't have to use all three.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The_High_Dweller13 October 2010 at 13:14

    Thanks for the thoughtful responses, Kid.

    Just to clarify, I'm essentially using "code names" for the three characters. So the viewer is not aware of who they really are, only who they say they are, BUT the reader is aware that they are indeed Abdul, Regina, and Margaret.

    Are you saying that this is acceptable, or that the viewer MUST know that their names are Abdul, Regina, and Margaret at some point or the script will basically be disqualified?

    ReplyDelete
  18. The Kid In The Front Row13 October 2010 at 14:08

    It needs to be a film about three people called Abdul, Regina, and Margaret. A reader/viewer would have to know that, otherwise there would be no point in that rule.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The_High_Dweller13 October 2010 at 14:51

    Okay, thanks for clarifying.

    I was trying to be creative with the names whilst coming up with a creative story. I'll just stick with the given names and focus my efforts on the plot.

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Unknown14 October 2010 at 09:58

    Many contests request that the entrant's name is not anywhere on the script.

    Do you?

    ReplyDelete
  21. The Kid In The Front Row14 October 2010 at 11:01

    No, not at all, I'd love for your name to be on it, as long as you're happy with it being shared!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Atlanta17 October 2010 at 20:38

    I'm trying to wrangle a one line scene heading, wondering if this might work:

    INT. SECRET SHELTER - THE EQUAL RIGHTS COMMITTEE (HQ) - NIGHT

    Are you cool with abbreviating HQ?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Marc18 October 2010 at 00:36

    Are dead bodies characters?

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Kid In The Front Row18 October 2010 at 10:40

    Atlanta - Sure.

    Hakk - go for it.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Unknown18 October 2010 at 14:08

    Next question - are co-written pieces acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Steve18 October 2010 at 14:16

    Paper size? US or A4?

    ReplyDelete
  27. The Kid In The Front Row18 October 2010 at 14:26

    crlncxn... sure!

    ReplyDelete
  28. ~Lissa19 October 2010 at 23:09

    Just heard about this. Sounds fun! Hope I have some time. Is the deadline by Thursday morning? Or would 11:55 pm Thursday be acceptable?

    ReplyDelete
  29. Subscriber Management System30 June 2011 at 03:13

    we will definitely try to write something new for kid in the front row.... thanks kid in the front row...and keep it up good work to entertainment...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous23 September 2011 at 12:19

    Uhh.... that's weird as heck. I've never heard my name before and it's two comments above me!!!

    I really don't think you should make people write profanity, by the way. It's against some religions.

    ReplyDelete