Tips on Preventing Common Script Submission Problems

The following are some of the common problems we see in some scripts submitted to our competitions. We offer these tips for your consideration when submitting a script for our screenplay competition. We trust you will take these tips as lessons of learning and not disparaging remarks if your script contains any of the following:

• Front and back covers should be of card stock. Some scripts came with construction paper or no front or back cover at all. Card stock paper is the thicker paper you can get at most office supply stores (Office Depot, Staples, etc.) or Kinko's. We ask you to put card stock as a front and back cover because it's the best way to protect your script during all the handling so it doesn't get torn apart. You can also order card sock covers directly from The Writers Store!

• Scripts should be three hole punched (some were stapled together) with two or three brass brads holding scripts together (some scripts had no brads or paper clips/rubber bands were used to hold script together). You can obtain three hole punch paper at any office supply store such as Office Depot or Staples, and you can also get your script printed onto three-hole paper at Kinko's, Office

Depot and Staples. We suggest the Acco brand #6 or #5 solid brass fasteners. You can order brads directly from the ASA bookstore. 

Recommendation: Read any competition guidelines thoroughly, and then read them again. This is a professional business so you MUST learn proper script formatting and submission. 

NOTE: Don't read between the lines in the competition. The flip side to above is that sometimes people will fret over every little detail and read into the rules things that weren't there. For example, if the rules state that faxed applications will not be accepted, that doesn't mean you can fax your script but not your application. Common sense is a good rule of thumb.
 

Recommendation: Entering a screenplay competition is a big step for a screenwriter. If you put yourself out there by submitting your script make sure it is properly formatted. If you haven't read books on screenwriting, taken a screenwriting seminar on format and structure, or studied information in screenwriting publications, don't enter anything until you do! Your script will show it. We HIGHLY recommend The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier as an excellent resource on how to format your script, and it contains excellent examples of how to write such things as voice-overs, scene transitions, etc.

Note: Although 'Fade In' is a general accepted industry standard going back even to the days of The Wizard of Oz, some current scripts may not use 'Fade In' to start their script. Just goes to show you that even when there is an industry standard, there isn't. Welcome to Hollywood!
 

Recommendation: Overwhelmingly, the judges liked many of scripts submitted. But a defining point of whether a script scored high enough to advance to the quarterfinal or final rounds centered on three-dimensional characters that leapt off the page versus scripts whose characters were lifeless or bland. Here's a good test. Get some friends or screenwriting colleagues together and do a read through of the script with yourself as the screenwriter doing nothing but listening. We guarantee you will 'hear' the problem areas and character weaknesses. If you don't your friends will! Fix the problems and you're halfway there!
 

Recommendation: We've all heard the cliché about there not being any more original ideas because Shakespeare introduced them all. Whether you believe that or not, the point is to find a new twist to an idea. There's been a hundred romantic movies but there is a big difference between Casablanca, Sleepless in Seattle and Never Been Kissed. Be original and find a new way to get us to pay $8.00 to see your movie!
 

• One script had fifty-three (53) 'Cut To" in the first ten pages of the script. Wow, how many scene changes can happen in the first ten minutes of a movie (unless you are shooting a 10 minute car chase to start the movie, which few movies do)?
• Pages printed and assembled back to back. No script should be printed back to back. Single page, front side only.
• The date the script was written appeared across the top of every page in the script. (it's usually not a good idea to date your script in anyway as someone might see it was written four years and assume it's old stuff)
• Script was written in acts and pages indicated ACT I, ACT II, ACT III, etc. these are screenplays, not stage plays.

Recommendation: One of the biggest problems we see with scripts is that many do not have proper formatting. There is a specific way Hollywood expects to see scripts. So, if you don't know how and when to use (or not use) 'CUT TO:', voice-over's, dialogue continuing to the next page, camera directions, etc. then we HIGHLY recommend you read some screenwriting books to understand formatting. Don't let your good script get scored down for bad formatting. A good resource is The Screenwriters Bible by David Trottier.

6. Poor/sloppy writing skills

• Script had four pages of the main character talking to himself (NOTE: the character was not crazy, just talking to himself because there were no other characters with whom to interact)
• Script explained words it used - "His arms are bound with surgical tubing - the type used to restrict (cut off) blood flow." People know what 'restrict' means, you don't have to explain words in parenthesis [e.g. "cut off"].
• Ten pages into the script and not one character has spoken, all scene description. Ten minutes without anybody talking? Works at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan because of the action, but even then some soldier was shouting orders of some kind. Otherwise, it's a movie, people talk, interact and react.
• Script did not use correct/current verbiage. Kept referring to a flight attendant as 'stewardess.'  That's fine if it's a 1960's script, if someone is being derogatory, or if their age (say 75) was of a time that they used that term and hadn't changed.
• The 'Narrator' talked throughout the entire script, on almost every page.
• Be aware of oddities that don't fit - one script had a sailboat getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle - the only problem is the sailboat was in the Pacific Ocean; another had a Maine lobsterman catching traps full of 10 pound lobsters and giving them away - ten pound lobsters are a rarity at best and you certainly wouldn't see a whole trap full of them.
• Script included things that weren't there, couldn't be seen by the viewer or weren't critical to the story line - "The highway was deserted. There is no wind, and the scene is extremely peaceful." If there is no wind why write it, it can't be seen and it's not part of the story.
• Script included lazy writing by not fully describing an item - "A song like Barry Manilow's 'Mandy' plays on record player." Either it IS Barry Manilow or IT'S NOT, you can't have something be 'like' something.

Recommendation: Another problem we see with scripts is that many do not have solid writing. There is a specific way to write well so we HIGHLY recommend you read some screenwriting books to understand good writing. 

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