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Managed by CoverageInk.com
How The Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open Works (or jump to the quick recap)
The Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open is the 2010 successor to the popular and unique CS
Open, which has been run on site at the Screenwriting Expo for the past seven years by CoverageInk.com. Like the CS Open, it is an elimination tournament. To
win, you need to survive three
eliminations by writing three scenes of three to five pages each from premises we will give you.
In the original CS
Open, all contestants had to be at the Screenwriting Expo.
They had to write longhand. And they had just 90
minutes to write each
scene.
In the new Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open, you do not need to
attend the Expo to win. You can write from anywhere, on a
computer, and you can submit on line. And you have more time to write -- until the final round...
Three Rounds. Three Scenes.
Three Deadlines -- Each Tighter Than The Last:
Each round offers a different real-life scriptwriting scenario (All times are Pacific US Time):
Round One: Your Lost Weekend
This
round is like this real-life situation: A producer calls you at 5
pm Friday and says "We desperately need a new scene first thing Monday,
or production stalls, with a $50,000/hour crew sitting
around!"
This is your chance to save the production. We
send every
entrant the same premise and set of characters by email at or slightly before 5
p.m.
Friday, Sept. 17, 2010. The premise will also be posted above on
this page where indicated in case you don't get the email.
Contestants will have the entire weekend,
until 9 AM Monday Sept. 20 -- but not one second more-- to write and
submit one final version of one scene, three to five pages long, on line.
Then, judges from CoverageInk.com, the manager of the competition, will
grade each scene. Entrants will receive feedback and a score
from a judge by email.
Exactly 100 highest-scoring writers advance to the tighter deadline of Round Two.
Multiple Entries Are Allowed With Multiple Entry Fees:
You
may enter Round One more than once. But you may submit only once
per entry. Why enter more than once? Because the
premises you will receive allow for many creative possibilities.
You could write a dramatic or horror scene competing against your
own comedy interpretation of the premise (see sample premises).
Theoretically, one person could win first, second, and third
prize.
Round Two: The All-Nighter
Round
Two is like this: it becomes obvious late in the day that a
production needs a new scene by the next morning to make the story
work. You get the call: "We gotta have this by 9 a.m.!"
The 100 writers who survive the first round will receive a new premise at 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 30, 2010.
They will have until 9 a.m. the next morning, Friday, Oct. 1, to write and submit that new five-page scene.
Again, the CoverageInk.com. judges will grade each scene. As in Round One, each of the 100 quarterfinalists will receive
feedback and a score from a judge by email. Ten writers will advance to Round Three.
Round Three: 90 Minutes Of Pressure
Prepare to be tortured.
It's
like this: You're a script doctor. You are
visiting the set of a movie someone else penned. Production has
stopped dead. The producer, covered with sweat, rushes up to you
and says, "We need a scene! The studio is threatening to
pull the plug if we don't shoot it today!"
You realize
that it's Payday, with a capital P. You muster the nerve to blurt out an obscene price.
The producer winces, but points and says, "There's my trailer."
So now you (and nine other semifinalists) are the hotshot on the hot seat.
All 10 semifinalists will receive a new premise for a new scene of three to five minutes' length on
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2010, at or just before 11 AM. It will be
delivered by email. It will also be posted above on this page.
In addition, semifinalists who are at the Expo can obtain it at The Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open classroom.
Semifinalists will have exactly 90 minutes, from 11 AM
Pacific Time to 12:30 PM, to turn in the
scene.
If you are a semifinalist attending the Screenwriting Expo, you
have two ways to write this scene::
1. You can use The Creative
Screenwriting Cyberspace Open writing room and write
longhand (just as in the
original Cyberspace Open) or on your own laptop, handing in your scene
on paper or on a non-returnable Windows- readable DVD that you provide, or
2. You can write with your laptop or other
computer from a hotel
room or the lobby or wherever, and
either upload your entries through available Internet access, or turn
the scene in at The Creative Screenwriting Cyberspace Open room on a
non-returnable Windows-readable DVD that you provide.
3. In this round, you can e-mail the file to us at csopen@creativescreenwriting.com
before (or at) the 90-minute deadline. Submissions time-stamped more
than 3 minutes after the deadline will be eliminated. Note: DO
NOT try to email your submission to this address in the first two
rounds unless we specifically ask you to. High email volume could
overwhelm the mail server.
Judges from CoverageInk.com will grade
each scene. As in prior rounds, each of the 10 semifinalists will
receive a score and feedback from judges. Three writers will move
to the finals.
The Finals: Audience Decides The Winner, Just Like The Cyberspace Open
This
is the fun part for three writers. The three finalist scenes
will be rehearsed by a troupe of professional actors and presented at
the Screenwriting Expo Closing Ceremony. The audience of your
peers will vote to decide on which winners are first, second, and third.
Quick Recap: Here Is A Quick List Of Your Steps To Win:
1. Enter the Competition By Midnight Pacific Time Sept. 15. To enter, click at the bottom of the Rules And Release page. The entry fee is a one-time $12 for each submission. Submit only once per entry..
2. Watch your email at 5 p.m. Sept 17. If you don't see the premise arrive, come to this web page to download it: http://screenwritingexpo.com/writingtournament.2010.html
That
page will also provide the link to upload the finished scene to the
competition, and a backup upload server in case the first one is
overloaded.
3. Write your "Round One" scene (or scenes, if you paid more than one entry fee) over the weekend of Sept. 18-21. Your
will have until exactly 9 a.m. Pacific Time Monday, Sept 20 to deliver
the scene.
You can send your entry or entries earlier, of course. But –
- You
may send each entry only once. You can be disqualified without a
refund for sending multiple drafts. See the Rules.
- Unless
you receive instructions to the contrary, you must upload before 9 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 21, or you will be disqualified.
What Happens Next:
Over
the next two weeks, the CoverageInk.com. judges will then
score all scenes entered. Watch for an email from csopen@screenwritingexpo.com containing your score and feedback.
The writers of the
top 100 scenes will be invited to advance to the Second Round. The names of the
advancing entrants will be posted at our web site, and all entrants
will be notified by email.
4. If You Advance: Write Your "Round Two" Scene Overnight Sept. 31 - Oct. 1
Round
Two starts at 5:00 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010. First-round
survivors will receive a new premise for a new 10-minute scene, with a
deadline of 9 AM Friday, Oct. 1, 2010, and not one minute later.
Judges will read the scenes and narrow the field to the top 10 semifinalists.
5. If You Advance to Round 3, Write Your "Round Three" Scene In 90 Minutes On Oct 16.
The
10 semifinalists will receive a third premise and scene at 11 a.m.
Pacific Time Saturday, Oct. 8. They will have just 90 minutes,
ending at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct 16 to turn in their scenes.
Semifinalists
can write their scenes longhand from a room at the Expo (as entrants
did in prior Cyberspace Opens) or from anywhere using a computer with Internet
access. Scenes can be submitted on paper, non-returnable CD-ROM
or DVD, via the FTP site, or (in this round only) via email to csopen@screenwritingexpo.com,
6. Attend the Screenwriting Expo Closing Ceremony.
You do not need to attend to win, but why miss the fun?
Just as with the old Cyberspace Open, the CoverageInk.com. judges will choose three finalists. Their
scenes will be played by a troupe of professional actors at the awards or closing
ceremony of the Screenwriting Expo, just as in the original CS
Open. The audience vote will determine the winner.
We will send all entrants feedback on their scripts – score and brief comments – via email.
BONUS: every entrant receives feedback. We will send all
entrants feedback on their scripts – score and brief comments
– via email.
Why Enter This Competition?
First, it’s a great way to hone your skills and get
that exclusive foot-in-the-door entree’ to Hollywood -- being
known as The One Who Can Fix A Script.
Second, it's easy money for three winners.
Third: you know you’re very good. You like to compete and prove it.
Finally:
feedback. We will send all entrants feedback on their scripts
– score and brief comments – via email. (Be sure that
your email spam filter allows email from
csopen@screenwritingexpo.com.)
How Do I Maximize My Chances Of Winning? Are There Tips and Tricks Of The Trade?
Glad
you asked! Jim Cirile, President of CoverageInk.com, who has run
the Cyberspace Open for competition for all seven prior years and is in charge
again, has these Hints and Tips based on experience.
Why This Change In The Cyberspace Open?
The
Cyberspace Open has been a unique competition, run exclusively at
the Screenwriting Expo for years. Why are we changing it now?
Because there were just three problems with the Cyberspace Open:
- All the prior time tests were just 90 minutes. Three
different deadlines -- a weekend, overnight, and 90 minutes -- are a better test
of your ability to create for Hollywood on deadline than three
90-minute blocks of time.
.
- Too much else to do at the Expo. The
Expo runs 8-10 concurrent events. In order to win the Cyberspace Open, an
Expo registrant had to miss three sessions. Many registrants made
the choice each year to skip the Cyberspace Open because of other events.
Now, all it takes is one 90-minute session on site.
.
- Now, everyone can enter. In the past, you had to be at the Expo to enter this unique competition. If
you’re the greatest writer of love scenes in all of Africa, the
best action-scene writer in Hong Kong, or the best writer of magical
realism in Latin America since Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but you
can’t afford plane fare to the Expo, you were left out of the CS
Open. Since there was no other contest like it in the world, you
had no way to demonstrate the special skills it takes to write
creatively on a tight deadline. Now, you can. So don't hesitate -- it's only $12 and three scenes of 3 to 5 minutes each..
For
the full official prize
list, click here.
The Entry Fee Is Just $12
Enter In advance only, by Sept. 16, 2010.
To enter: First, click here. That places your entry in your shopping cart.
Then click here to go to your shopping cart and complete the purchase |
Contest
Entry Deadlines And Writing Dates
(There are no alternate writing dates; no exceptions will be made to this schedule.)
All times are Pacific U.S. Time
Round One, All Entrants Write One Scene, 3-5 Pages |
| Get
First Scene Premise |
5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17, 2010 -- It will be sent to all entrants by email and also posted at http://screenwritingexpo.com/writingtournament.2010.html |
| First scene deadline |
Submit no later than 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 by going to this FTP site: (to be published) Backup submission site is: (to be published) |
| |
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| Round Two -- 100 Quarterfinalists Write One Scene, 3-5 Pages |
| Get 2nd scene premise |
5 PM Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010 -- It will be sent to all entrants by email and also posted at http://screenwritingexpo.com/writingtournament.2010.html |
| Second scene deadline |
Submit no later than 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 1, 2010 by going to the FTP site (to be published): |
|
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| Round Three -- 10 Semifinalists Write One Scene, 3-5 Pages |
| Get 3rd scene premise |
11 AM Sat. Oct. 9, 2010 -- It will be sent to all entrants by email and also posted at http://screenwritingexpo.com/writingtournament.2010.html
and will be handed out to semifinalists on site at the Screenwriting Expo.
|
| Third scene deadline |
Submit no later than 12:30 PM Sat. Oct. 8, 2010 either in person at the Expo or by going to the FTP site: (to be published) |
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Final Judging, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2010
You do not need to be present to win. |
Judging at the
Screenwriting Expo |
CoverageInk.com. Judges
will choose the three finalists from the 10 semifinalists.
The three finalist scenes will be rehearsed and performed by
professional actors in front of an audience at the Screenwriting Expo
Sunday, Oct. 9 in the 5:30 p.m. closing ceremony. The final
decision will be by audience vote at the Expo closing ceremony.
You do not need to be present to win. |
To enter: First, click here. That places your entry in your shopping cart.
Then click here to go to your shopping cart and complete the purchase |
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