Scriptapalooza

Got out an entry for the Scriptapalooza contest this week. Scriptapalooza is a writing contest that's been around for about ten years. It features a competition for feature film scripts and a separate competition for television scripts. I submitted an entry in the television script area, which accepts submissions for pilots, existing tv shows and reality shows. I entered a sitcom script in the pilot division, GET REAL, a series about a film production company that makes reality television shows. In the pilot, one of the co-owners of the production company has returned from her honeymoon in the Bahamas. More than a blushing bride, she is red in the face because her business partner and best friend hired her ex-husband to work as director for their company following another employee's death in a freak accident over at the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry. Reality television, former spouses having to work together, and puppets. Who wouldn't want to watch that?

Monetary prizes are awarded in the Scriptapalooza contest. However, the biggest motivator for me to enter was the fact that producers, literary agents and representatives from literary management companies and production companies read the finalists' submitted work. A number of finalists have received requests for their work from a number of professionals in the television industry. Some have already won Emmy awards.

The Scriptapalooza contest is conducted twice a year, with deadlines in the Spring and Fall. For more information, go to their Web site, scriptapalooza.com. If you don't have special script software like Final Draft, you can get script formatting guidelines from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Nicholl Fellowship page.