*Who are the readers?
*What kind of advice for independent writers who don't have an agent would you give?
*When you are reading a competition script, are you looking for story or style or both?
Episode 10: Gordy Hoffman - Writer, Director, Producer and Founder of the BlueCat Screenplay Competition
*What other skills should a writer have to be successful in the industry?
*Where can producers find good writers?
*How important is it to be in Hollywood for creating a successful career?
*Why do screenplay competitions matter?
*What would you say to someone who is skeptical about entering a screenplay competition?
*What makes a great a screenplay?
*Directing and casting his debut feature, A COAT OF SNOW *The story of LOVE LIZA *What have you learned since winning the Waldo Screenwriting Award at Sundance?
LISTEN NOW ________________________________________
*How many drafts do you usually write?
*Has moving to LA helped your career?
*What is the origin of the BlueCat name?
*What sets the BlueCat competition apart from
other screenwriting contests?
*How has the BlueCat competition helped past winners?
Interview by Aussie Filmmakers Phil Jeng Kane and Edwin James Lynch on the Filmmaking Podcast
*How does Bluecat select readers?
*Has the nature of the screenplay changed over the years?
*Are there many international entries?
*How was the transition from screenwriter to writer/director?
*What sorts of screenplays have won?
*What type of critique do entrants get?
*Whether a film’s potential budget affects a
screenplay’s chances of winning
*How you can insert back story elegantly?
*How to write great loglines
You're an Idiot: Making Value from Reaction to your Screenwriting
If you're like me, if someone doesn't like something about my screenplay, my very first reaction is always the same. You're not as smart as me. If you knew what I knew, you would understand what I wrote. And you don't understand what I wrote, because you don't know as much as I do. About everything, in general. In short, life. You know, people. Planet Earth.
(read full article)
YOU ARE THE BOX OFFICE SMASH: The Personal
Screenplay Right this very second, in the heart of every
struggling, undiscovered screenwriter, in the dark,
hidden corner deep within, there is a voice, a clear
whisper, saying one thing: You're never gonna figure this out.
And this is not referring to the story with its gaping hole, the finale missing a payoff, the hit and miss humor, the flat title. I'm talking about freedom. The freedom to work as a screenwriter. (read full article)
Naming Your Baby: How to Find a Great Title to your Screenplay How exactly does one work on the title of their screenplay? I recently came up with such a wonderful idea for a movie, one of those miraculous moments, like finding money on the sidewalk. I told somebody, and they said, "Great. What's the title?" Suddenly, and rather horrifyingly, my beauty of an idea is crippled.
(read full article)
Screenwriting Tips from a Screenplay Contest Judge
After cracking hundreds of screenplays sent into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, the same problems in the execution of the story and script continue to emerge. Here is a general overview of these persistent issues.
(read full article)
How to Start a Screenplay: Treatment or Free Fall?
Starting a screenplay can sometimes be as hard as finishing one.
Impatient to pull up to the front door of a classic motion picture, I
want to get everything right so quickly. This impatience challenges my trust in the work, the creative process of screenwriting.
(read full article)
Writing the Classic Movie Ending (How to Finish your Screenplay!)
I’ve only finished so many screenplays in my life. Writing a script all the way to the very last page is always an extremely significant, personal achievement for me. A large part of its significance is the reality that I actually wrote an ending, or, at the very least, typed “THE END.”
(read full article)
Rewriting your Screenplay: The Road to your Audience
The promise of the rewrite is very sweet. I have collected evidence that the more authentic the labor put into rewriting your screenplay, the greater the reward, and the reward is high, for whatever lovely, wonderful moments you might have discovered in the frightening process of plowing through the first draft.
(read full article)
The Heart and Soul of Screenwriting: Writing good dialogue and description
Writing dialogue and description is writing a screenplay. You can argue about format and tab margins and what to capitalize and what not. I won't. Dialogue and description is where the experience of screenplay for your reader lives. We write screenplays to make movies. They are not literature.
(read full article)
• Winner receives $10,000
• Four finalists receive $1500
• Every writer receives a written script analysis of their screenplay
Now in its 10th year, the BlueCat Screenplay Competition has discovered more successful writers and provided more support through our analysis and feedback to more writers than any screenplay competition in the world.
We are the leading voice for the development and inspiration of the undiscovered screenwriter, and our community welcomes you to challenge yourself by entering your screenplay in the 2008 competition!
Who is BlueCat?
We are a writing competition founded in 1998 by a writer and judged by the same writer for its entire history.
We’re not a film festival, an agency or media corporation, or the arm of a corporate studio.
We are for screenwriters only!
Who are the writers BlueCat discovers?
Andy Stock and Rick Steadman (2005 Winners) has a second script in production: THE GOODS: THE DON READY STORY, produced by Will Farrell and starring Jeremy Piven and Ving Rhames
Lance Hammer (2004 Finalist) recently won the 2008 Sundance Directing Award for BALLAST---on to Berlin!
Andy Pagana (2004 Winner) is directing for DIE HARD producer, BlueCat winner under second option after winning 2006 Austin
Young Kim’s (2006 Winner) script HYUNG’S OVERTURE attached to HITCH producer Teddy Zee after development in Pusan
Ana Lily Amirpour’s (2007 Winner) THE STONES slated for production this year
How does every writer who enters BlueCat actively change as a writer?
We provide over 600 words of analysis on every script we receive, carefully written by readers handpicked by our judge, giving the beginning writer and the seasoned pro an objective opinion on their work.
Over the course of our history, we have given over 7000 writers feedback on their screenplay for simply entering, at no additional cost.
Would you like an honest, unguarded reaction to your screenplay?
Does BlueCat have the largest award in the world?
We offer the largest cash prize ($16,000) for a screenplay contest that provides written analysis to every entrant than any other competition. There are no additional fees to get our feedback on your script.
We take pride in rewarding all writers for their commitment to their goal and their dream!
Who I'd like to meet: screenwriters, writers, directors, producers, filmmakers,film students, agents, managers, editors, composers, publicists, production companies, production crew, actors, actresses, film students, promoters, film development, photographers, journalists, distribution, and just about anyone involved in the entertaiment and film industry.
Thanks for the add, BlueCat--I think we've got several playwrights who want to experiment with cross over to other media. Have you connected with our screenwriting program?
