Are Screenwriting Competitions Worth it?

I've won over 32 finalist awards in some of Hollywood's top screenwriting competitions, both in drama and comedy. So I should have a manager and an agent and be a full-time working screenwriter, right? While I agree that I "should" be those things, but I'm not. So what went wrong? Nothing. I did everything right. I even spent over 10K on a screenwriter's retreat last year where I was at a castle in France being mentored by an ex-executive from HBO. 
I learned a lot at that retreat from my mentor, but something another mentor said to all of us as we were into our second glass of wine at dinner, was "Be so good, you don't have to convince other people to work with you." That hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized that I was spending too much of my energy trying to impress people and not enough of my energy focused on simply being the best I could be. Now yes, I think 32 awards is evidence that I'm good and the mentors all loved my pitch, they had notes of course, but the support and acknowledgement of my skills and all the hard work I put into my career was there. 
Remember that moment in the iconic TV series "Friends" when they're hauling the couch up the stairs and Ross keeps yelling out, "Pivot!" Well that's what I needed to do. I had spent over a decade doing it one way, I needed to pivot if I'm going to get results faster, sooner. Keep in mind, I could have kept winning awards to the point where I was the best person on Coverfly.com . That was definitely a direction I could take. I figured it would cost me about $3000 to $5000 a year just to enter those competitions and have my score rank me high enough, but I thought to myself "How can I make a bigger impact, sooner, and start to be seen by managers, and agents?" If you're new to screenwriting, a Manager is your number one goal by-the-way. Not an agent. Google the difference and you'll see why. That being said, if you're new to screenwriting, don't think about getting a manager until at least a few years of intense study and some recognition under your belt. 
Before I show you what my pivot looks like, first here are some things I learned from screenwriting competitions that will help you navigate them effectively. 

• Don't pay for coverage of your script. Why? Because most of the time you do not know who the reader is that's giving you the coverage. In fact, I don't know of any screenwriting competition that's out there that actually does give out the information on who the readers are. Sure, they advertise the judges that will be there for the finalist, but you have to get through two, three, or four readers before your script is even in a finalist position. And no, just because it's a reputable competition it doesn't mean the reader will be any good. I could give you a million examples, but trust me on that. I was even told by a reader from the Austin Film Festival, that two leading female characters wasn't believable. My jaw hit the floor. And I've had readers from one competition, completely contradict readers from another. And don't get me started on The Black List. One of my pilot scripts was basically praised as one of the best scripts they had ever read and they still only ranked it a 5/10, which apparently is common. To date, the only screenwriting competition where I paid for feedback from an unknown reader and I felt the feedback was invaluable was from the screenwriting competition based off of the best selling book Save The Cat. The reason being is because the reader has to analyze your script giving all one hundred or so principles of Save The Cat. So there is a nice structure there. It's a costly thing to enter, but that was worth it for me at that time. So don't bother unless you know the reader and their credentials, no matter how popular the competition is.
• Make a Spreadsheet Every Year of Early Bird Deadlines. This will just save you hundreds of dollars in the end so you don't miss a deadline. This will also help you work under a deadline as a writer which is invaluable. 
  
• Use Coverfly.com - I get no money for recommending them, but the reason I do is, not only can you enter most of the largest competitions as well as the more reputable ones, but they also keep a running score of your wins and losses which makes you as a writer look more appealing if your work ranks in, say, the top 1% of Coverfly. 
• Keep updating your script - I love the feeling of "done." I think we all do. That being said, many competitions offer the writer the opportunity to submit an updated version of the script if they have been accepted into semifinalist from quarterfinalist. Be sure to take advantage of this. 
• So who do I recommend read your script? - What kind of writer are you? Do you take notes well? Are you defensive? Do you live in fear over what someone says? I'm not judging you, but you need to know 'cause that will help determine where you get your notes from. The more professional the person, generally the better, but I don't discount even one or two trusted friends who don't read scripts, but are voracious readers of fiction. I know that means they can't comment on the formatting of the script, but they can tell me what they think of the story. To me the two best readers you'll ever have are, no, not other writers. Let me tell you why before I move on. First you need to see where they are in their own careers. If they aren't working full-time or have at least 30 screenwriting awards, don't even bother. All they'll do is quote the same cliché notes you'll hear from anyone like every ten pages there needs to be a shift or the plot needs to advance forward with an action. I don't disagree, but those kinds of writers will lead you through the fastest road to mediocrity. Who I was ACTUALLY going to recommend is established Producers and Screenwriting coaches like David Trottier. For the record, don't be fooled by his badly designed website that makes the Space Jam website look amazing. He's one of the best out there and I can say that from personal experience. So why a Producer? Because they are the ones you will inevitably be selling your story to anyways. So why not get into the heads of a producer who can look at your work and tell you why your script is bankable or not? Of course look at their imdb.com first. If most of their work is rated a 4/10 or 5/10, then you aren't going to get a great producer. If their work is consistently ranked higher, you might be good. Remember my mentor in France? Well she looked at a scene I wrote about a family in a mobile home. The kids were playing in the living room area while the parents were up front. She said given the dialogue, which I should cut down, why can't the kids also be in the front? She was right. They could be in the front, but why is that important? Because just having that in the script turned the shooting day from an eight hour day with multiple camera angles in the living area and in the front, to a four hour shoot since everyone can be in the same wide shot. Yes! Producers look at that too and you should do the same with your script during the edit-stage.
• To writer's groups or not to writer's groups? - I hate them and don't bother. Why? I find most are filled with what I call hobbyist screenwriters. If that's the direction you want to go in, then go for it, zero judgement. My direction, however, is full-time career. So to spend two hours once a week listening to half-assed attempts at writing from people who only have one script under their belt...why am I doing it? I'll write a whole article later about that. 
• Social media the hell out of your wins! - Unfortunately we're in the times where social media counts. If you're popular online, studios will take note of that. So advertise your wins, BUT, make them fun! Most actors and screenwriters do Instagram wrong. They do the, "look how great my life is," as the majority of their posts. Do you, as the audience, like that? I don't. Don't get me wrong, I still post like that from time-to-time, but the majority if videos and posts I like to watch are funny ones, or cute ones. So why not do that with your wins? Instead of just an Instagram post with an image of your quarterfinalist placement in a Screencraft competition, why not multiple images or a video where you bake cookies in the shape or design of a script? And then include the recipe in the description and be sure to hashtag #screenwriting #screencraft #coverfly #baking #writerswhobake etc...See what I mean? That will amass a way larger following.
• Be a Writer/Producer - This doesn't mean necessarily that you will produce your own work, but my writing has gotten sooooooo much better once I started discovering what producers wanted, what they were thinking, where the so-called trends are and more. How do you get started? My favourite place is from Life out Loud Films who have an amazing, affordable membership program called No Film School. No Trust Fund. No Problem. I get no kick-backs for recommending them, but if you do sign up, tell them you read Joshua Young's blog. lol. This way I know, as a writer, what producers are thinking, what it takes to pitch a show or movie nowadays, and a lot more!

Conclusion - So what is my new "pivot," to help make me stand out more? I started producing. I have years of experience as a video editor so I do know what makes a film look professional and what doesn't. You as a writer have zero excuses though. No money? Do you have a smartphone? Great! Write a one room scene using that and have it from the point of view of the cell phone. Enter that into short film competitions. Now you're being invited to Cannes, or Austin Film Festival, or TIFF. Make sure you have pilot or feature film scripts with you, so when they say, "I love your short film, what else you go?" you're ready! Don't be the, "I'm thinking about this story," person. They are useless to producers. So my new winning formula is this: Writing / Producing some of my work / Submitting to screenwriting competitions and festivals / Paying Producers to review my work. I'll be adding more to the list, but this strategy keeps me focused on my work, and makes sure I'm throwing darts into several locations. Crossing fingers!