Coverage Ink and Writers Boot Camp present WRITERS ON THE STORM 3

Writers on the Storm 3 - 4/21/08 to 7/11/08

Hey, I heard you missed us! We're back! I brought my pencil! (apologies to Van Halen)

And back we are, Stormies, for the third go-round! The Storm has hit! And this year we're WAY outdoing ourselves. 10,000 bucks cash grand prize. Yep, we mean it! But that's not all. How about $4,500 in Creative Cash from Writers Boot Camp? That's right, the number one place to go to kick your writing into orbit has partnered with us, and we are stoked! We refer y'all to Writers Boot Camp all the time (almost half of the Coverage, Ink and Writers on the Storm reader teams -- so far -- are WBC grads) 'cause we feel there is no better way to learn what you need to learn to smash down the fortified stone walls encircling Hollywood. (Check out their web site HERE and tell 'em Writers on the Storm sent ya!)

Okay, our prizes list this year is pretty amazing. We're over $22 grand now, which puts us in the top echelon of screenwriting contests. That's pretty cool. You can check out the full list of prizes on the contest web site. We're offering classes, seminars, script development, pitch sessions, phone conferences, books, DVDs and even a damn good cup of joe courtesy of Starbucks! (Thank you, I went landed that one myself. What can I say? I'm a fan.)

We've also increased our participating companies list to over 140. These include some of the top agencies, managers and prodcos in the business.

Now I need to make y'all aware of our whole contest philosophy. What we try to do is develop our top ten before the loglines and scripts are seen by the biz. That's why our prize package is so development-heavy. While yeah, all of us would love nothing more than to just have people fall all over our script and say, It's fantastic! I wouldn't change a syllable!, the reality is something else, trust me on that!

I've worked on a lot of contests, and sure, there were plenty of kick-butt scripts -- but more commonly there are scripts that are very good, but... Lots of times we all need a little help to get that ball into the end zone. It's the writers who embrace the fact that movies are a collaborative medium, who are receptive to input and developing their craft -- they're the ones who become known as "easy to work with," and they're the ones who get the writing jobs! The rest, well, you know that feeling of the door hitting you on the butt on the way out? (I do! Ain't exactly happy-happy-joy-joy.)

So that's why the partnership with Writers Boot Camp is such a great fit, because we both believe knowledge is power. Dedicate yourself to the craft, to doing everything you can to make sure your script is tight enough to bounce quarters off it, and you will be rewarded!

And this is also the reason we don't simply blast the list to the companies at the contest end and forget about y'all. Almost a year after the end of WOTS 2, we're still sending those contest scripts out to the industry. Even as we speak, 4 of our top ten and two honorable mentions are in at production and management companies, and our runner up Algo Por Mi is building some serious heat.

I am looking forward to seeing what amazing stuff y'all throw at us this year. We've brought aboard several new readers, industry and contest veterans all, whose opinions we trust implicitly, to make sure that we find all the yummy script-a-licious goodness out there. Our goal is to make Coverage Ink and Writers Boot Camp presents Writers on the Storm 3 (okay, that's a mouthful) the best damn screenwriting contest there is, period! So start your engines, Stormies, and hit us with your best shot!

Scribble me at writerstorm@gmail.com if you have any questions. I know y'all will ;)

Portia Jefferson
Writers on the Storm