WOTS LATE DEADLINE APPROACHING

Late deadline: midnight 8/10 Pacific time
Final (Without A Box only) deadline: midnight 8/17 Pacific time
http://www.writerstorm.com

Tick... tick... tick...

Stormies! Oh, the confusion! Okay, yes, our late deadline is indeed midnight 8/10. After that, we pull the plug on the website and will not allow any more submissions. BUT... No, we’re not announcing some tricky last-minute final extension. This is how it works. We have three deadlines in total: Regular deadline (passed, sorry, guys,) Late deadline (8/10) and then Without-A-Box-only FINAL deadline (8/17.)

See, for the second year we have partnered with Without a Box. About a third of our submissions so far have come in through Without a Box (which is great for any of you who hate Paypal and wish to pay directly via credit card.) Thing is, Without a Box asked us to extend the contest an extra week exclusively for Without a Box entries. In fact this was a condition of our buying additional e-mail advertising blasts through them. So we have to tack on ONE FINAL WEEK only for WAB submissions. The WAB-only extension runs from 12:01 AM 8/11 through midnight 8/17. So… as far as the Writers on the Storm site is concerned, we still have to pull the plug on contest entries 8/10, and that’s it. However, if you’re a WAB member (or sign up this week,) you can still enter through 8/17. Now my apologies if that irritates any of y’all, ‘cause maybe you were scrambling to make the 8/10 deadline, and I understand. However, please note that WAB is jacking up the price an additional ten bucks during the WAB extension week!

However, you can still submit your script to Coverage Ink for coverage until 8/17, and for no additional fee, you’ll still get a free contest entry. As of midnight 8/17, we close the door and Writers on the Storm 2009 is history.

Okay. That out of the way, It is as always my pleasure to announce the Writers on the Storm quarterfinalists to date! These quarterfinalists represent people who’ve entered Writers on the Storm via submitting their script to Coverage, Ink for coverage. They are the ONLY ones who find out before everyone else if they’ve made the quarterfinals or not, because the CI readers rate the scripts and forward the results to us. These represent everyone who’s scripts got a ‘consider with reservations’ or better for script, or about the top 10%. If you entered Writers on the Storm via writerstorm.com or Without a Box, you will not find out if you’ve made the quarterfinals until we’ve had read and processed all the submissions, which is going to take a bit. Everyone clear on that? Okay! Without further ado, here are our Writers on the Storm 2009 Quarterfinalists **so far**:

The Enginist by Tim McGrath
Macau Twilight by Tony Shyu
Nightmare in the Ardennes by Walt Malinowski
Shades of Grey by Abhimanyu Kulkarni
Svengali Effect by Jeremy Shipp
Operation Chronos by Jon Sklaroff
Man on the Overpass by Kevin Madden
Sense of Self by Craig Cambria
Rainwashed by Paul Sargia
Future Visions by Stephen Moretti
Sure Would Be Nice by Thomas Serio
Scout's Honor by Jocelyn Osier
Three Cousins & the Cannolis by Lisa Cordova
Angel Trap by Holli Herrie-Castillo
Murderous Me (Reflections of Vengeance) by Vicky Sutton
Tortoise and the Heir by Russ Meyer
Laramie by William Johnston
Sorority Kings by Scott Fickas and Brian Jones
War Without End by AF Grant
Peanut Butter by Yvonne Miranda
The Last Secret by Ron Basso
The Minstrel by Todd Sorrell
Peshtigo by John Carter
Kamali'i Nia The Dolphin Princess by Rockwood

Whew, that’s 24 so far! And there will be plenty more. There are some good scripts in here, guys – these are all considers and consider with reservations for script, or top ten percenters. But who will win the ten grand? But I can tell you it’s going to be a crazy next couple of weeks. Last thing, I have to remind everyone that… wait for it… most of you are not going to win. What??? No, seriously. They’ve already eliminated about 250 scripts that have come in on the Coverage Ink side for coverage that were not judged top ten percenters. And there’s been a little grousing and kvetching. We understand. The thing is, can you use the feedback so the NEXT time, you get that consider? Can you do everything you can to give yourself the tools you need to make your script bulletproof, to succeed in Hollywood? Consider, just consider, what if he or she is just a little bit right? As painful as it may be to dig in to those notes and start making changes, cutting lines, scenes, characters you’ve worked hard to bring to fruition, unfortunately it’s part of the deal. Yep, one thing you learn fast out here is you better be up for ‘Thank you, sir! May I have another?’ because that’s what it’s like working with every producer in town.

I remember my first meeting. I’d been out here almost two years and finally got in the door at a small production company. And I meet with this little guy who liked my romantic comedy, but he had notes. And I gotta admit, guys, my walls went up as he laid them out. Gotta tell you, some of those notes were downright stupid! I was cordial, but I walked out of there seething. Good thing my mom talked some sense into me as she always does. In her no-nonsense style, she was like, “Sugar, you get your ass in gear and do what he tells you to do and put your ego in a box or I am going to come out there and kick your ass upside down and sideways!” Thanks, mom. Well, I ate crow and did those notes and the guy still lost interest. Whatever. Point is, mom was right. I still have to get those reminders from her every now and again, as I imagine y’all do, too. I guess what I’m saying is what we do here with this contest, and with the coverage, it’s just a little taste, a practice run. You can use it to not only make your script better but also to steel your tush for the abrading it will take once you start with the general meetings ;)

Smoochies, you guys!

Portia Jefferson
Writers on the Storm Contest Coordinator