Part of our 5-Contest review, it’s time to take a look at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. They usually offer four contests a year, which seems like they are in the business of contests, but they do boast that they were founded by working industry professionals. Not sure if that really makes them different, but we’ll give ’em that one. I was drawn to the contest because they offered a huge entry fee discount. (Saving money talks!)

Like most contests, you can pay extra for feedback. I did not, so advancing in this contest won’t tell me much, unless I win. I will say that LAISA makes it easy to find the contest results, if you go to their website and click that tab. If you don’t, you’ll be lost in entry information for the next contest. Another unique point — they don’t make you wait for all the results, dropping Quarter Finalists, Semi-Finalists, Finalists and Winners all on the same day!

Good news: my TV script was a Quarter Finalist!!! (Insert cheers!)

Bad news: I got to enjoy my success for two seconds, because it wasn’t a Semi-Finalist.

What did we learn… ? Eek! I learned absolutely nothing about my script, except that the LAISA reader liked it better than the one from BlueCat, who oddly gave it a glowing review but didn’t make it a Quarter Finalist. (If you missed it, read about my BlueCat experience HERE.)

I can only weigh this against going out into the real world and pitching to a producer, manager or agent. Frankly, I’d rather pitch it to a real person and get a no, then to a contest reader and get the same no. When you pitch to a real person, even online through a service like Roadmap or Stage32, you’ll at least get a couple questions about your project. That alone will tell you something useful.

Guess my caution regarding contests stands. BUT three more contests are in the review hopper, so not locking in my opinion just yet. See you later in the year, when the other Quarter Finals are announced. The next one is for the Inroads contest, announced on May 15th! See you then.

BTW, there are many other contests out there that I am not covering, like the Nichol’s which is considered THE BEST for movie scripts. For obvious reasons, I did not enter my TV script. Remember, no matter how prestigious a contest, only enter ones that are right for your concept/script.