NEO•GRIOT

The New, Improved* Cyberspace Open
Spring 2010 Edition

Write just two scenes, 3-5 pages each ...  
Win $3,000 And Get Industry Attention 

Better Industry Exposure And Publicity For Winners Than 2009

Email Feedback Sent To All Entrants

Only $12.99* If You Enter Early

* What is improved?  Click here.

The Scene Premise and Scene Delivery Email Addresses Will Be Posted April 16 At 5:00 P.M. At This Location On This Page And at http://screenwritingexpo.com/cyberspace.open.2010.html (No Need to visit if you receive it by email; see Rules and below for details)

What This Unique Contest Is And How It Works

Click For Quick Summary and Schedule

The Cyberspace Open is an on-line elimination contest in which writers compete for three prizes of $3,000, $500, and $300.  In addition, we will give winners great industry exposure:

•  We will send 300+ producers the names and describe the achievements of the winners.
• The written scenes and videos of the three winning scenes will be posted on the Web, with an explanation of the tough conditions under which they were made.
• Also, we send feedback by email to all entrants. 

Like no other contest in the world, this contest tests your ability to write creatively for a movie or TV production on a tight deadline.  The skills it takes are very much like some of the key skills of a script doctor called in to fix a script quickly, or a TV writer working on a weekly show.

The Steps In The Elimination Contest

The Cyberspace Open is a four-stage elimination contest:

Round 1: A Weekend To Write A Scene: 100 Survivors

In Round 1, we post a scene premise at the web site on Friday, April 16, 2010 at or just before 5:00 p.m.   You will have until 9:00 a.m. Monday, April 19 to email your finished scene to the entry email address.

That gives you an entire weekend to conceive, write, rewrite, and polish your first-round entry. 

What Round 1 Simulates:

We think of Round 1 as being much like this situation: A movie or show is being shot.  It becomes clear on Friday afternoon that a key scene is just not working.  You are called in to save the budget and schedule by writing a new scene over the weekend and delivering it to the producer (us) by 9:00 a.m. sharp on Monday.  The entire film/TV crew will be sitting around on the set Monday waiting for your words.  There is no margin for late delivery. 

Round 2: Absolutely, Positively, Must Be There The Next Morning

In Round 2, the 100 finalists who survive Round 1 will receive a new scene premise by having it posted on this page at 10 A.M. on Saturday, May 22, 2010.  These 100 finalists will have until 10:00 A.M. Sunday, May 23 to email it to the entry email address.

That timetable gives finalists 24 hours to conceive, write, rewrite, and polish second-round entries.

What Round  2 Simulates:

Round 2 is much like this situation: a movie or show is being shot.  It becomes clear on the morning that a key scene is just not working.  You are called in to save the budget and schedule by writing a new scene by the next morning and delivering it to the producer (us) by 10:00 a.m. sharp.  The entire film/TV crew will be sitting around on the set Sunday waiting for your words.  So there is no margin for late delivery.

The Three Winners Advance To The Live Round:

The three highest scorers among Round 2 finalists are  all prize winners.  They will advance to Audience Voting to determine first, second, and third place. 

Brand New And Very Cool: Winning Scenes Videotaped:

In this contest, each of the three winners will have his/her second scene videotaped:

• Actors will perform a reading of each of the three scenes before a camera/cameras provided by the Contest, which will be video recorded.
• The three videos of scenes and the scene texts will be placed on the Internet for viewing.
• Recipients of our CS Weekly E-Zine (approx. 80,000) will be invited to vote for a winner.  
• Voting will take place through an online survey system.  The three winning positions (first, second third) will be on the basis of highest score.  One vote will be allowed per IP address. 

Bonus For All Entrants: Brief Feedback On Your Scene. 

Judges will provide your score and feedback to you if you provide an email address.  Be sure your mail server does not block emails from the servers @creativescreenwriting.com and @screenwritingexpo.com in order to receive your score and feedback.

How Contestants Will Receive The Premises And Announcements

To guard against the contest server bogging down, the Round 1 premise and email addresses to send entries will be posted at 5:00 p.m. at these two web site pages:

• The top of this page where shown by the box above 
• A similar or identical page at http://screenwritingexpo.com/cyberspace.open.2010.html

In addition, a COURTESY email will be sent a few minutes before the posting time with the same information.  If you receive this courtesy email, great--please don't rush to the server.  It will have the same information.  However, mass email proved unreliable last time.  So if you do not receive the email by 5:00 p.m., please visit the server.  Remember: under the Rules, the email is a courtesy aimed at keeping the server from bogging down.  It is your responsibility to download the premise if you do not receive the email on time.

All subsequent contest announcements will be posted near the top of this page or at links from the top of this page.

Quick Summary Of The Steps To Enter And Win

How to Enter:

Scenes Submitted By Email Only; Save Your Order Number.

You will need the order number of your shopping cart order to enter a scene.

To enter, attach your scene to an email before the deadline and send it to the email address that will be posted above.  The file must be in MS Word or PDF, and it must be named according to this naming protocol:

                  ordernumber.yourfirstname.yourlastname.doc 
                                 Or    
                   ordernumber.yourfirstname.yourlastname.docx 
                                 Or
                   ordernumber.yourfirstname.yourlastname.pdf

depending on which file format you chose for submission.

    (C) Cover page. The entry must have a cover page, which must contain all of this information:  

• Your name or names if more than one writer
• The full mailing address of at least one entrant
• One entrant email address*
• Your order number  (yes--use it in the name of the file itself and write it on the cover page!)
• The scene premise name or round number (first, second, third)

    * You will not receive a score and feedback if your email address is not on your cover page.  We cannot send to more than one email address.


Cyberspace Open Schedule:

Registration Open March 5 $12.99 low-price registration ends April 9 at Midnight $14.99 full-price registration closes April 11at Midnight (Brief extension is possible at $16.99--but why wait to pay more?) First premise posted Fri April 16, 5 P.M.  First scene due Mon April 19, 9 A.M. The 100 Round 2 finalists announced by May 17-19 Round 2 premise posted Sat May 22 at 10 A.M. Round 2 scene due Sun. May 23 by 10 A.M. Three winners named for 1st/2nd/3rd runoff by May 28 Three winners' scenes videotaped for runoffs in early June Voting on 1st/2nd/3rd by the community tallied by mid-June

Cyberspace Open Entry Fees, Deadlines, and Entry Links:
Early/On Time Entry Deadline	Last 48 Hours-- Pushing It	Extension, If Any* At The "Punish Me" Rate
Midnight Friday, April 9	Midnight Sunday, April 11	Uncertain--don't wait
$12.99	$14.99	$16.99
* An extension is NOT promised; we strongly advise against waiting.  The high "Punish Me" price, if we were to extend, is intended to encourage you to submit early or on time.   By entering, you agree to the Contest Rules and Release To enter:   First, click here.   That places your entry in your shopping cart.  Then click here to go to your shopping cart and complete the purchase     The Cyberspace Open Is managed for Creative Screenwriting by Coverage, Ink.:

* There is NO GUARANTEE that we would extend beyond Midnight April 11.  We have intentionally set the "Punish me" rate high to punish procrastinators because late entries are a big burden on our team. PLEASE enter by the April 11 deadline, or better, right now!