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Interview with the founder of BlueCat - Gordy Hoffman
A lot of writers, like you, enter competitions all the time. There are plenty of them, I don't know how many, but a huge amount. Some better than others.
If a competition provides you with something really valuable when you win, that's great. By valuable I mean like a good shot at getting your script produced. Or a lot of money, enough for you to produce it yourself.
Some competitions even give you feedback without winning. Your script can be awful and loose hard, but still get notes on how to improve it. That's not bad, considering it's almost a win-win situation.
One of these competitions is BlueCat. BlueCat began 1998 and is very successful by now. It has a grand prize of $10 000, actually the most of all similar competitions so far. Also, the four finalists get $1500 each, which still is a nice amount of money considering you didn't win.
But enough talking, let's let the man himself, Gordy Hoffman, tell us about it and then some more:
1. What are you looking for in a screenplay?
A compelling story. What makes a story compelling is how deeply personal the writer invests in the work. If you don’t care, we won’t. If you open yourself, we will feel safe and sit down.
2. Is there any particular genre that does better than others, from what you’ve seen so far?
Not our contest. Our 2005 winner was a comedy that made me laugh out loud more than once and our 2006 winner was a drama that I bawled over all the way through. Basically, refer to answer #1.
3. What do you think makes the difference between a good movie and a bad movie?
The lack of audience identification with the experiences of people on screen.
4. What fatal mistakes can a writer do in his/hers script?
Settle for the first idea or choice that comes to their head, whether it’s a line of dialogue or the last scene of the screenplay.
5. How did you get started on writing?
It was a writing assignment in 2nd grade. A very short story. I remember it to this day, the feeling of creative writing.
6. What do you love most about filmmaking. Writing, directing, producing…?
I love collaborating with other people, working with brilliant actors, meeting the audience. It’s so much fun.
7. Why did you start BlueCat and was it hard getting it “out there”?
I guess I thought it would be fun to start a screenplay contest. Little did I know! But eventually I figured out how to handle the circus, and people have discovered us.
8. You think competitions are a good way to get inside the industry walls, and if yes, are all as good?
Some are better than others, and they definitely help with the struggle for attention from Hollywood. I know we have. Our 2005 Winner has recently wrapped production and stars Seann William Scott.
9. Will you consider having your brother sign to act in the winning script as the grand prize sometime?
The day will come, I’m sure! But he’s a bit busy right now.
10. Any projects coming up soon?
The thing I’m writing at 5:30 in the morning.
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Big thanks to Gordy!
//Scribosphere
Categories: [general_] [ideas_] [industry_] [market_]Labels: general, ideas, industry, interview, market, scribosphere
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