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2010 Cyberspace Open
Here's What Has Been Improved Since The Exciting
Fall 2009 Cyberspace Open...
1 33% Less Work To Win
You will need to set aside time for
only two rounds, not three. That is less work and fewer demands
on your busy schedule. You can enter and write around a daytime work schedule.l
2. More Time To Create. More Time For Your Work To Stand Out
Round 2 is now the final round of writing and you will have 24
hours, not 90 minutes or two
hours, to come up with a great scene. Experience tells us that
this will vastly improve the quality of "finalist" scenes. (Even
excellent writers were
frequently coming up with mediocre scenes in that hellish 90 minutes.)
3. More Bragging Rights -- A Big Self-Promotion Advantage:
Now, 100 Of You Can Say, "I was a finalist In The Cyberspace Open,
the toughest deadline creative writing contest in the world."
With only two rounds of writing before the three winners are
nominated, all 100 writers (plus ties) who make the second round are
officially "finalists." So you have a greater chance to win
"finalist"
bragging rights. Since the three winners all win top cash
prizes, we will not refer to the top three as "finalists."
They are officially all "winners."
4. We Fixed A Notification Glitch With An Important Rule Change.
In the 2009 contest, about 10% to 15% of all contestants did not
receive the advance emails and the emails notifying you that scenes
were posted. This was despite the fact that we sent these emails
from two different servers using two different bulk email programs in
an attempt to overcome spam filtering.
Therefore, in 2010, we will again send emails, but under the rules,
contestants are not permitted to rely on email delivery as your form of
official notification. All mass emails to contestants are
officially COURTESY emails only. If you do receive our COURTESY
emails (and 85% to 90% of you should, based on last year's experience),
they will have the same information as we will post at the official
contest notification web sites. However, if you do not receive
the first-round premise by email by the designated start time, it
is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to come to an official contest web site to pick
up the premise.
While this may seem like a burden, it's a benefit. You'll have greater assurance that you will receive the scene premise.
NOTE:
a previous rule change has been rescinded. Our FTP upload vendor
has assured us that it will make changes in the upload system so
servers won't bog down. So we will use a modified, stronger
version of the FTP upload system, and we will stagger the deadline a few minutes, not email as previously announced.
5. More Prizes: We Are Adding Four $200 Genre Prizes
See the official prize list and watch your email for the announcement of genre prizes.
6. Improved Promotion: Winning Scenes Posted At The Web Site
In 2009, we posted the names of winners at the web site. Now,
winning scenes will be posted in their entirety on the Creative
Screenwriting web site. So your contest-winning work will be
visible to the world.
7. Finals Videotaped; Winners Picked By A Huge Screenwriting/Industry Audience
In
the Fall program, the winning places (first, second, third) are decided
by acclaim at the closing ceremony of the Screenwriting Expo.
That's a lot of fun for participants, but only a few hundred people see
their work, and ... Well, there is only one Screenwriting Expo.
So in the Spring contest, we will videotape readings of the three
scenes and post both the scenes and the readings on our web site.
Then, we will ask our entire community of screenwriters,
producers, directors,
and serious film fans to vote. This is great additional exposure
for the winners.
8. Better Promotion Of Winners To Producers, Agents, And Managers
As
we did for 2009 winners, we will send a letter to 300+ producers
telling them of winners' achievements. The
producer letter will refer
producers to our web site, where these entertainment industry
professionals will be able to not only read the scenes, but seethe
videotaped dramatizations of them.
9. Improved Customer Service Operators Standing By
Frankly, we didn't know how much customer service we'd need or when
during the Fall 2009 Cyberspace Open, because it was the first contest
of its kind ever, anywhere, in the world, and we didn't know what would
work and what would not. (It tuned out that it worked for most
entrants; we're trying to boost that "most" to "all.) So we will
have staff on duty Friday evening, April 16, during that weekend,
and early Monday, April 19 when submissions are due.
BUT PLEASE NOTE:
If you wait until after 8:00 a.m. Monday to find out where you left
your order number or how to submit your entry using it, it is very
likely that you won't get through and your writing could end up being
wasted. We are not going to have enough people on duty or enough
phone lines for 20 people to call up at once at the last minute and say
they can't find their order number. This contest is supposed to be fun,
but it is also about being prepared, and you working for the producer,
not the producer working for you. We strongly urge you to create
your filename with your order number and name, and to put the order
number and your name on your title page, before you do anything else.
This is a great contest -- and now it is a lot easier to write that great scene and win. So enter now!
Cyberspace
Open Entry Fees, Extended Deadlines, and Entry Links:
(All times are Pacific U.S. time)
48-Hour Late Extension Closes at Midnight, April 13, 2010
Extended-Deadline Entry Price Is $16.99
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The Cyberspace Open Is managed for Creative Screenwriting by Coverage, Ink.:
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