Anthony McBride

OK Screenwriters -- Get ready for this post - it's a doozy! But please read and save yourself from wasting your money... First - an important update and correction on my tweet: I was wrong! Gareth below is correct. The SBIFF has nothing to do with the contest I named! But upon further investigation, I realized there is a large & specific subset of Screenwriting Contests that IMO are ALL UTTER BULLSHIT (even by contest standards). These are online contests that use respected Film Festival names and locations to make their money grab contests SEEM legit - but they are not! There is NO Connection. The following Contests are not connected to ANY film fests or cities. The laurels mean nothing. You win nothing. You are up against nobodies. DO NOT ENTER THESE CONTESTS: Santa Barbara Int'l Screenplay Awards Berlin International Screenplay Festival Atlanta International Screenplay Awards Palm Springs International Screenplay Awards Los Angeles International Script Competition And probably many others... But we're not done! I had a sneaking suspicion due to their names & entries that ALL or many of these contests might be run by the same company... and I was right! All of the contests above - except for the Berlin Contest (I couldnt find info) - are owned and run by.... Butterfly Beach Media Inc. Which also runs World's Fastest Screenplay Contest, Where Hollywood Hides, and god knows what other services. Butterfly Beach Media Inc is a private company run by washed up screenwriter Bob McCullough, who has had 1 TV series credit since 1998. The judges for many of these seem to be all of his old tv buddies & former exec friends, who im sure make a nice little sum for all their "reading expertise." In other words - no one that can help your career. Of course all contests are subjective and writers need to do their due diligence, but these feel like a targeted effort to mislead & confuse writers into thinking they are prestigious contests connected to film fests. And at quick glance, you wouldnt know they're not. It fooled ME and I have been doing this for 23yrs. So I can only imagine what newbie writers might think. SO many writers - clients of mine - whose scripts I KNOW are not contest-ready yet have advanced in these contests. I was already suspicious. But Gareth's tweet pulled it all together for me and I went digging. So that YOU can beware and stop entering bullshit contests that cannot and will not help you or your career! There are some very worthwhile contests out there, but IMO these are not them. Good luck everyone, I hope this is helpful. And that's no bull. 😉