Last week we touched on rejection, and this week I wanted to give you some insight into how festivals and competitions rate your work, from scripts to short films. I

When I started this newsletter, I made a promise to you that’d I’d keep these short, and I a little Kiwi Bird told me your tea break turned into a long lunch… so I’ll spread this over two newsletters, as I clearly have a lot to say on this subject 😀

NB: I should caveat that I have no direct experience within the shortlisting process for schemes or opportunities that heavily scrutinise CVs and written applications.

I have formally read scripts for Scriptwriters & Co, Somerset Film, and Short + Sweet. I have also shortlisted short films and documentaries for Sunrise Film Festival, Cornwall Film Festival, Somerset Film, Short + Sweet, Two Short Nights, and the Edinburgh TV Awards, with production budgets ranging from virtually nothing to tens of thousands and more.

I also adjudicate plays for the Somerset Fellowship of Drama and The Rose Bowl Awards here in the South West, reading scripts, attending productions, writing formal reports, and contributing to the awarding process for around twenty productions a year.

Alongside this, I read scripts from peers, sometimes ad hoc 1:1 and sometimes within a group we affectionately call The Shark Tank. More on that another time.

And I’ve read scripts in preparation for podcasts analysing film theory and writing practice for OutWrd (formerly The Script Dept.), CenterFrame, and now for the London Screenwriters’ Festival.

I also, when time and opportunity allow, script edit for paying individuals.

And I’ve been doing all of this for over six years now.

We’ve talked before about the value of reading scripts, so I won’t repeat myself too much here. We’ve covered the pay, the access to opportunities, and what you can gain from it.

Sometimes you’ll see call-outs for pre-selectors and readers. Sometimes you’ll simply be asked if you’d like to get involved, which often depends on how well connected you are to that organisation already. But most of the time, I ask.

Most submissions are managed through FilmFreeway, which, for those unfamiliar, is where you can find and access submissions for almost every type of film festival and competition around the world. But some larger festivals will have their own platforms.

When you’re a pre-selector or judge, you’re invited onto the platform to review submissions.

For films, you’ll have access to the film or documentary itself, alongside information submitted by the director or producer, which may include a pitch deck, production information, and insight into the process.

For scripts, you’ll access the screenplay in PDF form and often see additional information from the writer such as bios, links, or supporting material.

All that supporting info is a gold mine for informing you on how other filmmakers are doing it is invaluable!

This is probably the toughest and most subjective part of the process.

Organisers can choose exactly how they want submissions to be rated and can switch certain criteria on and off, meaning not all competitions are built equally.

You’re usually encouraged to leave a short comment explaining your decision, which means you need to be constructive and mindful, particularly if the organisers later choose to share that feedback with entrants. Although as we know, most dont (see ‘Feedback’ below)

Typically, you’ll see submissions scored out of ten against a mixture of the following depending on if this is a script or a film:

You’ll then usually give an “Overall Rating” that’s visible at a glance in the submission dashboard for the final judges.

And finally, your recommendation:

👎 Pass 👍Recommend 🏆 Award Worthy ❓Maybe

The first thing I do is watch them all. I find my benchmark. What constitutes a 9 or a 10 in this specific competition, because they’re all different. And then I watch them again, critically.

The real challenge comes when you’re comparing a short made for £20k+ against one made for less than £500.

I face a similar dilemma regularly in theatre adjudication, where you may have one production made on pure goodwill and half a Twix, competing against another with substantial resources and technical support behind it.

So you look for nuance.

What stands out? What stays with you? What makes you feel something? How have they been creative about the way they tell this story.

And more often than not, we pre-selectors are not making the final decision anyway. The festival organisers are.

And trust me when I say they often choose submissions that reflect their values and the kinds of projects they feel proud to programme and promote over the next twelve months.

Which is why researching your market is incredibly important. If your project contains highly controversial material or explicit themes, it may simply not align with the tone, ethos, or audience that particular festival is building around that year.

If you really want to write in these extreme genres, there is bound to be a festival or competition out there that will welcome you!

One final note on ranking. If you ever get the opportunity to sit in the room while judges debate awards, you’ll quickly realise how heated these conversations can become. Some judges will defend a submission to the death, and it can be surprisingly intense when opinions differ.

But I promise, everyone usually comes out of it still friends.

I’ll leave it there for this week and let you get back to your creative endeavours. And we’ll continue this discussion around festivals and competitions looking at why we don’t always get feedback, what all this means to you, what to research, finding the sweet spot, a note on laurels, and a final word on perspective.

What surprised you most about this process so far? Let me know!

Helen

Next up… How Festival Pre-Selectors Rate Your Film / Script - Part Two