[Display site] InkTip

Does anyone have any info on www.InkTip.com, an online script exposure site? I received an email from Write Brothers Jason Eng re: them. Stats are that "1 in 5 scripts registered are sold or optioned" and 18 films have been produced in the last 18 months." Cost to register a script is $40 for 6 months. Anyone had any good/bad experience with them? Also what about contest exposure for a script? Is it a good thing or a grand waste of money and effort? One of my scripts did win second rounder status at the Austin Heart of Film Festival about 2 years ago, but nothing else ever came of it.Thanks, Mary

Re: Checking online screenplay market/contests

Mary -

Inktip is legitimate. I believe that they have far more option deals than sales. Also the producers who use inktip to find material are usually small companies with small to miniscule budgets. The vast majority of established producers are not trolling the web looking for scripts - they are innundated with both unsolicited query letters and submissions via agents (in that case scripts that have already been vetted). That said - it's only 40 bucks for 6 months so registering with them is really a no harm, no foul kinda thing.

But even if you post on inktip - you should be out querying, etc. Movies are a PUSH industry - website databases are PULL technology.

There are a handful of contests - (Nicholl Fellowship - run by the Academy, The Chesterfield Writer's Film Projcet and a few others) that are quite prestigious. The vast majority of contests out there though are not - and are a waste of money. It all comes down to who is running them. Many of the contests offer industry "exposure" but the question is what kind of exposure?

Mentioning that the script is a winner or finalist of a contest in a query may give you a leg up in getting read. But from what I've heard from producers and agents who've read a number of contest winners - conventional wisdom is that though the winners may be better than most amateurs - few of the contest winners can compete with the pros. Ironically, in some cases winning can hurt the writer's chances - because the win makes them think the script is better than it actually is and so they don't do further rewrites before submitting.

Overall most contests are a waste of an entry fee - you are far better off taking the 60 bucks it would cost to enter a contest or two and picking up a copy of the Hollywood Creative Directory instead.

Re: Checking online screenplay market/contests

SimonSays:

Thanks for the advice. I will take it to heart. Mary