I had the pleasure of meeting Gordy Hoffman, founder of the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, last year in Austin. I had ventured into the heart of Texas for the Austin Film Festival, and discovered that Gordy was going to be leading a script workshop in town while I was there. I signed up unsure what to expect. What I discovered was the immense wisdom of Mr. Hoffman.
Gordy has a few credits of his own under his belt, and he’s exceptionally talented at sharing his insights with aspiring writers. The people in my workshop had scripts ranging from pretty good to just terrible, and Gordy did a great job of encouraging every writer to keep pushing forward with advice and tough love appropriate to each person’s current level. As the head judge of BlueCat, one of the most respected competitions in the industry, Gordy takes care to discover and cultivate the best and brightest young writers in the industry.
Gordy and I recently discussed screenwriting competitions, finding a golden script idea, and what it takes to write a truly great script.
LA Screenwriter (LA): Contests are one of the most direct ways for an aspiring screenwriter to get noticed, but there’s no shortage of contests trying to get at novice screenwriters’ money. What should a writer look for in a screenwriting contest?
Gordy Hoffman (GH): As a writer, these are questions I would ask myself, that I’m not sure most writers think about.
Who is hiring the readers? Who are the judges? Who runs the contest? How are they qualified to adjudicate the contest? Do I know for certainty that they read my entire screenplay? What is the track record of success for the writers they recognize? How do they talk about other competitions? How do they support writers outside of running the contest?
