About
Suzanne’s
Prize:
$2,000 For The Best Love Story Of 2011
A Special Jury Prize of the 2011
AAA Screenplay Contest
 | | A Prize In Memory of Suzanne |
In addition
to the main categories of awards, we will award a Special JuryPrize, titled "Suzanne's Prize -- The Best Love Story of 2011"
What
Are The Criteria For Winning?
There are just three:
1. The love story has to be in
the main plot line.
2.
Genuineness. Make
us believe it.
3. Originality. Genuineness and originality
equal
marketability -- in the best sense.
You
will win by making us eager to write that letter to producers starting,
“We are
writing to you because
someone
should turn this script into the best love story to hit the screen in
2011.”
So
What Do We Mean, “Best Love Story”?
A
Rom-Com?
A romantic
comedy is certainly one kind of love
story, and would qualify. But the winning script can
be in any
genre.
Love for another person is probably the most likely candidate to
win this category, but a story that truly inspired and expressed
love of country, love of God, of the Earth, also might be a
winner.
You can win by
warming
or breaking our hearts, by making us laugh or making us cry
-- or even with
a
convincing story seeking to make us believe that love is but a
sham, a snare, and a delusion.
It’s not that hard to
win, really. All
we’re asking for is the next
“Casablanca.”
Or maybe only
“Annie Hall,” "Ninotchka," "Princess Bride," or
"Moonstruck." Or a twisted love story like “Bonnie
and
Clyde,” or
“Last Tango
in Paris,” or “Sid
and Nancy.” Or even something like "Platoon," a
story of love and hate in war.
Just what do we mean by "love"?
Here are a few quotes that
might (or might not) help thematically. All of these quotes express themes that would qualify a sceenplay for this prize:
The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread. --Mother Teresa
There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved. It is God's finger on man's shoulder. -- Charles Morgan
Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species. --W. Somerset Maugham, A Writer's Notebook, 1949
Life
has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in
looking outward together in the same direction. --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939, translated from French by Lewis Galantière
Hate leaves ugly scars, love leaves beautiful ones. --Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966
The hardest-learned lesson: that people have only their kind of love to give, not our kind. --Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
Love is the magician that pulls man out of his own hat. --Ben Hecht
It's so easy to fall in love but hard to find someone who will catch you. --Author Unknown
Love isn't blind, it's retarded. --Don Foster and Susan Beavers, Two and a Half Men
Love is the child of illusion and the parent of disillusion. --Miguel de Unamuno
Falling in love is so hard on the knees. --Aerosmith
Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. --John: 15, verse 14.
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How
Do I Register For This Prize? How Will It Be Judged?
Can I Win Both This and the Grand Prize?
There
is no separate entry fee or registration. Every script in the competition is automatically eligible. Each main-contest
judge will be asked
to nominate his or her 2-3 favorite entries for this category. Those entries will then be
read by a special
jury consisting of the publisher of Creative Screenwriting and other
judges he
selects. Yes, it is possible to win both this prize and any one of the other cash prizes. Write well,
and good luck!
What Does the Winner Receive?
Suzanne's Prize For Best Love
Story of 2011 includes these prize items: - $2,000 in cash
- Dramatica Pro, storytelling software from Write Bros., a $270 value
- Expo pass: A free basic pass to The 2011 Screenwriting Expo, a $100 value
- Two 2011 Golden Pitch Tickets to pitch your winning script to producers, a $50 value
- Software: We're currently deciding which software to offer this year to help you write love stories.
- 60 Screenwriting DVDs:
A free "Screenwriting School In A Box," the set of all 6 Creative
Screenwriting DVDs on the business and craft of screenwriting, a $718
value.
- Subscription: A free subscription to Creative Screenwriting Magazine, a $30 value
- Direct Industry Access:
The winning script, synopsis, and logline will be sent to 300+
producers, agents, and managers who have asked to see all the 2011
prize winners. Estimated promotional value: $2,000
A Note from the Publisher of Creative Screenwriting Magazine...
“Why
Is It Called Suzanne’s Prize?
Who Is Or Was
‘Suzanne’?”
Suzanne
was my wife.
She
was one of those extraordinary people who inspired love in almost everyone around her. If it might help, you can read about her at http://suzannecorrales.com. This
is the second time we've offered this prize. I don't know whether
it will happen this time, the next, or in some future year, but sooner
or later, the script that wins this prize (and maybe the Grand Prize as
well) will impress me so much that I will personally stick my neck out
and recommend it to everyone in town. I can't promise that
they'll listen. But I am looking for that love story about which
I can say, "You just have to read this one, and someone just has to
make it." Bill Donovan, Publisher, Creative Screenwriting Magazine |
Plus, this possibility: sooner or later, a Suzanne's Prize script is going
“Why
Is It Called Suzanne’s Prize?
Who Is Or Was
‘Suzanne’?”
Suzanne
was the wife of the publisher
of Creative Screenwriting.
She
inspired love in almost everyone around her. If it might help, you can read about her at http://suzannecorrales.com.
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