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2010-11 Cyberspace Open
Here's What Has Been Improved Since The
Debut Of The Cyberspace Open In The Fall Of 2009...
1 33% Less Work To Win
You will need to set aside time for
only two rounds, not three. That is less work and fewer demands
on your busy schedule. You can enter and write around a daytime work schedule.l
2. More Time To Create. More Time For Your Work To Stand Out
Round 2 is now the final round of writing and you will have a weekend, not just 90 minutes or two
hours or 24 hours to come up with a great scene. Experience tells us that
this will vastly improve the quality of "finalist" scenes.
3. More Bragging Rights -- A Big Self-Promotion Advantage:
Now, 100 Of You Can Say, "I made the top 10% (or fewer) as a
semifinalist in the Cyberspace Open,
the toughest deadline creative writing contest in the world."
All 100 writers (plus ties) who make the second round are
semifinalists. So you have a greater chance to win bragging
rights.
4. We Fixed A Notification Glitch With An Important Rule Change.
In the 2009 contest, about 10% to 15% of all contestants did not
receive the advance emails and the emails notifying you that scenes
were posted. This was despite the fact that we sent these emails
from two different servers using two different bulk email programs in
an attempt to overcome spam filtering.
Therefore, since then, while we do send notification emails, they
are only a COURTESY under the rules.
Contestants should not assume that this COURTESY email will be
received. It is not your official notification. If
you do receive our COURTESY
emails (and 85% to 90% of you should, based on experience),
the emails will have the same information as we will post at the
official
contest notification web sites. However, it
is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to come to an official contest web site to pick
up the premise if you don't see a timely email. To prevent server
overload, we post the premise at three servers.
5. More Prizes: We Are Adding Four Genre Prizes
See the official prize list and watch your email for the announcement of genre prizes.
6. Improved Promotion: Winning Scenes Posted At The Web Site
In 2009, we posted the names of winners at the web site. Now,
the text of winning scenes are posted in their entirety on the
Cyberspace Open web site. So your contest-winning work will be
visible to the world on a long-term basis.
7. Finals Videotaped; Winners Picked By A Huge Screenwriting/Industry Audience
In
the Fall 2009 program, the winning places (first, second, third) were decided
by acclaim at the closing ceremony of the Screenwriting Expo.
That's a lot of fun for participants, but relatively few people see
their work.
So we now videotape readings of the three
scenes and post both the scenes and the readings on our web site.
Then, we ask our entire community of screenwriters,
producers, directors,
and serious film fans to vote. This is great additional exposure
for the winners.
8. Better Promotion Of Winners To Producers, Agents, And Managers
We send a letter to 300+ producers
telling them of winners' achievements. The
producer letter will refer
producers to our web site, where these entertainment industry
professionals will be able to not only read the scenes, but see the
videotaped dramatizations of them.
9. Improved Customer Service Operators Standing By
Frankly, we didn't know how much customer service we'd need or when
during the Fall 2009 Cyberspace Open, because it was the first contest
of its kind ever, anywhere, in the world. We didn't know
what would
work and what would not. So we have staff on duty
during the Friday evening that scenes are posted, during
that weekend,
and early Monday when submissions are due.
BUT PLEASE NOTE:
If you wait until after 8:00 a.m. Monday to find out where you left
your order number or how to submit your entry using it, it is very
likely that you won't get through and your writing could end up being
wasted.
We do not have enough people on duty or enough
phone lines for 20 people to call up at once at the last minute and say
they can't find their order number. This contest is supposed to be fun,
but it is also about being prepared. It is about you working
for the producer,
not the producer working for you. That is a key part of the
learning process in this contest. So we strongly urge you to
create
your filename with your order number and name, and to put the order
number and your name on your title page, before you do anything else.
This is a great contest -- and now it is a lot easier to write that great scene and win. So enter now!
Cyberspace
Open Entry Fees, Deadlines, and Entry Links:
(All times are Pacific U.S. time)
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Midnight Wed. Feb. 15, 2011 -- Only $14.99 to Enter
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Extensions from this deadline are not guaranteed and would be at a higher price.
Key Dates in The Fall 2010 Cyberspace Open
(All times are Pacific U.S. time): |
- $14.99 Last-Minute Entry Deadline Midnight Feb. 15, 2011
- First premise posted on this web page Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, 5 pm..
- Deadline to send Round 1 scene to contest server: Mon. Feb. 21, 9 a.m.
- 100 (+ ties) Round 2 entrants announced: about March 21-24, 2011
- Round 2 premise posted Fri., April 1, 2011 at 5 p.m.
- Deadline to send Round 2 scene to server: Mon. April 4, 2011, 9 a.m.
- Finalists and genre winners named about: April 18-19, 2011
- Finalists' scenes videotaped by mid-May 2011.
- Voting by the writer community opens about June 4, 2011.
- Winners announced about 2 weeks after voting begins.
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Key Changes From Spring 2010 Contest:
1. Both the entry fees and the prize amounts have been slightly reduced.
2. Round 2 survivors now have an entire weekend to write their scenes rather than one day. |
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The Cyberspace Open Is managed for Creative Screenwriting by Coverage, Ink.:
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