Finishing in 2nd place for our Spring 2016 international screenwriting competition is a great achievement. Paul and his script DIMINUENDO fought off some high-quality scripts, including third placed AMBER by Johnny Sanchez and other honourable mentions. Paul thoroughly deserved this placing and we are delighted to tell you all a little more about him.
For finishing in second place Paul receives:
1 Full year of script mentoring for the winners, including development notes on all re-writes of winning scripts. Worth $3,200.
Up to $1 million in option monies from the A-List producers we work with. If an established studio/production company with theatrical credits wishes to option the script, we will fly the winner to Los Angeles and pay (up to $4,000) for their accommodation. We will pitch the top three projects to relevant production companies (such as Neal Moritz Productions, Bruckheimer Films, Scott Rudin Prods.) & studios (Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, etc.). You keep ALL the option/sales money. The names of the top three winners and their projects are mentioned in press releases and on the web. The second-place winner will receive our free Platinum consulting package. Intensive pitch coaching to help you get immediate attention and stand out as a pro amongst the hordes of wannabes.
Here’s some background on Paul:
After four books and hundreds of research reports as an adviser to eight governments and most parts of the healthcare system internationally, I started writing screenplays in 2009. I knew nothing about the path ahead. I was a neophyte with aspirations to write stories on difficult characters.Today, I have completed a full length screenplay [Diminuendo: the unheard flute] that is starting to win awards. Between 2009 and today, there were nearly 50 different drafts because I did not know the craft. I first entered competitions in 2015 and sought the help of reviewers. I found that not all reviewers are helpful, some have pre-conceived notions that biopics have to be true to history in depicting characters, many have great suggestions about character arcs , and none tried to divert me from trying to make Beethoven more interesting as a complex human with life challenges. Thanks to all reviewers, even those whose reviews were lazy or just plain ornery, the script became better with each review.In parallel, I wrote a six-part miniseries about two large figures in history [The two emperors] and their hypothetical meetings. The pilot won two competitions in 2015. I will work harder on it in late 2016.My newest project [Uncle Zhou’s Great Adventure] is about a man from rural China who travels to a school in Cornwall to teach music, but when he is laid off by the school, a Chinese cuisine is born and his nephew has an awakening that makes him a big star in China. That project excites me because it links my two preoccupations: food and music. It is a complex script because there are cultural themes to contemplate and write.Finally I have started a thriller. The sixty pages that are on the page came quickly. The next sixty pages will be harder.My goal for the next year is to find a producer and start the next part of the development of Diminuendo. Recent wins in competitions in Germany and USA help immensely and second place in the WriteMovies Spring 2016 Competition will give me many tools I lack.
And here is some information on the second placed script, DIMINUENDO:
DIMINUENDO is a period drama exploring new angles on the life and death of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
Congratulations to Paul on his second placed finish!
Follow in Paul’s footsteps and enter in our current main international contest, the Summer 20116 screenwriting competition! Only $44 to enter before September 11th, or free entry when your order one of our consultancy packages – for our Judging Feedback (just $99), and Studio Consulting (just $129) and Development Notes (just $199!) and our Elite Consultancies at $399 – a unique price to get up to an hour of consultancy from a top studio executive!
A biography on our overall winner, Rob Laffin, is now here too (CLICK HERE)…