Advice — gatekeeper q & a

Dear Gatekeeper: Would you recommend entering a screenwriting contest? I have a script I would like to submit, and would appreciate some feedback on what they have to offer and any other advice on contests you can give me. Thank you. Janice, Washington, D.C. Larry Brody Responds: These days, with so many new writers out there with no credits, screenwriting contests serve as screening devices. Winning, placing, or even being a finalist or semi-finalist in any of the major screenwriting contests is almost as good as a production credit and gives a new writer credibility you otherwise wouldn't have had....

Our reader Sara asks: As a new writer trying to get a handle on what is SEEN ONLY, I find getting my character's feelings and objectives across ... challenging. How much latitude can be taken in such descriptions? What about adjectives and adverbs? I realize one shouldn't use 'Kelly's playful entrance floods him with a long-forgotten sense of whimsy. The other board members do not approve.' -- But what about, 'Kelly impishly skips to her chair. The stuffed shirts around the shiny mahogany conference table glare disapprovingly, except Brian, who smiles in awe.' -- or should it simply be, 'Kelly...

Question: How valuable/important is film school? I am graduating college in one year, and I want to go into film. Skip Press responds: It's one thing to aspire to write films or act in them, and quite another to know how they are made. Smart writers and actors learn the process and profit greatly -- just ask David Mamet and Clint Eastwood. These days, there are more opportunities to break into Hollywood than ever before, thanks to the digital revolution. You can learn all the basics via a CD set, but the real secret is CONTACTS, and you get those...

A Reader's Script Formatting Question: How does a writer denote in a spec screenplay the fact that a character has a double identity and is known to individual characters under two separate identities? Example: a character is known as 'BILL' to one set of characters, but 'JIM' to another -- do you type both BILL/JIM each time he speaks dialogue in the screenplay? Bearing in mind that the crux of the story is that he appears as one person to one set of characters, and another person to another set of characters! -- Complicated, I know but I would appreciate...

Question from Nancy in ND: What is the foreign market like for screenwriters? How does a screenwriter approach foreign directors and production companies? Is there a book that talks about the overseas film industry? I'm a business writer who publishes articles in foreign magazines and I'm working on a couple of screenplays that I think may be of interest to film executives in France and Sweden. Thanks for your advice! Karl Iglesias responds: The foreign market can be lucrative for American screenwriters and yet, many aspiring writers don't include it in their marketing efforts. I have heard of several struggling...