community

A variety pack of fun-size treats

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Several shorties in one convenient package for today’s day-before-Halloween installment

-The rewrite/polish of the fantasy-comedy continues. Taking it more or less one scene at a time. Several recent sets of notes made a good point about the protagonist needing to be more active than reactive, so that’s part of the current focus. It’s been quite an exercise in figuring out how she can be the one moving things forward in each scene. So far, so good.

An unexpected bonus has been more of how her arc and that of the antagonist are the proverbial “opposite sides of the same coin”. Always nice when I discover how much I’ve inadvertently laid a foundation for this sort of thing.

Biggest challenge now is incorporating the numerous subplots, but I’m confident I can make it work.

– I recently had the opportunity to do my Screenwriting 101 presentation for two separate writing groups. Both were warmly received by the writers in attendance, and I even got to sell a few of my Go Ahead And Ask books. I really enjoy doing this and will look into opportunities to do it at writing conferences.

-If you get the chance to see WILDWOOD on the big screen, do so. It is a truly amazing film, and don’t let the fact that it’s stop-motion animation turn you off. This is definitely one of those “you have to see it in a theater”-type of movies. And it can be a little dark at times, so probably not very suitable for small children.

-Submissions are still open for The Maximum Z 2026 Script Showcase, so don’t wait until the last minute to send in your script’s info.

Scripts Wanted! (specifically Yours)

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Are you a writer with a script for film or TV and are looking for the right venue to put that material in the proverbial spotlight for the world to see – at absolutely no cost to you?

Or are you a writer looking to check out some exceptional work from other writers – both those you know and those you don’t?

No matter what kind of writer you are, you should definitely consider being part of…

The Maximum Z 2026 Script Showcase!

The Showcase is a collection of the basic information about film and TV scripts, including the writer’s email* in case something piques somebody’s interest and they want to contact the writer directly to ask about reading it.

The Showcase will post on Friday, December 18, so you have until Thursday, December 17 to send the following information here with the subject line “Maximum Z 2026 Script Showcase”.

Format – (film, TV, shorts, webseries, verticals)

Title

Writer(s)

Genre

Logline

Comps

Awards – (if any, limit of 5) Please list how you placed, what year, and what competition (e.g. Second Rounder, 2025 Austin Film Festival)

Your email

–

Here’s the 2025 edition to see what the whole thing looks like.

Two absolutely non-negotiable conditions:

ONLY ONE SCRIPT PER PERSON

and

DO NOT SEND THE SCRIPT!

Previously-listed scripts are okay, but new material is highly encouraged.

Also very important – PROOFREAD ALL YOUR INFO. We are not responsible if your listing has typos.

Once the Showcase posts, there will also be links to it on several social media platforms for reposting as part of your own self-marketing efforts.

The window to send your script’s info here is officially open, and the deadline to do so is Thursday, December 17.

Thanks, and looking forward to seeing your script be part of it.

*Earlier this year an unscrupulous individual used email addresses from previous Showcases to contact writers offering a “script promotion service”, which of course included a fee. If you receive any emails of this nature, they are in no way connected to or affiliated with Maximum Z. Delete them immediately.

A few words about contests

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Social media has been quite abuzz for the past week or so with the latest announcements from some script contests of note. Many a writer is celebrating – and a few lamenting – their individual results.

To every single writer out there, regardless of how your script did – be proud and take a moment to celebrate the fact that not only did you finish a script, but you were also confident enough to put it out there and see how it fared.

If it advanced – great! If not – that’s a shame, but IT DOES NOT MEAN YOUR WRITING IS BAD. Sometimes a reader connects with a script, sometimes they don’t. It’s totally out of your control.

That’s how contests go. I’ve seen a lot of writers say that their first-time entry advanced and an almost equal number saying that a script that placed (or won) last time didn’t advance whatsoever this time.

It’s always a crapshoot.

A lot of writers pin their hopes on doing well in a big contest, seeing it a possible entryway into working in the industry. I don’t know the actual numbers, but I believe that has happened maybe a few times over the past 20ish years, and a wide range of results for everybody else.

I used to be part of that starry-eyed group. I’d send in my script, hoping for the best. Most of the time, I’d get the email of “Thanks for entering! Unfortunately,…”. Maybe I’d be lucky and advance to quarterfinals or even semifinals, with a very rare finalist every once in a while, but never the big prize of overall winner.

After yet another letdown, I vented my frustration online, to which a friend replied “Contests are a waste of time and money. How many contest-winning scripts have actually been produced? I’d rather write a script that somebody wants to make than one that wins a contest.”

That last part really stuck with me.

So much that I’ve drastically cut back on entering contests, which has also saved a significant chunk of change. Those fees really add up.

Apart from a few free entries courtesy of membership in the ISA, I didn’t enter any this year. If I do any next year, it’ll most likely be PAGE and Austin (despite my AI experience from last year). The whole Nicholl-Black List thing seems ridiculous and exclusionary, not to mention not very cost-efficient.

I’m not going to throw shade on any writer who continues to enter contests. If you like doing it, more power to you. And I make a point of offering congratulations to writers I know who advance. For writers I don’t know, I offer a ‘like’ or a thumbs-up or whatever. Even a little recognition goes a long way in helping somebody feel proud about what they’ve accomplished.

Contests are okay, but just not as much for me anymore.

Boundaries, people! Know them

Maximum Z community, experience, feedback, logline, manners, networking, professionalism, relationships, screenplay, screenwriting, script, social media, writing , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s happened again. A writer I connected with on a networking platform sent the initial “Nice to meet you” note, followed very soon after with a pitch deck for one of their scripts.

I skimmed the first page with the intention of not going to the second page, and couldn’t get past the logline.

It needed work, so in an effort to be helpful I offered some suggestions of how it could be improved. This led to several back and forth messages, first my reactions and comments, then their latest attempt. I want to make a point of recognizing that each message ended with a variation on “Thanks so much for this. I really appreciate it!”

In the end, I like to think they finally got what I was trying to explain and figured that was that.

Nope.

Two more messages came in regarding two other projects, asking for my thoughts/feedback.

I wrote “I  helped with the logline. Anything beyond that is getting a little excessive. I suggest becoming part of a writing group and gradually getting your work involved that way. Good luck!”

The response: “Thank you”. Since then – nada.

I get it. You’re an eager just-starting-out screenwriter and you’ve connected with another writer with more experience. Why wouldn’t you want to start seeing if they think your stuff is any good? I was the same way when I started, and learned how to do it and definitely how NOT to do it.

The writer in this most recent scenario started out strong, then let their overzealousness trip themselves up.

I posted about this on social media earlier this week, and one response was along the lines of “When that happens to me, I tell them my rates for any additional work. That usually shuts them down.”

Don’t think I didn’t consider it.

One of the things the screenwriting books and lessons don’t emphasize enough is that relationships in this business are just as important as knowing the craft.

Get to know somebody. Become a peer. Present yourself as somebody worth knowing. Ask to read something of theirs. Offer to help in some capacity (if possible).

Wait until you’ve established a professional connection before asking them to read something, and definitely include “if you have time” – because sometimes they don’t.

BE NICE. AND CONSIDERATE. AND PATIENT.

There is no doubt that this will continue to happen to me and many other writers. I will continue to be as helpful as I can – to a point.

-And for your further reading enjoyment, here are some relevant posts from the archives. Enjoy.

You don’t know me, but can you help me?

At least buy me a drink first

No, no, a thousand times no

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Got an email earlier this week with the following:

“Hi Paul,

Congrats on The Unlikeliest of Heroes being featured in the Maximum Z Winter 2024 Script Showcase. I recently started testing a small service for screenwriters with a finished feature who want to skip the miserable producer-research step.

For $149 CAD, I research 100 project-specific producer and production-company targets, public contact or submission routes, fit notes, and an organized outreach tracker. You handle the querying and keep control over where the script goes.

Thought it might be useful if you are currently looking for producers for The Unlikeliest of Heroes or another feature.”

There was also a link to the website, which I absolutely refuse to post.

First and foremost, I AM the Maximum Z Script Showcase, so that’s Exhibit A in the “I didn’t do any research whatsoever about this” situation.

Second, any screenwriter who would even consider doing this is making a huge mistake. If you want to query somebody, do your homework and get their info yourself. Yes, it’s a lot of grunt work, but better to spend time on research than discovering you wasted your cash on information that might not even be accurate to begin with.

Several writers who also had their scripts on a few Showcases reached out to me to say “I got this email. What do you know about it?” Before I got the email, I didn’t know squat about it.

I really, really hate when I see this sort of thing. A more seasoned screenwriter will immediately spot this as a scam – WHICH IT IS – but the less experienced could very likely see this as a golden opportunity and fork over the bucks.

THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS OR HIDDEN SECRETS. Making it in this business takes a lot of time and effort, and sometimes just being ready at the right time.

What also bothers me about this is that this person used something I created as a means of hawking their wares. My intent for the Script Showcase is for each writer to point to their listing and tell the world “Here’s something I wrote. Let me know if you’d like to read it.”

(I do plan on doing the Showcase again in a few months, but may give participants the option of having their contact info included or positioning myself as the go-between. Feel free to chime in with your opinion.)

I responded to the person who sent the email, saying that I was actually the guy behind the Showcase and to stop contacting the writers involved. They wrote back, saying they would. The credibility of that statement remains to be seen.

Those seeking to take advantage of the easily duped will always be out there, so I’ll be there as long as I can as hopefully one of many lines of defense.