The winner of this year's Red Planet Prize is Simon Glass with his script 'In the Flesh', a dark comic tale of people taking control of their destinies, however hopeless they may seem and laughing in the face of adversity.
The script was chosen from over 1500 entrants. Simon has been writing for a few years and has worked in series drama, theatre and even opera. Simon commented; “I feel deeply honoured, thrilled and incredibly grateful to have won the Red Planet Prize”. (Simon's just signed up to Twitter and you can follow him here.)
Huge congratulations to Simon, plus the good handful of runners-up who will enjoy mentorship and workshops with Tony, Red Planet and Kudos in the New Year.
As ever, I'm exceptionally proud to be part of this writing competition (I came up with the idea, and am one of the judges), and the range of scripts and writing talent out there is impressive (and a bit scary - got to raise my game!). But the competition would be nothing without Tony's passion and generosity, and now Kudos's commitment to find and nurture new writers.
For those of you who were rejected and may feel a bit spurned, don't feel too down or disillusioned. The Red Planet Prize is a screenwriting competition that has to make extremely tough decisions to whittle down the entries into a manageable shortlist. A lot of these decisions come down to subjective reaction, so don't give up on a script (or your writing) if you really feel it's got something to offer. If you're thinking of hanging up your pen because of a Red Planet 'no', then maybe writing isn't for you. You got to stick at it, and roll with the punches. And remember, there's always next year!
Congrats to Simon again, and all the runners-up! Really had fun reading the scripts this year, such a good and varied batch.
8 comments:
Congratulatons to Simon! And I'm absolutely delighted to be one of the runners-up. Really looking forward to the mentoring process in the New Year. I love a good workshop, me!
Congratulations to Simon, and all the finalists who will get some mentoring guidance from the RPP team. I was lucky enough to benefit from this after being a finalist in the last contest. That helped me to secure representation, and brought me to the attention of Anne Mensah at the BBC. Winning the RPP must be great, but just getting close can be a leg-up for your career. Many thanks to all those involved with running the contest, but most especially to Danny who had the bright idea for it in the first place!
First of all hearty congratulations to Simon Glass...well done that man! Now make the most of your opportunity. Don't waste it or we'll all hunt you down like a mangy dog ;-)
"If you're thinking of hanging up your pen because of a Red Planet 'no', then maybe writing isn't for you." - I totally agree with this. Why continually torture yourself if you aren't happy with the result. Get out, find another hobby. Try stamp collecting perhaps?
You might have read over at my blog how I felt after being rejected.
http://doms-world.blogspot.com
The post was never intended as a dig at Red Planet, Tony or Kudos. In fact the opposite is true. If the competition wasn't such a great resource I wouldn't have felt so bad not making it past the first ten pages. If it didn't 'MATTER' I wouldn't have given a crap about it. Unfortunately agents and producers use competitions as a filtering tool for writers. If you win, or place high in a well respected competition then you are going to get a lot of close attention. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is lying. Competitions 'DO' matter, which is why ones like the Red Planet Prize mean so much to those who enter it.
You're right to say don't give up on your script, Danny, and I won't with mine, it's getting some good attention at the moment. One director has even suggested rewriting it as a feature. Will I be entering the Red Planet Prize next year? I very much doubt it, as I no longer feel it's for me...but then again, I might just change my mind, you never know.
Congratulations to Simon - excellent work!
How exciting!!!
Congratulations to Simon for his winning entry and the runners up including Kristi, Jez, Oli. With my first ever writing I was so proud to get through to the finals of the Red Planet Prize and at first was devastated that I didn't get to go to the workshops and meet Tony and the team. It would have been wonderful to show them where my 'tv series' goes. But I am so grateful for the oppportunity and I am going to keep moving forward with it and learn and see where the writing takes me. If anyone would like to read the first episode, I would dearly love your feedback. Merry Xmas to everyone !
Absolutely, congratulations, Simon.
And Ross - I believe we have a mutual friend. I hope Danny does not mind me temporarily high-jacking this in the spirit of networking!
Hi manfromthezoo,
we do, I received your email. Apologies for not replying yet, but I will and am doing so now. Happy New Year to you and to Danny too. I know you can't give feedback on entries this year, but if anyone would like to read my entry (I've now tidied it up), let me know. And indeed all eight episodes. I am going to keep moving forward after this first project did well to get through to the Red Planet Prize 2010. Somebody out there WILL want it, I'm sure. Blimey, I can't believe how positive I am. Thanks to you all for your support and kind words. And big thanks to Danny for the opportunity with the RPP. Best, Ross
Post a Comment