The Slamdance folks have done a wonderful thing for their program. They've created a staged reading series for the finalists of the 2003 Slamdance screenplay competition. They're free of charge, anyone can go, and it promotes the "almosts" of the contest.

So, I decided to check one out. I wanted to see what kind of scripts made it to the finalist section. I'm sad to report that I was disappointed in the result. The script had an interesting premise, but the execution had a surprising amount of problems with it. The main character never achieved his goal, most of the characters were passive, and the ending was completely disconnected from the heart of the story. There was also a b-story woven through the main story that could have been dropped altogether, and probably should have been.

Side note: the actors reading were great. They did a wonderful job, and deserve heaps of kudos.

So, I have to ask myself whether Slamdance is a viable contest for me. I think the answer is no. This script won for a reason, but I don't know what that reason is. It's certainly not "good writing" -- not that this writing was bad, but it certainly didn't seem finalist-worthy to me, with the basic problems I saw.

So, if I don't know what criteria my scripts will be held against, there's no way for me to know if my entry is appropriate. And, if this is an example of "finalist" quality of Slamdance, then I'm not persuaded that my career will benefit from it.

This year, I'll save my money.