Following the wild success of our first ever feature competition, we are very pleased to announce the launch of our first ever PILOT COMPETITION.

When we launched our feature competition we amassed an A-list judging panel of the top agents and managers in town. From CAA, WME, APA to UTA, Energy Entertainment, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, Madhouse Entertainment to Benderspink and Caliber Media Co. Our first ever judging panel was so prestigious in fact they alone as individuals represented 236 of the 491 writers who had graced the Hit List, Black List, and Blood List from 2010-2012. That’s almost 50% of the best of the best.

So, once we made the commitment to launch a pilot competition, we knew we wanted to maintain the same formula we’d begun with, but we also wanted to expand.

SO WHAT DID WE DO NEXT?

We added executives from some of the most well known, and on-the-rise production companies in town. From Bad Robot, Scott Free, Bad Hat Harry to Romark Entertainment, Hopscotch Pictures and Dark Factory Entertainment to name a few. We added a collective group of those dominating television, or in the very least, one show away from being a household name.

But then we took it one step further, and we added the top 2 individuals representing the most writers on the 2013 Young & Hungry List — Verve agents Rob Herting and Zachary Carlisle. Still unsure? Well, don’t just take our word for it, take a look at some of the shows our judges have been involved with:

The Walking Dead, Lost, The Good Wife, The Goldbergs, Fringe, Alcatraz, House, Revolution, Person of Interest, Almost Human, Mockingbird Lane, and the upcoming series Extant, just to new a few. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of a laundry list of some of the hottest shows in the past decade. And lets not forget the collective 50+ new series our judging panel has set up in the past year alone. To say our judges are good at what they do is an absolute understatement.

SO WHO ARE OUR 25 LAUNCH PAD PILOT COMPETITION JUDGES? LETS HAVE A LOOK:

Allison Gillogly — Scott Free
Ashley Berns — Circle of Confusion
Brandy Rivers — Gersh
Brian McCurley — DMG Entertainment
Brooklyn Weaver — Energy Entertainment
Casey Haver — Bad Robot
Chris Cook — Madhouse Entertainment
Daniel Posada — Dark Factory Entertainment
Jake Wagner — Benderspink
Jeff Portnoy — Resolution
Jorge Gonzalez III — Station3
Kailey Marsh — Kailey Marsh Entertainment
Lee Stobby — Caliber Media Co.
Marc Manus — Manus Entertainment
Markus Goerg — Heroes and Villains Entertainment
Mimi Sanouvong — Romark Entertainment
Richard Martin — Bad Hat Harry
Rob Herting — Verve
Ryan Cunningham — Madhouse Entertainment
Sammy Montana — Anarchy Entertainment
Sidney Sherman — Rosa Entertainment
Solco Schuit — WME
Sukee Chew — Hopscotch Pictures
Zach Cox — Circle of Confusion
Zachary Carlisle — Verve

Unlike other contests out there, this isn’t a hopeful “someone from this company will read” with no names or even confirmation that this will ever happen. No, this is the list of the judges who WILL read the top scripts, and select our winners in the Spring. Same as our feature judges did this past Summer.

So aside from the judging panel, what else makes our competition different?

LETS TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF OUR FEATURE COMPETITION WINNERS:

Kate Trefry took the top prize this past Summer and signed with Lee Stobby at Caliber Media Co. Her script has since hit the town and become one of the most original calling cards in years. So much so, she is in line to tackle some massive writing jobs. Did we mention, her manager is also a judge in the pilot competition

Daniel Turkewitz’s Launch Pad script “Tranquility Base” sold to Twentieth Century Fox and Scott Free right out of the gate after being announced in our contest. Daniel is fast-tracking a rewrite for Ridley Scott, and a 2014 start date is being eyed. On top of that, three of the companies involved in this project are judging the pilot competition with Scott Free, Energy Entertainment and Romark Entertainment all judging.

Matthew Harvey & Dominic Morgan sold their Launch Pad script “Hyperbaric” to Voltage Pictures, and the project is now making offers to directors for a 2014 start. Two of the producers of that film have executives from their companies reading.

Sam Celia sold his Launch Pad script to Dark Factory Entertainment, and the project is set to begin filming in the Spring of 2014. Daniel Posada, the principal at Dark Factory is also aboard to judge our pilot competition.

And the list goes on — from Will Rowbotham and Adam Simpson-Marshall at Caliber Media Co. signing Matthew James McDonough, Jorge Gonzalez at Station3 signing Blake Armstrong, and David Saunders at APA landing Turkewitz, Harvey and Morgan, to five of the writers landing on the 2013 Young & Hungry List, and the success stories continue with over 10 of our finalists landing homes, and more importantly beginning their careers as professional writers.

Now it’s time to tackle television.

BUT FIRST — A FEW UPDATES!

We soft launched the contest in the beginning of October, but after spending the past month finalizing our judging panel, we also wanted to adjust some of our plans for this first outing to best showcase and benefit the writers who enter. So, lets discuss a few of the changes.

#1 — We’re cutting the entry fees. All through October we ran a super sale discount, which already began our entry fee trim. Now, as November begins we’re extending the $65.00 early bird entry all the way to the end of November, and dropping the late fee down to $75.00 and the last minute fee down to $85.00. All pilots will still receive the same amount of reads and consideration as before, just at a lower rate.

#2 — We’re splitting the awards brackets in two. Now, we will have a COMEDY and DRAMA category, as well as one top overall winner, and top overall winners in each.

#3 — We’re updating how our final results winners will be announced. As planned before, we will still have a TOP 25 SEMIFINALISTS as well as a TOP 10, but now we will split them. We will announce a top 25 mix of dramas and comedies, and from there we will announce the TOP 5 COMEDIES, TOP 5 DRAMAS, AND TOP OVERALL WINNER!

SO HOW WILL IT ALL WORK?

Between today, and January 15th, you may submit your original comedy or drama pilot. * NO specs of pre-existing shows are allowed. All submissions must be your own original work, story and characters. Any submissions of exiting shows that the writer does not own will immediately be disqualified. * All scripts must be under 70 pages (any pilot with more than 70 pages with be immediately disqualified).”¨* Do not submit any form of a story bible with your pilot.”¨* Scripts with multiple writers are allowed (however, all entry fees must be paid under one account).”¨* All scripts must be the sole property of the writer(s).”¨* Pilots with a prior option are allowed, but at the time of submission and for the duration of the contest, must remain the writer’s property.”¨* The only scripts not allowed to be entered are those which have already sold, or have previously earned our “TB Recommends” honors.”¨* All scripts will remain the property of the writer throughout the contest (at no point will anyone from the judge’s panel, or TB ever attach themselves to your work without your consent).”¨* Writers may submit as many scripts as they like.”¨* Each script may only be entered one time. Once a script has been submitted, there are absolutely no substitutions of pages, drafts, or scripts overall.”¨* All submissions are final.

All scripts will be read by our professional TB readers (currently readers for agencies such as CAA, WME, UTA, APA, management companies such as The Firm, Anonymous Content, Brillstein Entertainment, studios such as Warner Brothers, Sony, Universal, and independent readers we use for our TB Recommends program as well). All scripts will be read at last twice to ensure the best judgment of your work. All scripts will also be read blind, with no names, or title pages allowed. We choose this option so that each script is judged by the work, and the words alone.

Through and through, this contest is set to be the new standard for what writers should expect via a pilot competition.

As we’ve said since the launch of TB — our main goal is to provide a community for those in the industry and seeking to enter the industry to gather on a level playing field. With this in mind, we’ve not only become the premiere tracking board for both groups, but we’ve also gone to great lengths to ensure our members are always given the opportunities to succeed.

HERE ARE A FEW TESTIMONIALS:

“The Tracking Board is the most popular tracking site for reps and producers throughout Hollywood and beyond… It is the premiere source for spec news across the market and their news coverage is a must read for anyone looking to stay on top of the industry…””¨ Brooklyn Weaver — Energy Entertainment

“This contest legitimately changed my life. It was amazing to have my work sent out and actually taken it seriously. Right away, I got a ton of emails from people requesting to see the script and all these random people I had met before emailed me and wanted to meet again.” Kate Trefry — Writer of “Pure O”

“Winning this contest seriously means something. This isn’t some bullshit random contest offering you money or something – this thing starts careers. It’s only been around for one year, and already everyone is this town knows about it. It’s huge. Everyone wants what this contest has.” Lee Stobby — Caliber Media Co.

“Even before the Launch Pad Competition, the site was already changing how Hollywood works. Now that the contest is launching careers in its first go, it’s going to be unstoppable. I mean, just look at the judging panel that first time out, those guys are the best at what they do.” Jorge Gonzalez III — Station3

“I joined Tracking Board initially just to the latest insider news, but it wasn’t long before I discovered there existed a great community of writers from all different stages of their careers to boot. But of course, the most impressive aspect of Tracking Board (as I found out, in a bit of a whirlwind process), was its ability to provide an “in” for outsiders like myself. What I mean is — not everyone lives in L.A., not everyone “knows someone” in the business. But I have always believed that great writing is great writing, and no matter where you’re from, or what your background is — if you want it bad enough, and work hard enough, it will show and good things will happen eventually. TB is the perfect example of a team that not only understands this, but has the resources, screenwriting understanding, and connections to make it happen for literally ANY writer, provided they can bring the goods. My script was recommended on a Friday, and within a matter of hours, I had a half dozen parties from Hollywood wanting to talk to me. The next e-mail I got — was a list of no less than 40 different managers, agents, and production companies (all from the very top tiers) interested in my TB Recommended script. Trust me when I say these guys can and will gladly be the ambassadors to your screenwriting dreams.””¨ Dan Dollar — Writer of “The Boy and His Tiger”

“To quantify how much Tracking-board.com has helped my writing career this year would be immeasurable. Without the “TB Recommend” honors from TB, I wouldn’t have connected with so many industry professionals who became fans of my work. Now, I am truly in the game, collaborating on viable projects for 2013 and beyond. Not only has TB helped put me on the map, they have also provided my writing the “street cred” and guidance needed to be taken seriously in Hollywood. When TB believes in you and your material, they will fight for you to the end. Whether it comes to finding representation or promoting your work, you can totally count on them to be in your corner every step of the way. I still can’t believe how many people recognize my name now thanks to TB. That kind of passion and enthusiasm is something you don’t see often here in Tinseltown””¨ Michael Perri — Writer of “Nexxus”

With the premiere of THE LAUNCH PAD, we set our sites on creating the premiere competition for writers, offering an opportunity to expand your audience, ignite your career, and get your work in front of the eyes of those that matter! The idea of expanding our own TB Recommends platform into this competition also means that every entrant, at every single point of this competition, will maintain total and complete ownership of his or her screenplays. At no point will anyone ever be obligated to sign with, sell, option, or otherwise give up any ownership of his or her work. And, at no point will TB ever make any claims to your work. At the end of the day, this is your work, your words, and your career… you deserve to make the decisions about it.

HOW MANY FINALISTS AND WINNERS WILL THERE BE IN THE END?

We will announce out top 25 Semifinalists in February 2014, followed by the Top 5 Dramas, Top 5 Comedies and OVERALL WINNER in March 2014.

OUR OVERALL WINNER

Our grand prize winner will be broadcast across the industry, the site, our partnering sites, and will be mailed to our exclusive mailing list of over 15,000 people, our industry insider list of over 5,500 people, and will be sent individually to agents, managers, executives and producers well beyond our judges panel. TB will do everything in our power to promote you, your work, and your career.

NOW ON TO THE TIMELINE:

• From November 1st to November 30th, entries are $65 per script. Members will receive 10% off.
• From December 1st to December 31st entries are $75 per script. Members will receive 10% off.
• From January 1st to January 15th entries are $85 per script. Members will receive 10% off.
• February 2014 semi-finalists and finalists will all be announced.
• March 2014, all winners will be announced.

Every entrant who enters two or more scripts at the same time will receive a free 1-year membership to The Tracking Board. This option is only available to new members. All members using the discount rate must be active, and their accounts must match their current Paypal account on file with TB.

All Early Bird Submissions MUST be received before November 1st (PST), no matter when payment is made.
All Regular Submissions MUST be received before December 1st (PST), no matter when payment is made.
All Late Submissions MUST be received before January 1st (PST), no matter when payment is made.
All Last Minute Submissions MUST be received before January 16th (PST), no matter when payment is made.
No refunds will be given in the event of a failed submission.

HOW TO ENTER:

• Please select from the appropriate category below to enter your screenplay into The Launch Pad Pilot Competition.
• All scripts must be sent as a PDF (no other formats will be accepted) and if including a title page, must not include any writer names or identifying marks.
• All scripts must be e-mailed (alongside your Paypal transaction #) to [email protected]. No hard copies will be accepted.
• All entrants must sign up via Paypal. If you do not have a Paypal account, a link to sign up with a credit card can be provided by request.

 

EARLY BIRD SUBMISSION		Expires October 31st
Regular Price	$65	Submissions Closed
October Exclusive! Member Price	$49	Submissions Closed
Two Pilots & Free Membership	$130	Submissions Closed
REGULAR SUBMISSION		Expires November 30th
Regular Price	$65	Submit Now
Member Price	-10%	Sign In
Two Pilots & Free Membership	$130	Submit Now
LATE SUBMISSION		Expires December 31st
Regular Price	$75	Submit Now
Member Price	-10%	Sign In
Two Pilots & Free Membership	$150	Submit Now
LAST MINUTE SUBMISSION		Expires January 15th
Regular Price	$85	Submit Now
Member Price	-10%	Sign In
Two Pilots & Free Membership	$170	Submit Now

To Find out more about the Launch Pad Pilot Competition click here.
Keep up with all Launch Pad news here.