What is your background?

I'm originally from Chicago, where I worked as a trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. I didn't see myself doing that for too long, so I migrated west to Los Angeles and wanted to produce films. Having done so, I quickly threw myself into producing short films and pitching feature films to studios.

What inspired you to start Scriptapalooza?

With the internet craze happening in 1998, I wanted to start something with scripts and with the internet, Scriptapalooza was born. I noticed that a lot of screenwriting competitions really didn't do anything for the winners/runners-up. I wanted to change that.

How many submissions do you expect to get this year?

Last year we got a little over 2300 submissions. I think partly due to the economy and what's happening overseas, I do believe our submissions might be lower. But I do think that our reputation has gotten better and bigger, so it's really up in the air.

In the three years that Scriptapalooza has been running, it has grown into one of the handful of dominant screenplay and television writing contests in the country. How have you managed to achieve that?

Helping the writer is all we are about, and I think everyone knows that. From the first year we started, it was about promoting all the 13 winners for a full year. (That's the top 3 and 10 runners-up.) Our mission statement is to discover talent and shed the light of Hollywood on them. I am determined to seek out talent and force the industry to look at our discoveries. Scriptapalooza's philosophy of discovering, creating a buzz around, and delivering a fantastic product has proven successful in all divisions. And also, keeping the entry fee reasonable. Scriptapalooza TV's fee is still only $35 dollars, since we started in 99.' And finally, I think respecting the artists, meaning always returning the writers' emails, calls, and always announcing the quarterfinalists, semi-finalists and the winners on time.

Tell us about some of the success stories Scriptapalooza has had. Besides the accolade of winning, what can/does Scriptapalooza do to help promote its top-placing writers?

Well, I think everybody already knows about this one, it's been in Entertainment Weekly Magazine twice, it's a runner-up from the 1999 competition. Andrea Bailey's script, "Falling Over Venus" was being set up at Universal, and now Marc Platt Producions (one of our participants) decided to make it as an independent film. We have so many little success stories that I couldn't name them all, but if you visit our website, please go to THE LATEST NEWS, there it lists them all.

What are some of the more common script problems you've seen? What does it take to make those second and third cuts?

I would say having a strong beginning, middle and end will always have one script rise above another. Writers should rewrite, rewrite and rewrite. Send a solid script.

Do some genres seem to start out with an uphill battle (for example, Westerns, period pieces)? How about scripts with a nontraditional structure a la David Lynch-do you feel scripts like these have an equal shot in a competition like Scriptapalooza?

We get this question all the time, Scriptapalooza bases the judging on writing, period. Not if it's a western or love story. We want to read an amazing story, whether its about aliens or cops, doesn't matter. It's the storytelling that we are looking for.

Conversely, do some genres seem to fare better? I did notice there seemed to be a preponderance of comedies in last year's finalist group.

Again, we didn't look at it that way. The writing was there and we happen to judge on the writing, not genre.

Why the decision not to allow scripts based on material in the public domain?

If it's in the public domain that is acceptable.

Who does the judging? How are they selected and what qualifications do they carry? When you get to the final round, how are the winning scripts decided on?

The judging is done all in-house. Genevieve Cibor, Kelli Bennett and myself all read the scripts and judge them all the way to the winners. We have over 30 years experience combined in reading scripts.

Can you talk about some of the qualities that the winning scripts seem to have in common?

The writers passion comes through about his or her subject matter. Some of the most mundane ideas can be spellbinding if the writer must share this story with others.

Have you seen any consistent trends in genre sales in the industry? In other words, do some genres seem to be more marketable than others?

Not really, so many different movies are made each year, I think we are swayed because of the marketing we see on TV. Miramax will market the heck out of a certain movie, and we think comedies are big this year. I think what the industry puts out in front of us, is what we think is mostly out there. If you took all the movies made in one year and looked at the genres you'd amazed at the variety. Also, trends don't play an influence on any decisions regarding scripts in our competition.

I agree, one of the most difficult things for a screenwriter trying to break into Hollywood is simply to rise far enough above the 'noise' to be noticed. What suggestions might you have for screenwriters attempting to get a start in the industry?

I think some of the most important things are don't believe everything you read, don't believe one person's opinion and definitely don't give up.