Are you on the fence about whether or not to apply? Feeling unprepared or too inexperienced? With only a few days left before the cut off deadline, our selection committee will soon be narrowing down the pile of Scripted Series Lab 2020 applications to a very short list of people. It’s a bit tragic to me because I know so many of you are up to the challenge of shining in a writers’ room if just given the chance!
Any writer who goes to the trouble of writing an original spec pilot and preparing a submission package gets a nod of respect from me, whether or not they make it into the final selected group this year. As I writer myself, I know what a massive amount of work and courage it takes to be application ready, and I relate to the vulnerability you might feel when you send off your work.
If you’re nearing the deadline but you aren’t sure your work is at the level it needs to be, or you aren’t sure if you have the level of experience required to be considered, I would suggest you apply anyway. Self-doubt is a powerful force to be reckoned with but putting yourself out there gets easier with practice and it is part of being a professional.
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” – Jack Canfield
Even if you applied last year and you aren’t sure it’s worth submitting again, either with the same sample or a new one, I hope you do submit again. You never know how close you came last year or how your sample script will be received by this year’s readers.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. –Thomas Edison
One of our guests to the writers’ room shared some advice given to them by showrunner Simon Barry that really stayed with me. Apparently, Mr. Barry is of the opinion that if you don’t have five projects in the works, you aren’t working hard enough to put yourself out there. In that light, consider your application to the Scripted Series Lab 2020 as just one of many opportunities you are currently reaching for.
Regardless of what happens next, stay busy! I know the work you put into your application makes you a stronger, more pitch ready writer with a fresh sample to shop around. We have such an untapped wealth of creativity and talent here in BC. Good luck, my friends! Keep writing. Keep applying. Keep going. Email the industry people you admire and ask if they’d join you for a coffee! We need you all to become industrious producers and fearless promoters of your work.
My strength lies solely in my tenacity.–Louis Pasteur