The Nashville Filmmakers Guild has launched the Break Through Screenplay Competition. This is part of their Tennessee Film Lab film development initiative. Unlike most competitions that award-winning scripts with cash, Break Through will award the winning scriptwriters with the opportunity to have their film developed, financed, and produced into a major motion picture.

“Break Through is a key component to our development initiative. It allows us to scour the globe for that special story that will help put our development plan in motion” said Bobby Marko, executive director for the Nashville Filmmakers Guild. “We wanted to do something unique, something different from the other competitions out there. We believe this shows how serious we are about making films in Tennessee.”

The Tennessee Film Lab is designed to boost the local film industry in Tennessee. It will provide resources for allowing commercially viable projects to move forward. “We have a very skilled and creative community in Tennessee, which ranks 7th in the country for film and television production. Want to see that ranking go up!” says Mr. Marko. “By helping set more projects up for success, we can help the state of Tennessee become a magnet for talent around the world!” he continues.

The Break Through competition has another innovative factor in that it is utilizing analytical software development by the American Film Lab. This software will aid in the evaluation and selection of scripts. The American Film Lab script analysis provides screenwriters with constructive analysis, market valuation, and business viability while mitigating the personal opinion of the reader.

Derek Purvis, a film producer who authored the software says “The power of the software is that it helps writers understand that writing a great script is not enough. A writer must consider their audience, the market, the budget and the viability of their story.” Derek continues, “The software shows them by comparative rankings how their script stacks up to other films in their genre.” Purvis, along with Jordan Kessler and Bobby Marko, is also one of the producers for the competition.

Innovation and technology make for a combination that is seldom seen much in the world of script competitions and film festivals. Break Through has a chance to set the bar for others to follow.

What is the Break Through Screenplay Competition?

The Break Through screenplay competition is unique in a few ways. First, it’s the only screenplay competition that we know of in which the winning script gets developed, financed and made into a fully commercially viable film ready for the market.

It’s unique in that the winning script will be made in a feature film, how does that work?

Most screenplay competitions dole out money and prizes that amount to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. That money could easily be used to help develop a project. The Break Through producers have decades of experience of financing and producing films. We are confident in their knowledge of funding projects, so much so that we know the money spent on a cash prize could finance the development funds necessary to get a film fully funded and put into production.

How are the winners chosen?

This is another unique aspect of the competition. We have partnered with the American Film Lab which owns a script analytics algorithm that will aid in the selection process. This algorithm is a proven software, already used by studios and now available to the public, that mitigates the personal opinion of the reader and factors in the marketability and the business viability of the script as well as the creative merit. The software provides a score for each script and we can use that score to begin choosing the best script to put into production.

The competition is part of the Tennessee Film Lab, what is the TFL and how does the competition fit within that program?

The Tennessee Film Lab is a development initiative designed to boost projects birthed in Tennessee. This, in turn, will help establish the business structure necessary to grow a sustainable state industry. Tennessee ranks 7th in the country for film and tv production. We have a very creative and well-established workforce that’s growing here in the state and we know with the necessary tools and resources that the community can grow into a viable and competitive market. Our desire is that the Tennessee Film Lab can be a part of that growth.

The Break Through competition allows us to scour the globe to find that special story to utilize throughout the process. We not only have a film to create but it employs the Tennessee community, supports local vendors, creates learning opportunities about development for our members and ultimately will one of many projects that helps usher in a viable economy for our state film and television industry.

Why was the TFL created?

The Tennessee creative community is growing at a rapid pace because we have a great blend of arts, entertainment and a creative landscape to match. However, the infrastructure is limited in many ways. To support a growing workforce, we saw the immediate need to help grow the infrastructure of the state’s industry. After speaking with many state leaders and policy administrators, we realized the business structure of creating content was in need of further growth and support. Thus, the Tennessee Film Lab was conceived.

Who benefits for the TFL?

Without sounding cliche but I will, everyone! On the front end, of course, screenwriters, producers and directors, the content creators. But once the initiative begins putting films in full production cycles, then everyone from PA’s to editors, to composers, camera crews, studios and so on. But it goes even beyond that, to our supporting industries such as food and beverage, hospitality, travel, marketing, legal, insurance, all have a chance to benefit. Which is why it’s important for us to let as many people know within and outside our state. We hope not just to support what we currently have but also be a magnet to attract more talent.

Why development, why not provide help for production or post-production?

This is a multi-faceted question but to simplify I would lay it out this way. Because we are not Los Angeles or New York, who already have many of the established resources needed until now more emphasis has been put on just getting projects made and less about creating viable and marketable content that creates revenue streams and an economy to build upon. That emphasis is not sustainable. Helping filmmakers and writers understand the development process and providing those resources will ultimately lead to content being funded because of the successful development that is deployed.

It’s like trying to build a house without the blueprints. Can it be done? Yes. Will it be successful? Most likely not. Only when you move through the development process will you know if you have a viable project fit for the market you’re making the content.

TFL seems to focus on feature films, what about scripted series or documentaries, does development benefit those types of content?

We are starting with the feature film market because it’s the most established medium for generating content both on the development and distribution side of the spectrum. When you look at the television market, that medium is constantly shifting for development and distribution which makes it more difficult to establish a business structure. Feature film distribution is also changing but at a slower pace. But the development process hasn’t changed much over the last 20 years.

We do want to add scripted series projects into the initiative eventually, however, we decided to use the feature film medium to establish the program and grow from there.

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