Part 31: I WON! THE ONLY WAY OUT Wins TrackingB Script Competition
- Amy Giaquinto
- Feb 28
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 12
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Act I
2025 didn't start off very well for me (for most people I know, actually). Between my emergency spine surgery, Justin nearly chopping off his finger, several friends getting diagnosed with or undergoing treatment for various cancers, my manager suffering a major blow, the fires and floods in LA and, of course, the state of the US right now... It's been a doozy.
Act II
As for THE ONLY WAY OUT, Marty Katz has been diligently working on reaching his contact at Netflix since November to no avail, and I haven't heard a word from my contacts at Utopia Distribution. I imagine a lot of this is due to the fires in LA which have uprooted so many people in the industry.
Worse, everyone in the industry is talking about how the industry is in a really bad place right now and it's almost impossible to sell original material in any budget range above $3 million. And it's not just people like me struggling, it's everyone, even A-list actresses like Nichole Kidman!
Beginning to lose hope, I decided to shift gears and focus my time and energy on creating something tangible, positive and fun, MAMA FIX IT™ episodes and short videos. I've had a lot of fun with MAMA FIX IT, but the urge to write, to finish my next script, is still there. In fact, it's been eating away at me for months.
And so, I bounced back to that script, and another one I've been working on for...a long time. Call me stupid, but I feel compelled to finish them even if the odds of making anything on them aren't in my favor. (Although I think the chances are higher for the lower budget script than the bigger budget script, but I could be wrong.) The problem is, I'd get into one of the scripts and I'd enjoy myself, and, suddenly, my logical brain would ask, "What the hell are you doing? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" And that was that.
Act II Midpoint
But then I saw an ad for a local short script competition, and I thought, this is exactly what I need right now. Surrounded by negativity, I wrote two short scripts and then chose to perfect one. It was an uplifting short script with a solid message about discrimination, based on car crash experience in Utah. I was really hoping to finish as a finalist or runner-up. I was hoping for a little boost of encouragement.
While I waited for the competition to announce winners, I continued to work on MAMA FIX IT™ content and, when I could drown out the voices in my head, I also worked on my scripts. I was plugging along, recovering from my surgery, when I had my 8-week post-op check-up.
I know the doctor said I had 12 weeks in this neck brace, but my mom said her friend had the same surgery and was out of the neck brace in 8 weeks. That's all it took to give me hope. I imagined the doctor looking at an X-ray of my neck and then telling me how fast I'm healing and that the extra 4 weeks in this brace wasn't necessary.
I envisioned getting out of the neck brace, and going to PT, and driving, and telling my parents they didn't have to continue alternating who was staying with us in order to help us get the kids where they needed to go. I had serious delusions of returning to karate, of doing private lessons and getting caught up so I could test for my black belt with my daughter in May.
But the surgeon said no, not yet, and this forced me to process the severity of what had happened to me. I crashed and crashed hard, but I didn't cry. I needed to cry, but I couldn't. Worse, I found out that my short script hadn't even placed in the top 3 in the local competition. Talk about a double tap kick in the guts... I was so frustrated that I was ready to throw in the towel with screenwriting.
Act III
But then I received an email from Adam at TrackingB, requesting a phone meeting. Months ago, on a whim, I'd entered THE ONLY WAY OUT's latest rewrite into TrackingB's script competition to see how it would fare. The previous rewrite didn't do so well in the Nicholl Fellowship and I wanted to make sure the draft we were shopping around was the best, possible draft. And so, slightly excited, I took the call.
Adam immediately told me how much everyone loved the script, the story, the characters, the tension, everything. The judges had raved to him and then he told me THE ONLY WAY OUT was chosen as one of three FINALISTS in the competition. I could have screamed. But then on Friday, it was announced that THE ONLY WAY OUT was chosen as the WINNER!!! I was bouncing off the walls happy!
FINALLY, there was some good news in 2025. Maybe this year wasn't doomed after all! TrackingB provides an amazing opportunity to get some fresh eyes on the script, and to hopefully get it to people we haven't been able to get it to, people who can help us get it made.
In fact, I already have a meeting set up with a manager on Monday and my inbox has been flooded with meeting and script requests. It's incredibly exciting! In preparation for my meetings, I'll certainly be reviewing my E-book Masterclass, PITCHING TO WIN, MASTERING THE HOLLYWOOD PITCH.
Anyway, this couldn't come at a better time since life threw my current manager, Stephanie Rogers, one heck of a curve ball that's forced her to significantly scale back her hours and not take on any new projects.
I'm heartbroken to have to move on from Stephanie. I've been with her forever now, and she's so much more than a manager! She's the reason I am where I am today. Her feedback, her husband's feedback, their belief in me has been so strong, so constant and so, incredibly powerful! I'm not sure what I'll do without her.
The best I can hope for is to take the lessons she's taught me and pray I can find someone half as good as she is. I feel like I'm approaching the end of an era and it's hard to move on even though she gave me her blessing to find new representation.
Back to the story...And so it goes that every time I want to stop screenwriting, a carrot is thrown my way. And so, for now, I'll continue to pursue this crazy dream, continue working my tail off to get THE ONLY WAY OUT made.
And I'll finish the two scripts I'm working on and get those on the market. And, of course, I'll meet with everyone who wants to meet with me about THE ONLY WAY OUT and representation and hope I make some amazing new connections.
I'll also continue to heal and produce MAMA FIX IT™ episodes and sell Filmmaking and MAMA FIX IT shirts, hats, and mugs to help support my screenwriting journey and to put a smile on your face.
Hint, hint, check out my store. Better yet Subscribe to my site and I'll send you a 20% off coupon!
Clearly this isn't the end of the story. In my mind, this story ends with me standing on stage and accepting an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for THE ONLY WAY OUT. It ends with me selling more scripts and doing what I do best, writing my heart out.
As always, thanks so much for your continued support! It means the world to me!
Congrats!!! So excited to hear about the meetings.
And what are these other scripts?