“I'm an award winning, produced writer/director with verifiable credits. Normally I'd be very hesitant to write a bad review about a company supposedly helping writers submit their specs, but, I have eleven specs on their site, some with good coverage. I've submitted them to multiple companies - nothing. No "pro" scans of my work. Yes, a couple of passes; par for the course. I'm very used to "pass," and have walked away from my share of crappy deals, but after having been on the site for months, paying the $10 monthly fee, I'm done and dusted. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't have fired my agent. Oh well, live and learn.”
“Whilst I am still in the process of looking for representation, I have won a couple of contests (top 10 ones) and placed very highly in countless others - including Nicholls. I have had a vast amount of coverage including various 'reputable' companies, individuals and the Blacklist. Also having scored well on those. But ISA (development), was hands-down the worst feedback I have ever received. I have had plenty of good AND bad feedback - but it is almost always constructive. It was clear from reading the notes, that the reader was inexperienced and reflected a number of 'personal' objections to the material. I have also been a member of the Network site for a few years now, and have yet to see a single benefit. I have applied to countless writing gigs and contests, with awards winning screenplays, and have had very few people even read the script. Thankfully I don't pay for the service, and actively tell others to avoid - as the cost is not worth the venture. I've seen a number of 'success' stories posted, and wanted to set a record straight regarding the alternative of these limited successes. YIf you comfortable and happy to take the risk, then it may pan out for you. But there are far better investments like Coverfly, Austin Film Fest, Nicholls Fellowship, Final Draft Big Break, Screencraft and Zoetrope. Theres a reason the ISA membership isn't connected to Coverfly - a far more reputable source.”
“ISA is simply a money-making website for the creators. I never see any real success stories on the site, and when you submit to gigs, you never, and I mean never, receive any type of response, whether a 'no' or 'maybe' or 'yes'. It's a waste of time and money. I have had better luck submitting to Craigslist writing gigs.”
“By far the strongest site I've seen providing a list of great resources like current contests, sometimes free, classes, webinars, podcasts and many industry insider videos. I did the $10 monthly for a while then jumped to the yearly because I saved $20 per year and they offer 4 free screenplay contests with the plan. Pretty fair value considering 4 contests cost me more than $150 a year to enter. Plus all the other free stuff. So, definitely a legit company who really seems to care about the isolation that comes with being home writing along. The ISA team is pretty solid. :)”
“They state membership is free but it is Not. $10 a month. They operate on a large massive quantity. Most of the writing jobs offered are High School Web series. This is a very time consuming venture. Then when you do apply for a writing job you get an email basically saying don’t expect anything. Just terrible waste of time & money.”
