When all is said and done, I'd love to hear your postmortem thoughts on this process... specifically, how many more loglines di you receive than you though you would? 2x? 5x? Seems like a massive number here...

Steve, I was emailing with Nate Winslow just before the submission period opened and I laid out 350 as the over/under line for individual submissions. As Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed it by that much."

Lawl. You also mentioned that there is the possibility that you may choose more than 4 as a preliminary measure to get down to 4 finalists. Any word on how that's going to be handled? Or is your plan just a straight 4 announced on Monday now?

Off by less than an order of magnitude. So far.

Its not easy to to know what can be high concept. But how I see it, is if you generate many, then somehow you might now when the right one pops up. Its all about the feeling.

Wow, that's a staggering amount of entries, you must be pretty overwhelmed! Definitely looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the process. Happy reading!

And now, in Hollywood fashion, as that ticking clock nears zero -- roughly 1500 sweat beads trickle-down roughly 1500 foreheads awaiting for that "phone" to "ring." Let the games begin! Even if I don't make the cut the opportunity to place ass in chair and produce was welcomed and very much needed. Thanks for the opportunity Scott and have a great weekend! Oh by the way... Is there an over/under as to how long it will take for your eyes to start bleeding?

James, I'm pushing everything back by a week to deal with the flood of submissions. But the process will be pretty much as I outlined it when I first introduced the initiative: How will I determine who gets accepted: There are three key standards. (1) Story concept: I am looking for strong story concepts that I believe when executed as a script can get set up as projects in Hollywood. In other words, I am almost exclusively interested in commercial high concepts. I will make exceptions if the story elements make me think the project is a marketable one, but the concept has to be extremely strong if it is not high concept. (2) Writing ability: I will ask applicants who make it past the first cut to send me a sample of their writing, as well as a detailed description of their background as a writer and a statement about why they want to be a screenwriter. (3) Personal interview: I will have a one-on-one conversation with applicants who make it past the next cut in order to assemble a group I feel will be compatible with each other. So there will be an initial group who I contact for further information and background information, as well as a writing sample and whatever synopsis or treatment they have of the story for which they submitted the logline. Then another group that I talk with personally to round out the final four.

Mikael, that is very much true, at least in my experience. You generate a ton of ideas. After a point, your instincts give you a good read on the viability of a concept. But the key is coming up with a ton of ideas.