It’s no contest: He’s a winner

You’d think 38 screenwriting awards would earn Westwood resident Robert Davenport more than a solitary writing credit (for the animated TV series “Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters”).

But that’s showbiz, folks.

Davenport has written about 30 feature-length scripts since completing his master’s in screenwriting from UCLA in 1999; eight have won major awards. The honors are legit -- not from the “everyone’s-a-winner-for-a-fee” contests. Davenport’s been a winner, semifinalist, finalist or some other designation from both recognizable competitions (Sundance) to the more obscure (Zaki Gordon Screenwriting).

His luck with contests seems endless, and if it’s not matched by sales, that doesn’t discourage Davenport too much.

“What’s nice about the contests is that it’s about talent,” he says. “It’s pure. Send in a script. If it’s good, you win. If it’s not, you don’t.”

His most lauded script is “The Six Court Martials of Uriah Levy,” a comedy about anti-Semitism that’s won 14 awards.

Davenport’s screenwriting career has only blossomed recently -- after finishing previous stints as a pilot, an attorney, a studio executive (with Viacom, New World Television and 20th Century Fox) and a published book author.

But that’s a story -- make that a screenplay -- for another day.