Note: Scroll Down for FRIDAY’S Amateur Friday review! Hey guys.  So I’ve been chatting with my friends over at The Tracking Board and It’s On The Grid and have set up another opportunity for you to get a nice discount on subscriptions to each.  For those who don’t know what a tracking board is, it’s [...]

Genre: ComedyPremise: A marginally talented tribute band finds itself magically/accidentally transported back to the year 1973 and seizes the opportunity to become actual rock stars by “stealing” the career of the group they’ve long made a living out of impersonating.About: Okay you guys who want to submit to Amateur Friday, I expect your loglines to [...]

 Best movie fit for a logline ever?? Okay, first thing’s first. I am not a logline expert! There are probably people on these boards that know a lot more about loglines than I do (and therefore I welcome their criticisms). However, I am someone who’s received a few thousand loglines all designed to catch my [...]

Genre: DramaPremise: After a young man’s wife dies, he befriends a strange homeless girl who’s building a raft she hopes to sail away with.About: The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea is based on the memoirs of Henry Hertzel Jr. and will star Zach Braff, Chloe Moretz, and Jessica Biel. Robbie Pickering, the writer, had [...]

Just wanted to send out a little love to longtime Scriptshadow reader Gary Milin for his Amazon Studios screenwriting win.  His script “Sky Pirates” won the top prize.  The logline is: “In 1940, a US airship is sent on a top secret mission into the uncharted African interior in order to intercept a Nazi Zeppelin [...]

Genre: ComedyPremise: A recently dumped high school senior gets a visit from a hologramed version of his 37 year old self, who helps him put his life back together. About: What Would Kenny Do made the bottom quarter of the 2008 Black List. The writer, Christopher Baldi, has been busting his ass writing, directing, producing, [...]

Genre: Drama Premise: An alcoholic pilot becomes a reluctant hero when he saves a crippled plane from certain catastrophe. About: If this is based on anything (a novel?), I wasn’t able to find out what. Which means we have the rare exception to the rule that is a drama spec sale. The writer, Gatins, has [...]

Genre: ComedyPremise: When a controlling fiance-to-be loses her boyfriend and descends into bitterness, her friends send her to “Man Camp” to learn how to date again. About: Every Friday, I review a script from the readers of the site. If you’re interested in submitting your script for an Amateur Review, send it in PDF form, [...]

A friend of mine was telling me that Bridesmaids was written in six days. I laughed at him. “No it wasn’t.” “Yes,” he assured me, “It was written in six days. I’m positive. I read it in an interview.” Having just come from the film, and marveling at how well-written it was, I assured him, [...]

Genre: Crime ThrillerPremise: After being double-crossed during a bank heist, a safe-cracker teams up with the hitman hired to kill him to take down the double-crosser. About: Knight is one of the top-dollar assignment dogs in Hollywood. I don’t know what his fee is but I’m pretty sure it’s close to a million bucks an [...]

Genre: ComedyPremise: When his sister joins him at the New York Stock Exchange as an intern, Drew thinks it’s going to be the best summer ever – until he realizes that every single guy at the company wants to _____ his sister. About: I Want To ____ Your Sister made huge waves back in 2007 [...]

Genre: Crime/Drama/NoirPremise: A retired detective is hired by a drug dealer to find the men who brutally murdered his wife. About: The other day, I reviewed a new (old) script that made it on to my Top 25, After Hailey, by Scott Frank. Afterwards, I sought out more Scott Frank scripts hoping to strike gold [...]

Genre: Drama/SportsPremise: A teenage boy hoping to escape the poverty of his West African village finds the opportunity when a professional futebol scout comes to town. About: Every Friday, I review a script from the readers of the site. If you’re interested in submitting your script for an Amateur Review, send it in PDF form, [...]

So last week I gave you ten screenwriting tips to take away from Aliens, one of the best sci-fi action films ever. This week, we’re looking at the sequel to Aliens, Alien 3, which a young David Fincher directed. Now originally, I wrote this long impassioned opening about how terribly directed this movie was. The [...]

No! Lots of people have been asking me if I went to see my favorite screenplay, Everything Must Go, yet.  The answer is, no, I have not.  The reason?  Because I’m terrified of ruining the perfect movie that is in my head.  I’m hearing mixed things about the film and I’m afraid if I go [...]

Genre: Horror/ThrillerPremise: A young woman watching over a blind child must protect her when the home is invaded by the unthinkable. About: The Watching Hour sold a couple of weeks ago. The Van Dykes are related to the great Dick Van Dyke, and there was a big comment war over on Deadline Hollywood that this [...]

Aliens is, quite simply, awesome. It’s one of those movies that works if you’re 15 or you’re 35. It’s got action. It’s got mystery. It’s got emotion. And it’s in the running for best sequel ever. When I give notes, there’s no movie I reference more than this one. I’ve been known to bring up [...]

Aliens is, quite simply, awesome. It’s one of those movies that works if you’re 15 or you’re 35. It’s got action. It’s got mystery. It’s got emotion. And it’s in the running for best sequel ever. When I give notes, there’s no movie I reference more than this one. I’ve been known to bring up [...]

People have been e-mailing me asking me what I thought of Everything Must Go.  To be honest, I’m terrified to see it.  The movie is already perfect in my head, and I’m scared to ruin that by watching the film.  But I’ll probably force myself to do it in the next couple of weeks.  Also, [...]