Genre: Drama/Love StoryPremise: A man is released from the mental hospital with his mind set on getting his wife back. He’ll unfortunately need the help of a woman as crazy as him. About: This is perfect subject matter for David O. Russell, since it’s pretty well known he’s a bit nuts himself. Playbook’s been in [...]
Genre: Horror/ThrillerPremise: (from writers) It’s a brilliant bank robbery plan. But there’s one contingency no one could have planned for: One of the hostages turns into a werewolf, turning the bank they’ve locked down to keep out the police into a deathtrap. And turning a criminal into a hero. About: One of the writers of [...]
Genre: Horror ComedyPremise: In a world that’s gotten used to the zombie presence, a young couple finds themselves trying to raise a zombie baby.About: This script finished in the middle of the pack of last year’s Black List. This was Jones’ thesis script at the American Film Institute. He moved to LA after going to [...]
Genre: HorrorPremise: After a bus crashes in the snowy mountains, its passengers are stalked by a terrifying beast. About: This one is from Bryan Bertino, the writer/director of The Strangers. At one point, Bryan was going to direct Black but that’s since changed, and they appear to be looking for someone new to helm the [...]
Genre: Thriller Premise: A teenage girl heads to a remote cabin in the mountains with her father and new stepmother – an experience the father hopes will bond the two ladies. But when a mysterious wounded Park Ranger shows up, family bonding will be the least of their concerns. About: This spec was sent out [...]
Oooh oooh ahhh ahhh ahhhhhh (you have to imagine that in a dark spooky voice). Come one, come all, to the return of……..HALLOWEEN WEEK! We skipped it last year but it’s back with a vengeance baby! I just know it’s going to be fang-tastic. Get it? “Fang?” As in the fangs of a vampire? Oh [...]
Genre: Period Piece/AdventurePremise: (from writers) 48 BC. When fanatics burn the Library of Alexandria to cover the theft of advanced technology, a naive engineering apprentice and a handful of displaced scholars must defeat the growing cult using scientific trickery of their own. About: Every Friday, I review a script from the readers of the site. [...]
So last week we talked about adding conflict to scenes. Today, we’re gonna take that one step further and talk about specific ways to improve your scenes. Now the majority of what makes a scene great comes from what you’ve done beforehand. The structure of your story. The development of your characters. How you craft [...]
Genre: ComedyPremise: In 1986, the year Halloween lost its innocence, three junior high best friends try to salvage their last shot at the holiday. About: There’s not a whole lot of info on this screenplay but it looks to have been commissioned from National Lampoon’s for Robbie Chavitz to write. Robbie has been working for [...]
I guess we should’ve known Nicholl would never allow scripts as weird as Fig Hunt and A Many Splintered Thing to win. That’s not their M.O. They tend to highlight those types of scripts in their finalists category, then award the trophy to more serious fare. I haven’t read any of the winning scripts yet, [...]
Edit: I was able to get my hands on the newest version of Fig Hunter and give it a read. As a result, I’ve decided to add my thoughts on the new draft, which will appear after the original review. So make sure to read til the end! Genre: Comedy/MockumentaryPremise: A couple of “fig hunters” [...]
Genre: Biopic/Thriller Premise: The story of how Alan Turing cracked the impossible “Enigma” code, which helped the Allies win World War 2. About: If I were to gauge the buzz around all the spec screenplays this year, this one would probably be at the top of the list. In fact, I’m betting this script is [...]
Genre: Sci-fiPremise: On their way to California, a family stops at a truck stop, only to realize it’s inhabited by a strange alien force. 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, along with [...]
Last week we talked about establishing conflict through characters, relationships, and external forces. During the article, I casually mentioned the importance of conflict within scenes as well. Many of you expressed interest in hearing more about that, so I decided to expand my conflict ramblings to a second week. Indeed, virtually every scene in your [...]
Genre: ThrillerPremise: An agent infiltrates a dangerous eco-terrorism unit only to find herself falling for the unit’s leader. About: This is from Sundance sensation Brit Marling, whose film Another Earth has broken out of indie obscurity into slightly less indie obscurity. Supposedly, Brit would be playing the main character here, but I’ve also heard that [...]
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Musical/Satire/CrazyPremise: A bitter and frustrated movie blogger becomes obsessed with an award-winning director who he believes stands for everything that is wrong with the industry. About: This is Charlie Kaufman’s next directing project. It will star Kevin Klein, Steve Carrell, Jack Black and Nicholas cage. Writer: Charlie KaufmanDetails: 151 pages – May 17, 2010 [...]
Genre: Comedy/Romantic ComedyPremise: Told in the first person, a disgruntled screenwriter falls in love with a taken woman, and decides to do anything in his power to get her. About: This is one of this year’s (2011) Nicholl finalists. The Nicholl Fellowship is the biggest screenwriting competition in the world. Writers: Chris Shafer & Paul [...]
Genre: Crime/ThrillerPremise: After being left for dead, a man plots his revenge against the Chicago mob family who killed his wife. 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, along with your title, genre, [...]
So as you know, I was reading Magic Mike earlier this week and I had a big problem with the lack of conflict. Then came The Insane Laws, which also seemed to miss out on a big opportunity for conflict when it made the competing families too chummy with each other. It reminded me that [...]
Pulled this quote off of CNN’s piece on him. It’s advice we should all be following: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to [...]
