Recently I’ve been talking a lot to John Jarrell, a screenwriter who’s been working in this business for over 20 years, and learning quite a bit from him. When he mentioned he was putting together a class, I told him that I had to promote it on the site, especially since I’ve been getting so [...]
Genre: Thriller(?) Premise: (Original Twit-Pitch Logline) A civil war expert and his son must fight to survive a reenactment organized by a dangerous southern cult. About: For those recently joining Scriptshadow, I held a contest a few months back called “Twit-Pitch,” where anyone could pitch me their screenplay on Twitter, as long as it was contained within [...]
Genre: Historical/ActionPremise: George Washington must lead a dying army to fend off a band of British mercenaries intent on destroying America. About: A couple of interesting things about this one. First of all, Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) is set to direct it. Now THAT could be interesting. Also, the writers here are traditionally comedy writers. [...]
Genre: BiopicPremise: While growing up, a young boy gradually learns that his father, who’s his hero, is the world’s biggest deadbeat. About: Adapted by A-List screenwriter Steve Zaillian (Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, Moneyball, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) back in 2000, from the memoir, “Duke Of Deception: Memories Of My Father,” by Geoffrey [...]
Genre: Sci-Fi/DramaPremise: A terminally ill data cruncher is tasked with crunching the company’s most unsolvable job, the mysterious Zero Theorem.About: If there’s ever been such a thing as a dream geek pairing, Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys) and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Bastards) would be somewhere in the top 10 (okay, let’s face it, Terry Gilliam and [...]
Amateur Friday Submission Process: To submit your script for an Amateur Review, send in a PDF of your script, a PDF of the first ten pages of your script, your title, genre, logline, and finally, why I should read your script. Use my submission address please: Carsonreeves3@gmail.com. Your script and “first ten” will be posted. If [...]
So over the last few weeks, you guys have seen me bring a certain term up time and time again: CLARITY. Or, more specifically, lack there of. Clarity isn’t as sexy to talk about as character arcs or the first act turn, but unclear writing is a way-too-common problem for beginners and low intermediates, particularly [...]
Genre: ActionPremise: A young man who has the ability to see manifestations of evil in people, must save the world from Lucifer. About: Okay, so a little history on this script. This is not a spec sale. Nor has it been optioned to my knowledge. I’m reviewing it because it was highly recommended to me [...]
Genre: Sci-fiPremise: A strapped-for-cash woman agrees to be part of a lab study where participants are placed in a room for a month, but begins to suspect that she’s been in the room for much longer than that. About: Don’t know much about this one other than that the movie is being made by Vital [...]
Genre: Sports DramaPremise: An aging baseball scout who’s losing his eyesight must enlist the help of a daughter who hates baseball to scout a young prospect.About: This one has a really interesting backstory to it and should give screenwriters everywhere hope that it can happen, if not on the timeframe they planned. Writer Randy Brown [...]
Genre: Drama/Thriller Premise: (Original Twit-Pitch Logline) A terrorist with a $10 mill bounty, a callous soldier of fortune and a mysterious man with no name walk into a bar in Afghanistan. About: For those recently joining Scriptshadow, I held a contest a few months back called “Twit-Pitch,” where anyone could pitch me their screenplay on Twitter, as [...]
Hello my fellow Scriptshadowians. So I’ve wanted to write an article about theme for the longest time now but the truth is, it’s not one of my strengths. I understand the broad strokes but there are times when theme flat out confuses me. For that reason, I’ve brought in a tag-team partner, Tawnya Bhattacharya from Script Anatomy, to [...]
Genre: Period/Epic/Sci-FiPremise: (from IMDB) An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.About: Wachowskis again! This script was adapted by the Wachowskis as [...]
Genre: Dark Comedy?Premise: When her more popular twin dies in a horrific car accident, a young woman unwittingly takes on her sister’s identity.About: This 2011 Black List script is currently in post-production. Jenee LaMarque is both the writer and director. Zoe Kazan will star as both twins. Before this, LaMarque had only made a couple [...]
t Michael Mann still thinking Gold?? My friends…it’s been awhile. We haven’t had a bona-fide good script to read since forever ago. In fact, here are some quick factoids about how long it’s actually been… 1) Gangnam Style still hadn’t hit the internet.2) K-Stew and R-Patz were still living together.3) I hadn’t moved out to [...]
Genre: Comedy Premise: (Original Twit-Pitch Logline) In 1903 North Carolina, the Wright bros attempt the first flight, but shenanigans arise when they fall in love with the same woman. About: For those recently joining Scriptshadow, I held a contest a few months back called “Twit-Pitch,” where anyone could pitch me their screenplay on Twitter, as long as [...]
So I put the question out there to you guys – What would you like to see a Thursday article about? I got a lot of suggestions, but by far, the one readers wanted most was an article about rewriting. Apparently the claim last week that you should write ten drafts before showing your script [...]
Genre: Horror/ZombiePremise: A married couple goes on a cruise to heal their wounds after losing their son, but when the ship rescues a strange sick man, they soon find that their own lives are in danger. About: Hey, how often do we get to read a script by TWINS? Touchstone bought this spec back in [...]
Genre: Dark ThrillerPremise: A wayward aspiring chef moves into a homeless shelter only to learn that the food they cook here is a little more…exotic than he’s used to. About: The Wachowski Brothers’ first script sale was “Assassins.” But they’d actually written plenty of scripts before that, including this one, which, after The Matrix, landed [...]
Genre: Cop/ProceduralPremise: (from Black List) Four hardened New York detectives race to apprehend a relentless spree-killer who’s executing victims from Queens to Southampton in the span of a single day.About: This script finished in the middle of the 2011 Black List with 10 votes. Co-writer Alex Paraskevas has one produced credit, the 2005 Jason Patric [...]
