I’m not sure what I was expecting from a January horror film. But it certainly wasn’t what I got. Everybody say it with me: “MA-MA.” Genre: Horror Premise: (from IMDB) Annabel and Lucas are faced with the challenge of raising his young nieces that were left alone in the forest for 5 years…. but how [...]
Warrior may not have made the splash it had hoped to, but that doesn’t mean MMA-themed movies are dead. Someone out there is going to write an MMA-centered classic. The question is, is it today’s writer? Amateur Friday Submission Process: To submit your script for an Amateur Review, send in a PDF of your script, [...]
What’s the easiest way to tell the difference between an amateur and a pro script? That’s easy: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. The pros know how to do it. Amateurs don’t. Most amateurs don’t even attempt to add character development. And the ones who do usually use something like addiction or the death of a loved one to [...]
Today’s screenplay is a cult classic in the spec world. Only true insiders know about it. But that’s about to change. Genre: Biopic Premise: Between 1996 and 2005, three enormous personalities dominated the trade headlines with their petty antics. No, this story is not about Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and Russel Crowe. It’s about Disney [...]
For the foreseeable future, every Tuesday will be a Scriptshadow Secrets type breakdown of a great movie, giving you 10-12 screenwriting lessons from some of the best movies of all time. Today will be the first entry, “The Graduate.” Next week will be The Big Lewbowski. And going forward from there, I’ll be taking suggestions. [...]
First off, I just want to thank everybody who’s written in recently to say how much they’ve gotten out of the site the last few years, from the guy who just started writing a couple of weeks ago to even a couple of well-known Hollywood directors. It appears that while there was a highly vocal [...]
Today’s amateur zombie screenplay poses the question – What is character development really? 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 [...]
I remember when I first got into this screenwriting game, I used to see the films that finished at the top of the box office each year (Pirates of The Caribbean, The Lord Of The Rings, Shrek) and think, “That’s the kind of material Hollywood likes to buy, so that’s the kind of material we [...]
You know, it’s funny. When the New York Times e-mailed to say they were doing a piece on Scriptshadow, I wasn’t as thrilled as someone being contacted by the New York Times should probably be. I knew an article meant more exposure. Which is usually a good thing. But I also knew that every time [...]
I love it when a screenplay comes out of nowhere. Totally picked this one up out of a pile, and boy did it deliver! Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Procedural Premise: The true story behind the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.? About: This script was written, I believe, in 2004, where it was hot enough to get Leonardo [...]
Amateurs don’t get much love in the screenwriting business. UNTIL TODAY! Here are 15 amateur screenplays that caught my attention in 2012. Let’s find a home for some of them! Gangnam Style Top 15 Breakdown! One of the cool things about The Black List when it first came out was that you truly felt like [...]
Is one of the most hated movies of the year really in my Top 10?? I have to admit I was a little disappointed by this year’s crop of films. There was nothing that truly wowed me, that I HAD to recommend to my friends. There should be 2 or 3 movies a year where [...]
Nothing gets movie lovers more juiced up than when you tell them one of their favorite movies stinks. So you probably don’t want to read this article if you’re still wound up from the holidays. Barring the occasional exception, I’m not into bashing material. I like to celebrate movies, not call them names. Or at [...]
Black List? Hah. Hit List. Nope. My top 10 screenplays of the year! For those of you disappointed that the end of the world didn’t come, I say to you, chin up! A new year is upon us, which means new possibilities, new frontiers, new chances to sell your script. For a little inspiration, let’s [...]
Say you could clone a younger hotter version of your wife? Would you? Better be prepared for the consequences. 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, your title, genre, logline, and finally, why I should read [...]
A spec screenplay with no Black List play makes a strong late-year debut and asks the screenwriting community, “How could you miss me?” Genre: Sci-fi Premise: A top secret deep space crew comes upon a strange deserted futuristic ship. After boarding, key members of the crew start experiencing time loops. About: Echo Station was recently [...]
UPDATE: There are still countries where the discount hasn’t updated yet, so I’m going to keep the $4.99 special going on for one more day (Wednesday). Take advantage! The book with more screenwriting tips than you’ll know what to do with is just $4.99 through Christmas Day. Snatch it while you can. And Merry Christmas! [...]
Lincoln’s screenplay reverses the adage of “show don’t tell,” leaving us a show that doesn’t tell us much at all. Genre: Historical Premise: (from IMDB) As the Civil War continues to rage, America’s president struggles with continuing carnage on the battlefield and as he fights with many inside his own cabinet on the decision to [...]
UPDATE: First off, thank you to everyone who applied for free notes! Sometimes, when I’m doing this, I forget that these are all real people with real lives struggling to do this thing that they love. That happens because it’s the internet and I see all these names but never any faces. Hearing your stories [...]
The controversy over this film is at Mach 5. But Scriptshadow doesn’t care about any of that nonsense. I just want to know if it’s a good screenplay! Genre: War/Action/Drama Premise: A CIA agent who experiences countless failures in her search to find Bin Laden, finally becomes convinced she knows where he is. With her [...]
