This week we have a couple of familiar faces. A writer whose last script got noticed by a Chinese production company as well as a writer with one of my favorite amateur scripts ever reviewed (Patisserie). Throw in another earth, a little birdie, and some PTSD, and we have ourselves a Saturday. A quick note before we get to the scripts. Guys, don’t tell me in your “Why You Should Read” that you’ve got GSU or arcing characters or any other technical terms. Those things are for you, not others. Talk about what drove you to write the script, why you think the script’s fresh or different, or something interesting about yourself. Those are the things myself and others are going to respond to. Okay, read away and vote for your favorite script in the comments!
Remember, you can submit your own script to challenge your peers by sending me an e-mail (carsonreeves3@gmail.com) with your TITLE, GENRE, LOGLINE, WHY YOU THINK IT DESERVES A SHOT, and a PDF of the screenplay. A good review tends to get writers some industry contacts. So who knows, maybe you’ll be the next “The Last Alchemist.” Keep’em coming!
Title: Evolution’s Eve
Genre: Action / Sci-Fi
Logline: When a sick little girl becomes the final component in a mad scientist’s plan to become a god, her parents must race against the clock to save her, before the world, and all humanity, is destroyed.
Why I think it deserves a shot: With my previous Amateur Offering outing, I had submitted the script Shadows Below after a mad dash to complete it in under a month. Scriptshadow’s savvy readers, and your review, recognized the early development of the draft, and were quick to point out its flaws that could be worked out in future drafts. In stark contrast, my script Evolution’s Eve is the product of years of work, and it has been edited and re-edited time and time again. In its previous form it existed as two separate screenplays, but as time goes by and we put in the work, every writer improves. This afforded me the wisdom to recognize that it needed to be a single script, and over the past two months I performed a page 1 rewrite of the project to create this screenplay’s final draft. While the tone and execution of each script may vary, a writer’s colors always shines through. I believe that this draft of Evolution’s Eve represents where I’m currently at in my skills as a screenwriter, and I feel that it is worthy for consideration in a shot to win an AF review.
Title: Canary
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Logline: A prostitute inducted into a spy organization must stop an impending terrorist attack while struggling to hold her family together.
Why You Should Read: I was born in a village in a third world country. I grew up without electricity, good schools, police, hospitals, or indoor plumbing. Though I speak and write fluent English now and am an actor, playwright, and theater & film director, I have not forgotten the feeling of living without power, hope, and control over one’s own destiny. An SS article about a year back talked about putting the audience in the characters’ shoes, making them ask “what would I do if I were in that situation?”. All of this informed my writing of CANARY, my seventh script, as it explores a character who achieves power after never having had it. How that changes her and how she deals with the world will lead her to either grow as a person (have an arc) or not (a tragedy). Oh and there’s also some terrorists looking to start a war!
Title: Earth 2.0
Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller
Logline: A mercenary is investigating a vast global conspiracy when he discovers four rogue preachers he must stop within twenty four hours who intend to release a secret that will alter mankind forever.
Why You Should Read: It’s been a long time since an amateur spec caused a stir like the way “The Disciple Program” did. I believe this could be that spec that will excite everyone again. — What sets it apart is a number of elements within it have started to become actual reality…so you have to ask yourself…do I know something you don’t know? And most importantly…do you want to be the first to know what that is? It’s a story that is fast paced, well not skipping out on character. Also, it has the rarest of all things to Sci-Fi stories, emotion. If you enjoyed Davinci Code or if you are a fan of dark Sci-Fi conspiracy stories…this is for you. I hope you will fully engage with it and follow the mysteries to their inevitable fun point. Carson, let’s give the world something to talk about.
Title: Paradise Falls
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Logline: A detective, who suffers from PTSD, relocates to a small town where she soon gets roped into an investigation involving a string of kidnappings in which the victims return seven days later, only to go on a murderous rampage.
Why You Should Read: I once read that as a writer you should stick to one genre. Especially if you’re new on the scene. Be the funny guy, or the scary guy, or the one studios call when they want s*** to blow up. Well, as a writer I hate this advice. I write the kind of movies that I want to see, and I love to watch pretty much every genre of film. In the past I submitted and had three scripts put on display in the the weekly Amateur Offerings. All of them were comedies. I wanted my next script to be different, and show my range as a writer. “Paradise Falls” is a horror film. No, it’s not filled with the “jump scares” or paranormal activity ghosts. It’s filled with evil. Both figuratively and literally. I would say that I was influenced by such films as “Se7en”, “Silence of the Lambs”, “Deliver Us From Evil” (in terms of tone), “Angel Heart”, and “The Devil’s Advocate”. I think this can and will be a great film. Tell me what you guys think.
Title: Not a Prayer
Genre: BioPic
Logline: Non-believers saw her as a heroic warrior crusading to enforce the separation of church and state, but to the believers she delighted in tormenting, she was the devil incarnate. This is the true story of the irreverent, at times poignant, and always controversial Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
Why You Should Read: I’m the writer of ScriptShadow’s #2 winner Pâtisserie, and after watching Trumbo recently, the acclaimed biopic on the Communist screenwriter starring former TV star Bryan Cranston, I dusted off this screenplay I wrote before Pâtisserie that can’t seem to get any traction. Is it the subject matter? The timing? The writing? The jackboot of religion keeping it down? :) I wrote Not a Prayer with another TV star, Roseanne Barr, in mind believing she’s due for a resurgence as a dramatic actress. She even expressed an interest, but nothing has come of it…so far.
