We’re so close to Avengers Infinity War I can taste it like I can taste a ripe tomato on a freshly fried In and Out burger. I can feel it within my talons – the biggest superhero movie ever made. Yet I have to wait an entire week to sample the goods!? What country do I live in! Syria!? I have no doubt life hates me. And on top of that you casually drop the news that the Kardashians have closed all their Dash stores?? Where is a fashion-conscious person supposed to shop dammit!!! It’s like I’m literally watching Armageddon rain down around me.
Which is why I’m so so happy to interrupt this awful news with… (shouting from the rooftops voice) “AAAMMMMMATEEEEEUR OFFFERRRRINGS!” It’s the place where you, the mild-mannered screenwriter, the little guy with a big idea, can be featured in a one-weekend battle royale style tournament, and IF YOU WIN, you get a review on the site next Friday. What could that review lead to? Try money. Fame. Hundreds of adoring Twitter fans. I call that the sweetest deal on the internet.
Don’t be shy folks. If you believe you have a screenplay that is reverse-Armageddon worthy, submit it for a future Amateur Offerings! Send me a PDF of your script, along with the title, genre, logline, and why you think people should read it (your chance to pitch your story). All submissions should be sent to Carsonreeves3@gmail.com.
Rules of amateur offerings: Read as much as you can from each script and vote for your favorite in the comments!
Title: Messiah Complex
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Logline: A Salt Lake City P.I. is put directly in the crosshairs of a deranged cult when he’s hired to find the sister of an ambitious public official.
Why You Should Read: I’ve been sending this one out to contests after it got decent coverage. Eager to see what the scriptshadow community thinks. If you like neo-noir, mystery, dark humor, cults, etc., you’ll enjoy this incredibly twisted rabbit hole. Hard-boiled, quirky, and even shocking.
Title: Murder In Grave
Genre: Thriller
Logline: Facing the prospect of permanently losing her hearing, a music teacher gets an artificially intelligent cochlear implant that convinces her to commit mass murder.
Why Should You Read? What would you do if the only thing that gave you meaning in this world was to be taken away forever? — If there was an experimental procedure, with untold risks, that could prevent that scenario, would you undertake it? — Murder In Grave is a slow burn thriller, that has been crafted with the sole purpose of emotionally strangling the main character from page one until fade out. A hurdles race where the obstacles get higher and faster the further you go on. — Naturally, as the stakes increase, something always has to give.
Title: Bet Your Life
Genre: Dark Comedy
Logline: A suicidal gambling addict is drawn into a plot to rob the betting office she used to own.
Extended logline: … But between her dysfunctional support group friends, an ex-fiance who doesn’t want her back, a magpie that won’t leave her alone and a dice-wielding, luck-obsessed psychopath, it appears that Lady Luck may have other plans for her life.
Why You Should Read: This is that script that I’ve never been able to cut my losses on (ironic and topical). And recently, after a creative buzz, I tore off my shackles, leaned into my weirds and killed a few babies (in screenwriting terms only, I’ve only killed one baby* in real life, and that was an “accident” – we’ve all been there, an annoying baby screaming in his pram, the top of a grand staircase and Leslie Nielsen nowhere in sight and whoops an “accidental” passing nudge). Anyway, I digress….
This script is very In Bruges-y in tone, part comedy, part drama but with female central characters. It draws heavily on themes of luck and addiction with some serious scientific examination thrown in for good measure… That being how high up you’d need to be to guarantee instant death if you threw yourself from a building. Important stuff. — As for me, I’ve been writing (in my spare time) for nearly ten years. I have a receipt from a UK University saying this is more than a just a hobby so I hope to tickle your fancy, your balls and/or your boobs (yes, potentially both. Inclusive, so…) and invite you to indulge in my script.
*That baby was really ugly. And he had the look of a baby who would grow up to kill babies.
Title: Sentinel
Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller
Logline: After the U.S. government unleashes a terrifying secret weapon to hunt down illegal border-crossers, a female border agent is forced to work with a vicious cartel gangster to ferry a young migrant to safety.
Why You Should Read: Sentinel was a semifinalist at the 2012 Nicholls and came in 2nd place in the sci-fi/action category at the PAGE Awards. This script landed me a manager and was sent around Hollywood. (The logline was actually selected by Scriptshadow in a Top 100 loglines contest–it was called Coyote back then). — Sentinel received a lot of great responses from agents and producers but back in 2012-13 the general consensus was that illegal immigration was not a saleable concept. Well fast forward to 2018 and Trump is building a wall and movies like “Get Out” and “A Quiet Place” are proving that tough topics and sci-fi monster stories are alive and kicking. — Sentinel is a tight, relentless thriller that tackles racism, illegal immigration, and redemption in a bold new way. I think Scriptshadow readers will really enjoy it.
Title: Skin and Sinew
Genre: Historical Thriller
Logline: When a Confederate raid on his small Native American tribe results in the death of his Queen and people, an ancient creature with the ability to assume any human form embarks on a mission to hunt down the general responsible for the massacre.
Why You Should Read: If I were to play the comparison game and elevator-pitch my movie, I’d say it’s “Under the Skin” meets “The Revenant.” Set during the closing years of the American Civil War, “Skin and Sinew” is brutal, violent and grim; a down-and-dirty B-movie revenge story not unlike the classed-up exploitation flicks that S. Craig Zahler has excelled in. If you’re looking for a head-smashing, bone-crunching good time, give this bad boy a shot. Many thanks to anyone willing to check it out; I look forward to reading what the community (and, God willing, Carson) has to say about it!
