I want to remind everybody who pitches their script for Amateur Offerings: DO NOT MENTION THAT YOUR SCRIPT IS OLD! I came across four entries that touted the fact that the script was “an old project of mine,” and “something I’ve been working on for a decade.” No. No no no no no no. That may be true. But don’t tell me that. Don’t tell ANYBODY that. People in Hollywood want THE NEXT BIG SHINY THING. They don’t want the old dusty thing. If you have a problem lying, then just don’t mention the age of the script at all. Present it as is. Come on, you guys should know this by now.
For those of you looking for an update on The Janitor (the last AO script winner, which blew me away), I’ve started sending it out to people. I’ll keep you updated on what happens along the way. Hopefully we’ll have some good news. And I would love for nothing more than to keep the good vibes going. So let’s find another impressive amateur screenwriter!
If you haven’t played Amateur Offerings before, pay close attention! Read as many of this weekend’s scripts as you can and VOTE for your favorite in the comments section. Voting closes on Sunday night, 11:59pm Pacific Time. Winner gets a review next Friday. — If you’d like to submit your own script to compete in Amateur Offerings, send a PDF of your script to carsonreeves3@gmail.com with the title, genre, logline, and why you think your script should get a shot.
Good luck everyone!
Title: Skin
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Logline: Facing pressure from a controversial tech mogul and protests from angry students, an android with dark skin struggles to form a social identity while attending a historically black university.
Why You Should Read: Hey Carson. Have a new script that I plan to submit to competitions but I wanted to get some feedback from the toughest and brightest before going forward. Simplest way to describe my script would be “Dear White People” meets “Ex Machina.” I’m a huge fan of Spike Lee, racial satire and sci-fi with a social commentary and wanted to create a story that reflected all those influences. I also actively wanted to avoid the clichéd comedy-sketch type moments that one might expect from a film with this premise. And the moments of levity in the script are used primarily to enhance the characters. It’s a quick, easy read but it’s also challenging and thought-provoking. Thanks for the opportunity and I hope you enjoy.
Title: OUT OF DEATH
Genre: Thriller
Logline: An innocent prisoner and a compromised federal agent flee from two crooked local cops through the deep woods of Pennsylvania after an attempted frame job goes wrong.
Why you should read: The attached script is a low-budget contained thriller that’s received some great reviews on the Black List website. I’m a huge fan of Richard Wenk and his script for 16 Blocks and The Equalizer. I’ve tried to emulate some of that work here. It’s a fast-paced, sparsely written script, which centers around a female protagonist (ends up being a girl with a gun). I just read Blonde Ambition, which inspired the hell out of me to take some chances to get my stuff out there whenever I can (damn, if Madonna isn’t my own personal hero now). I appreciate your consideration.
Title: Black & White
Genre: TV Pilot – Crime drama
Logline: An outsider becomes the first black police officer in a small Louisiana town in the 1960s and has to navigate he and his family through the growing tensions of being pushed out by both blacks and whites, while tensions also mount because of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.
Why You Should Read: I just optioned two scripts, one being the western that was reviewed on this site, and an action movie I wrote quite a while ago that I almost gave up on, both being directed by Chuck Russell who is a director I feel extremely lucky to have on board.
About this script: This is a story and subject I really wanted to tell. I was looking for something period that was relevant to today. I was originally going to write (and I still may) a Downton Abbey of the south, taking place during, or right before, the civil war. During my research I found a true story (in which this is based on) that tickled something inside me that said, “you need to tell this story!” So this is my take. — The first draft of this script made the top 1% of the Script Pipeline contest, though it didn’t make the top ten (super sad by the way!). They said that it was because they thought the subject matter would be a hard sell, though others don’t think that, so who knows. — Billy Ray also just read it and really liked it and we have a lunch set up in a couple weeks to discuss it. This is the draft that Billy read. I was going to make the change(s) he suggested, but decided to wait until he and I meet. I’m curious if the same note(s) comes up. I of course want to make this as good as I can. I want to know if it’s something people like and if it’s something they would keep watching. I’m a little nervous, but thanks for taking a look! — And I also need to say something – even if you don’t have a manager or an agent (of which I don’t have either at the moment) that it is still possible to get your stuff out there, and like me, possibly made. So don’t sit around and wait for an agent or manager to come around, make your own contacts, do your own work, get it out there, and get anybody who is anybody to read it… just please please PLEASE make sure it’s ready before you send it out!! lol Thanks guys! Hope you like it!
Title: A Killer Musical
Genre: Musical Horror Comedy
Logline: In 1985, an eager teen in search of an exciting summer signs up to work at a musical summer camp where counselors are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant.
Why You Should Read: A Killer Musical is three things: a musical, a slasher movie, and a comedy, in that order. I wanted to have legitimate song and dance numbers to go along with the jump scares and brutal murders of a slasher film, all while keeping the humor from moving into Scary Movie territory where the characters behave as if they are aware that they are in a horror film. — This script is for everyone that has watched Friday the 13th and said to themselves, “Why aren’t there any song and dance numbers in this camp counselor murder romp?” — I’ve only been lurking Scriptshadow’s AOW for a short while and I haven’t seen a musical yet. Perhaps it’s time?
Title: Don’t Do It
Genre: Horror
Logline: Having exhausted all medical avenues to bring his wife out of her two year coma, a desperate husband opts for an illegal solution that will wake her up but with terrifying consequences.
Why You Should Read: We’re told that if we want the best odds of breaking in then it’s with a low budget horror script and so that’s the avenue I have been pursuing since the start of the year. With a small cast, very few locations, and a simple horror concept this is me playing the odds. The idea for this story began while reading about the sad case of Michael Schumacher, the millionaire racing car champion who is now cared for at home after a skiing accident left him in a coma several years ago. I thought about what his house must look like – the medical staff, the machines, and his poor family praying for him to wake up. This gave me the idea for Don’t Do It. . How far would you go to wake up the person you love?
