This is your chance to discuss the week’s amateur scripts, offered originally in the Scriptshadow newsletter. The primary goal for this discussion is to find out which script(s) is the best candidate for a future Amateur Friday review. The secondary goal is to keep things positive in the comments with constructive criticism.
Below are the scripts up for review, along with the download links. Want to receive the scripts early? Head over to the Contact page, e-mail us, and “Opt In” to the newsletter.
Happy reading!
P.S. The newsletter link to ‘Waking Up in Vegas’ led to the wrong script. It should be fixed now! Apologies for the inconvenience :)
TITLE: Taking Bacon
GENRE: Comedy
LOGLINE: In a last ditch effort to sell his screenplay, a self-absorbed writer kidnaps actor Kevin Bacon.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ (from writers): “Carson, according to our mothers, we’re a couple of sexy, cool screenwriters with a fun little screenplay. According to us, we think you’re going to enjoy reading TAKING BACON. Why? Well, for starters, we’re already getting attention from some of Hollywood’s biggest movers and shakers. Who you might ask? Do Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams ring a bell?
Matt & Mike: Steven, you think you’d be interested in Taking Bacon as your next project?
Steven Spielberg: Yeah, yeah, I’m putting it at the top of my list.
M&M: But that’s the garbage can.
Steven Spielberg: Security.
TITLE: VOSTOK
GENRE: SCI-FI/THRILLER/ACTION
LOGLINE: A team of scientists at an Antarctic research facility unleashes a deadly prehistoric creature from two miles beneath the ice.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ (from writer): “The script was a ‘Featured Submission’ on Triggerstreet and top three in Zoetrope’s monthly competition, so I believe it’s on the right tracks. A solid script that could make a solid film if paired with the right filmmaker.”
TITLE: NETHER
GENRE: Psych Thriller / Neo-noir
LOGLINE: A man with an identity disorder becomes the prime suspect in a gangland robbery and must evade police and a legendary kingpin in order to carry out a mysterious personal vendetta.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ (from writer): “Nether” is a sleek neo-noir psych thriller set in modern-day Los Angeles. I love classic noir and wanted to create a tale that could be shot reasonably inexpensively ($3 – 5 million). I’m a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA directing program, and have written and directed an indie film in the past, and am currently seeking representation. I’ve done my 10 specs that no one will probably ever see, logged my “10,000 hours,” and am a perpetual student of the craft. It’s my hope that “Nether” incorporates some of the best elements of noir, and yet also brings a riveting commercial sensibility to the genre.”
TITLE: Waking Up in Vegas
GENRE: Rom Com
LOGLINE: Follows a small-town college student and her high school sweetheart as they begrudgingly reunite to keep their rash friends from eloping in Las Vegas.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ (from writer): “Because I’m positive it will entertain you. Drag queens, chases through casinos, road trips, girl fights, and a heartfelt story of young love.”
TITLE: It’s a Long Way to Tipperary
GENRE: Comedy
LOGLINE: When a wealthy Jewish man is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Ireland, he comes back from the dead and forces a grave digger to carry him to Tipperary, USA before he decomposes and his soul ends up in hell.
WHY YOU SHOULD READ (from writer): “Who I am: I’m the guy that wrote the Alien Diaries and I’m taking a stab at a zombie comedy which can be hard to pull off. You talked about conflict in a logline – well what’s funnier than a dead Jew being buried in a Catholic cemetery and having to dig his way out as a zombie? You talked about ticking time bombs – the dead guy has gotta be buried in a Jewish cemetery before sundown in three days, and there’s a kleptomaniac priest as well.”
