There was a tight race for that last finalist slot and it was Smokescreen that rose to the occasion. A great screenwriter once said that one of the best logline hacks you can use is to include something that already occupies real estate in the potential reader’s head. Familiarity has a shocking amount of influence over a reader. I have to admit, it happened to me with Smokescreen. I saw “Red Baron” and I immediately replied, “Ooh, I know the Red Baron!”
I then went back into my own digital databank and realized that they hadn’t made a movie about the Red Baron in forever! That was enough to get me to read the pages excitedly. And I felt like the writing was strong enough for the script to enter the showdown. So, here you go!
A quick reminder about how this contest works. This week, the top four vote-getting scripts from the Mega-Showdown last weekend will get their own featured day. Monday was QB1. Tuesday was The First Horseman. Wednesday was Hard Labor. And today is Smokescreen. I will post the first five pages of every script on their day. I want you to read those pages because, come Friday, we’re having the second half of the showdown where you will vote for your favorite of the four finalists.
To be clear, THERE IS NO VOTING TODAY. This is strictly about reading Smokescreen’s first five pages. Also, if you like what you see in the pages, you can download the entire script. Let us welcome our final finalist, Nick Philippa!
Title: SMOKESCREEN
Genre: War-action.
Logline: Shot down by the Red Baron, a Nurse with a photographic memory must navigate the perils of no-man’s land to transport critical intelligence to the Allies that will save countless lives and shorten the Great War.
