Welcome to a special edition of Amateur Offerings I like to call, “Amateur Hofferings.” In Amateur Hofferings, we pay homage to the greatest actor-singer in Germany’s history, The Hoff. Today’s writers will try to honor the great one with an eclectic selection that includes an Almost Top 25er, a Western, one of the shortest WYSRs in SS history, and a consider from mega-agency UTA. Take a read yourselves and vote in the comments for which one you think should be reviewed on the site! And KITT, I’m going to need to get to the third floor of that building without an elevator. Have anything that can help me??

Title: Jimmy the Freak
Genre: Drama/Thriller/Science-Fiction
Logline: An ex-con and his mentally-handicapped (but psychic) friend are on the run from a ruthless mega-church pastor out to exploit Jimmy’s abilities.
Why You Should Read: My name is Mark Steensland. My screenplay, “Jakob’s Wife” just placed in the “almost” top 25 of your Scriptshadow 250 contest and I wanted you to see something else of mine. This screenplay (which a contest judge in London described as “’Rainman’ re-imagined by the Coen Brothers”) has won two competitions in the last six months and just made the semi-finals in the Table Read My Screenplay Park City contest. I am also an award-winning filmmaker (“Peekers,” “The Ugly File,” and “The Weeping Woman”), and a published author (“Behind the Bookcase” was released by Random House in 2012).

Title: Sundown
Genre: Black Comedy
Logline: A charismatic man with a psychological condition that causes him to change from normal and sane to violent and psychotic over the course of the day relates his life story to a psychiatrist…or does he?
Why You Should Read: Simple premise, complex character. Sundown features a unique and charismatic lead–a manipulative “psycho-half”–that a great actor will want to play. It is a thought-provoking, yet heartfelt coming of age tale filled with unforgettable characters, witty dialogue, an unconventional love story, and written with a distinct voice. — Sundown received a Consider for script, story, and writing from a reader at UTA via the Page Awards script coverage service. It also received high marks from a BlueCat reader, particularly in the areas of character and dialogue. I’m looking forward to receiving further feedback from the Scriptshadow community.

Title: The Last Alchemist
Genre: Period Fantasy/Adventure
Logline: After years of work, noted alchemist Isaac Newton has finally discovered a working formula for the legendary Philosopher’s Stone. But when it’s stolen by a secret society with nefarious intent, he’ll have to team with his arch-rival Robert Hooke to take it back and prevent a plot that would change the course of England’s history.
Why You Should Read: I’ve been lurking here for some time, reading your articles and the Amateur Friday submissions, and I figure it’s finally time to get in on this thing. My script puts many of your favorite elements front and center: a creative twist on a public domain figure, a clear goal, and high stakes that are tied directly to the main character’s hopes, dreams, and flaws. — Isaac Newton spent at least as much time on alchemy as he did on the work we remember him for, and this script lays out a “What If” scenario: what if Isaac Newton succeeded in his obsessive quest for the Philosopher’s Stone? I did my research and, using Newton’s actual beliefs and the urban legends of some of the smartest men who have ever lived, I’ve attempted to craft a big, fun romp of a movie. I want to know if I’ve succeeded.

Title: Avenge the Queen
Genre: Crime, Action, Thriller
Logline: A professional thief travels to Rio where he has to navigate through an underworld of sinister cops and barbaric gangsters to find those responsible for the murder of his estranged sister.
Why You Should Read: Because I spent eight months and a handful of drafts on this. I will never get that time back.

Title: CONSTITUTION
Genre: Western
Logline: An aging sheriff must return to the town he once protected to free it from the tyrannical reign of the current sheriff… his own son. UNFORGIVEN meets TOMBSTONE
Why You Should Read: There seems to be a resurgence of the Western genre as of late so I thought this would be the perfect time to see where mine stands: CONSTITUTION is a very fast paced and action packed Western with a sizable and unique cast of characters including a broken and conflicted protagonist, a deeply terrifying antagonist, and a series of disturbing surprises and revelations that build to an ultimate shocker of an ending. It’s also a story of love, trust, betrayal, great loss, courage, redemption, and the fine line that see rates a good man from a monster.

Starting off the New Year with a VERY important screenwriting concept, especially if you write comedy!

Genre: Comedy
Premise: After she gets accepted into an expensive college, a young woman’s parents decide that the only way they can pay for her tuition is to open an illegal casino in their friend’s house.
About: This one comes from Brendan O’Brien and Andrew Jay Cohen, who took their careers to the next level after writing the surprise hit, Neighbors. They immediately capitalized on the buzz, selling this pitch with Will Ferrell attached. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe these two were assistant writers for Seth Rogen before pitching him Neighbors and getting to write a full script for him. “The House” title is said to double as not just the title, but what each writer was able to buy after selling the pitch. That was a joke. Now you know why nobody pays me a million dollars to write comedies.
Writer: Brendan O’Brien & Andrew Jay Cohen
Details: 115 pages – 2/3/15 draft

To start 2016 off with a comedy script may seem odd. The readers of this site aren’t huge comedy fans. Comedy is the least respected genre in the business. And let’s not forget that studios aren’t nearly as big on comedy as they used to be, as the genre doesn’t travel well.

However, there are a few reasons why I embraced a comedy review. First, I noticed how well Daddy’s Home is doing at the box office (it’s tallied 93 million dollars in the wake of The Force Awakens somehow). Second, the standout scripts in the Scriptshadow 250 Contest so far have been comedy scripts. And finally, over the holidays I binge-watched the best half-hour comedy show on TV since Seinfeld, Broad City.

Despite all this, I continue to be baffled by the genre. It seems to only reward the unfunny. When I tell a writer that to succeed in comedy, he has to be genius-level funny, all he has to do is point to The Goldbergs and say, “Well then how did that get on the air?” And what can I say? I don’t have an answer to that. Does anyone?

This leads us to two of the hottest comedy writers in town who are trying to establish themselves as major players with this, their second big studio effort. The pitch sold quickly. But did the script turn out well?

Life seems to be going well for Scott and Kate. They love each other, they have a nice house in the suburbs, and they’ve somehow created a beautiful human being, Alex, who’s smarter than both of them combined.

But the problem with these smartie-pants kids when they grow up is that they need to go to smartie-pants colleges, and smartie-pants colleges cost a lot of dough. This is the predicament Scott and Kate find themselves in, and when Scott loses his job and Alex loses her scholarship, the couple are facing the prospects of their baby girl not going to school.

And they ain’t gonna let that happen.

During a weekend trip to Vegas with his degenerate best friend, Frank, Scott realizes that the casino “house” always wins. This leads to an idea. What if THEY were the house? He rushes back home, convinces Kate with little resistance, and the three open a casino in Frank’s house.

At first, things are fine, with local closet gamblers throwing money at them left and right, but then the realities of casino ownage rear their head. What do you do with cheaters? How do you handle fights? Where will people get more money to gamble when they run out? Should you extend lines of credit?

As the casino grows in its success, everything starts to fall apart. Scott and Kate spend less time together. They don’t hang out with their daughter as much. Frank becomes meaner and focuses all his energy on the casino. I think it’s safe to say this isn’t going to end well. The question is whether Scott and his family will end their little illegal business before the cops find out and they go to prison for 20 years.

I’d like to discuss something today called ease-of-setup. To do this, I need you to put your imagination hats on and imagine a boulder. But not just any boulder. The boulder on The Raiders of the Lost Ark. A perfectly round boulder. Now I want you to imagine having to push that boulder across town. Okay? Are you imagining that? Fun, right?

Next, I want you to imagine the same thing. But this time with an imperfect boulder. It’s still sort of round, but it has some flat parts, some big divots, and, to be honest, it’s kind of lop-sided. Now I’m going to ask you a question. Which boulder would you rather push across town? Hopefully this answer isn’t difficult.

Ease-of-setup is when you come up with a concept that’s so natural, it sets the story up and moves things along effortlessly – like a perfectly round boulder – as opposed to a situation where every roll requires an immense amount of effort on your part, due to your ugly-ass time-consuming lop-sided boulder.

Ease-of-setup is especially important in comedy because people don’t come to comedies to languish through a bunch of prep scenes. They come for the concept they saw on the poster.

A good place to start with this is O’Brien and Cohen’s previous screenplay, Neighbors. Neighbors is the embodiment of ease-of-setup. A young family moves into a house. Then a frat moves in next door. We don’t need any complicated series of events to prep us for this moment to work. We instantly understand: new family vs. frat house = trouble.

Contrast this with The House. The House needs A LOT of setup to get to where its concept kicks in. We show them having their daughter. We show the daughter growing up and how great of a relationship the family has. We set up that she’s going to college. We set up Scott being fired. We set up that the daughter’s scholarship has been revoked. We set up a visit to the financial advisor so we can learn they have no savings. We set up a trip to Vegas so they can learn that opening a casino is an option.

Do you see where I’m going with this? One scene of a frat house moving next door versus a dozen scenes to establish that this family had a kid, she grew up, she’s going to college, they don’t have a lot of money, they come up with a casino idea.

This becomes an issue for a few reasons. First, every second you’re spending “setting things up,” is one more second your script feels manufactured as opposed to real. Setups are mainly exposition, and too much exposition kills the suspension of disbelief. Second, setup is boring. Everyone tries to make it not-boring but it’s always boring. And finally, you’re creating impatience in the audience.

Now could they cut a lot of this out and make the setup shorter? Maybe we open the movie on a shot of the daughter excitedly getting into college and the parents looking worried, then move to them trying to figure out where the money is going to come from. Sure, you could do that. But you go that route and you lose some of the connection to the family and maybe we don’t care about their situation as much. And you still have to come up with a plausible scenario by which they’d think starting a casino is a good option, and that definitely needs setup.

I haven’t seen Daddy’s Home yet but that concept strikes me as having an easy set-up. Step-dad’s life with his family is great. Then it’s announced Real Dad is coming back home. Boom, setup over. What that ease allows you to do is to move into the story more naturally. Because you don’t have to force all these artificial “issues” into the first act, you can just let it evolve organically. If you want to put in a scene where the step-dad and the wife have a great day out with the kids, you can do that. But you don’t HAVE TO DO THAT, and that’s the power of ease-of-setup. It leads to a very natural-feeling story experience.

The only time when I’m tolerant of bulky setups is when the concept is so damn good, I’m willing to wait. Take The Matrix. It takes awhile to set things up there. But because the promise of the Matrix is so compelling, we’re willing to wait around for it.

This is rarely the case with comedies, which these days aren’t as concept-driven as they used to be. And The House is no exception. I suppose illegally opening a casino in your home is sort of funny. But is it “I’m okay waiting through a bunch of boring-ass exposition to get to it” funny? Not even close. It’s like a novelty idea you’re slightly curious in.

There’s some kind-of funny stuff with Scott expanding the casino’s offerings (they hire comedians and have ring-fights), but if I’m being honest, there’s nothing here that any of us couldn’t have come up with. If you and I were outlining this, we’d naturally come with the idea that someone would cheat at some point. And how should our main character deal with that? A great comedy writer either through talent or hard work, comes up with choices that the average person wouldn’t be able to think of. And I didn’t see enough of that here (although it should be noted there will be more drafts of this).

I wouldn’t say The House is a flawed concept. There’s some comedy to be had here. But there’s something about the idea that doesn’t feel creative enough. For that reason, I never got into it.

[ ] what the hell did I just read?
[x] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius

What I learned: Consider ease-of-setup when picking your next script to write, especially if it’s a comedy, where attention spans are short. If it seems like you need to set up a ton of stuff before you get to your hook, consider that the premise isn’t worth it. I won’t say a complex setup is a script-killer. Skillful writers can weave setups in effortlessly so that they don’t seem like setups. And certain genres, like mystery, can actually make complex setups work for them. But in general, why would you take a boat when you can fly? An easy setup isn’t just easier on you. It’s easier on the viewer.

As I was combing through all the amateur scripts I read this year to come up with this list, I realized I was looking at scripts in a way I rarely do. As a distant memory. Which led to an unexpected question: What did I remember about the script? Was it amazing, terrible, strange, not bad but had potential? Or was it the word which shall never be mentioned in screenwriting circles? Was it… forgettable? In the case of half these scripts, I didn’t remember a single thing about them.

I bring this up because I want you to imagine someone coming across your script four months after they’ve read it. What would they remember? If your idea is similar to a lot of other ideas, if your characters are, for the most part, like every other character we’ve seen in films, or if you’ve given us nothing new or different, there’s a good chance your script won’t be remembered at all. To that end, I challenge you to write the “Instantly Remembered After 4 Months” script. You should either have a big idea, take lots of chances, have a really unique voice, or create an eccentric unique character.

Nearly all of my Top 10 list from yesterday falls into this category, but I’ll give you another example from a script I actually didn’t like. It was an amateur script I reviewed called Game of 72. I didn’t like it, but as soon as I saw the post, I remembered everything about it. That’s because the writer took chances and had a unique voice. The same holds true for The Libertine. Hated it. But I’ll never forget it. The point is, it’s better to write something people remember, even if they don’t like it, than something safe that people won’t remember at all. And achieving that usually comes down to taking chances.

Below are my Top 10 Amateur Reads of the year. They came from Amateur Friday, script consultations, and scripts that landed in my hands one way or another. Take note that there are no Scriptshadow 250 scripts in here. That will all be separate. Ready? Here we go!

Number 10
Title: Insatiable
Logline: When a law student’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes from a truck stop diner, he suspects a shady trucker is to blame. But as he races to save her life, he discovers that the only thing more terrifying than her captors is the reason she was taken.
Writer: Michael Morra

I believe that one day, Michael Morra will be writing horror movies that we plop down good money for. I’ve read three of his scripts now, and they all show a technical skill way beyond the average amateur. If Insatiable has a flaw, it’s that it’s too familiar. And that may be an area where Morra wants to push himself in the future. Even so, this script starts big and doesn’t let go. For those of you who love a good creature feature, you’ll want to check Insatiable out.

Script link: Insatiable

Number 9
Title: The Runner
Logline: Back-stabbed by his employer and marooned in Mexico, a tough, drug-running pilot struggles to fly himself and the family that rescued him back to America alive.
Writer: Jeffrey Doka

The Runner feels like one of those easy-going 70s-style movies someone like Sean Penn or George Clooney would like to make. Pair one of them up with a European director who hates Taken-obsessed Hollywood and you may have yourself a movie package. I didn’t fall in love with The Runner, but both times I read it, there felt like there was something there, both in the story and the writer. I feel like a good producer could guide this into something with a little more punch, while keeping its European-style roots firmly in place.

Script link: The Runner

Number 8
Title: Damn Nation
Logline: Five years after a vampiric plague has overrun the United States, a Special Ops unit from London is sent back into the heart of the US in an attempt to find the cure.
Writer: Adam Wax (Based on the comic, “Damn Nation,” written by Andrew Cosby and illustrated by J. Alexander)

More than any other script on this list, Damn Nation screams “movie.” It helps that it’s based off some high quality illustration work by J. Alexander, but there’re more to Damn Nation than studio dollar signs. The story has some nice plot twists, and the characters feel like newer upgraded versions of their 80s and 90s inspirations. Damn Nation also happened to be one of the most controversial entries of Amateur Friday, due to some believing the script was a straight copy and paste job from the comic book. My take? If turning a comic like Damn Nation into the page turner we get here is that easy, studios wouldn’t hire writers, they’d hire typists. But I’m sure the controversy will live on!

Script link: Damn Nation

Number 7
Title: Ivy
Logline: When her older brother — a notorious NYC graffiti writer — is murdered, a teenaged fine arts student must infiltrate this underground world in order to find her brother’s killer.
Writer: Mystery Writer!

The funny thing about Ivy is it’s a movie I’d never see. But that’s when you know a script is good – when it’s keeping you invested despite the fact that you’re not interested in the genre. The target crowd here is teenagers, and Ivy builds an exciting story for that demo based around infiltrating a dangerous graffiti gang. It’s like Veronica Mars meets Save the Last Dance meets Step Up, but actually done well. If you’re a producer trying to tap into this demo, you’ll definitely want to check Ivy out.

Script link: Ivy

Number 6
Title: Time Upon a Once
Logline: A film crew follows a medieval servant as she searches for the princess who can save a cursed prince — a prince she secretly loves herself.
Writer: Angelo Campos

Don’t bother looking for this one on the site. It came to me via a consultation. Easily one of the more inventive scripts I read all year, Time Upon a Once reminded me of a cross between Enchanted and What We Do In The Shadows. What I liked most about the script is how much it turned clichés on their head (for example, instead of a princess that needed to be kissed, it was a prince). Usually mockumentary scripts turn out awful. The writer’s over-reliance on the interview cutaway becomes a death trap of “cutting to an annoyed face for the 30th time isn’t funny!” But Angelo is more interested in telling a story here, and that’s what sets this apart from the rest.

Script link: Contact Angelo at angeloxcampos@gmail.com

Number 5
Title: Wars of Eternal Spring
Logline: A rebellious-minded woman in ancient China seeks the help of Shaolin to save her village from a love-obsessed General and his bloodthirsty Captain.
Writer: Elizabeth Barilleaux

When I started today’s post, I talked about memory – what comes into your mind the moment you think of a script. With Eternal Spring it’s “beauty.” I remember, more than any other script, feeling transported to this time and place. And the reason Elizabeth was able to achieve this was because she is obsessed with every word she writes. You can tell she’s thought about how each word will affect the reader. The story itself feels like a cross between Crouching Tiger and Braveheart. The only reason this didn’t finish higher is because it’s not really my thing. Add a few jedis and then we’d be talking. But even Force-less, Eternal Spring is a force to be reckoned with.

Script link: Wars of Eternal Spring

Number 4
Title: Unlawful
Logline: A troubled detective operates outside the law when he buys an underage prostitute to perform “favors.” But when a 16-year-old girl goes missing and he must use her diary to reconstruct the events that led to her disappearance, an unimaginable truth emerges.
Writer: Carver Gray

Reviewed back in June on the site, Unlawful would later go on to make The Blood List and The Hit List. And I’m not the least bit surprised. Carver understands that if you’re going to do dark thrillers, YOU HAVE TO GO DARK. You can’t go PG-13-dark or repackage the dark from previous thrillers. Carver goes full-on with his tortured drug-abused hero and doesn’t let up until the last page. Not to mention this is a mystery that will keep you guessing. Congrats to Carver on all his success!

Script link: Unlawful

Number 3
Title: Shelby
Logline: Shelby, a 40-something woman still trying to figure out how to be an adult, heads back to her hometown where she finds herself regressing even further into her juvenile tendencies.
Writer: Beth Rigazio

I’m going to get pummeled for this but I don’t care. Rigazio has some produced credits. But they’re from so long ago that I feel like she has to hustle as hard as everyone else on this list. And I’m not sure anyone’s going to find out about this script otherwise. The reason this screenplay made the list is simple: Shelby Wood. Shelby is one of the top 5 characters I’ve read all year. You WILL NOT forget this character, I promise you. Rigazio has sort of a Diablo Cody voice going for her, but where Cody has limits, Rigazio is just getting started. Take, for example, our 45 year old female hero starting a sexual relationship with a 15 year old. I mean, it gets dark. But the thing is, you NEVER STOP LAUGHING. It’s clear that Rigazio knows Shelby inside and out, and that’s what makes this script unforgettable.

Script link: Contact Beth Rigazio at bethrigazio@gmail.com

Number 2
Title: The Only Lemon Tree on Mars
Logline: When recent, inter-global events threaten to disrupt the idyllic life on the first Mars Colony, a woman with a secret to hide must do all that she can to prevent neighbors in her small town from taking up arms against each other.
Writer: Chad Rouch

There are some scripts that stay with you. You find yourself periodically remembering them, like a good vacation or an old friend you haven’t spoken to in awhile. The Only Lemon Tree on Mars is one of those scripts for me. Maybe it’s the title, which is so original, you instantly remember the screenplay when you read it (never forget the power of a unique title!). Or maybe it’s Rouch’s deft ability to paint this struggling alien planet a billion miles away in a way we haven’t seen before. I think that’s the key. This isn’t The Martian. It’s much deeper. There’s a lot more going on. And while it’s not perfect (the ending needs to be bigger), I would love to see what happens after Rouch goes through a couple of rewrites and really irons out the wrinkles. This was the nicest Amateur Friday surprise of the year.

Script link: The Only Lemon Tree on Mars

Number 1!!!
Title: Sonata
Logline: After a genius self-destructive orchestra conductor falls from grace, he sees his way back to the top in an inner-city teenage girl with more musical talent than anyone he’s ever met.
Writer: James Thoo

Every year, Sundance celebrates one music-focused feature. I have no doubt that Sonata will one day be that feature. It’s just too darned good. James writes his main character, William Garland, as a smarter-than-everyone-in-the-room alcoholic, drug-addict, prostitute addict mess of a man who you could imagine a young Paul Newman playing. This man’s version of Trainwreck would make Amy Schumer look like Thomas the Train. So when he’s scraping the bottom of the barrel, ordering his umpteenth whiskey shot at the bar, and he hears the most beautiful soulful voice he’s ever heard outside, free-styling with some random homeless guy, you know you’re in for one hell of a ride. I’ve always been a sucker for heavily contrasting main characters, and a classically trained 40-something white orchestra conductor teaming up with a 14 year old black inner city girl is about as contrasting as you can get. I see this as the next Hustle & Flow. I absolutely loved this script.

Script link: Contact James here. jamesthoo@googlemail.com

That’s it ya’ll! I’m down for the count. See ya in the new year!!!!!

Reviews are coming in. Here are some spoiler-free ones:

Slash-Film (positive).
AICN-Quint (positive though feels like he’s holding back).
AICN-Nordling (slightly positive to kind of negative).

What worries me is that the reviews have that “Prequel Reviews” feel to them. Remember those? “Oh, it was amazing. But there were a few problems here and there. But it was amazing!” Like, “I’m trying to convince myself” here.

But anyway, here’s my question. You’re Disney. You hold the world premiere of one of your biggest movies ever on a Monday. You then tell everyone who saw the movie that they’re not allowed to review the film until 12:01 AM on Wednesday (so effectively 9 am Wednesday, since that’s when the normal world will wake up and read the reviews). With showtimes beginning, I believe, Thursday at noon, this gives reviewers barely more than 24 hours to get their thoughts out to the general public before the public sees it.

Does that sound strange to anyone but me? Doesn’t it feel a bit like they don’t have a lot of confidence in the film? I mean why not just let people review it after they come out of the theater on Monday?? It seems so strange. I’d understand it if they screened the movie three weeks ago. But this is the same week it comes out.

Regardless of whether any of that is relevant, The Force Awakens’ fate will lie with something the general audience isn’t even aware of – the fact that its screenplay was rushed. I understand that corporations want their money now, but it’s so dangerous to rush anything that you want to be good. Especially when you consider that most movies which are terrible (Transformers) had trouble achieving even a mediocre screenplay with FIVE TIMES the amount of time Abrams and Kasdan had to write this.

The thing that suffers the most when you rush a screenplay is plot. It’s easy to come up with the grand sweeping centerpieces of your story. But it takes a hell of a lot of time to connect them all in a natural, convincing, invisible way. So what’s the common critique I keep hearing out of all the Force Awakens reviews? “Contrived plotting.” “Lots of coincidences.” “Things feel left out.” “Things don’t always come together naturally.”

I know, I know. I haven’t seen the movie yet. But this is exactly what I was terrified of when I heard how quickly they were writing the script. Good scripts always take time. Especially scripts that have a lot of moving parts (lots of characters, jump around a lot). You may be able to write something quickly that involves three guys in a barn (Untitled Contained Barn Movie – coming to a theater near you). But 50 guys, gals, and aliens spanning a couple of dozen planets and starships??? No, you’re going to need fucking time for that. And to think that Disney originally wanted to release this in MAY! What were thinking under that timeline? 5 days for the script? 5 and a half?

I’m seeing the movie Thursday night and I guess in a way, I’m glad I heard about these issues ahead of time. I went into The Phantom Menace with huge expectations and got boned. Maybe the cautious route will result in a more satisfying experience. Let’s hope. And may The Force be with us all.

p.s. I’m still reading and reviewing Scriptshadow 250 scripts for 2 weeks over on my Twitter. You can go there to get tips and updates. Also, you can go through the archives by searching for the tag #ss250!

Every year the Black List comes out, and every year there’s a debate around what happened to all the good scripts. Is the Black List getting worse? That’s not an easy question to answer. But there are a few factors involved to help you come to a conclusion.

For starters, Hollywood has become terrified of original spec screenplay ideas. And why wouldn’t they be? They’ve given them box office bomb after box office bomb (Draft Day, Transcendence, American Ultra, That Awkward Moment, 47 Ronin). If we, the writers, haven’t been giving them something they can make money off of, why should they keep buying scripts from us?

As a result, Hollywood looks almost exclusively to IP. Stuff needs to be proven in another form of media before they risk millions of dollars on it. This has caused screenwriters to adapt. We can’t give them original spec ideas anymore, so we have to give them a pseudo form of IP – biopics and “the true story.” It’s the only loophole we have. This is why you read The Black List and see all of these unimaginative uninspiring true stories/biopics. Because that’s the only thing the studio system will allow us to sell them anymore.

The original spirit of The Black List celebrated imagination, originality, and creativity, which is why we feel so robbed that those qualities no longer seem like priorities. And to that end, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Bubbles snagged the top prize. It was the only script that gave Hollywood what it wanted (a true story/biopic) and the Black List voters what they wanted (a fresh/original way of telling a story).

This could lead to a whole other discussion about why our original-idea specs have gotten so bad (because Hollywood has put so many restrictions on them. They must be quick reads, have low page counts, contain an overly simple premise, etc.). But to go there would be bitter and I don’t want to do that. Not on the same week that The Force Awakens opens!

So I’ll leave you with this – and it’s something I continue to believe wholeheartedly – if you write something really fucking good, no matter whether it’s a biopic or something insanely original, it will make The Black List. It will sell. It will get attention. Because there aren’t many really good scripts out there. Your content is needed. So keep writing my friends. Your time will come as long as you work your ass off for it.

Some Black List reviews of mine!

Number 1, Bubbles.
Number 3, The Libertine.
Number 5, Crater.
Number 8, Pale Blue Dot.
Number 11, Eli.
Number 12, Septillion to One .
Number 17, The Water Man.
Number 22, Hammerspace.
Number 25, The Virginian.
Number 29, Mayday.

Also, join me on Twitter as I live-tweet thoughts on the Scriptshadow 250 contest scripts I’m reading. You can access the archives of my thoughts via the hashtag #ss250.