I don’t even know how I’m writing this. With absolutely zero to watch, I made the mistake of renting Aloha. This movie is beyond incomprehensible. There are scenes that defy cinematic explanation. Bradley Cooper howls out the window like a wolf in a desperate bid by Crowe to recapture the magic of Jerry Maguire. The multiple love stories here are uncomfortable. 70 minutes in and there’s still no plot. Emma Stone may have to give in her SAG card after this. Oh man, this is brutal. I’m willing to bet that at least two amateur scripts from this week’s pile are better. So dig in and let’s find them!

Title: Jesus Christ: Witch Hunter
Genre: Action Comedy/B-Movie
Logline: In a world where witches have all but eradicated witch hunters, the final hunter is brutally murdered when the most powerful hunter in history, Jesus Christ, returns to prevent the witches from resurrecting an ancient, powerful witch who will destroy the world and enslave mankind.
Why You Should Read: Jesus Christ: Witch Hunter is a high octane, action fuelled, comedy, b-movie. JCWH is ridiculous. It’s ‘Machete’ meets ‘Wolfcop’. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s bloody and it’s absolutely bonkers. This is a popcorn film… not in the $200 million type Hollywood sense, but in the absurd, outrageous and blasphemous sense. I’m pretty sure this is the type of film the Vatican would abhor, condemn and then ban, thus doing most of the major marketing the film needs to succeed. Anyway, if you choose to read it, enjoy.

Title: Underneath
Genre: Contained Horror Thriller
Logline: A routine maintenance call goes awry when an explosion traps a public works crew underground with a mysterious symbiote that was released from hibernation.
Why You Should Read: Every review I read, Carson harps on the importance of urgency, goals, purpose, and a BIG story. I’ve tried to wrap my mind around what it means to create a story with those paramaters. While trying to mastermind a scenario that gives characters goals to achieve and the motivation to get there, I remembered a script I wrote a few years ago. “Underneath” is boiled down to those simple ideas. A group of maintenance workers are trapped underground after an explosion. Their goal is to get back to the surface. The urgency to get them there comes from an entity released after the accident. But as they race for freedom, the organism hunts them down. And best of all…it is all contained to the sewer. I would love to get the community’s feedback.

Title: Sign of Four
Genre: Spy/Mystery/Action/Thriller
Logline: After a senior intelligence agent dies under mysterious circumstances, three genius-level private spies become engulfed in a mole-hunt within their organization.
Why You Should Read: This script is very relevant in the sense it talks about the intelligence community’s growing dependence on private contractors; that grey area of espionage. I’m not a card-carrying liberal, but I feel like too much leeway to private intelligence companies can be a disaster.

Title: The Hindenburg Alien
Genre: Sci-fi
Logline: When a young man serving on the zeppelin Hindenburg discovers that a deadly, shape-shifting alien is hidden on board, he must defeat it or the girl he loves will suffer a fate worse than death.
Why You Should Read: I already sent you two of my other scripts for the Scriptshadow 250 contest, but what you wrote about the lack of big idea scripts inspired me to send you my biggest idea script. With its love story on a doomed vessel coupled with an alien which can assume the form of anyone it devours, it’s like TITANIC meets THE THING… I worked hard to make the script as easy to read as possible (no paragraph over 2 lines, only 97 pages) and to keep it moving and entertaining. If you’ll like it I’d really love for you to come on board as a producer!

Title: Small Slices
Genre: Horror
Logline: A strange old man tells scary campfire stories to two young boys. But who is the man, why are the boys in the stories and where are their parents?
Why You Should Read: Early in the year, you wrote a couple of posts, the gist being – You want to stand out in the current spec market? You need to take risks. So, I sucked up that advice, threw caution to the wind and the result is this very different little horror script. It takes the sort of structural and narrative risks I normally wouldn’t have the guts to try. I’d love it if this could find a place on AOW so the Scriptshadow community could let me know if the risks paid off or should I go back to channelling my inner Blake Snyder?

What am I doing?? I just gave you two extra weeks to get your Scriptshadow 250 entries in and now I throw an Amateur Offerings post up? I might as well title this post, “Please Procrastinate!” I guess I’ll leave it up to you guys to use this post responsibly. Talk soon!

Title: Unearthed
Genre: Sci-Fi
Logline: Two young brothers search for buried treasure with hopes of helping their struggling family, but when they uncover an otherworldly artifact with mysterious properties, they find it may have far greater value than they imagined.

Why You Should Read: This is my sixth screenplay and I’m still realizing, “Man this writing stuff is still hard!” Several months ago, I received two rounds of notes from Carson and after each round, I sucked it up and made the necessary cuts and addressed the dreaded “more character development” notes. Now I hope to get another round from the SS faithful. Carson described this as Stand By Me meets E.T. I thought that was a great comparison, and basically what I was aiming for. No big explosions. No black ops military assaults. No zombies driving fast cars. Just kids on an adventure. Period. Hope you enjoy it. And it chosen, I will definitely be around and interacting in the feedback if I’m lucky enough to have anyone read it.

Title: Reap What You Sow
Genre: Thriller
Logline: When her homecoming ends in tragedy, a desperate single mother spins
a web of lies to protect the family nursery from a ruthless property developer.
Why You Should Read: Dilemma. Textbook definition: A situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives. According to the book “Screenwriting is Storytelling: Creating an A-List Screenplay That Sells” by Kate Wright, “The moral dilemma of a main character is one of the least understood critical elements of story.” A genuine dilemma forces your main character to make choices that will have escalating consequences your script must explore. One dilemma leads to a downward spiral of decisions that exploit your protag’s weakness.

My goal was to explore the main character’s dilemma in the most entertaining and efficient way I could. All too often, I’ve found myself obscuring story elements, because I thought it would create an air of mystery. Since then, I’ve learned that all it does is alienate and confuse readers that are trying to help me. This is my attempt to combat that ambiguity. I also think a Thursday Screenwriting article about the “Art of the Dilemma in Screenwriting” would be an epic topic for your blog. Thanks to the SS250 deadline extension, I’m beyond thrilled to go for this chance to workshop my script with the generous Amateur Offerings readers before the contest starts.

Title: Patsies
Genre: Comedy
Logline: After actually pulling off a daring art heist, a gang of knucklehead thieves discover that they’re patsies in a forgery scam run by their porn tycoon boss. While hunted by the tycoon’s hit man, they evade a LAPD dragnet, death, and their own dysfunction to clear their names and turn the tables on the tycoon.
Why You Should Read: After taking time off to try our luck again in animation where we had a bit of success prior to writing the AF submission “Mad Dogs,” (BTW —Thank you everyone who sent us notes on that script. They really helped.), we’re back with character based comedy. It’ll be interesting to see if our sense of humor resonates with the Scriptshadow folks. The inspiration of this film comes from watching A-List studio heist flicks and how in most of them, like the remake of “The Italian Job,” the crooks spend a shit ton of money just to set up the robbery. If they have that kind of cash in the first place why don’t they just freakin’ buy and retire to a tropical island? PATSIES is a character driven lo-fi comedy version of a studio heist film. Also, it explores the types of dysfunctional characters who would turn to stealing to make a living, i.e. the down & out, the desperate-for-a-break, and the not-too-bright.

Title: Rogue
Genre: Spy/Action/High School/Fantasy
Logline: On his first day at his new high school, a student wakes up in the nurse’s office with amnesia, a bomb implanted in his chest, and a masked man who gives him a mission: assassinate every member of a clandestine terrorist cell operating within the high school by 3:30 PM or the bomb in his chest will be detonated.
Elevator Pitch: If John Hughes had said, “I’m going to loosely adapt The Borne Identity with my new best friend Terry Gilliam and I want to set the entire thing in a high school,” you’d have Rogue.
Why You Should Read: I laughed to myself during Weird Week when you said that every writer should try their hand at a go-for-broke-disregard-the-rules-sure-you’ve-only-got-a-slim-chance-at-pulling-it-off-but-what-the-fuck-let’s-go-for-it-anyway-script. That’s the sort of screenplay this is. This is my attempt at a Marvel Movie and it’s so idiosyncratic and funky that I can’t not be proud of it.

Title: Triggered
Genre: Action/Comedy
Logline: A hapless college student who’s in trouble with local drug dealers and a freewheeling ex-spy who’s on the run from his former employers cross paths one night and discover they are the answers to each other’s problems.
Why You Should Read: Triggered is a hard-R, gloriously un-PC action-comedy about how a computer science nerd with girlfriend problems and a profane, amoral ex-secret agent find common ground through a night of wild encounters with gang members, cops, drunken frat boys, and enemy agents. Triggered is part college comedy, part spy thriller, done in the style of classic buddy films.

Note: The Scriptshadow Newsletter is coming TONIGHT. So check your spam and promotions folders to make sure you get it. I’ll be reviewing THE HOTTEST SPEC in town, which just sold, and also offer a few goodies about The Scriptshadow 250 Screenwriting Contest. If you’re not signed up already, you can do so here.

So this past week I’ve been thinking a lot about Sony. Not too long ago, Sony was the number one studio in the world. With franchises like Spider-Man, Men in Black, and Bond, it looked like they could do no wrong. Now, they’re trailing behind mini-studios like Lionsgate. Their biggest film this year has been Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, which made 70 million dollars. In comparison, Universal’s number 1 movie, Jurassic World, made 600 million dollars. And don’t get me started on worldwide grosses.

The obvious question, then, is, “What went wrong?” Well, they made a bunch of bad movies that nobody cared about. That’s what went wrong. So how do you fix it? Sure, us backseat studio heads love telling studios how they’re raping cinema by greenlighting too many sequels, superheroes, and remakes. But what would we do differently? What would we do if we had TOTAL POWER to choose Sony’s slate?

As I asked that question, I began to realize just how important screenwriting is. Because while a lot of people will tell you that the key is great IP, the hidden ingredient is screenwriters who know how to craft a good story. I know, I know. I have to say that since I run a screenwriting site. But think about it. While IP is definitely important, Sony’s proven that it’s hardly full proof.

It wasn’t long ago that Spider-Man was THE biggest property in the world. Even bigger than Batman! Yet I’d make the argument that the reason the last Spider-Man failed was because it was a total screenplay hack job. You watched the trailer and had no idea what the movie was about. And, in fact, that’s the same reason the original Spider-Man franchise (with Toby Maguire) fell apart. Because the third movie tried to cram too much shit into the story and the story couldn’t handle it.

So don’t tell me execution isn’t a factor in making a good movie. You can say what you will about Jurassic World being generic, but that movie knew exactly what it wanted to be. And it gave us a clear and concise story that audiences could easily follow.

It was somewhere around here that I had my come-to-Jesus how-to-run-a-studio clarity moment. To run a successful studio, your movies need three things.

1) Great IP.
2) Big concepts.
3) Larger than life characters.

If you look at every single major studio movie over the last ten years, they will have at least one of these three elements and usually more. From Marvel to Star Wars to The Hunger Games to Harry Potter to Shrek to Pirates of the Caribbean. IP. Huge concept. Larger than life characters. Movies that contain these three elements are what keep studios afloat.

After that, there’s a second tier of lesser-known elements that need to be in play. These won’t matter unless you take care of the first three elements. But once you have those in place, you must make sure these are there as well. They are…

1) Script execution (like we just talked about).
2) Directing execution.
3) You need to give a shit.

Now that last one might seem trivial, but I believe it’s the secret ingredient that either saves or sinks a film. Everybody involved in a movie, from the writers, to the actors, to the directors, to the producers, to the studio itself – THEY NEED TO CARE. If they don’t care – if they’re not extremely passionate about bringing that film to life – than that film will never come to life. Oh sure, some disembodied version of it will make it to the big screen. But it will be lifeless. And we’ll sense that. And we won’t go to see that movie as a result. It’s the reason Die Hard, once the biggest franchise in the world, is so awful today. Everybody knows Bruce Willis doesn’t care. And since he doesn’t care, no one else does.

And that’s why nobody showed up to Pixels (Sony’s major bet this summer). Adam Sandler embodies the “I’m not taking any of this seriously” mentality. There’s not an ounce of passion in that man’s body. He doesn’t realize that movies have gotten too big to succeed on this laissez-faire approach. Tickets cost too much. And audiences smelled that as the movie neared. And that’s why they didn’t show. Contrast that with James Bond. I’ve gone on record as not being a huge fan of the tuxedoed martini drinker. But I take one look at that Bond trailer and I can tell everyone involved wanted to make a good movie.

So what does all of this have to do with you? How does this affect you? Well, here’s the beauty of today’s realization. Of the six things that I mentioned a studio movie must have to be successful, YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER THREE OF THEM. You can write something with a huge concept, add a larger-than-life character, and execute the hell out of it.

And here’s where things get really fun. Any company in flux? Any business that’s failing? They need to take chances. What they’re doing isn’t working so they need to try something different and that’s why I believe this is the perfect time to try and write a spec for Sony. Mind you, they’re not going to pay attention unless you get the concept, the larger than life character, and the execution down. But if you pull those off, there’s a damn good chance they’ll buy your screenplay. Because they NEED YOU. They can’t make it without you. As is the case with all of these studios hanging onto the bottom rung (you know who you are).

And that’s exciting. Wouldn’t you say?

This has been one of the busiest weeks for me that I can remember. I was going to rush a read of amateur script, Leadbelly, and put a review up, but I don’t think that would be fair to the writer. I just wouldn’t be able to give it the time and attention it needs. So as hard as this is to say, there will be no amateur review this week (I’ll put up Leadbelly next Friday).

The silver lining here is you have MORE TIME to work on your Scriptshadow 250 entries. The deadline is now 13 days away. If I were you, I’d catch one of the new flicks this weekend, Ant-Man, or Trainwreck – both look good, then write yourself into submission. It’ll all be worth it when we’re planning what you’re going to wear to the premiere of your movie next year.

Make sure to check out yesterday’s article about slow burns. It might be the final piece of the puzzle for your screenplay. I will try and post amateur offerings for tomorrow morning but no promises. I’ve barely been able to come up for a non-work breath of air over the last 96 hours.

Again, Amateur Offerings is when YOU the Scriptshadow readers submit your own scripts in a Battle Royale format. The script that gets the most votes in the Comments section gets a Friday review, where, if the script is good, good things are known to happen. And it’s a special Amateur Offerings post since one of the scripts comes from an idea of mine! Shadows Below is based on an idea I threw out there in an earlier post. Gregory took that idea and he and his partner ran with it. I don’t want to weight script reads though. Try to read as many scripts as you can. Then vote for your favorite in the comments!

Title: Shadows Below
Genre: Action Thriller
Logline: After terrorists attack China on the 4th of July, a submarine commanded by the President’s Daughter and a team of Navy SEALs are all that stand between the US and Nuclear Armageddon.
Why you should read: Hidden around the world are submarines with only one mission: Nuclear Counter-strike in the event of war. Known as doomsday subs for their ability to destroy the world, redundancy protocols give their Captains absolute authority to launch ballistic missiles if communications with command ever stops. — SHADOWS BELOW is a modern day action / thriller that revolves around the President’s Daughter and the US submarine she comes to lead. After American terrorists nuke China’s Naval Command on the 4th of July, a Chinese doomsday sub Captained by a legendary Admiral goes rogue and has just under four hours to start a war by nuking Washington DC. — SHADOWS BELOW highlights every aspect of our Navy, from SEALs to Top Gun Pilots, submarines, and aircraft carriers, all engaging in a desperate battle just off the coast of DC to save America. — It is INDEPENDENCE DAY meets THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER with a female protagonist.

Title: Nerd Got Game
Genre: Teen Comedy
Logline: A high school science prodigy attends a State science convention where he meets a local girl who turns his world upside down.
Why you should read: Nerd Got Game has been through ten plus drafts, including a page one rewrite. The end result is a lean 90 page script that’s ready to go. I love the old John Hughes films from the 80’s and more recent teen comedy efforts like Sex Drive (2008), Easy A (2010) and The DUFF (2015). But teen comedies, like romantic comedies, seem to be a rare bird these days. Time for a comeback.

Title: Sessions of Lead Belly
Genre: Biopic
Logline: A Southern black folk singer walks the line between a violent criminal life and becoming a great American musician.
Why you should read: Inspired by the likes of “Raging Bull” and “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould”, “Sessions of Lead Belly” is stylistic bordering on surreal and strives for quality even at expense of authenticity. — The nonlinear structure throughout different periods in Lead Belly’s life of the early 1900’s is patterned to best draw interest and convey information, exploring who Lead Belly is and why, as well as the futility of triumph and meagerness of survival against all odds. — Every sequence is nearly standalone, playing out as ambitious mini-stories and innovative short films, each with a calculated build and unique style.

Title: The Feed (based on the novel “Feed” by MT Anderson)
Genre: Sci-fi
Logline: In the 22nd century, a complacent teenager’s life is thrown into disarray when a rebellious girl shows him that his Utopian world isn’t as perfect as it seems.
Why you should read: Yes, this is another teen dystopian sci-fi story. In 2100s America, our brains have been supplemented with “Feeds”. Feeds are amazing sources of information, communication and connectivity. Yet people are further apart than ever, unable to express anything but boredom and materialism. It’s a script full of big ideas like dependence on technology, corporate control, and big-brother paranoia. But more than any of those things, it’s about people. People who are still people, despite being profiled as consumers, targets, and cogs in the machine. — This is my first attempt at a feature-length script, something I finished working on last summer but was just inspired to submit (as I think adaptations are ineligible for SS250). I’ve written two shorts; one was made into a tiny indie and the other was the recipient of a large cash award within my university. The Feed is based on a novel I truly love, and I hope that the script shows that love for the core story and characters.

Title: LEGACY
Genre: Horror
Logline: A newlywed discovers her family has secretly been hunting down werewolves for centuries and must now choose between the life she has and continuing the family legacy.
Why you should read: This is a dark monster tale with some humorous character interactions to ease the ride. It is a telling of how secrets and betrayals can remold us while perpetuating the cycle of revenge no matter how desperately we fight against it. We are, after all, human. I am a nobody putting my spec out there hoping for an “Immaculate Reception” just to get it read. I have submitted this before to you, and you are probably sick of hearing from me however, I am persistent. Although I thought it was ready for contests, and I did send it to Scriptshadow 250, I highly doubt it will make the cut in any contest, because after I sent it, I found errors (I truly suck at proofing), but there may be other reasons it won’t make Carson’s list, or any list this year. However, since that time, it has gone through some revisions that I believe have removed these reasons, while painfully proofing it, and:

— In June 2015: LEGACY was requested by 2 production firms to read.
— Has nabbed a Wildsound contest WIN for a screenplay read, and is scheduled for August 2015.
— Made the semi-finals for 1/2015 “Table Read My Screenplay” Park City, Utah contest.

So, that’s progress, which I would like to continue by having it reviewed here by the SS community, so I have to ask, Carson, are you my ‘Franco Harris?”