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.
Some of you said that this script had no shot because some similar movie came out recently. Well guess what? I haven’t heard of that movie. And I hear about everything. So, it can’t be that big. Remember, there’s the kiddie pool side of the industry and there’s the deep end. Just because someone makes a cheapie version of a dinosaur valley for the kiddie pool audience doesn’t mean Universal isn’t going to make Jurassic World for the deep end audience. So, fear not, Hard Labor! You could be headed for the deep end.
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. Yesterday was The First Horseman. And today is Hard Labor. 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 Hard Labor’s first five pages. Also, if you like what you see in the pages, you can download the entire script. Let us welcome finalist number three, Mike Hurst. Mike, best of luck to you!
Title: Hard Labor
Genre: Real-Time Action Thriller
Logline: A heavily pregnant woman is found by criminals she’s been hiding from and the shock makes her go into labor. Now she must awaken old skills to survive this night – because killers are coming…but so is the baby.
We got the trailer version of this screenplay in the First Page Showdown. Now, it’s grown into an entire script. People lovvvvvved this first page. But can it survive the relentless deconstruction of every single word by the Scriptshadow audience?? You would’ve thought QB1 was an actual serial killer who was best friends with Sydney Sweeney from some of those comments. The Scriptshadow faithful does not hold back, that’s for sure.
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. Yesterday was QB1. Today is The First Horseman. 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 The First Horseman’s first five pages. Also, if you like what you see in the pages, you can download the entire script. So, everybody give a big returning welcome to our first page lothario, Finn Morgan, and his script, The First Horseman!
Hey! I don’t hear you clapping!
Title: The First Horseman
Genre: Thriller
Logline: At the height of World War 2, a young Japanese-American investigator must race to prevent a terrifying Japanese plot to unleash a devastating plague on the United States. Inspired by true events.
It turns out you guys love yourselves some American Psycho! Between this and the success of the Headhunter script, it seems there’s an appetite for another one of these movies. Maybe QB1 will be that movie.
Let me explain the rules of the contest. This week, the top four vote-getting scripts from the Mega-Showdown last weekend, will get their own featured day. Today is QB1. 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 QB1’s first five pages. Also, if you like what you see in the pages, you can download the entire script. So, everybody give a big warm welcome to our first finalist, Bill Lawrence, and his script, QB1!
Title: QB1
Genre: Action-thriller
Logline: A star quarterback hides a twisted secret—he’s a serial killer carving up victims between games. But when a relentless detective starts connecting the dots, his perfect season—and double life—begin to unravel. American Psycho meets Any Given Sunday.
Make sure to vote below!
As is always the case when I put these contests together, I experience the highest of highs (“Wow, where has this writer been?? This is great stuff!”) and the lowest of lows (20 entries in a row without a single compelling opening page!). But in the end, I love it because it celebrates you guys and all your hard work.
Now, I have good news if your script didn’t make the showdown. I have ten more entries that didn’t make the cut, but were close. I’m going to do an “Almost Made It Showdown” for those scripts at the end of August. So don’t get too upset if your script didn’t make it. Because there’s a chance that the best script in the entire competition is in that second tier of screenplays.
Okay, now for the rules. At the very least, read the logline and first page of every entry. I’ve also included links to the scripts themselves. If you have the time, read as much of each entry as you can. Then, in the comments section, tell us which script you’re voting for. You are not allowed to half-vote. Mega-Showdown is the big leagues. It’s once a year. So you only get full votes.
The four highest vote-getting scripts will each get their own “Show Day” next week. That means they’ll get five pages posted so that, at the very least, all voters read those first five pages. Then, next weekend, we’ll do the second half of the showdown. The four finalists will go into a final voting round and, once again, you guys will vote for your favorite. The winner gets a review the following Monday.
Something to keep in mind here is that, unlike past showdowns, I didn’t just read the logilne or the first page. I read at least five pages of everyone’s entry. Therefore, if you don’t love someone’s logline down below, I encourage you to still read as much of the script as you can because some of these entries were picked more on the writing than the concept.
VOTING CLOSES SUNDAY AUGUST 3RD AT 11:59PM PACIFIC TIME!
Okay, are we ready? The time is finally here. :)
Good luck everyone!
Title: A Woke In The Night
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Logline: When a home invasion interrupts a family gathering, rational thinking Alice takes evasive action, but her two progressive sisters ignite an evening of depravity.
Title: SNOW AND THE SEVEN
Genre: Action/Revenge Thriller
Logline: After narrowly escaping a hit on her father, a washed-up slacker is rescued by a secretive group of elite mercenaries known as The Seven, who help her recover, then teach her their ways so she can avenge his death.
Title: Worm
Genre: Horror
Logline: When Ada’s sister is brutally murdered in a Victorian London alleyway Ada begins to investigate, and slowly, as women start being murdered in the same fashion across the city, the truth begins to unveil that the killer may not be a man, but a monster.
Title: QB1
Genre: Action-thriller
Logline: A star quarterback hides a twisted secret—he’s a serial killer carving up victims between games. But when a relentless detective starts connecting the dots, his perfect season—and double life—begin to unravel. American Psycho meets Any Given Sunday.
Title: The First Horseman
Genre: Thriller
Logline: At the height of World War 2, a young Japanese-American investigator must race to prevent a terrifying Japanese plot to unleash a devastating plague on the United States. Inspired by true events.
Title: HARD LABOR
Genre: Real-time action thriller
Logline: A heavily pregnant woman is found by criminals she’s been hiding from and the shock makes her go into labor. Now she must awaken old skills to survive this night – because killers are coming…but so is the baby.
Title: UNDISCLOSED
Genre: Contained Thriller
Logline: At the height of the Cold War, a combat radar operator working at a remote US military outpost near the Russian border, discovers what they believe to be a rogue UFO, and must find a way to stop it without triggering World War 3.
Title: War’s Last Day
Genre: War/Thriller
Logline: As the last US troops withdraw from Afghanistan, a brash CIA field agent ropes a stray recon team into a hasty, off-the-books rescue mission, taking them high into the impassable Hindu Kush mountains with no way out, no backup, and the Taliban closing in behind them.
Title: The Ballad of the Ember Knight
Genre: Medieval Epic Adventure
Logline: In war-torn 14th century France, a disgraced knight—Roland Chandos, once the legendary Ember Knight—must confront his betrayals, protect the last heir to the throne, and redeem his honor in a final duel against the man who orchestrated his downfall.
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.
