They took each other on in the comments section. But now they’re battling it out on the page!
We’ve got a first-ever for you on Scriptshadow today. Two of our most opinionated readers have decided to square off against each other to determine who can write the better script. There’s some backstory worth getting into here in order to understand how this grudge match came about.
Long-time commenter, Grendl, has adamantly stood up for his Loch Ness Monster script, Haddegon Tails, as worthy of being a Hollywood film. Without getting into the weeds, Grendl has been highly skeptical of the way the industry operates and believes that choosing which scripts get purchased and which don’t boils down to luck and subjectivity.
Kagey, meanwhile, who has some produced credits, has called Grendl out for being delusional in this belief. Kagey believes that the cream rises to the top and that if Grendl’s script was actually any good, it would’ve sold. Their heated argument resulted in Grendl challenging Kagey via a head-to-head screenplay matchup, a challenge which Kagey accepted.
Now that you know the backstory, here are the entries, along with their script download links.
Grendl’s Entry
Title: Haddegon Tails
Genre: Dramedy
Logline: When an American team of filmmakers arrive at an Irish lake, purported home to the cursed spawn of the last two snakes on the Emerald Isle, it threatens to tear a family apart.
Why You Should Read: Kagey said lake monsters are not Spielberg material, and I disagreed. He (Spielberg) has a wide ranging resume spanning all sorts of subject matter, including a Disney Eyed alien on a flying bike. I want this script to show its not subject matter that isn’t commercially viable, but actually just the opposite. Unexplored territory for the most part.
Download Link: Haddegon Tails
Kagey’s Entry
Title: For Good Men To Do Nothing
Genre: Action
Logline: When a thief contracts a fatal illness, he joins a top secret organization that only hires terminal patients, in order to pay off a drug kingpin and save his family.
Why You Should Read: I’ve always loved action movies. Especially 80’s style. This is my homage to them.
Download Link: For Good Men To Do Nothing
So here’s how this is going to work. The comment section of this post will serve as the official Voting Docket. Read as much of each script as you can then vote for your favorite script via your comment. Feel free to provide any additional context for why you liked one script over the other.
Because this is a script showdown, I’m going to give everyone an entire week to read the scripts. Next Tuesday we will have an official post declaring the winner and discussing the results. Which means you can vote right up until 6pm, Pacific Time, Monday, April 24th.
Per agreement of the two writers, the loser has to publicly admit that the winner is indeed the better writer and STFU on the forums for three months.
I realize that this will be a bit of a confusing week since we have Logline Showdown this Friday (by the way you still have time to send in your loglines – I will pick the five best loglines to compete on the site!).
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What: Title, Genre, Logline
Rules: Your script must be written
When: Send submissions by April 20th, Thursday, by 10PM pacific time
Where: carsonreeves3@gmail.com
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But I figured since the Logline Showdown just consists of loglines, the time commitment will be minimal, and allow you plenty of time to do both. If this goes well, I could see myself doing more grudge matches in the future. I expect this to be a wild ride. Good luck to both participants. May the best writer win!
