by John | Oct 20, 2017 | Highlights, Results, Updates, WMC
Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition: Major international screenwriting contest…
**Final Results date: November 3rd.**
Hey, it’s been a tough one once again, but after judging the quality and viability of all our Quarter-Finalists, we’ve got it down to just 25 Semi-Finalists who go through to our final. Much respect to everyone who’s made it – and for those who haven’t, you made our decisions really tough!
Are you on of the top 25 writers from our Summer? Find out below…
A lot of the scripts that have missed out on our Semi-Finals and Quarter-Finals showed great potential, but got out-competed at this stage in their development. If you’ve not made it this time, use that as a cue to come back stronger and with any problems or doubts in your script solved. Use the upcoming Winter 2018 Screenwriting contest (opening Monday) to come back stronger. Don’t forget our studio-quality script mentoring services. Find out why your script placed where it did in the Summer contest, use the feedback and analysis to improve your project for the Winter Contest – which, by the way, you’ll enter free with any mentoring service!
How about some new inspiration? Well just take a look around our site for all the latest news, buzz, and insight from the industry. What genre is strong at the box-office right now? What makes a top screenwriter? Use our new content to make your work relevant and stronger than ever!
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SEMI-FINALISTS |
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| IF YOU WALK AWAY, Scott A. Aiman |
TWO BUCKS FOR BUFFALO BILL, Nick Arvay |
FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY, Tony Basso and Ron Basso |
THE DAWN OF EVE, James Bingham |
LAKE, Ian Bonser |
| INSURRECTION, Simon Bowler |
A BOY NAMED JUNE, Steven Bryson |
THE 405, Patrick Byrne |
SEEMINGLY HARMONIOUS, Dengxian Cao
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BLACK JACK, Stephen Charles Curran |
| CIRCUS BOY, Stephen Charles Curran |
THE MUSIC BOX, Stephen Charles Curran |
INDUSTRY OF LOVE, Koen de Jongh |
COLONIALS, Ian Fletcher |
SEA FEVER, Richard Guimond |
| WHISPERING WINDS (Novel), Richard Guimond |
BLACK DIAMOND, Karen Marie Howland |
NAPOLEON, Kevin Karp |
CHARMER, David Kurtz |
SPOONFED, Scott LaFortune |
| MY SPACE LOVE, Christophe Lourenço |
STRANGE CREATURES, Michael Neyland |
MOCK ORANGE, Joseph Ramsay |
FINAL STATUS, Timothy Jay Smith |
QUEEN OF HEARTS, Ethan Westgate |
by John | Oct 16, 2017 | Highlights, Monthly Contest Winners, Our Winners, Updates, WMCm, WriteMovies News
Latest Free Writing Contest Winner – Our September Featured Script of the Month is SEEMINGLY HARMONIOUS by Dengxian Cao.
We chose Cao’s script from a host of September submissions for its unique and interesting concept – which is what this free contest is all about!
For winning the Featured Script of the Month, Cao now receives free Judging Feedback and publicity on our website, Twitter feed, and Facebook page. Cao will also get the chance for a free resubmission of his script to our current main screenwriting contest! A great set of prizes for a free writing contest!
Here’s the logline to this very interesting script…
When terrorists use a Mind Transfer Device to control the bodies of US officials, including the president, a Secret Service agent must battle against his seemingly own people to prevent a nuclear war.
Check out a short biography on Cao, too!
Cao Dengxian: Born in Shandong Province of China, Dengxian Cao has works including several film screenplays and a collection of stories.
Seemingly Harmonious Awards: 2014 Hollywood International Screenplay Contest science fiction finalist; Third in 2015 India International Film Festival; 2016 The 14th Annual FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards PLATINUM PRIZE WINNER. Another American Writers Festival, the creative world, and any other semifinals.
Props to our Honorable Mentions, too!
- DIAMOND BAR by Andrew Crane and Jay Pickett
- THE HEALER by Ken Floyd
- And PATHS by Anthony Vieira!
Enter our Featured Script of the Month Contest with any contest entry (such as our upcoming Winter Contest, which opens next Monday) or by purchasing any one of our top, studio-quality mentoring services.
by John | Oct 16, 2017 | Industry News
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Not running at full speed yet… maybe that’s not a bad thing though…
BLADE RUNNER 2049 may have had a slowish start to its Box-Office life, but that could work in its favor… sorta.
While the film may never be a blockbuster hit in the same vein as any Marvel film or STAR WARS, it could become a cult classic in its own right.
The original itself was never a big conventional Hollywood blockbuster either, so in that regard the sequel stays true to the original – which is great… for the fans. But it’s been such a long time since the fans and the theme of a film were prioritized over making some dough, and for that BLADE RUNNER 2049 has our backing (see Ian’s review as well for why).
Read more here: http://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/blade-runner-2049-box-office-cult-classic-1201885405/
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Oct 13, 2017 | WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
Is this best screenwriters list write on the money? Screenwriters working right now pick their top 100 screenwriters of all time – who are your top writers? Check out the list right here: http://www.vulture.com/2017/10/100-greatest-screenwriters-of-all-time-ranked.html
This is a very well put together list by a group of currently working screenwriters. Although we’d question how low down Spielberg is (he’s below the likes of Judd Apatow) this got us thinking as to how exactly a top top screenwriter should be defined. Sure, the story needs to be there, the characters engaging and empathetic, but all of the screenwriters in this excellent list have achieved this, so what else is there?
Variety – a top screenwriter should be able to write a wide range of characters, stories and genres. Of course, writers like Hitchcock, Allen, and Wilder all have their set genres they go to, but looking at their slates, they all have variety to their game.
Relationship with the director – Looking at this list, there are a few writers in that top 10 that are writer-directors. They write the script, they make the film. This is a commendable trait that someone can create a concept then bring it to life. Yet, there is also a brilliance in succeeding while never needing to be a director. A director’s knowledge of what to do with a script should be just as commendable as those writer-directors.
We’ll keep adding to this list periodically, so keep coming back for more on what we think makes the best screenwriters the best.
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Oct 13, 2017 | Updates
Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition: Major international screenwriting contest…
**Semi-Finals date: October 20th.**
Hollywood might have had a downer this Summer, but you guys have made our Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest HOT!
This batch of 51 scripts, books, and pilots made a great impression on our judges and we are so excited to get into these entries and decide on our Semi-Finalists for next week!
Thanks to all of you who entered – find out if you’re one of the lucky Quarter-Finalists below…
The screenwriting quality was higher than we’ve seen in a long, long time at this stage of judging. So this was our toughest field in recent years for selecting Quarter-Finalists, and a number of promising writers have been very unlucky to miss out – so don’t get disheartened if you’re one of them. If you’d like to know why your script performed as it did this time, and how to take it forward, commission a Script Report from us to get an analyst’s eye on what’s working in it and what’s holding it back.
We provide hundreds of studio-quality Script Reports for writers and producers every year, to show them how the industry would currently rate and handle their script, and how to take them to the next level… Oh, and you’ll get the chance to enter our Winter 2017 Competition early, too. Check out our website’s new-look Mentoring section for all the ways that we can take you and your writing to the top!
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Quarter-Finalists |
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| IF YOU WALK AWAY, Scott A. Aiman |
BLOOD RUNS DEEP, Nick Amatuzio |
TWO BUCKS FOR BUFFALO BILL,
Nick Arvay |
| FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY, Tony Basso and Ron Basso |
ARABESQUE,
Sasha Belousova and A. R. Baker |
JEFFREY’S NATION, Carla Bester |
| THE DAWN OF EVE, James Bingham |
LAKE, Ian Bonser |
INSURRECTION, Simon Bowler |
| A BOY NAMED JUNE, Steven Bryson |
THE 405, Patrick Byrne |
SEEMINGLY HARMONIOUS, Dengxian Cao |
| DIAMOND BAR, Andrew Crane and Jay Pickett |
SARIN AND THE MOON PRINCESS, David Cupples |
BLACK JACK, Stephen Charles Curran |
| CIRCUS BOY, Stephen Charles Curran |
THE MUSIC BOX, Stephen Charles Curran |
INDUSTRY OF LOVE, Koen de Jongh |
| COLONIALS, Ian Fletcher |
THE HEALER, Ken Floyd |
SEA FEVER, Richard Guimond
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| WHISPERING WINDS (Novel), Richard Guimond |
WHISPERING WINDS (screenplay), Richard Guimond and Linda Cordeiro |
UNDERDEVELOPMENT,
Matthew Heinze |
| BLACK DIAMOND, Karen Marie Howland |
NAPOLEON, Kevin Karp |
TOUCH THE FIRE, Kevin Karp |
| CHARMER, David Kurtz |
SPOONFED, Scott LaFortune |
OWNER OF A LONELY HEART,
Rico Lara-Marin |
| KOPLEVA, Theo Leipert |
MY SPACE LOVE, Christophe Lourenço |
FACSIMILE, Gary Makin |
| THE FEDERAL HOTEL, Karl Mather |
SIMPLEST TERMS,
Desiree Moshayedi |
STRANGE CREATURES, Michael Neyland |
| THis OLD MAN, Nicholas Oktaras |
THE MAIDSERVANT’S CAP,
Jeff D. Opdyke |
SHINE YOUR EYES, Clint Pearson |
| SISTER TERRY, Mark Perlick |
MOCK ORANGE, Joseph Ramsay |
LAND THAT WE LOVE, Julian Renner |
| MATRICULATION, Mark J. Rose |
WEST DAKOTA, Mark J. Rose |
THE MICROCOSMIC CARTOON SHOW,
Prema Rose, Hugh A. Rose
and Suryananda Rose |
| FINAL STATUS, Timothy Jay Smith |
ME AND JEZEBEL, Lucinda Spurling |
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS,
Scott Marshall Taylor and Patrick Wiegers |
| ESCAPE TO PLANET B346, Thomas Thorpe |
QUEEN OF HEARTS, Ethan Westgate |
LEGACY OF THE GODS, Tim Wong |
by John | Oct 11, 2017 | Industry News, Movie Reviews and TV Reviews, WriteMovies News
The latest STAR WARS trailer for episode VIII, THE LAST JEDI, has just dropped and it is a master at disguising its true intentions – just like Palpatine…
While the trailer gives away a lot of action that will be happening – round 2 between Kylo and Rey, Luke training Rey – these situations were highly expected even before the trailer released. What the trailer did expertly was to not just hide plot details, but to dress them up as something else and misdirect the audience.
Here’s just a few examples
Raw power…
Both Luke and Snoke mention the massive, raw power of an individual. Luke says “I’ve seen this strength only once before. It didn’t scare me enough then… it does now.” Snoke says something very similar at the start of the trailer. The way the trailer sets these lines up makes the audience immediately think that Kylo Ren is the common factor here. However, this is just jumping to conclusions. They could both be referencing Luke himself – what the trailer does brilliantly is to make us think one way so that our expectations are subverted when we see the actual film.- Family reunion?
There’s a little moment between Kylo and Leia in the trailer… only it doesn’t happen. There’s an intercutting of the shots to make it appear like a “shot-reverse shot” technique, giving the illusion the scene we see are connected. But, of course, they’re almost certainly not. Is it possible those scenes are connected? Possibly, but there’s ambiguity and a lack of certainty that we can’t be sure about. Just like…
- Finding a Rey of hope…
A line uttered to what the trailer makes us believe to be Kylo. This is amplified by Kylo offering a hand to Rey – or so we think. Again, the trailer has been edited to make us believe that Rey is speaking to Kylo and that it Kylo is offering his hand to Rey. How sure are you of both of those things? Rey could be speaking to Luke, Leia, or even Snoke. The hand could be Luke’s or Kylo’s. That hand may have no relation there at all.
What this trailer has done is offer so much to audiences and nothing at the same time. Fans can now theorize on what will happen based on the trailer and based on its misdirects. There are so many doors Episode VIII could go down.
Both Mark Hamill and director Rian Johnson initially urged fans to stay away from promotional material for the film, assumedly because it would give too much away. But having watched the trailer it’s really given us the best of both worlds. It gives us a feeling of what we can expect, it hypes up certain interactions and duels while giving away very little.
Just remember, “This is not going to go the way you think.”
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John | Oct 4, 2017 | Industry News
Is Winter the new Summer for Hollywood blockbusters? Release dates of big films this year suggest that Winter is the season to be jolly for Hollywood.
So-called Oscar bait has always been released towards the end of Summer right through to Winter. This supposedly gives these films an edge – there’s a recency bias surrounding these films, but Winter is also slowly becoming the time for blockbusters, too.
In recent years the Middle-Earth and STAR WARS franchises have been reinvented and relocated release dates to December – which proved financially successful for them – and now the superhero films are following suit. The 2017 Spring and Summer saw the fringe films, the riskier films – GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING, WONDER WOMAN, but come November, the big boys are coming back. THOR: RAGNAROK and THE JUSTICE LEAGUE both have November release dates – close enough to December to rake in the money, but far enough away from STAR WARS EP: VIII that they won’t have to fight off the Jedi fans.
While the big name films are currently few in number, it looks like Winter will become the new blockbuster season for years to come. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-19/how-hollywood-got-over-the-summer-blockbuster
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
and with any problems or doubts in your script solved. Use the upcoming Winter 2018 Screenwriting contest (opening Monday) to come back stronger. Don’t forget our studio-quality script mentoring services. Find out why your script placed where it did in the Summer contest, use the feedback and analysis to improve your project for the Winter Contest – which, by the way, you’ll enter free with any mentoring service!
