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Standby by Patrick Tierney – Pitch

Standby by Patrick Tierney – Pitch

Pitch: Standby by Patrick Tierney – After their friend’s death, three friends set out to see their favorite band’s final performance on Saturday Night Live – even if it means breaking into the studio…

After becoming an award-winning script in the 2022 WriteMovies Screenwriting Contest, we’re now inviting approaches from the industry to take it to the widest audience possible!

 

Standby by Patrick Tierney

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About the pitch: Standby by Patrick Tierney:

Gail’s life is going nowhere. Single, barely employed, and rudderless, Gail approaches 40 with a terrifying realization — that she hasn’t accomplished anything. What’s worse, she’s drifting apart from Beth, Mallory, and Sheila — her best friends since childhood.

When Beth dies unexpectedly, Gail convinces Mallory and Sheila to finish Beth’s bucket list. The only item left unachieved? Seeing their favorite band, Manic Pixie Dream Girl, perform live in concert. Turns out, it’s now or never — the band is breaking up, and their final performance is only days away… on Saturday Night Live!

Since tickets are notoriously hard to come by, they have no choice but to tackle the legendary SNL standby line — a grueling all-nighter on the streets of Rockefeller Center. If our heroes (and their bladders) can survive the inane rules, territorial superfans, and a brewing nor’easter, the tickets will be theirs by morning.

But even then, standby tickets are no guarantee. If Gail, Mallory, and Sheila *really* want to see Manic Pixie Dream Girl perform “live from New York,” they’ll have to do whatever it takes — even if it means breaking into Studio 8H.

But when NBC Studios throws down the gauntlet, the obstacles may be more than our heroes can handle. Beth was always the “glue” that held their group together — can their friendship survive without her? Can Gail finish anything she starts? If our heroes have any chance of succeeding, they’ll have to give it all they’ve got — with a little help from a psychotic stand-up comedian, a telepathic zoomer, a shotgun-toting boomer, and the ever-elusive ghost of Ellen Cleghorne.


To be considered for representation and pitching to industry yourself, buy any of WriteMovies’ services today using the options in the sidebar on the right!

With our Anytime Entry service, you can enter your script at any time for just $45 and receive:

  • An analysis of the crucial first ten pages of your script, focusing on its key strengths and weaknesses.
  • A writer evaluation, where our analyst considers its potential for our representation and pitching to industry (guaranteed to all writers who earn a Recommended rating!).
  • Free entry to any relevant contest we open this year – which can also be for your next draft, if your writer evaluation gains a Consider or Recommend!
Standby by Patrick Tierney – Pitch

Pitch: Internal Security by Stefan Alexander

Pitch: Internal Security – Another award winner from WriteMovies that has been developed with our input since becoming a winner with us.

We’re inviting approaches now from the industry to take this script to the widest audience possible!

 

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About Internal Security by Stefan Alexander:

This is the near future. Since the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza, not only the West and Russia have been engaged in a new Cold War, but also Islamic terrorism is rising. Right-wing populist movements are coming to power all over Europe. Germany is the focus of attention as last beacon of democracy. Until now.

Tensions are high across Germany; a right-wing populist faction led by Interior Minister Jörg von Stahl has placed itself at the center of public discourse, and a wave of bloody Islamic extremism is causing panic.

Ina Schmidt sees past the fear and rhetoric, but she feels powerless to stop it. Her reputation as an investigative and influential journalist has been sullied by a story gone badly wrong. She still carries the guilt and contempt for her country it has burdened her with – even as her Father is killed in a terrorist attack, she sees no reason to sacrifice the little that remains in her life to help.

Her past comrades, still remember her fondly. Bernd Muller for one, an-ex love and operative of the intelligence services, who helps her following a trail of duplicitous disappearances from refugee camps around the country.

With Bernd’s help, Ina trawls over the evidence he’s amassed and uncovers a shattering truth. The radical political movement on the rise owes their popularity and considerable resources to a foreign backer. Their power and influence extends far beyond a protest march. These acts of terrorism plaguing the nation are in fact their handiwork, using the fear they create to further their own cause.

With the security and government institution’s around them evidently compromised Ina and Bernd find themselves alone, trying to prove and publicize their discovery, in a race against the rising popularity of fascists.

But their meddling puts them in the cross hairs of the shadowy forces at play. Bernd is kidnapped as a former colleague and informant is killed. Fearing for her own life Ina must outrun the security forces that pursue her.

Cut off and afraid, can Ina find and free her only accomplice? Can the evidence they’ve collected show the world the truth behind a wicked new regime? Or will their rise to power continue – is it possible they’re just too late?

Timely and thought-provoking, INTERNAL SECURITY challenges audiences with a plausible and terrifying future where a new Cold War challenges the West. It combines the ingenious political gamesmanship of The Post and Argo, with the lighting fast action beats and thrilling suspense of The Bourne Identity. Berlin’s answer to Atomic Blonde with world changing consequences.


To be considered for representation and pitching to industry yourself, buy any of WriteMovies’ services today using the options in the sidebar on the right!

With our Anytime Entry service, you can enter your script at any time for just $45 and receive:

  • An analysis of the crucial first ten pages of your script, focusing on its key strengths and weaknesses.
  • A writer evaluation, where our analyst considers its potential for our representation and pitching to industry (guaranteed to all writers who earn a Recommended rating!).
  • Free entry to any relevant contest we open this year – which can also be for your next draft, if your writer evaluation gains a Consider or Recommend!
Standby by Patrick Tierney – Pitch

Pitch: Whiskey Mountain Days by Bill Walker, our latest Grand Prize winner!

Pitch: Whiskey Mountain Days: When a college student joins director Bill Grefé’s independent film shooting in Georgia, he falls passionately in love with a much older woman on the crew, only to face her ex-husband from Hell…

WHISKEY MOUNTAIN DAYS is a sweet coming-of-age romance. If you like show business backdrops, hopelessly smitten heroes, humorous banter, and heartbreaking drama, then you’ll adore Bill Walker’s tender tale of maturation.

We’re inviting approaches now from the industry to take this script from our latest Grand Prize winner to the widest audience possible – and have news on an attachment to the project to share with you next week!

 

 

Here’s a little more about WHISKEY MOUNTAIN DAYS by Bill Walker… (more…)

Hindi rights to CURVEBALL sold!

Hindi rights to CURVEBALL sold!

The Hindi rights to Curveball have already been optioned to Exceed Entertainment in Mumbai for a Hindi-language adaptation of this uniquely high-concept thriller! The potential is for the sale to result in a Bollywood-style version that gives a fascinating new twist to this story without impacting the English-language audience, who can expect a grittier style and different kind of sport (and stadium) as its backdrop. English-language rights are still available – and industry producers and established talent can get in touch with us today to find out more and request the script and our vivid One-Page Pitch. (more…)

WriteMovies welcomes the resolution of the WGA strike for writers and producers.

WriteMovies welcomes the resolution of the WGA strike for writers and producers.

We welcome the resolution of the WGA strike, and we’re looking forward to exploring all the new terms of trade and sharing insights and news with you as we pitch our winners to industry again!

WriteMovies has successfully delivered contests, mentoring and pitching services for aspiring writers and producers since 1999. The global disruptions of recent years have created constant unanticipated challenges, especially the pandemic and the strike, but we’re still here and happy to be able to share exciting updates with you again. We’re continuing to enjoy our many discussions with industry insiders, and all the entries to our latest contests! We’re now into the Standard Entry phase of our contests, with screenplays now $59 and books and video games $69 to enter. Don’t forget you can enter any script, book or video game script, and receive:

1. An analysis of your crucial first ten pages from an industry perspective, telling you how well your writing stands out in the market and any areas in need of improvement

2. A free resubmission of your next draft to the same contest until it closes, for us to consider for representation and pitching to industry at our own expense

3. Entry to our Grand Prize contest, worth $3500, whichever contest you enter!

4. Guaranteed pitching to industry for every winner, and many other prizes…

We welcome your entries anytime and look forward to helping you fulfil your potential in the industry! Use the payment buttons now to enter – payment is available in multiple currencies and can accept credit and debit cards. Don’t forget that any of our Mentoring, Consulting and Script Consulting services also automatically provide free resubmission and automatic future contest entry too! We have services for every price point and welcome the chance to work with you on fulfilling your potential – enter now!  Don’t forget that any of our Mentoring, Consulting and Script Consulting services also provide all the prizes and opportunities of our contests too!

Romance and Comedy Award 2023!

Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award 2023!

WriteMovies welcomes the resolution of the WGA strike for writers and producers.

WriteMovies’ response to the 2023 WGA strike

WriteMovies response to the 2023 WGA strikeWhy we’re pausing all pitching until 2023 WGA strike disputes are resolved.

WriteMovies would like to welcome our new Analyst Matt Rose, who shares our response to the 2023 WGA strike below:

Our team here at WriteMovies stands behind the Writers Guild of America during their current strike as they put the scripted film and television industries on hold in advocating for fair wages, protections from being overworked and understaffed, and safeguards against AI screenwriting.

As script consultants and contest runners, we’ve worked with countless writers, both aspiring and experienced, and we understand the painstaking labor that goes into perfecting a screenplay for production. From blockbusters to indie hits, we know that every great film or series begins with an excellent script. In all respects, we pride ourselves on doing everything we can to hone and bolster the voices of screenwriters. In solidarity with the writers who keep the entertainment industry afloat as proven by the numerous production delays and shutdowns effected by their strike WriteMovies will not be pitching to any studios that are WGA signatories until the strike comes to an end.

The demands of the WGA, outlined by AP News, include calls for much-needed updates to outdated wage and labor standards, which have effectively been used to underpay and overwork screenwriters in recent years. As audiences continue to move away en masse from live television towards streaming platforms, writers’ residuals from syndication have all but vanished while long-term streaming deals leave writers’ compensation disproportionate to their value. The WGA calls for increased upfront pay to correct for residuals lost to the streaming era.

Also based on norms of the past, overly-long exclusivity deals leftover from the age of 22-episode TV seasons block writers from accepting available work despite 8-10 episode seasons now being commonplace. The WGA demands shorter exclusivity terms to mirror the shrinking of TV seasons. The guild also wants to end the exploitation of “mini rooms” which overwork a handful of writers during development, and they demand contractual safeguards against studios’ and producers’ use of artificial intelligence to write scripts.

Any pitching to studios and producers is considered a crossing of the picket line even for aspiring guild writers, who may be permanently barred from WGA membership for scab behavior though writers may continue seeking agents or managers, according to screenwriter and WGA secretary-treasurer Christopher Kyle. WriteMovies will continue to offer our screenplay contests and development services, and our studio pitching for winning scripts will resume as soon as the WGA strike comes to a close. In the meantime, we are working as hard as ever to aid our winning writers in polishing their scripts and prepping our pitch materials!

Find out more about WriteMovies’ contests and submission opportunities HERE.

Gearing up for an exciting second half of the year…

Gearing up for an exciting second half of the year…

WriteMovies is back and ready to launch our long-proven contests again in the weeks ahead.

It’s an exciting year for us and it’s hard to believe it’s already halfway done. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes on preparing our winners for pitching, as well as Dr. Alex Ross’s books and launches, and we’re getting ready for a dynamic few months ahead. Now we’re ready to relaunch our contests and services with an expanded and refreshed team – and we’re looking forward to finding out what you’ve been working on too!

We’re looking forward to having a big pitching presence in the months ahead – writers’ strike permitting! We’re also publishing our response to the WGA strike today here – we want writers to thrive in the new era, we’ve got some great winning scripts to promote, and we’ll share those adventures with you once the situation is right again.

Meanwhile, don’t forget that our founder Dr Alex Ross’s new book BLOCKBUSTED is now available in hardback and eBook and ALL of our newsletter subscribers can get a full 30% off! Click here to find out more – we look forward to sharing lots more about it in the months ahead. The film is full of exclusive insights into the evolution of Hollywood’s calculated blockbuster, including lots of your favorite movies from the 1970s to today. We’re also itching to tell you about his next book, which goes even deeper into one of the most iconic and talked-about films of the last half-century!

We’ve also got lots of strong new media and online course content shaping up to share with you as well – so there’s lots to look forward to!

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