Last Sunday saw the 2021 Oscars crown its winners. Whether you agree or disagree with the Academy’s decisions, and no matter what you think about the awards themselves, there’s always something to be learned. Here’s our take on this year’s Oscars…
On April, 16th 1889, writer, filmmaker, actor and icon, Charlie Chaplin was born. His films have gone on to be loved and enjoyed universally, and a frontrunner in showing the power of film and what it can emotionally do to an audience.
From his first feature film, ‘The Kid’ (1921)’, where the world first lay witness to his infamous ‘Little Tramp’ character. To genre-defining films such as the romantic comedy, ‘Modern Times’ (1936)’, and political satire ‘The Great Dictator’ (1940)’, he truly helped shape cinema and comedy.
To celebrate this, we asked Shintaro Ogai, winner of our 2020 Fall Contest, with his script ‘Riding With Charlie’, why he thinks Charlie Chaplin is so loved universally.
Here is his response:
WriteMovies: “Why has Charlie Chaplin been loved by people all over the world for over a century?”
Shintaro Ogai: “Because his films address issues important to people of every era: the ideas of class consciousness and status. His character, The Little Tramp, was influenced by his own experiences of financial hardships during his childhood. Throughout time, the themes of class, wealth, and social standing play an important part in every one of our lives, and Charlie’s comedy sheds light on all of these topics.”
If you want to read more about Shintaro Ogai and his winning script ‘Riding With Charlie’, click here!
A year ago, we gave you a sneak peek at the industry diary of our director, Ian Kennedy, as he pitched our winners projects in Los Angeles. Now, as we start a new pitching push, we look back at a year like no other and how it’s shaped our plans for the future.
With vaccine rollouts started worldwide, we’re looking forward to the end of the pandemic – and now more than ever, it’s important to keep an eye on what scripts are selling as we approach a crucial juncture for our world. See below for our pick of the February 2021 script sales and our insights into them.
CLOVERFIELD, STAR WARS, AND TOMB RAIDER – the January 2021 script sales contains news for a number of franchises, and gives an idea of what kind of projects have long-lasting potential.
WONDER WOMAN 3, a remake of REVENGE OF THE NERDS, and some interesting spec scripts – looking at script sales from December 2020 can help us predict what the industry might look like after the pandemic.
2020 hasn’t been the year anyone expected for movie releases, and the entertainment world has changed a lot. This week’s entertainment news shows the ongoing shift towards streaming services as movie theatres continue to struggle, with huge new projects for STAR WARS and a price rise for Disney+. Here’s our pick of the news…
We’re always keeping a close eye on our industry, and it’s something all screenwriters should do too. Because we pitch all our winners to industry, we need to know the lay of the land – and the landscape keeps changing rapidly at the moment!
If you want us to get your script out there, submit now to our contests. Enter our Romance and Comedy Award and you’ll also get free entry to the Winter 2021 Screenwriting Contest, with the chance to win script development, pitching to industry, and the $3500 Grand Prize!