by WriteMovies | Jan 26, 2018 | Ian Kennedy, Our Winners, Pitching, Updates, WMC, WriteMovies News, Writers' Journeys, Writing Insights
How we’re pitching our screenwriting contest winners to the industry…
Since our relaunch in February 2016, we’ve gained a wonderful, varied slate of award-winning scripts and writers, many of which have now completed their year of free script development as we prepare them and their writers for the pitching process. As our campaign to pitch them gathers momentum, I thought now would be a great time to show you what we’ve been doing for our winners and the great responses we’ve been getting. We can’t reveal the confidential details of course, but there’s plenty we can show you as this gains pace. (more…)
by John | Jan 12, 2018 | Highlights, Our Winners, WMC, WriteMovies News, Writers' Journeys
Our Wall of Fame 2017: Grand Prize winners!
We look back at our Grand Prize winners from 2017 today and reveal the full Wall of Fame infographic. If you enter the Winter 2018 Contest and come out on top, you could see your name up on next year’s Wall of Fame – as well as winning $2000 in cash!
Here’s all you need to know about our Grand Prize winners from 2017… The scripts are improving every day, and we’re closing in on pitching them to our industry contacts soon…
- BLACKOUT.CON by Ruben Bush III: “Two young African-American men find a unique and dangerous way to handle white supremacists and help their community.” Read more here…
- CHOKE JOB by David Dell Johnson: “A slick defense attorney with a penchant for getting guilty clients acquitted has his life methodically destroyed by a mysterious stranger and must embark on a desperate race to clear his name of murder.” Learn more…
- SPOON FED by Scott LaFortune: “A feisty feminist with a sweet-tooth is hired to curb the obesity crisis, then battles USDA corruption as she brings down a chauvinistic sugar lobby.” Read more…
Check out the full 2017 Wall of Fame below – click on it to see it in all its might! Then, with the inspiration juices flowing, finish off that script you have sitting on the shelf and take a chance with the Winter 2018 Contest before Sunday’s deadline…
by John | Jan 12, 2018 | Highlights, Our Winners, WriteMovies News, Writers' Journeys
Meet our Second Placed Winners from our Wall of Fame 2017…
No way is second the first of the losers with any of our contests as you receive one year of free script and pitching development and the guarantee that we will pitch your project to industry – which is what the Second Placed winner for our current Winter Contest will also receive!
Here’s all you need to know about our Second Placed winners from 2017… The scripts are improving every day, and we’re closing in on pitching them to industry very soon.
- THE ARENA by Belinda Whitney: A futuristic gladiator battles for his life while trying to shield the son he loves from the brutality of the arena. Read more here…
- THE FACTION by Kevin Karp: In 1978, crippled by a blown operation that sees one of its agents murdered in West Berlin, MI6 activates skeptical veteran HILL to exact revenge on the man responsible: ex-SS war criminal ALD STITZMAN, who has taken control of the Stasi-funded Red Army Faction that is terrorizing West Germany. Read more…
- FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY by Ron and Tony Basso: 70 years after an extraordinary true story of freed slaves volunteering to return to the South to spy on Confederate military forces, one spy questions if it was worth it. Learn more here.
Enter our current main contest and you can have your face appear on next year’s Wall of Fame…
by John | Jan 8, 2018 | Highlights, Our Winners, WMC, WriteMovies News
It’s the final week of our Winter 2018 contest, and a great chance to celebrate our 2017 Wall of Fame. Today we honor our Third Placed Winners and their fine scripts!
Coming in third is a big win with our contests as each of the below winners is currently receiving a full year of free script and pitching development and the guarantee that we will pitch their project to industry – as the Third Placed winner for our current Winter Contest will do too.
You can see your face up in 2018’s Wall of Fame if you come in third in any of our main contests (Winter 2018 closes this Sunday!)
Here’s all you need to know about our Third Placed winners from 2017… These scripts are progressing fast and already getting attention from the industry!
- IN THE SHADOW OF FREEDOM by Elliott Riebman and Michael Gozzard: “Inspired by the extraordinary true story of a boy soldier who escaped the Congo to become a decorated U.S. Marine, but he is still haunted by his past demons.” Read more here…
- BURNER by Bob Canning: “A Palm Springs police detective must put aside her health and marital problems to solve a brutal homicide, while the hitman responsible is now experiencing uncharacteristic bouts of guilt and anger after killing the wrong person.” Learn more…
- CHARMER by David Kurtz: “A burned-out middle-aged accountant and a young daredevil woman put their polar opposite lifestyles aside when they team up on dangerous hostage-rescue mission.” Read more…
Stay tuned, as we release a special one-off Wednesday newsletter celebrating our Second Placed winners. Then we conclude our celebrations on Friday with our Grand Prize winners – as we also reveal the full Wall of Fame infographic…
by John | Jan 5, 2018 | Featured Script of the Month, Highlights, Our Winners, Updates, WriteMovies News, Writers' Journeys
Our Wall of Fame 2017: We have more winners than ever to celebrate from 2017 than ever! With 18 winners in total, we’ve seen an increase in quality from 2016, and we’re looking for that trend to continue…
Today, we’re honoring our Featured Script of the Month winners in this very special infographic (click on it to see it in all its might!) More to be revealed shortly…
Learn all about each of our Featured Script of the Month winners and their loglines:
- GAMERS by Travis Lemke – “A man child who has lost love finds new love, but then has to kill that love after he and his Dungeon and Dragons buddies fall into possession of a magic book and summon a mysterious “protector” from hell. Shenanigans and hi-jinks abound in this contemporary comedy.” Read more…
- MARIGOLD by Lisa J. Cristoforo – “When a woman realizes her dreams are a window into her past lives connecting her to a famous actor and an 18th century Irish house servant, she embarks on a clandestine adventure to Ireland to discover the truth behind the connection.” Read more here…
- THE CHERRY ROOM by Christine Stevens DeLorenzo – “THE CHERRY ROOM (Inspired by true events.) – An undercover cop, a writer, and the owner of New York City’s most famous gentleman’s club discover a sophisticated baby-making network that supplies elite pedophiles and satanic cults with prepubescent children.” Check out more here…
- IDLE OF MAN by Joseph Campbell – “IDLE OF MAN follows the life of a depressed psychiatrist who is all of a sudden abducted by aliens and returns seeking a new perspective on life.” Read more…
- LAST RIDE OF METRO 313 by Michael Neyland – “Passengers on a commuter bus become stranded during a storm and must work together to survive strange and unnatural creatures.” Learn more…
- QUEEN OF HEARTS by Ethan Westgate – “In a world where everyone is united by a global thought-network, a small minority of people are unable to access this network. Molly Dark must lead others of her kind in a race to survive as the Network turns violently against those Unconnected.” Read more here…
- SEEMINGLY HARMONIOUS by Dengxian Cao – “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.” Learn more…
- DEAD POSSUM by Jared Wayne Raun – “A boy discovers he is dead, but resists leaving his body so he can save his living girlfriend from a gang of zombie bikers, despite protestations from his spirit guide.” Read more…
- DEAD MAN’S HAND by Ronald L. Ecker – “When the hypnotist dies during a past life regression, it leaves a present-day schoolteacher and an Old West gunfighter trapped in each other’s body and times.” Read more here…
Wouldn’t it be great to see your name up there next year? Well, you can! Enter the Winter 2018 Contest by the 14th January and you could see your name, face and script up in the 2018 Wall of Fame…
by John | Dec 15, 2017 | Featured Script of the Month, Highlights, Monthly Contest Winners, Our Winners, Updates, WMCm, WriteMovies News
Featured Script of the Month for October/November – DEAD MAN’S HAND by Ronald L. Ecker
We chose Ronald’s script from a host of October and November submissions for its intriguing concept – which is what this free contest is all about! We combined the Script of the Month to include both October and November entries because of the off-period between our Summer Contest and current Winter 2018 Contest (enter here!) to give everyone the best opportunity possible.
For winning the Featured Script of the Month, Ronald now receives free Judging Feedback and publicity on our website, Twitter feed, and Facebook page. Ronald 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 Ronald’s summary of this interesting script…
When the hypnotist dies during a past life regression, it leaves a present-day schoolteacher and an Old West gunfighter trapped in each other’s body and times.
Check out a short biography on Ronald, too!
Born and raised in Florida, Ronald L. Ecker received a B.A. in English at the University of Florida, and spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Arequipa, Peru. He earned a Master of Library Science degree at Florida State University, and worked as a librarian at Barry University in Miami and with the state of Florida until his retirement in 2000.
He is the author of five published books, including the Dictionary of Science and Creationism, selected by the review journal Choice as one of the Outstanding Academic Books of 1990. His complete modern-English translation of The Canterbury Tales (with Chaucer scholar Eugene J. Crook) was a widely adopted text in college and university literature courses, and is now available free in an online edition.
He also writes screenplays and songs. His scripts have been in the Winners category in four screenplay contests (e.g., 2nd Place Winner in the 2014/15 Comedy Screenplay Contest, and a Winner in the 2016 True Story Screenplay Competition) and finalists in 14 others.
Enter our Featured Script of the Month Contest with any contest entry or by purchasing any one of our top, studio-quality mentoring services.
by John | Dec 1, 2017 | Highlights, Our Winners, Results, Updates, WMC, WriteMovies News
Meet Our Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner: SPOON FED by Scott LaFortune
Scott did anything but spoon feed our judges and readers with his winning script, and as our Grand Prize Winner, he wins a year of free script development, guaranteed pitching to industry and exclusive script and logline listings via InkTip’s script directory and increasingly popular magazine – oh, and the Grand Prize of $2000!
It’s always heart-warming to see a winner so happy after a win, and boy was Scott happy. Check out his initial reactions here…
“I’m too nervous and excited to even type right now!
I’ll respond more after I run around in circles, yelling hooray hooray…”
Later that day…
“Many thanks again for this opportunity! First Place is still sinking in…
I first entered a WriteMovies competition in August, 2008. Seriously, a humbling journey-
And what a wonderful life experience, that screenwriting has been!
Thanks John, you guys are the best.”
Here’s a short bio on Scott LaFortune, our Summer 2017 Contest Grand Prize Winner:
“Originally from Minneapolis, Scott currently lives and writes on historic Main Street in Park City, Utah.
He also changes lots of diapers, searches incessantly for stray sippy-cups, and can’t believe how many Lego’s can fit into a standard garbage disposal.
In his spare time Scott’s a research chemist and microbiologist, with a devoted passion for story, cynicism, science, and social commentary.”
Here’s Scott’s logline for SPOON FED:
“A feisty feminist with a sweet-tooth is hired to curb the obesity crisis, then battles USDA corruption as she brings down a chauvinistic sugar lobby.
Based on true 1980’s events that led to the global diabesity epidemic.”
Read up on our Second (HERE) and Third Placed (HERE) Winners too, or take your chance to become our next winner with our current screenwriting contest… Will you be our next Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner?
