Introducing our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner: DISTANT STARS by Illimani Ferreira!

Introducing our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner: DISTANT STARS by Illimani Ferreira!

distant starsOver the coming weeks and months, we’ll be showcasing our many award winners from 2022 as we pitch them to successful producers and studios.

First is our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award winner, a vivid portrait of a future family finding peace and happiness together in a deep-space setting, only to be torn apart by wars and social conflict as they try to reunite.

When a sentimental miner moves to a safer planet ahead of his studious husband and their daughter, an interplanetary class war threatens to divide the family forever.

To express an interest in producing or optioning this script, contact talent@atalentscout.com now!

About the writer:

Illimani Ferreira

Illimani Ferreira is a Brazilian writer currently living in the United States, more precisely in Coastal Oregon, where he is trying to figure out if, as a person who grew up in Brazil’s central savannas, he is a beach person or not.
Before moving to the United States, Illimani Ferreira had the chance to live in different countries such as Brazil, France, and Canada, and work in different fields, from Social Housing policy consulting to scrubbing toilet bowls at 3 am in a shelter for homeless persons living with the HIV. As an immigrant himself, Illimani cares deeply for matters related to immigrant rights.
Illimani’s writing is focused on a broad range of Science Fiction that can go from a grimdark noir to the zaniest of comedies. He likes to think that there is a bittersweet signature in everything he writes and, although his Latinx identity doesn’t steer his writing, it does illuminate his perspective. The same applies to the fact that he is a gay man.

Industry Diary, January 2023: latest industry interviews, plus how scripts foreshadow news stories!

Industry Diary, January 2023: latest industry interviews, plus how scripts foreshadow news stories!

A glimpse under the hood at how we’re developing our winners, forging industry links and pitching.

Developing scripts with our winners, and readying them for the right time to pitch, is a unique pleasure of our position in the industry. We’ve been working intensively with many of our recent winners in January and we’re looking forward to introducing you to them and their work over the coming months – always looking for that perfect moment when their script is best placed to capitalize on its potential, or even on renewed topical interest in its themes and subject matter. We’ve got a fascinating slate right now and we can’t wait to share it with you.

It takes a lot of long-term relationship-building behind the scenes to make this kind of thing possible. Not just with our writers, but of course with producers and industry talents as well. Those relationships and connections take many forms. Our founder Alex Ross has completed his groundbreaking book BLOCKBUSTED on the evolution of Hollywood’s calculated blockbuster, packed with interviews and industry insights. And he’s already completed lots of interviews with the team behind one iconic cult movie, for his next book, which will be all about that film. We’ll reveal all about it soon and tell you the fascinating people he’s been meeting to gain never-before revelations about some of its most famous questions!

So often, writers are thinkers. They tell stories by engaging with the issues and dilemmas of their times, and playing those issues and conflicts out through characters and their choices and challenges. It gets strangely prescient sometimes watching news stories unfold when you know that one of your writer clients or friends already wrote a script about that very issue, and totally nailed why these things happen in the world. It comes from working with talented writers over many years, that often, major news stories don’t come as a surprise at all. Sometimes writers serve as the conscience of their times, and as the early warning of the dangers and mistakes ahead of us if we don’t make the right choices now. Sometimes it’s all these things at once. That’s what I’ve been thinking in response to a major news story this week. As it unfolded, I was remembering how much of it exactly mirrored a different true story that was adapted years ago by one industry professional we speak to regularly. That story foreshadowed – sadly almost fully – many of the exact same situations and issues which have now happened again and have once again become a massive news story. Sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same!
 

2023 is shaping up to be an exciting and fascinating year for us, and we’ll continue to blog about it whenever we can.

Sign up to our newsletter BELOW to come along for the ride!

Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest – One Week until Standard Deadline!

Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest – One Week until Standard Deadline!

The standard deadline for our Romance and Comedy Award has just passed, and now the standard deadline for the WriteMovies Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest is just one week away!

You’ve got until the end of Sunday January 12th if you want to enter the competition at the lower price rate of $39 for screenplays, stageplays, and TV pilots, or $49 for books and video game scripts. And there are a lot of good reasons to enter…

The Grand Prize for the contest is $2000 – plus valuable script development from our professional analysts and guaranteed pitching to industry. Take a look at our Wall of Fame 2019 – we’re already hard at work with all our winners from last year on developing their scripts. This is your chance to join them!

And don’t forget that you can also get free entry to the contest when you buy a script report from us. Get invaluable feedback on your work from top experts; all of our reports follow industry-standard formats, and are designed to give you honest, constructive feedback on your work. Get Studio Coverage for just $99 or more comprehensive Development Notes for $149!

So don’t delay. Click here to submit to the WriteMovies Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest today and start your writing journey with us!

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