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 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 | 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?
by John | Nov 24, 2017 | Highlights, Our Winners, Updates, WMC, WriteMovies News
Let us introduce our Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition Second Placed Winners – FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY by Ron and Tony Basso.
Ron and Tony are the second collaborative winners since our 2016 relaunch, and the first father-son writing team! They showed the love for screenwriting in FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY which earned them second place in our Summer 2017 Contest. For coming in second Ron and Tony receive a year of free script development, guaranteed pitching to industry and exclusive prizes from InkTip.
Here’s a little background on Ron and Tony…
Ron Basso: Ron is bit of a renaissance man. Among his many pursuits is screenwriter. He specializes in historical dramas; he looks specifically for unknown or minor characters and their backstories to historical events.
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, he has spent all but three years in the Commonwealth surrounded by historical sites that established this nation. He is currently working on a new full-length feature, and looks forward to more opportunities to share untold stories of our past.
Tony Basso: Tony is a soccer coach and EMT currently residing in Portland, Oregon. He has served on the coaching staffs of national, collegiate and local programs. His passion for screenwriting began while editing his father’s screenplays. Now, fully bitten by the screenwriting bug, Tony is working on various projects in his spare time.
In addition to For Love of Country, Tony is writing a 10-part mini-series on the lives of these spies and how their bravery and courage helped save the nation.
And here’s their logline to FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY…
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.
For coming second in our Summer 2017 contest, they receive a year of free script consultancy, InkTip publicity bonuses, intensive pitch coaching and GUARANTEED pitching of their script to industry.
Will you follow in Ron and Tony’s footsteps in our latest contest? Click here to get your chance!
by John | Nov 9, 2017 | Highlights, Our Winners, Results, Updates, WMC, WMC-Archive, WriteMovies News
Meet our Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest Special TV Script Award Winner – INSURRECTION by Simon Bowler.
Learn all about our very first winner of the brand new “Best Teleplay or Pilot Award” Simon Bowler, and his script INSURRECTION. Simon is the first winner of the award we introduced to the Summer 2017 Contest and here’s your chance to learn more about him and why his script won him this accolade.
The fact we created these awards tells you something about the quality of the submissions we’ve been receiving in those categories lately – and now you can learn more about our TV winner Simon and his script… For winning Simon recevies free Development Notes, as well as a free re-entry to our Winter 2018 Contest.
Here’s some background on Simon:
“Originally from London, where he produced documentary films for the BBC and Channel 4, Simon has spent over twenty years in Los Angeles producing, writing and directing television docs and reality shows. Simon recently switched to drama and besides the multiple award-winning “Insurrection” mini-series (of which he’s written three episodes), he has written two award-winning plays (both at this year’s Austin Film Fest), a feature film, and is developing a classic horror anthology TV series.”
And here is a short introduction to the script:
INSURRECTION tells the interwoven stories of three men[ – a farmer, a slave and a senator – ]whose dangerous battles against slavery led to the American Civil War. [: farmer John Brown, slave Frederick Douglass, and Senator Stephen A. Douglas].
Follow in Simon’s footsteps and enter in our current main international contest. We’ll have even more winner bios from our Summer Contest coming shortly…
