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 15, 2017 | Highlights, Industry News, Updates, WriteMovies News
So you want to be a screenwriter, huh? Well, we want you to be, too! For nearly 20 years we’ve been developing writers with our mentoring services and contests with the aim of getting writers’ scripts produced. And now we’re going that step further… our Hollywood Virtual Film School is here!
The WriteMovies Academy is introducing a brand new Hollywood Virtual Film School for all you aspiring writers and producers.
This 6 month academy will put you through your paces with courses on how to crystallize your concept, how to put that down into a script, and how to sell it and work with the production and distribution – all taught by our top, experienced script analysts, producers and writer mentors.
You invest months of your life on a script in the hope that it will sell. There is nothing sadder or more defeating than a script that has not sold. You owe to yourself to give your projects the best possible chance of getting made. We provide that to you. For a few cents for every hour of your life you have or are about to invest, we will provide you with not only a safety net, but a support system that will always be there for you. You cannot make it on your own, the odds are totally against you. Let us help you: THIS IS WHO WE ARE, PEOPLE WE HAVE HELPED, and FEEDBACK.
Don’t blow $100,000 to go to film school and be taught by “has beens”. We can teach you to become a professional screenwriter or writer-producer for $3000 and you will be taught by successful working professionals! Let us know about your own personal situation and WriteMovies will adopt a specific plan of action to take your script or idea to the next level.
Book your place on the first Phase of the course, or all six right here!
The Phases of the course, and their launch dates, and prices are shown below:
- Phase 0 (Project Selection, Additional consultation & notes): $250 (or free if you buy all of the Phases 1-6 for $3000!)
- Phase 1 (concept & development): $500
- Phase 2 (development & outlining): $500
- Phase 3 (1st draft & coverage):
$500
- Phase 4 (writing is rewriting & 2nd draft coverage): $500
- Phase 5 (pitching and promoting your script): $500
- Phase 6 (that’s a wrap): $500 per year for ongoing support
- Or, book your place on every Phase at once for just $3000, which includes Phase 0 absolutely free!
For more info on each Phase just click here, or to book your place for Phase 1, go right HERE.
by John | Dec 8, 2017 | Industry News, Updates, WriteMovies News
Tarantino to do his thing with Charlie Manson, while DC has The Rock and a writer set for BLACK ADAM. As we wind down to the industry Christmas break, the script sales in November step it up with some very interesting pieces of news.
A Hitchcock-esque sci-fi, thriller, Sandra Bullock in a medicinal marijuana con story and much more. There’s plenty of room for sci-fi and techno styled spec scripts as reported in Script Pipeline’s November 2017 Script Sales – and that could provide an opening for you. With STAR WARS re-heightening the interest in sci-fi, the genre has had a bit of a renaissance (see ARRIVAL and PASSENGERS).
But the eye-catching news is elsewhere…
Quentin Tarantino is set to write and direct (the Tarantino way) about the Charles Manson murders – that seems right up Tarantino’s street. After the success of AMERICAN CRIME STORY season 1, which dramatized the O.J. Simpson trial, it seemed only a matter of time before a story about Manson came about. But with this being Tarantino’s first biopic, it’ll be interesting to see what comes of this…
Finally, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson not only has his DC film role, but also a writer for the script. The BLACK ADAM film set in the DCEU seems a-go… but for how long? Will this be a stand-alone film? Will this even get into production? The Rock has been pushing for this for a while now, but I don’t see a good outcome coming from this…
Check out the other script sales news from November with Script Pipeline here. What will December bring for script sales?
View our review on the Octboer script sales here.
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
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!
