by John Sullivan | Jun 15, 2018 | Updates, WMC
The Final Deadline is fast approaching for our Spring Contest 2018! Add the finishing touches to your script and submit it by this Sunday, June 17 to win fantastic prizes.
There are 9 winning categories, $2000 available in prize money, plus over $3000 in script development for the 3 winners, bonuses and promotion through InkTip – we promise to develop and promote them to the top of the international film industry.
Plus, twice Academy Award nominated director Habib Zargarpour and WriteMovies founder Alex Ross are looking for VFX driven scripts to take to Hollywood – make it yours by entering our competition!
In addition to our Overall Winner, we also have prizes for the Best Studio Script, Best Indie Script, and Best Short Script – and we’re not just interested in screenplays, either. Our competition includes several other categories: get your television series started with Long and Short Form Pilots, raise the curtain on a future in theatre by sending in your Stageplay, and unleash the screen potential of your Book!
And don’t forget our newest category: Best Video Game Script! Guide us into your gaming universe and show us how creative you can be – we’d be thrilled to read your projects!
See the prizes available below, and enter our competition here!
Prizes and awards up for grabs in each category… Click on the prizes to learn more about them!
by Ian Kennedy | May 21, 2018 | Competition Offers, Highlights, Updates, WriteMovies News
Want us to promote your script in our next our next Hollywood script pitching whirlwind tour, or other pitching? We are seriously looking for 2-3 scripts for 2x Academy Nominated and 2x BAFTA winning, Habib Zargarpour to direct. If you have what we need please participate in: https://writemovies.com/spring-2018-screenwriting-contest/
WriteMovies founder and producer Alex Ross and VFX expert turned movie director, Habib Zargarpour, just went on a tour of various Hollywood production companies talking to top executives about their new project. Here’s what happened!
Meeting #1: Skrzyniarz & Mallean. High powered Boutique law firm. (A lot of Los Angeles law firms now also act in a management capacity opening doors for clients etc. They, along with talent managers tend to be easier to work with than agents)
Alex and Habib started with an early morning meeting during which Habib gave a full presentation on the script they were pitching. The lawyer was very impressed.
Among other things she suggested who to get in touch with for funding. Alex gave the attorney a follow up call and there is definite interest on working on this project, and potentially other suitable scripts.
Meeting #2: Rough Diamond Productions
Another great meeting during which the producer showed interest in the project. She and her team totally got the value that Habib would add, to deliver a studio grade, VFX based picture for a fraction of the usual price. Many of the smaller production houses want to get involved in higher end VFX based projects but cannot afford the costs. This is what is so interesting about Habib’s work, in that he and his team at Digital Monarch Media have devised a software/hardware package, which has been tested by some of the greats such as Spielberg, Jon Favreau, and Denis Villeneuve, which allows producers to deliver studio grade VFX for a faction of the price. Their latest Virtual Film Toolset is called Expozure and was used on Blade Runner 2049 and Tom Hanks’ Greyhound.
There was a request for more info on budget so the team have a better idea on how and where to take the project –with the packaging suggestions we had in the first meeting, there’s some good signs and avenues for us to explore.
Habib Zargarpour and Alex Ross on their script pitching whirlwind tour in Hollywood, May 2018
Meeting #3: Branded Pictures Entertainment
After a full demonstration by Habib, the producers expressed interest in the project and explored Habib directing another of their projects as well.
Meeting #4: Meeting with Epic Pictures:
An interesting meeting with the top brass. They already really like the script. Totally got what Habib can bring to the table as a director. Needs us to come up with a formal proposal. “See you on the red carpet”.
Meeting #5: Blue Ant Media
Alex and Habib finished their day by meeting with Julio Sobral, former senior Fox Studios executive and now top of the food chain at BAM. Julio has a very deep background in post-production and FX and also really liked the fact that Habib was a partner at Microsoft Studios and helped to design a number of games which generated more revenue than a lot of blockbuster movies. So the ability to fully map out the ancillary revenue streams for your project are key to production companies and something you need to work out before you go to pitch.
BAM is part of a substantial chain of media companies, so Julio wanted us to come in and pitch not only with a view to getting Habib and Alex’s film done but also to consider working on some of their other projects.
And that was just day one! Next, look what happened on day two of our Hollywood script pitching whirlwind tour! And don’t forget: We are seriously looking for 2-3 scripts for 2x Academy Nominated and 2x BAFTA winning, Habib Zargarpour to direct. If you have what we need please participate in: https://writemovies.com/spring-2018-screenwriting-contest/
by John Sullivan | 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.
Opening in January 2018, 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… or, hey, sign up a friend for a Christmas present!
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 – Date: January 12th.
- Phase 2 (development & outlining): $500 – Date: February, 2018.
- Phase 3 (1st draft & coverage):
$500 – Date: March, 2018.
- Phase 4 (writing is rewriting & 2nd draft coverage): $500 – Date: April 2018.
- Phase 5 (pitching and promoting your script): $500 – Date: May 2018.
- Phase 6 (that’s a wrap): $500 per year for ongoing support – Date: June 2018.
- 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 Sullivan | Oct 4, 2017 | Industry News
Is Winter the new Summer for Hollywood blockbusters? Release dates of big films this year suggest that Winter is the season to be jolly for Hollywood.
So-called Oscar bait has always been released towards the end of Summer right through to Winter. This supposedly gives these films an edge – there’s a recency bias surrounding these films, but Winter is also slowly becoming the time for blockbusters, too.
In recent years the Middle-Earth and STAR WARS franchises have been reinvented and relocated release dates to December – which proved financially successful for them – and now the superhero films are following suit. The 2017 Spring and Summer saw the fringe films, the riskier films – GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2. SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING, WONDER WOMAN, but come November, the big boys are coming back. THOR: RAGNAROK and THE JUSTICE LEAGUE both have November release dates – close enough to December to rake in the money, but far enough away from STAR WARS EP: VIII that they won’t have to fight off the Jedi fans.
While the big name films are currently few in number, it looks like Winter will become the new blockbuster season for years to come. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-19/how-hollywood-got-over-the-summer-blockbuster
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
by John Sullivan | Oct 2, 2017 | Industry News
All is not as it seems… AMC makes an investment in a virtual reality startup company, also backed by Hollywood stars.
Hollywood and Television companies are beginning to follow in the success of gaming with increased interest and investment in VR (virtual reality) companies. Gaming consoles such as the PlayStation 4 have already taken advantage of this phenomenon to give their gamers a new experience. Companies like AMC investing in VR companies suggests that audiences of film and television should start to get ready for a new cinematic experience.
Check out more here: http://deadline.com/2017/09/amc-invests-20-million-in-dreamscape-vr-expands-theatrical-rollout-1202177023/
You can see all our collecion of new here, too: https://writemovies.com/about/news/film-news/
© WriteMovies 2017. Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
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