Our new Elite Consultant, multi-produced screenwriter Bobby Lee Darby, shares his pitching tips on how you should approach pitching to Hollywood, how to plan for it, and how to ace it! (more…)
Our pick of the web for July 2017 – From the @WriteMovies Twitter Feed!
Our @WriteMovies Twitter feed has been sharing lots of exciting things giving our tips of the best new articles, insights and offers for screenwriters and producers on the web. And in case you’ve missed anything there, here is our pick for July 2017…
We are proud to be able to announce QUEEN OF HEARTS by Ethan Westgate as the winner of our Featured Script of the Month for scripts submitted in June and July 2017.
With our Summer Contest only opening late in June, we decided to combine our free monthly contest for all submissions from its opening period this time around.
We’re delighted to reward the most interesting script from those submissions, with a free Judging Feedback and re-entry! As ever, this is just a bonus prize and has no effect on any of our other contest results, but we love rewarding writers who are prepared to take risks to achieve distinctive scripts, and help them progress their scripts to the next level.
Honorable Mentions:
A FRIEND LIKE FILBY by Mark Wakely.
FACSIMILE by Gary Makin.
ÁNH SÁNG by Barry Brennessel.
Here is a short biography on Ethan…
Here’s a short introduction to the script written by Ethan:
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.
Enter into the Featured Script of the Month contest for free. Just enter the Summer 2017 Contest or order a Consultancy and you’ll gain your free entry.
Meet our Spring 2017 Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner: CHOKE JOB by David Dell Johnson! Check out David’s short bio and logline for the script.
A strong commercial appeal, an enticing story, and compelling characters. Many elements to David’s script, CHOKE JOB, stood out to us. One of our judges even said “I couldn’t stop reading it! It was so captivating.” Below you can read a synopsis for this “captivating” script.
Here’s what David wins…
Here is a short bio on David:
David Dell Johnson is a retired Air Force officer and screenwriter from Alexandria, Virginia. Besides winning the WriteMovies Spring 2017 Screenwriting Competition his screenplay “Choke Job” took 3rd Place/Special Mention honors in the 2017 International Screenwriters Association (ISA) Screenplay Competition. His screenplay “Undertakings” was a finalist in the 2016 Roadmap Writers/Route One Entertainment Screenplay Competition. His screenplay “Dead Man’s Money” took first place honors in the Thriller category of the 2015 Fade In Awards Screenplay Competition.
And here is David’s short introduction to the script:
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.
Congratulations to David on being named our Grand Prize winner!
You could be our next winner and success story with our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest – enter HERE.
Just when you think you know who the protagonist is, something happens that makes you think twice. That’s what Kevin’s script does. Early twists in the opening 20 pages, goes against convention, setting the script up very nicely. There’s fresh industry interest in this genre right now too, so we’re looking forward to developing Kevin’s script!
Here’s what Kevin wins for his second placed finish:
Here’s some background on Kevin:
Kevin’s script TOUCH THE FIRE recently won the comedy category in both the StoryPros Awards Screenplay Contest and the Capital Fund Screenplay Competition. He studied modern European history as a Reynolds Scholar at Cambridge and has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth. He has worked as a script reader at Lookout Point in London and as an international-trade advisor attached to a delegation of the European Parliament.
And here is a short introduction to the script:
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.
Congratulations to Kevin on being named our Second Placed winner!
You could be our next winner and success story with our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Contest – enter HERE. We’ll bring you info on our Spring 2017 Screenwriting Contest Grand Prize Winner, David Dell Johnson, next week…
Bob’s script had a hot start, with three big plot twists in the opening ten pages. That’s a great way to catch a reader’s eye! The script has a strong balance of action, comedy, romance and drama. Check out Bob’s short bio and logline for the script below: we’ll be working with him to refine these further during the coming year.
Here’s what Bob wins…
Here’s some background on Bob:
Bob Canning was a writer for the Disney Studios for 14 years, and is a published playwright with two international awards. His first full-length screenplay, a direct-to-video comedy called Takin’ it Off!, went Platinum in sales and begat two sequels.
Blessée (Wounded), a romantic drama, is currently in the capable hands of an Oscar-nominated European director, and his globetrotting comedy about a 1940s James Bond, The Adventures of the Velvet Cat, has won several awards. He is excited about the reception his western-fantasy, The Ghosts of Silver Gulch, is getting, and for this award for his thriller, Burner.
And here is Bob’s short introduction to the script:
Fargo with sand. 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.
Congratulations to Bob on being named our Third Placed winner!
Follow in Bob’s footsteps and enter in our current main international contest, the Summer 2017 Screenwriting Competition RIGHT HERE.
We are delighted to announce the Semi-Finalists for our Spring 2017 International Screenwriting Contest.
Since the Bonus two-week extension in late May, we’ve had a lot of scripts to get through – but it’s been an enjoyable task reading through every one submitted – so thank you to everyone who entered the contest.
At this time, we try to only include scripts that we’re still considering as a potential winner. Having made the Quarter-Finalists shows that a script or writer already has some clear potential, and a Semi-Final place means that with more development this script could become a contender. Keep that in mind as you think about what to do with your script next. With the Summer 2017 Contest having just recently opened, the results should give you a good guide to the current state of your idea, writing and script.
We hope that those who did not make the Semi-Finals will stay in touch with us: very few writers secure an industry commission with their first few screenplays. We have enjoyed our exchanges with you and continue to work hard at making this site more relevant to your careers. Don’t forget that many of our writers got their careers going by using our consulting service: CLICK HERE
If you’ve sent us a revised version of a previous script but it’s still not gained the result you were hoping for, we recommend that you consider getting a consultancy on it from us. That way you can find out what we currently feel is holding your script back. And don’t forget our latest round of contests. You can get free entry to our main contest and the Featured Script of the Month when ordering a consultancy HERE.
So, here are the WriteMovies Spring 2017 International Screenwriting Contest Semi-Finalists, all of whom will get re-evaluated and new eyes as we select our top three Winners to be announced Friday, July 7th.
| SEMI-FINALISTS | ||||
| PERFIDIES, Bill Baber | INSURRECTION (Pilot), Simon Bowler | THE 405, Patrick Byrne | BURNER, Bob Canning | SEEMINGLY HARMONIOUS, Dengxian Cao |
| FELIX KERSTEN, Juniet Cedric | CAPE ANGEL BLUES, Carl B. Clark | AMERICAN HUNGER, Victor de Oliveira | CRAZY WITH LOVE, Ronald L. Ecker | THE ASHERAH, Ronald Ecker |
| COLONIALS, Ian Fletcher | DRAGONS, Jason Ginsburg | THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GEORGE BAILEY, Phillip Hardy | NOBODY’S TRACKS, Guy Harvey | PEANUT, Manny Jimenez Sr. |
| CHOKE JOB, David Johnson | THE FACTION, Kevin Karp | GAMERS, Travis Lemke | MYSPACE LOVE, Christophe Lourenço | NEVER A WORD OF A LIE, Karl Mather |
| LOVE CRUSH, Hamilton Mitchell | THE LOCKSMITH, Jeffrey Morales | THE LOSING GAME, Bernhard Riedhammer | THE LORDS OF FARHAVEN, Michael Snow | THE CHERRY ROOM, Christine, Stevens DeLorenzo |
| BLACKBERRIES IN THE DREAM HOUSE, Patrick Towne and Diane Frank | LOVING MY ENEMY, Maria Rosario A. Yano |