by John | Nov 22, 2019 | WMC
We may be nearing the end of the last contest of our 20th anniversary year, but we’re already looking to the future. We want to continue the successes of 2019… So we’re announcing that from today, the WriteMovies Winter 2020 Screenwriting Contest is now open!
The Grand Prize for the winner of this contest is $2000, and that’s not all. The top three scripts will all receive a year of free development from our industry professional script analysts, helping them hone their work into the best shape possible, and we will then provide guaranteed pitching to industry!
So if you’re looking to get your work out there at its maximum potential, this is the competition for you. Let WriteMovies use its twenty years of experience helping you with your screenwriting!
And keep an eye out for an upcoming announcement about our next genre award. With both our Sci-Fi and Fantasy Award and our Horror Award proving popular among you guys, we’re looking to continue this series of prizes that celebrates great writing of all kinds!
Click here to visit the main contest page where you can submit your script, with Standard entry prices lasting until Sunday 12th January!
by John | Sep 14, 2018 | Academy
WriteMovies Academy is almost here! Phase 1 is all about concept and theme development, but if you’re already ready to write, we’ve got you sorted. You can use “Phase 0: Project Selection” to make sure you’ve got a viable script – and it’s totally free when you buy the whole course!
Nobody wants to spend weeks of their life writing a screenplay only to realize they’re pursuing the wrong project – and that’s where Phase 0 of WriteMovies Academy can help. This phase of our virtual film school can help you choose the best project right from the start, with advice and recommendations from an industry expert.
So if you think you’ve got all your concepts in order and want to give Phase 1 a miss, and jump straight in to the other parts of the course, Phase 0 is here to help!
It includes all sorts of tools for defining your projects and picking out the most objectively viable ones, perfect for development through the other phases of the Academy. You’ll receive feedback on all your ideas, with webinars and activities to work through – all of which will allow you to identify your goals and which project will help you achieve them.
As with all phases of WriteMovies Academy, you can complete Phase 0 in your own time and at your own pace. You set your own deadlines; this is a course that works around you and your life.
Phase 0 is the perfect way to start your screenwriting journey with WriteMovies, and you get it for free when you buy the rest of the course, saving $250 in the process!
Buy all six phases here and get Phase 0 free!
by John | Aug 24, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates
Among the many screenplays we received in our Spring 2018 Contest, one television script stood out. It advanced all the way to the finals of our overall contest as well as winning this award – HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED: I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE by Manny Jimenez Sr.!
Television may have long seemed like film’s little brother, but the truth is much more complex. A television pilot is only the first episode in a much longer story arc – so it has to convince us that there’s series potential that will keep audiences coming back time and time again!
Congratulations to Manny for winning in this category; his script made us laugh with its great premise and wacky situations. He now receives a copy of our Confidential Studio Manual and exclusive previews of our Virtual Film School as his prizes, plus a set of Development Notes to give him professional feedback on his work.
Read on to find out more about the winning script – HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED: I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP, ESE!
Here’s Manny’s summary of his script…
“HOLLYWOOD’S MOST WANTED is a single-camera, comedy-drama series based on the life of Manny Jimenez and Suspect Entertainment.
From the ‘hood to Hollywood, Manny takes his knowledge of gang-banging and turns it into dealmaking. He straddles two worlds — fatherhood, and managing former gang members — turning the latter not into actors but into law-abiding citizens. In the process, Manny becomes the C.A.A. of East L.A.”
And a short biography of Manny, too…
“LA gang member-turned-filmmaker Manny Jimenez Sr. took his knowledge of the streets and applied them to Hollywood. Manny’s unique journey has led him to be the subject of numerous news stories on CNN, ABC, Fox, Telemundo and Univision. They’ve also led to articles in newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and Emmy.
As a gang consultant, Manny worked on such films as Ali G Indahouse, Training Day and Criminal starring Diego Luna. Gang-consulting led to screenwriting. Manny believes authenticity is key and he writes from the truth. Now, as a screenwriter, producer, and finally taking a seat in the coveted director’s chair, Manny wrote and directed the short film A Way Out — an anti-gang story that will be used to deter at-risk youths.
Although working in the entertainment industry is Manny’s main endeavor, he has found his true purpose in life by guiding young people towards finding their passion and showing them that there is a better life without drugs and gangs.
Take a look at Manny’s YouTube page here: https://www.youtube.com/c/MannyJimenezSr
Manny has won previews of the WriteMovies Academy, and Phase 1 opens on September 15th – join now to take your work to take your screenwriting and production skills to the next level!
by John | Aug 17, 2018 | Academy, Updates
Start your journey to the top with our virtual film school, and take your screenwriting and production skills to another level. Welcome to the WriteMovies Academy!
No matter where you are in your odyssey as a writer or producer, our unique virtual film school will help you succeed. We will bring you closer to the real industry than film schools – and for just a small fraction of the price! With our course you’ll get insights and input into your projects from professional Hollywood writing experts, with tools, activities, articles, and materials that can’t be found anywhere else.
With an overall user rating of over 90%, our Academy has already received much acclaim! Our first set of feedback reports have given a 93% rating to the Mini-Masterclass presenter, 91% to our media and resources, and 89% to both the content of the presentations and the activities! In addition to this, our users’ confidence in the material covered grew by 18.5% and their confidence in their own work by 17% – with each Phase of the course!
You can sign up for whichever Phase of the course you’re interested in, and you can start and finish it in your own time. You don’t have to pay for more than one Phase of the course at a time, and there are no penalties if you need to take a few months off for work. We will always be there for you!
We’re now accepting entries for the official launch of each Phase of the course, beginning with Phase 1 on September 15th 2018 – so click here to join now, and start your journey to the top!
by John | Aug 11, 2017 | Industry News, Our pick of the web for writers and producers, WriteMovies News
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…
by John | Jun 26, 2017 | Writing Insights
WriteMovies Writing Tips – Robert McKee and being secure as a writer
“Secure writers don’t sell first drafts. They patiently rewrite until the script is as director-ready, as actor-ready as possible. Unfinished work invites tampering, while polished, mature work seals its integrity.” – Robert McKee
This is so true for everyone, especially those involved in our contests. For those of you who missed out on the Semi-Finals last week, this is your chance to go back to your script and get it as “director ready, as actor ready” as possible. No script we receive in our contests is the finished article, and our consultancies can help you figure out why your script is placing where it is, and what improvements can be made next – but this shouldn’t be something to be anxious about, it’s something to challenge yourself with, to come back next time stronger.
Even our eventual winners’ scripts won’t often be production-ready on their initial entry – there is always tweaking to be done, that’s why we give winners a year of free script development. Our Director of World Wide Development Ian Kennedy says:
“I’ve always found that working as a producer and director and actor has made my scripts better, because the better you know what those professionals will need in order to realize your script into a production, the better you will write to fulfil those needs for them. And therefore the better you’ll write, full stop!”
We can and will help both our winners and those of you who missed out to fulfil their script’s potential. If we believe we can sell it for you, then we’ll take it another step, and pitch it to the industry…
Share this quote from our Facebook page and our Twitter feed to inspire your writer friends, too, and to motivate yourself into getting your script as perfect as you possibly can. Hard-work is underrated, but so vital…
Exclusive to WriteMovies – To syndicate this content for your own publication, contact ian (at) writemovies dot-com.
© WriteMovies 2017
by John | May 5, 2017 | Studio Consulting, Trainees' Examples
An example script consultancy on a reading of GONE GIRL script, a film that starred Ben Affleck and Rosalind Pike.
“The script is long, but tightly constructed and there is no superfluous detail…” Extracts from a script report by our trainee Sandy chapman, based on a reading of the GONE GIRL script: If you want to learn more about the internship, too, just email info@writemovies.com.
To see the full industry-standard format we use for Studio Coverage, purchase The Confidential Studio Manual to get the inside track on how the industry will really assess and process your script (CLICK HERE)!
WRITEMOVIES STORY DEPARTMENT COVERAGE
TITLE: GONE GIRL LOCALE: Missouri
AUTHOR: Gillian Flynn SETTING: Urban
PERIOD: Modern FORM: SP
PRODUCER: N/A BUDGET: Medium
SYNOPSIS
Sinister voice over suggests Nick is a threat to Amy, but also that she is guilty of something. This is a tense relationship. Nick drives to the bar he runs with his sister, Go. It’s his fifth wedding anniversary. Flashback/Amy’s diary entry of when she met Nick at a party. There was an instant connection between them.
Present day, and Nick complains to Go that Amy’s anniversary treasure hunt will reveal all his shortcomings. Back home, Nick finds the front door open, the living room wrecked and no sign of Amy. Boney and Gilpin arrive. Boney recognises the ‘Amazing Amy’ books – her disappearance will grab the media spotlight. Gilpin questions Nick, who comes across as remote, detached. Police teams find ‘Clue One’ of the anniversary trail and evidence that Amy paid for everything the Dunnes own.
Nick heads to a press conference with Amy’s parents. He appears uncaring, is photographed smiling. Her parents have a big campaign launched. Boney wants Nick to solve the anniversary treasure hunt, to retrace Amy’s steps. They get as far as Nick’s office, where Boney finds a red lacy thong. Flashback/diary entry: Amy has given her parents most of her trust fund. Nick is unhappy as they’re both unemployed, but accepts the situation…
COMMENTS:
Amy’s disappearance, the inciting incident, occurs early in the script and is an immediate hook: will Nick be charged with murder? It’s already been revealed that their relationship had soured, and this, combined with a series of media gaffs, points the finger firmly at Nick’s guilt. Yet the opening voice over has already alerted us that things will not be as they seem in this script: we might suspect Nick isn’t guilty, but have no idea how he will prove his innocence. The script drips mounting evidence against him carefully throughout act one and the beginning of act two, from money worries to violent behaviour. The most damning evidence is his affection for Andie. Her appearance urges the audience to think that perhaps Nick is guilty after all, he’s certainly less likeable, and that perhaps we were wrong to be rooting for him thus far.
The audience are thrown another twist at the mid-point. Even if we weren’t convinced of Nick’s guilt, the extreme measures Amy took to frame him are incredible and the initial hook remains intact. The shift is that we are no longer in any doubt that Amy is the driving force behind this story, and behind Nick’s future. Her motives and actions are believable: she may act beyond the boundaries of ‘normal’ behaviour, but she is disturbingly real. Nick is forced to play by her rules, and in a last-ditch attempt to save himself appeals to any vestiges of love she may have for him. Amy responds, but in true Amy fashion her plans require more extreme action that will keep the audience enthralled. Nick may have proved his innocence, but he is, in effect, sentenced to a lifetime with Amy. The ending avoids the cliches and neatness that one might expect from the genre, but is completely fitting for the characters, adding depth to the story and drawing greater empathy from the audience.
The script is long, but tightly constructed and there is no superfluous detail. It retains the feel and the drive of the bestselling novel on which it is based and has the advantage of having been written by the same author…
To see the full industry-standard format we use for Studio Coverage, purchase The Confidential Studio Manual to get the inside track on how the industry will really assess and process your script (CLICK HERE)!
