by John | Apr 23, 2018 | Our Winners, Updates
We continue our celebration of our Winter 2018 Writing Contest top three winners – who all improved on previous placements.
Last time we commended Simon Bowler, who broke into the top three for the first time after winning two special TV awards. (Check out that article here.)
Today, it’s all about David Kurtz – our Summer 2017 Contest Third Placed winner who re-entered the Winter 2018 Contest to finish in Second Place!
We’re sure our previous Development Notes prizes have helped David out (we’ll let him tell you all about that, though!) but this is a great example of how every draft and version of your script will improve – so never give up!
Here’s what David said about his Second Placed finish…
“Doing well at the WriteMovies Screenwriting Competition brings great rewards – and you don’t have to win! 2nd and 3rd place receive the highest quality script Development Notes (+ INKTIP freebies!) – notes that have the ring of screenwriting experience and authenticity. Their readers really work at understanding what your script is all about – to you!
They not only make detailed proofreading corrections – but they offer suggestions that make you feel like you have a co-writer. For me, the most important help I’ve gotten is to give me the courage to edit – to remove scenes and dialogue I loved but knew deep down didn’t serve to move the story forward. (I save all the edited cuts to possibly be used in another story – this makes letting go easier.)
I assume that most writers (like me) are on a tight budget, but I would suggest saving money on lesser competitions to use on these amazing Development Notes. If you move up toward the top they will be free!”
Here’s a little background on David:
“I retired to Northern California from Massachusetts several years ago and took up writing screenplays – not golf. I’m a “gen Boomer” devotee of 1930s to 1950s movies that feature dialogue, romance, and humor. I naturally tend to write contemporary takes in those genres that might appeal to younger audiences as well as all age groups.
My writing education has been limited to basic composition at college, a creative writing class with a Tufts University professor and a beginner’s screenwriting course at Santa Rosa Junior College. CHARMER is my first “completed” script.”
And here’s the logline to David’s winning script, CHARMER:
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.
Check out our script mentoring services for yourself. You could improve your script AND gain free entry into our Spring 2018 Writing Contest. View our services here…
by John | Apr 20, 2018 | Highlights, Our Winners
The Winter 2018 Writing Contest was a special one for us as we saw 3 previous winners all improve on past results! We had a previous Monthly Contest winner win the Grand Prize, a former third placed winner came in second, and an Honorable Mention and TV award winner broke into the top three.
Today, you get to meet the Third placed winner of our Winter 2018 Writing Contest Simon Bowler. Simon won the first ever “Best Teleplay and pilot award for Summer 2017. Then he won it again for the Winter Contest AND came Third overall!
A testament to Simon, and how well he used our past Development Notes prizes to improve on his previous draft.
Here’s what Simon said about his Third Placed finish…
“With WriteMovies development notes I was able to climb up from semi-finalist to finalist, to a being a winner three times in a row, which has been an extraordinary validation of my writing and has been hugely encouraging. I now look forward to working with WriteMovies to the hone the script, a pilot for a mini-series, into the best iteration possible, and to start focussing on how to market the project. The writing process, as any writer knows, is a lonely one, so to have the recognition of a triple win with WriteMovies and their continued support will make that journey all the more bearable, and hopefully, successful.”
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’s the logline to Simon’s winning script, INSURRECTION:
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.
With two television awards up for grabs in our Spring 2018 Writing Contest, the chances of your pilot script winning has never been higher… enter here.
by John | Jan 20, 2018 | Writing Insights
By guest author Calix Lewis Reneau, writer/director of www.childthemovie.com and producer and creative of features, television, print, music, and new media. (more…)
by John | Nov 17, 2017 | Highlights, Our Winners, Updates, WriteMovies News
David made the top 3 of our Summer 2017 Writing Contest with a well-written, funny, and tense action-comedy. A real CHARMER. For coming in third David receives a year of free script development, guaranteed pitching from industry and exclusive prizes from InkTip.
Here’s a little background on David:
I retired to Northern California from Massachusetts several years ago and took up writing screenplays – not golf. I’m a “gen Boomer” devotee of 1930s to 1950s movies that feature dialogue, romance, and humor. I naturally tend to write contemporary takes in those genres that might appeal to younger audiences as well as all age groups.
My writing education has been limited to basic composition at college, a creative writing class with a Tufts University professor and a beginner’s screenwriting course at Santa Rosa Junior College. CHARMER is my first “completed” script.
An here’s his logline for CHARMER:
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.
You can head over to follow in David’s footsteps in our latest contest…
by John | Aug 25, 2017 | Elite Consulting, Highlights, Pitching, WriteMovies News, Writing Insights
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…)
by John | Aug 7, 2017 | Featured Script of the Month, Our Winners, WriteMovies News
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…
Ethan Westgate currently resides in Chicago, IL. He has been working on screenplays for the last two years, Queen of Hearts is his first feature screenplay. Ethan graduated from St. John’s college in 2012.
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.
by John | Jun 23, 2017 | Highlights, Results, Updates, WMC, WriteMovies News
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.
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SEMI-FINALISTS |
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| 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 |
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LOVING MY ENEMY, Maria Rosario A. Yano |
And here’s the logline to David’s winning script, CHARMER:
