Volume 15 / Number 2, Mar/Apr 2009

1. The March/April Issue of Script is Now Online!
2. Writers on Writing: Notorious
3. Documentaries: Writing Real Life
4. Independents: Problem Protagonists
5. Script Extra Edition: Co-Write
6. Writers Marketplace

We are excited to announce that the full-text digital version of the March/April issue can be accessed at the new and improved Scriptmag.com! In this stellar issue, you’ll find Susannah Grant’s suggestions for bringing real-life stories to the screen, via her experience on this April’s The Soloist. David Hayter and Alex Tse talk Watchmen in “Anatomy of a Scene.” Rom-com gurus Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith mentor Robyn Paris’ Backwoods Barbie in “Scene Fix.” Henry Selick explains the stereo-scopic journey of bringing Coraline to life. And John Hamburg mines an unlikely bromance for comedy gold in I Love You, Man. All this, and so much more, on newsstands – and online – now!

To read the full-text digital version of Script,
Visit: www.scriptmag.com/magazine/look-inside.html

To subscribe to the print version of Script,
Visit: www.scriptmag.com/subscriptions/subscriptions_form.html

Notorious co-scribe Cheo Hodari Coker says, “Any screenwriter that says he’s happy to be replaced on a project is lying to you.” But Coker found himself happy, and even moved, by Reggie Rock Bythewood’s take on Biggie Smalls’ journey to manhood. Read the two distinct POVs that created one film in Script's "Writers on Writing" series.

To read the full-text digital version of this article,
Visit: viewer.zmags.com/publication/4f9ad3a8#/4f9ad3a8/66

While Michael Moore and a cavalcade of penguins made documentaries mainstream, documentary filmmakers have been honing their craft for decades. In the March/April issue of Script, Academy-Award® nominee Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden), Kurt Kuenne (Dear Zachary), and Eddie Schmidt (This Film is Not Yet Rated) discuss the art of writing real life.

Does your protagonist have a problem? Well, he should. Through the examples of Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory and Robert Eroica Dupea (aka Bobby) in Five Easy Pieces, William Martell lays out 10 steps to creating a compelling problem protagonist, and thereby a complex screen story.

Co-Write and Get Noticed
By Jenna Milly

Screenwriter Todd Soffian thought the Hollywood writing process needed a 21st-century makeover. Inspired by the software industry’s recent trend of embracing open-form coding, he came up with the idea for Co-Write, a screenwriting contest where multiple screenwriters, from multiple cities, contribute to one screenplay. Sounds complicated? Not when you have the Internet at your fingertips.

Co-Write works a little bit like Mad Libs®, but instead of filling in the words, each writer is filling in the next sequence of scenes. These sequences run in eight-to-12 page intervals. Each week there’s a new winner and that writer’s work is tacked onto the previous writer’s, giving the story the ebb and flow of multiple inspirations, yet maintaining one through-line. Soffian’s inaugural contest started in January with a story prompt chosen by himself and his co-sponsor, Benderspink, a production and management company that prides itself on seeking out new talent and voices. Benderspink is noted for having produced such films asThe Butterfly Effect, Just Friends, and A History of Violence, among others.

This year’s prompt asked contestants to write about an awkward teenager who teams up with an ex-CIA agent to uncover a dangerous plot. After the prompt was posted, screenwriters from all over the word -- Soffian reports places like Algeria, Tasmania, Canada, and the United States -- wrote the first 10 pages. Surprised at how creative and ultimately unique each entry was, Soffian was hard-pressed to choose a winner. In the end, he awarded the first week’s prize to University of Southern California students Tim Dragga, 27, and Jacob Michael, 33. The writing team had been collaborating on scripts since they met at USC’s prestigious masters screenwriting program in 2008. “We liked the story, and in order to beat it out, we constructed the entire treatment in our head,” Dragga said. Was it worth it to think about the whole story, but only write 10 pages? You bet. The winners received $2,000 and a chance to pitch their personal movie ideas to Benderspink.

Soffian thinks the contest, which runs through June, is a great way to integrate the potential for community on the Internet with the launching of a new screenwriter’s career. After the script is finished, Co-Write will have awarded 11 winners with prizes and, at that time, there’s an opportunity for one of the winners to receive a grand prize of $5,000 and a chance to rewrite the entire script.

How does Co-Write deal with the legal issue of one script having all of those writers? The WGA decides after all drafts are finished which ideas originated from whom and awards those writers accordingly. Since there is a maximum of credited writers allowed by WGA, some will be left out of the final process. Though Soffian believes no winner will walk away empty-handed. With the prestige of having your pages chosen and the prize money in hand, perhaps more than one writer will be encouraged to involve friends and family in the fun of collaborative screenwriting.

To read more about Cowrite,
Visit: www.cowritescript.com

ScriptShark’s Out of the Computer/Into the Industry
A Lecture & Workshop Series dedicated to setting the screenwriter’s career on a successful path. Chicago, IL March 19-21, 2009. All things being equal, a script producers get behind often belongs to the writer who understands the complexity of the industry and can respond to its needs. This single reality has inspired our lecture and workshop series, which aims to inform, inspire and empower the aspiring screenwriter, and prepare him for the entertainment industry. Learn all about getting your script out there and making the tough realities of a demanding industry (from agents to managers, new screenwriter expectations, ageism, racism and the current state of the industry) work for you. Delve deeper into the business demands of a screenwriter's career, and pursue the practical skills every aspiring screenwriter needs to position and promote themselves and their screenplay effectively. Information provided will include, career planning and goal setting, understanding your screenplay from a producer's POV, how to take charge of your career, creating a catchy, clear, and focused logline, and turning your basic idea into a gripping pitch. For more information, or to register,
Visit: www.scriptshark.com/seminar_Chicago.cfm

11th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition
Deadline March 5. With Write Brothers, Robert McKee, and The Writers Guild
of America West Registry, and Writers Guild of Canada all supporting Scriptapalooza, this is the competition to enter. First place prize is $10,000. All the judging is done by 90 production companies. Entertainment Weekly Magazine calls us 'One of the Best.' Scriptapalooza pushes the TOP 100 for a full year. The Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition was founded in 1998 and has generated heat, publicity, and a reputation that demands respect. Scriptapalooza, Inc., along with its various divisions was created to nurture talent and create opportunities. Storytellers come from all over the world and from all walks of life, because of the simple fact that everyone has a story. Scriptapalooza’s goal: to seek out that storyteller and honor their script with a grand prize of $10,000.  Each year dozens of production companies and literary representatives sign on as participants to read our winners, finalists and semifinalists. To enter your screenplay,
Visit: www.scriptapalooza.com

Movie Outline Professional Scriptwriting Software
Movie Outline was created by a produced writer to take the complexity out of the screenwriting process. Its intuitive design is based on the principle of step-outlining which allows you to plan your cinematic structure, develop characters and format your screenplay scene by scene. Creating your outline is easy. Simply write the title and content of your step and use the console to add a new step, which then appears in your Outline List on the right of the screen. You can highlight steps in any color you want and merge multiple steps into a single step. The console also allows you to navigate steps, delete steps and rearrange your outline. You can choose the font, size, style and alignment you wish from the toolbar or from the handy right-click Contextual Menu which also has editing and advanced search options. For more information,
Visit: www.movieoutline.com/scriptmag.html

2009 Moondance International Film Festival and Screenplay Competition
Moondance International Film Festival’s primary goal is to present films and scripts which have the power to raise awareness about vital social issues, educating writers and filmmakers, as well as our film festival audiences, and inspiring them to take positive action. Through meaningful films, we begin to realize that our routine perspectives can give way to new ways of seeing the world, ourselves and others. Moondance believes in the unique power of the world entertainment media to create great social and environmental change. Our goal is to deliver compelling entertainment that will inspire and encourage people to actively get involved in the issues that affect all of us. The Moondance International Film Festival, popularly known as the "American Cannes", is dedicated to celebrating and sharing with international audiences the absolute best in the world of films and screenplays, film scores, and some 25 other genres. The screenplay competition deadline is May 15. For more information,
Visit: www.moondancefilmfestival.com/02-Entry.html