Welcome to the "Gender Swap" One Week Challenge:

We’ve all heard the old adage, “Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars”. If that’s the case, then it’s time to visit a new planet because the rules of this challenge are exceedingly simple: any man entering this challenge cannot write a male character and any woman cannot write a female character. One of the hardest things a writer can do (it seems) is write a character of the opposite sex. Just to make your lives that much more miserable, EVERY character is going to be your opposite gender.

But, you didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you? No, see, having an open genre when all you have to do is write differently-gendered characters is far too simple. Instead, the genre system is a little bit different. This time around, your genre has been randomly assigned to you from the following nine options: action, comedy, horror, sci-fi, thriller, western, noir, sports and random (you choose the genre you want out of the list provided). I’ve sent a PM to every RSVPer with one word in it: the genre that’s been randomly assigned.

And, now, the clock is ticking.

T-minus 168 hours until your OWC script is due.

Topic: Gender Swap.
Genre: Assigned.

You have seven days to write a screenplay of up to 12 pages. The screenplay must be properly formatted and in PDF format. The scripts are due on Friday, January 27th at 11:59PM EST and must be submitted to: SimplyScripts.com/owc.

There will be a Review Page E-mailed to you for you to score the scripts you read. Please only give scores to scripts that you have read.

Timeline:

January 20th at 11:59PM EST - Theme and Genre announced.

January 27th at 11:59PM EST - Scripts are due.

February 3rd at 5:00PM EST - Names and results revealed.

Da Rules:

Your script must be written in the genre assigned to you and also features only characters who are of your opposite gender (men write only female characters, women write only male characters).

Please do not give a score inside the actual script review. I will be trying something different when it comes to that this time around. Thank you.

Jargon:

1-12 pages.

Properly formatted & saved as a PDF file.

This isn't a contest. There are no prizes.

Free to submit.

One entry per person.

No pissers, please.

You can revise your script as many times as you wish up until 11:59PM EST on January 27th.

Participants are strongly encouraged to read and comment/review on the scripts submitted.

Do not put your real name on your script. However, please use your real name when submitting your script. (After the challenge closes you can either have your script removed or resubmit with your script with your name on it.

Please put © on the bottom left corner of your title page.

Best of luck and I hope you guys have a lot of fun with this contest.

Also, for anyone interested, if you really didn't like your genre pull, send me a PM and I'll pull for you one more time. Whatever it comes up, you stick with it.

EDIT: You should have all received your genres in your PMs. Good luck and have fun. =)

Well I know that Stevie is a Transsexual so that's not really fair

Quoted from irish eyes Well I know that Stevie is a Transsexual so that's not really fair

Maybe so, but his script would have to be nothing but transsexuals... in a specific genre. Lol. =)

Since there are only a handful of female writers around here, we'll be easily identified by having all male characters...

Mark, I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but perhaps you should flip everything - meaning perhaps you write sober and edit drunk?

Quoted from Grandma Bear Since there are only a handful of female writers around here, we'll be easily identified by having all male characters...

I've seen the complete list of potential entrants, Pia. I think you'll be okay when it comes to getting a legitimate review, if that's the worry. If it's about guessing who wrote what, you do have a point.

I write both genders easily so I'm not fazed by that. Yes, I will blow my own trumpet on that.

Not to say the rest is easy, it never is.
Not sure I'm in yet either, I'm meant to be focusing on the feature.

I took all that out cause it is perfectly clear, even for the dummies.

Quoted from LC So, all cast is one gender? And we don't actually choose the genre as it's been randomly assigned to us, not under negotiation.

That is correct. And, if you're dissatisfied with your genre, I will pull randomly for you one time. That one, you're stuck with. And, no, non-negotiable. =)

So is it okay for a western to be a mix of young psychos in love, but on a spacecraft iin the middle of a race of naked old people who use their genetails to kill others?  I mean Star Wars is a space western.
I need help.  Take that any way you want.
Dan

Sounds fun! And there are a couple of genres here I hate, one in particular, so I'm glad I didn't get either of those.

I'm actually really excited, though my script might be terrible. I guess we will see in a week.

And then you had to go and quote me. Cool. That's doubly clear.

Personally I like the genre randomly assigned to me, if I take up the challenge. Ta, for that.

Quoted from DanC So is it okay for a western to be a mix of young psychos in love, but on a spacecraft iin the middle of a race of naked old people who use their genetails to kill others?  I mean Star Wars is a space western. I need help.  Take that any way you want. Dan

Here's the deal, Dan. Star Wars is a space western, but in a video store, would you ever find Star Wars in the Western section? Would you find it there or in the Sci-Fi section? The point is, the genre you were assigned is what it should primarily be. Horror can be funny without being a comedy, noir can have sci-fi. It's one of those things where, if you know your genre, make it the primary focus, but feel free to dabble in other genres, as well. =)

Rare treat! The Don is on Skype! C'mon people!  

Sean,

Gender  -  Sex

Genre - Category

I am assuming the writers have to stick with the assigned Gender (sex) and have one change to revised Genre (category)

Don