All screenplays on the simplyscripts.com and simplyscripts.net domain are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. This screenplaymay not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
... And tacking on a patronizing "congratulations" for entering does nothing to diminish what went before. In fact, quite the opposite.
So true.
I'm out, sorry, I couldn't get past two pages, I tried, but your writing and formatting is a disgrace and I've read more interesting characters on the back of a cereal packet. Plus, you call that a good idea for a plot? All in all, a big ol' snooze-fest.
But hey, you did it! Congrats on submitting an entry to the OWC.
... Nube writer has all effing year to "learn" how to write in proper spec screenplay format.
You don't show up for a CHALLENGE to learn.
You show up for a CHALLENGE to learn just how good or not you are COMPARED TO YOUR COMPETITION.
Community workshop time is before the challenge, not at the challenge.
Really? This ain't Nichol or Project Greenlight - no one's paying an entry fee or auditioning for anything. It's an OWC run by Don a few times a year to help aspiring writers hone their craft.
Thank God, Don doesn't turn people away because their formatting is all wrong and they can't spell for peanuts. I think quite a few newbs come across the challenges and think: this'll be a bit of fun.
And I don't see anything wrong with that.
If it turns out they really want to get into screenwriting proper, perhaps a small percentage (based on prev. challenges) will become regular members, learn a lot - least more than they knew before, and and make some friends in the process.
Good on you Ray for giving out formatting advice but I doubt many non-regulars will even be following this thread. If they are that's great, the info you've given will help.
But really, what's the harm in a few entries being below par or formatted incorrectly etc?
It's been said before but it's worth saying again that what's so great about SS (and Don, in particular) is that anyone can be a part of it. There are no joining fees, no uppity conditions, reading quotas, or pre-qualifications for joining.
I maybe being a little melodramatic but Long Live Simply Scripts and its no-prejudice policy!
I've only done a couple of OWC's and I have had my stuff SHREDDED by some of you all...and it usually wasn't over formatting issues.
I never took it personally.
Here's the trick (and I know this is going to sound awful, but...): you have to know your place as a writer and on this board.
Most of these OWCs are going to be a genre out of my element. That's going to show in my writing and, as a result, it's likely to be a weaker entry. I feel it's still important for me to enter because the practice and break-down of my writing is valuable. It's the difference between practicing basketball by shooting hoops by yourself rather than finding nine other people and getting into a full-court pick-up game.
There's some real talent mixed in these and I'm still a novice. Newbies (not to the board but to this style of writing) need to understand their stuff may not come off as inspired brilliance right away.
I set the my bar for myself in this REALLY low. My goal is to entertain as many people as I can with what I write for these and hope for a few positive comments. That's it. I know I'm not going to win over all of you. So I'll write what comes into my head on these (no matter how weird or out of place it might be), and write it the best I can. For my previous entries, you all have picked apart fundamental mistakes, highlighted what is amateurish and all the ways it didn't work. It was a learning process that proved to be valuable...and I've been encouraged by the positive comments from others (the genuine ones - you can tell the difference between posts trying to say something positive to be nice and the ones that actually like the script or parts of it).
So newbies - try to follow correct formatting (although it's inevitable you'll make a mistake or four), don't expect to enter the best script in the contest, expect to get your material ripped apart by a bunch of people...understand what they're saying and then get over it.
Me, too. I hope it's about witches. I like witches. Who doesn't like witches?
If it is, I will kill said witch on the first half on the first page. The Hag will gag and choke on a cherry. I will also not use any funny psydonyms - you will know who it is from. No more witch/warlock stories for me. That goes for modern day real life to Broom Hilda.
On second thought... "The Hag Will Gag"... Choke On A Cherry
Oh great now lookit what you made me do, You made me come up with a title. Two of 'em! Oh the humanity!
I agree and you're spot on correct, Don shouldn't turn away submissions, shy of gross disregard.
These OWCs are challenges. If someone wants to show up on race day wearing a gorilla suit and flip-flops... fine by me. There is no harm. But there will be consequences.
I try not to read other reviews before posting my own. It can, sometimes, sway your opinion.
Phil
I fully agree. It can and it does. Especially if many don't like a scirpt - people provide very convincing explanations as to why.
And then if reviews are not favorable you don't want to stand out like a black sheep. Or vice-versa. And it's not because I'm bad or I'm weak - that I'm sure about. Going against the croud is not easy. So I decided it's better not read before I post then and I don't.
...three out of four films are directed by the writer...
I've been trying to find that out for a couple of days now. Where did you get that stat from? Not saying you're wrong, I just prefer to check sources as the source itself could be wrong.
That's a scary stat for the lowly writer if true. Not to mention the other scary stats that all but guarantees most of us will never get anywhere.
Personally, I don't like direction. The only thing I do director-wise with my own films is pick the main cast. Well, I did this time. Last time we made a three-way decision which basically meant we got to pick one each.
I'd rather pick a separate director... but a director on our team isn't as powerful as they should be as my business partner and I like to take full control.
I've been trying to find that out for a couple of days now. Where did you get that stat from? Not saying you're wrong, I just prefer to check sources as the source itself could be wrong.
Data resources come from IMDB, BoxofficeMojo, TheNumbers, and internet searches.
Quoted from DustinBowcot
That's a scary stat for the lowly writer if true. Not to mention the other scary stats that all but guarantees most of us will never get anywhere.
Yes. Yes, it is a scary stat - if you're writing for someone else to produce. And this is exactly why I review a hopper full of OWC submission just like a job interview.
When a job opening comes up employers receive fifty to five hundred applications for a single opening. That's forty-nine to four-hundred-ninety-nine "not-winners."
When Pia posts those lists of production companies looking for screenplays to produce for a "Low $six figures budget thriller starring a middle aged woman" or "Dramedy for a Hispanic central characters, made for TV budget" or "LGBT romcom gone wrong, $1.5M budget" etc. the producers are going to shake all the trees they can, receive umpteen screenplays to review and figure out which story can they make a buck off of.
It's like Pawn Stars or American Pickers or Storage Wars - everyone's looking for something they can make a buck off of.
Screenplays are commodities. Largely, worthless trash or rubbish.
Through other info sources I've run across every year another 100,000 new feature length screenplays enter the pool to be produced. Assume a screenplay stays in the pool for five years and that's a pool of half million screenplays any one screenplay is competing with.
That said, now if a nube writer is here just to make literature in screenplay format-ish for personal entertainment as an art form, then... GOPHERIT!!!
It's sort of obvious in a way that most films would be written by the director.
Making a film and getting it out there is a feat of will. Who else is more likely to push the film all the way than a guy who has written it and made it himself?
It's sort of obvious in a way that most films would be written by the director.
Making a film and getting it out there is a feat of will. Who else is more likely to push the film all the way than a guy who has written it and made it himself?
I've only just learned that... it took a while, much longer than it should have, to click. It stands to reason that most directors probably started out as writers at some point, maybe a few actors in there too.
Personally, I prefer to get a director in at the moment. Maybe I just need a little more experience before stepping into those shoes. I did volunteer to DP the film we're doing now but as soon as I realised what was involved I had to change my mind and get in a pro. I don't know the first thing about cameras or lighting come to that.
I'm very wary of stepping outside my expertise... that's when things will go wrong.
These OWCs are challenges. If someone wants to show up on race day wearing a gorilla suit and flip-flops... fine by me. There is no harm. But there will be consequences.
There's a difference between saying, "You need to work on character development and story pacing," and "This is the worst shit I've read in my life! I blame your mother for not drowning as a baby, you fucking fuck-face!"
And since this site needs a steady flow of new writers to replace the ones who are scared away by the pretentious few, don't you think we should show a little patience with them?
Pages: 
Author
October OWC?
Logged
