I was just wondering, are there any documented successes as a result of the site, i.e. any movies made from the unpublished screenplays posted. I was just wondering because I have a few screenplays written, but there seems to be little in terms of avenues to get them out in the industry. Thanks and have a great day.

Doug

I have many of the shorts I wrote under production:

Pug-umentary.   I knew the guy liked dogs, but jeesh....

Suicide.  A short about two strangers in a bar talking about one's elaborate plans to kill himself.

For Entertainment Purposes Only.  A fortuneteller meets with a client he never imagined.

The Repairman Cometh.  Sequel to Price Check on Film Noir.


Phil

My first short film I ever wrote was produced in Australia about a month after I posted it here.

-Chris

I met someone I wrote a script for who produced it on this site. He's not a regular, though. Just a fly-by. I had someone contact me on another script and through him, I realised that one had more problems than revision was worth.

Thanks, one more thing then, how do you gather people to read your scripts?

Doug

I have had two of my screenplays looked at and one of them is being filmed as we speak by a film student at the University of Florida.  The other one "didn't fit a company's production schedule" which I think was just a big "NO THANKS!" in my opinion.

This site is getting more popular though ever since Don's site was published in that magazine as one of the top script sites on the internet so I would say look for more success (there are two c's in success by the way) to come.  My advice is just make sure your best work is put forth on this site and get people to read it.  I think the scripts that have a lot of reviews and posts are the ones freelance producers look at when they quickly glance through the message boards.  Just my opinion.  

Quoted from dmackbone21 Thanks, one more thing then, how do you gather people to read your scripts? Doug

If you mean by other people on this site, you have to read one's work and give that author your review. If you post reviews for peoples' scripts, people read your work and post reviews for your scripts.

Sean

Lon (a member) and Mike Shelton (another member) both had scripts picked up from this site by doing nothing more than sitting on their lazy butts.

Well...I don't know if Lon is lazy, but I suspect Mike is.

Others have been contacted much the same way (even if they didn't make the sale, it's still nice to be noticed).

So yeah, only post your best stuff.  You never know who is looking.

And if it's good, people will probably read it.  And if you take the time to give comments on other people's stuff -- well, then maybe even more people will read it.

Good luck, at any rate.

I've had requests from producers for five or six of my shorts posted here, often more than one per script. So far one has been produced, albeit shoddily by a film student. Another short of mine is shooting in summer 2007 after being discovered on the site, it's also been translated into Hindi for a production in India.

In fact, I've had loads of requests from Indian filmmakers. Maybe I should write a bollywood musical.

Quoted from bert Well...I don't know if Lon is lazy, but I suspect Mike is.

I like to call that the "reverse query" method, thank you very much.

But yes, work that I've posted on this site has been found here (feature and short), and scripts that I've posted here, received feedback on, reworked, and sent out to producers whom I've queried have also been looked at.

There's a lot of companies out there looking for scripts, and a lot of them advertise.  Look around a bit, and if you have something they're looking for, query them.

Quoted from Martin In fact, I've had loads of requests from Indian filmmakers. Maybe I should write a bollywood musical.

One of the two production teams producing For Entertainment Purposes Only is from India.  They're showing interest in my other work.

I saw cast photos from the shoot (no dailies yet), which made me a little excited.  I look forward to seeing how the two films will differ.


Phil

Hey, Congrats to everyone.  I really didn't know about most of them.  Keep it up!

I (of all people) have actually sold a short script off of this site.  It's being filmed now and will be shown at Dragon Con in Atlanta during the first week of September.

If I can sell something anyone can lol

Someone from England (I think it was England) contacted me like 2 years ago about doing a play based on The Video House. I thought it was pretty cool so I gave him permission. I don't recall him ever replying back after I gave him permission. He probably just ripped material from me. It wasn't really that good of a script anyway. I just have to say, though: Be careful of those that just want to steal your work. Be careful you don't get yourself into some strange contract with an odd production company or anything like that.

I had someone find my script here. He makes models, and wanted to produce a short in animation. He asked if I would do a rewrite to incorporate some of the models. I said yes, did it, and he was happy with the script. He e-mailed me the opening scene about a week ago. His animation looked real. I was very happy with it, and can't wait to see it when it's complete.
I also have another produced credit from when I won a contest. Before I won that contest though, I posted the script here and received feedback, then did a rewrite.

Cindy

It wasn't on this site, but I posted a 30 page short on another site.  Within a few weeks some person, claiming to be from a production company, said they had read my script and loved it.  They then told me they were going to go show it to their assistant director and see what he thought.  They never contacted me back.

About a few months back I watched a short on YouTube that looked like an updated version of my script.  I'm not saying that it was mine and they stole it, I'm just saying that I had the idea first.

Can I ask though, what happens to these films after they've completed production? Don't know if I've asked this before, but have any of these films reached the big screen, either domestically or internationally? I'd love to see some of the films that came from members of this site!

Has anyone ever had a script produced by the 'BIG" studios i.e. MGM/PARAMOUNT?

Quoted from writer24 Has anyone ever had a script produced by the 'BIG" studios i.e. MGM/PARAMOUNT?

Not that I'm aware of.  Pretty much all of the "BIG" studios require an agent to submit work, and there are very few of us (actually, I can't think of any at the moment) that has one.

Quoted from writer24 Has anyone ever had a script produced by the 'BIG" studios i.e. MGM/PARAMOUNT?

Nope. Hasn't happened.  If you are here just to sell your script, then this is probably not the place for you.  

Don

The BIG 6 (News Corporation which includes Fox; Walt Disney, which includes Touchstone, Miramax, and Hollywood Pictures; Viacom, which includes Paramount, Dreamworks and MTV; Sony, which includes Columbia, Tristar, MGM, United Artists and Orion; Time-Warner, which includes Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and HBO; and NBC, which includes Universal, Working Title and Focus) are unlikely to peruse this site for anything. This is, of course, no offense to Don or the writers who post, but as far as they are concerned, this is lawsuit city. If anyone found out they were surfing here, and then produced something that rang a few bells? They just wouldn't want to take the chance.

Hey I have a random question, feel free to answer or ignore it.

Is there a certain "age prerequisite" that is unwritten or followed by the major studios?  For example if I were to get a lawyer/agent to represent me at my current age (20) would producers still pass it up?  I've been looking up on some famous writers' earlier credits on IMDB, and it seems like the majority of writers get their first script produced around the age of 28 and writers that direct their first feature are around 29-30.  So I guess my question is it even worth it for me to be sending out scripts to any producer, whether it be a indie company or a Big 6?  I mean I know hardly any 20 year old probably has enough life experience to write a feature film, but is it possible?  Or should I stick to the film festivals and making my own shorts?      

Quoted from guyjackson Is there a certain "age prerequisite" that is unwritten or followed by the major studios?  For example if I were to get a lawyer/agent to represent me at my current age (20) would producers still pass it up?  I've been looking up on some famous writers' earlier credits on IMDB, and it seems like the majority of writers get their first script produced around the age of 28 and writers that direct their first feature are around 29-30.  So I guess my question is it even worth it for me to be sending out scripts to any producer, whether it be a indie company or a Big 6?  I mean I know hardly any 20 year old probably has enough life experience to write a feature film, but is it possible?  Or should I stick to the film festivals and making my own shorts?

Chances are that you will never meet anyone from the studios until after they buy a script or two from you.  Given that, they'll never know how young or old you are until after the fact.

The reason why writers for the big six are 'older' is because the studios want to hire people with experience.  For what it's worth, Shane Black was 22 when he sold the script 'Lethal Weapon.'


Phil

I think there's a preference for those 18 and older just based on labor laws and what not (not so much labor laws, but I think contract structure is different since the person isn't an adult), but I know that "Thirteen" was co-written by a girl that I think was about 15 or so at the time.

Wow Shane Black was 22 when he sold his Lethal Weapon script?  That's awesome.  I guess it shows if it's good, it doesn't matter what your age is.

I also read somewhere that Russell Gewirtz, the writer of Inside Man, is a fairly young guy as well.  Anyone know if this is true?  I think someone said he was fresh out of film school when Spike Lee got the script.  

Heck, I've been developing a project with an LA producer (initial contact due to this site) since I was sixteen.  I have a feature length script currently in production by an indie filmmaker that I wrote at seventeen (initial contact also due to this site).  Don't worry about age...they won't know it until they've passed judgement on the script.  

I write specifically to Guy Jackson but I also want to throw in my two cents that this site is absolutely brilliant as far as getting contacts and responses about your work.

I am honestly flummoxed over some of the varied successes people have on this site. As most know, I have written a lot and posted a lot, and a lot of these to decent reviews. So if anyone's caught a pattern of some sort to those who get noticed, I am interested in seeing it. As I said, I have had one nibble from this site and nothing else. Others speak of getting noticed multiple times and even gotten beyond the nibble stage. Has anyone caught onto a pattern to this serendipitous noticing? I have noticed shorts get attention, but anything I've gotten from this site has been me responding to requests people have made; not them noticing my work.

I think I'm just hitting a stage of frustration. It's funny, really. I've studied the screenwriting craft to no end, and there are a fair number of people on here that known I can deliver a decent script, and yet, I cannot get past the query letter stage with any given studio. You know how many scripts I have sent out in the last god-knows-how-long of querying? One. And guess what? That company is belly-up. It seems all the writing classes in the world are rather pointless if you can't get someone in power to read what you've written.

Okay, sorry. I'm kicking the soapbox back into the laundry room and going to my bedroom to sulk now...

(Incidentally, the "nibble" was over 2 years ago before I ever noticed the message board.)

http://www.scriptsales.com/DDScriptSales.htm

Not sure if you guys heard of this site, it features the most recent script sales to Hollywood, with details about purchasing price, buyers, sellers and production companies.
The last thing I read in it was about a script that Ben Stiller bought for a million bucks.
Unfortunately, this site is not free anymore and I'm not sure how much it cost to sign up, but I just wanted to tell you guys about it, maybe someone would think it's worth it to join.

I don't think I made any connections with directors/producers through this site, George.  I get feedback on my scripts which I use to polish it.  I, then, go elsewhere to try selling it.  Try craigslist.  There's a lot of film students and inde film makers there.


Phil

I suppose it is a comfort that one of the best writers on the site has also had little luck via the site. What is the best way, in your opinion, to use craigslist to find these people?

With Craigslist, the best pages are New York and LA, although I check out the Chicago page as well.

Most listings are in the writing gigs section, but every once in awhile you can find stuff in writing/editing and tv/film jobs.

That Mike Shelton guy's got it.  I never checked Chicago but, instead, checked Boston.


Phil

I look at Boston every so often too, but I hardly ever find anything.

Ever check out http://www.newenglandfilm.com ?

I had a producer from Portugal read a script I had posted here. He couldn't film that one because of budget and logistics, but he commissioned me to work on an original one for him (which is now posted here, called "Nine Days Where") and we are now in "discussions".  We all know that means nothing in terms of guarantees.  But it was an unexpected, and has a chance to lead to a contract and produced work.

Evan Fox