Quoted from DevonteHuntley Consider yourself lucky. I'm still waiting for some feedback for my HALLOWEEN story, which is really long and in two parts. It's only been about three weeks since I had the current version posted so still early in the game here. But I assume my other version turned some off from reading through this one, but oh well. Just goes to show the struggles in this writing thing and trying to make things right and appealing. I think I told a really good fan story this time around to warrant some good feedback.

Well, I've been a member here since Sep -05. I've read hundreds, if not close to a thousand scripts here by now. A lot of people know me from way back. That's not to say you can't get people to read your script, but I can say from having been here for so long, fan fiction rarely get a lot of reads. Probably because they have basically no chance to become movies. I know that sucks, but that's my experience here. Keep writing though, but write original material that you come up with.  

You could also try to see if anyone is interested in a script exchange.

I haven't entered any competitions in years, but this year, I decided I was going to give it a try. I also decided to get serious about rewrites for once having been notorious for never doing any. I entered PC into a minor comp earlier this year and it was a QF. This encouraged me to do another rewrite and then I entered it into Screencraft's horror comp and today I was notified it's a Quarter Finalist even there. This one had 1200 entries, not quite Nicholls, but it gave me a pretty big boost. I guess rewrites are really that important.   This comp gives everyone five days to upload another draft! Didn't know they do that. So, the draft I entered was the one that is posted here now, but I'm already on the second draft after that. So, I'll be busy the next five days trying to make it better. Thanks to all who read. I took all comments into consideration.  

Did anyone else enter? I saw Ryan Lee's name on the list.

Fantastic news, Pia!

Congrats, Pia!

I'm not surprised. It's a good script "as is" and doesn't need much of a rewrite. Just maybe address some of those confusing moments for the audience.

I almost entered Screencraft's horror with the one I made finalist at Page with, but wanted to rewrite it first. Never got back around to it. Nice to see Ryan Lee is still out there writing. He was talented too.

Best of luck with it. If you can fund it, this would be a good one to make.

James

Thanks, you two!  

Late last night, I was contacted by a prod-co in LA interested in producing it. I asked where they found it, and they said it was here at SS. I ended up having to say no thank you because I'm determined to continue to work on this script until I just can't get it any better. In other words, I want to see how far I can take it.

Has anyone else been contacted lately by a prod-co about your script? They didn't seem to be only interested in horror and they apparently are going through a lot of scripts here.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Thanks, you two!   Late last night, I was contacted by a prod-co in LA interested in producing it. I asked where they found it, and they said it was here at SS. I ended up having to say no thank you because I'm determined to continue to work on this script until I just can't get it any better. In other words, I want to see how far I can take it. Has anyone else been contacted lately by a prod-co about your script? They didn't seem to be only interested in horror and they apparently are going through a lot of scripts here.

OH MAN. Dude, you had the greenlit of your lifetime and you passed on it. I hope you made the right decision. Hollywood is very smuggy these days. Hard to get a producer to even get look at your material let alone an email asking them to. You really think your story needed more tweaking and if so, you didn't think you could work with the producer to accomplish this than cancelling them completely to do this on your own?

On top of that, it's good to know producers actually come through here looking for material. I didn't think they did that. Give me a BIT of hope I guess, not always having to waste money on these sites to make due with my work. So far I've done that with InkTip on and off the last four years, which is the cheapest out of the bunch, but no luck yet. I recently subbed them again last month due to a two-month discount to give it another go. No luck yet. A lot of logline reading, but nothing further than that.

First off, I wasn’t contacted by Blumhouse or a big studio like that. They appear to be a fairly new company expanding into features. I did not see this as an opportunity of a lifetime because I’ve been here before. I’ve had a few scripts made, but this time, I wanted to see how good I could make this script before I “gave it away” for peanuts.

When it comes to getting eyes on your scripts, I can tell you without a doubt that SS gets far more views from producers than any other website. I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve tried Inktip, Script Revolution, and some other ones I can’t think of the names right now, but SS has got me more scripts produced than any other service/website ever. And that’s the truth.  

WONDERFUL. So you're quite the accomplishment and success story whose been through this already. Well congrats and thanks for informing me how gracious this site truly is. Now I know where to REALLY put my work for big eyes. I was thinking this was just a place to get casual people to read your work and give feedback on what they thought and could be done better. It's more than what I imagined it to be.

Not sure what kind of studios you're seeking to make your own, but I'm not aiming for big named ones. I mean, if one comes around and contacts me then fine, but I'm open to smaller and new ones and prefer them more because I believe in movies being made on a cheaper and more independent scale and these studios seem to focus more on the heart and quality of movies than your typical Hollywood cliche tropes that prevents them from taking risks and doing things different.

I'm giving Inktip another month for this one story I have for viewing. I had two on there, but I decided not to renew my payment for the additional script but the two-month discount for the main one is still in effect, so I want to put that to more use. As I stated, I'm mainly getting logline views and it sucks. I wish someone can READ more than just that because the loglines are good and informative that should lead to checking out the synopsis and maybe even the scripts themselves, but nada. I have some viewing the loglines multiple times but nothing further as if they're at a conflict to continue on more and be interested to bring the stories to life. It just tears me inside. So if this site is as good as you're making it out to be, then thank you for existing and giving me a new platform of potential success free of charge ontop of it. -_-

Quoted from DevonteHuntley WONDERFUL. So you're quite the accomplishment and success story whose been through this already. Well congrats and thanks for informing me how gracious this site truly is. Now I know where to REALLY put my work for big eyes. I was thinking this was just a place to get casual people to read your work and give feedback on what they thought and could be done better. It's more than what I imagined it to be.

I don’t know about success story. I have a lot of imdb credits, but that doesn’t really mean much anymore. Anyone can get a page nowadays. It’s not like it was 15 years ago.

Don makes sure everyone knows SS can’t guarantee anyone gets a script sold. And, like you said, the forum is mostly for posting your work and maybe receive some feedback. However, I know for a fact that producers/prod-cos peruse this website for scripts. Not the big studios, but independents and even medium sized ones. I also know that scripts get picked up/sold here every month. Sometimes, they even get stolen…

Quoted from DevonteHuntley Not sure what kind of studios you're seeking to make your own, but I'm not aiming for big named ones. I mean, if one comes around and contacts me then fine, but I'm open to smaller and new ones and prefer them more because I believe in movies being made on a cheaper and more independent scale and these studios seem to focus more on the heart and quality of movies than your typical Hollywood cliche tropes that prevents them from taking risks and doing things different.

You might feel differently about that once you’ve had a few produced and you realize that the films didn’t quite turnout the way you had imagined they would. I think I know more people that have been disappointed than happy with their films, but it all depends. It’s not easy making films. I know this from personal experience as well.

Quoted from DevonteHuntley I'm giving Inktip another month for this one story I have for viewing. I had two on there, but I decided not to renew my payment for the additional script but the two-month discount for the main one is still in effect, so I want to put that to more use. As I stated, I'm mainly getting logline views and it sucks. I wish someone can READ more than just that because the loglines are good and informative that should lead to checking out the synopsis and maybe even the scripts themselves, but nada. I have some viewing the loglines multiple times but nothing further as if they're at a conflict to continue on more and be interested to bring the stories to life. It just tears me inside. So if this site is as good as you're making it out to be, then thank you for existing and giving me a new platform of potential success free of charge ontop of it. -_-

Inktip Logline views are kind of similar to these boards here at SS in a way. When someone searches for a script on Inktip, they can enter certain criteria they are looking for. Genre, budget, rating… Once they enter that, a page with a lot of different loglines pop up. So, when you see your logline has been reviewed it just means that someone has seen that page with a long list of loglines. It does not mean they are coming back to read yours over and over. Just like here. Your script’s thread might have 500 views. All that means is that that script thread’s page has been opened. It does not mean all those people downloaded or read your script.

I’ll end this by quoting Robert McKee’s Story, or at least close to what he said, it’s been a few years… “Everyone in Hollywood is looking for a great story.” I believe this to be true. In other words, if you have a truly great story/script, people will find it and they will come to you.  

I'll add this, if you want to know how your script stacks up against the competition, you can post it on the Blacklist website and pay for an evaluation. They are pretty tough, but they are probably pretty honest. Pet-Cam got a 6. My goal is to rewrite it until I get a 7, at least. That will be hard.

Quoted from Grandma Bear I don't know about success story. I have a lot of imdb credits, but that doesn't really mean much anymore. Anyone can get a page nowadays. It's not like it was 15 years ago.

I mean, you must have been active during these productions like any other writer in a movie or TV show right?

Quoted from Grandma Bear Don makes sure everyone knows SS can't guarantee anyone gets a script sold. And, like you said, the forum is mostly for posting your work and maybe receive some feedback. However, I know for a fact that producers/prod-cos peruse this website for scripts. Not the big studios, but independents and even medium sized ones. I also know that scripts get picked up/sold here every month. Sometimes, they even get stolen...

Yes, Don assured me of that especially with my Halloween fan fic since it wasn't an entirely original thing since it's based on existing material. But given what you said about the producers coming here to seek things more-so than your usual Inktip or Blacklist sites, then that already brings a smile to my face.

Yes, always fear work getting stolen which is why I was hesitant to even put my work out there on any site. That better not happen to me or there will be HELL to pay because I work hard on my material, fan-fic or not.

Quoted from Grandma Bear You might feel differently about that once you've had a few produced and you realize that the films didn't quite turnout the way you had imagined they would. I think I know more people that have been disappointed than happy with their films, but it all depends. It's not easy making films. I know this from personal experience as well.

I expect this. Hopefully I get with the right people who can do justice, even if changes are involved and that's always a guarantee for a number of reasons. I tend to write really long stories and my dialogue in screenplays can be draggy since I'm more of a novelist anyway.

Quoted from Grandma Bear Inktip Logline views are kind of similar to these boards here at SS in a way. When someone searches for a script on Inktip, they can enter certain criteria they are looking for. Genre, budget, rating... Once they enter that, a page with a lot of different loglines pop up. So, when you see your logline has been reviewed it just means that someone has seen that page with a long list of loglines. It does not mean they are coming back to read yours over and over. Just like here. Your script's thread might have 500 views. All that means is that that script thread's page has been opened. It does not mean all those people downloaded or read your script.

I know this as far as this site's way of things. But I wasn't quite sure what the Inktip deal was with that.  

Quoted from Grandma Bear I'll end this by quoting Robert McKee's Story, or at least close to what he said, it's been a few years... "Everyone in Hollywood is looking for a great story." I believe this to be true. In other words, if you have a truly great story/script, people will find it and they will come to you.

One can only hope! I've been waiting and being anxious for years now. I want to get my shot.

First off, this is my script Pet-Cam’s thread. If you need to discuss these other issues, please pm me with questions or start a new thread under General Chat.  

Quoted from DevonteHuntley I mean, you must have been active during these productions like any other writer in a movie or TV show right?

No. I have not been part of any production at all. Usually, they take your script and do whatever they want with it. Sometimes, they even forget to tell you when the film has been completed. As a writer, you are usually the very lowest rung on the ladder. Sadly, but true.

Quoted from DevonteHuntley Yes, Don assured me of that especially with my Halloween fan fic since it was an entirely original thing since it's based on existing material. But given what you said about the producers coming here to seek things more-so than your usual Inktip or Blacklist sites, then that already brings a smile to my face.

I never said that about the Blacklist site. I mentioned Blacklist because it will give you a sense of how your script stacks up against the competition. Producer/directors do check for scripts there, but from what I understand, no one ever looks at scripts with a score lower than a 7. Pet-Cam is a 6 which is the average there.

Quoted from DevonteHuntley Yes, always fear work getting stolen which is why I was hesitant to even put my work out there on any site. That better not happen to me or there will be HELL to pay because I work hard on my material, fan-fic or not.

Not as easy as you might think. I know of a member here who had his script stolen and produced in India. It was on Netflix. The writer was furious. He contacted a lawyer and was told it would cost a minimum of $7000 to fight this. Would you cough up this amount to fight it? It’s a chance we have to take though. No one’s going to be searching for your scripts. You have to put them out there.

Quoted from DevonteHuntley Hopefully I get with the right people who can do justice. I tend to write really long stories and my dialogue in screenplays can be draggy since I'm more of a novelist anyway.

This is a BIG thing against you right there.

Quoted from Grandma Bear First off, this is my script Pet-Cam's thread. If you need to discuss these other issues, please pm me with questions or start a new thread under General Chat.

Fair enough. I wasn't trying to make this conversation draggy anyway. That just happened unexpectedly, so I'll take this to PM now. I had to briefly edit my last comment where I first mention my Halloween fan fic since it meant to read it wasn't an entirely original thing, not was. After saving that, all the punctuation marks everywhere else became black diamonds with question marks in them for some reason, so I had to edit that out. Ugh, internet is weird.

But yeah, carrying this over to PM now.

Since I wrote this script with the intention of producing/directing it myself, it's been a bit disappointing that it's not getting much love from anyone. I'm not used to people being bored by my scripts!!!   It's an okay script, but I need it to be better in order to even consider shooting it. I'm not sure my partner in film is up for making films right now, so I've shifted focus. I want to make this script better and then see if I can get it to a 7 on the Blacklist website. It's currently a solid 6, which is average. As a last-ditch effort, I decided to get some professional help. That's expensive, but I was willing to give it a shot before I put Pet-Cam on the shelf and forget about it. I decided to go with Charlie Vignola, ScriptGenius. He's worked in the industry for decades and thirty years for Jerry Bruckheimer, doing exactly this, getting scripts in shape for production companies. I got script notes and a near two hour video meeting that he recorded, so I have that to go back to as well. I learned quite a few new things, so it was worth it to me. I have attached a link to the script with his notes written on it in case anyone is interested.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JS0_DsXBbO_xXjcdWh4JJYZ4wR3QFaxC/view?usp=sharing

Pia, thanks for posting!
You have a lot of great notes and I can only imagine you got a lot more valuable info from the video consult.

Care to share anything standout that you learned; that perhaps you didn't know before?