Hi.  I'm interested in finding online the texts of original screenplays -- what the writer wrote, before everyone else got their mitts on the thing.  What I'm finding in print is a lot of "shooting scripts" -- not what I'm after.  It would be good to have the original screenplay to compare to the shooting script.  Is there a site or a print series that provides the original draft of a given script as the writer submitted it?

Thanks a lot.
Giraut

It really depends what specific script you're looking for. I know that there are draft scripts here on SS - not all of them are shooting scripts.

Thanks.  Let's say "Michael Clayton."

The notation says "2006 Final Shooting Draft script in zip/pdf format."  This isn't the original.

What notation is given when the script is the original screenplay?  Draft script?  Rough draft script? These don't me exactly what stage of the process this draft was from.  

Thanks.

It depends upon your intent.  There are hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of "undated, unspecified" draft scripts here at SimplyScripts or just floating around on the net.  Some may have a specific draft number.

As for a specific draft of "Michael Clayton", I have no idea.  Haven't looked.

But if you are looking solely for produced scripts, anything without scene numbers attached is probably in some form earlier than a final, shooting draft.

For unproduced scripts -- fresh from the writer -- there are thousands on here -- and I have found Scriptshadow to have a very nice selection of unproduced scripts that are generally of fairly high quality.

Script format is a fluid thing that changes over time.  There is much to be gained from reading older scripts, of course, but reading freshly-minted, unproduced scripts is the best way to get a feel for what writers are doing today.

Thanks!