I read something Decadence said earlier this week (I think) and it got me wondering. He said that no production company, especially not a Hollywood one would ever buy a script for production if it has already been on the internet. Then I read this yesterday http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/how-scriptshadow-hurts-screenwriters?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+johnaugust+(johnaugust.com  
and now I'm thinking, if someone is serious about selling their script, is it really such a good idea to post it here?  ??)

Thoughts...

I think there is a difference between posting a script here so people can help you improve it than ScriptShadow ripping a new spec script to pieces on his site when a company is days away from buying it and investing a lot of money towards it.

I think here is ok.

I agree that a Hollywood company wouldn't buy one, but only because they're pretty much supplied with scripts via agents, and aren't exactly seeking them out.

Smaller independents, on the other hand...

I agree with Shel', and while they might not actually pick up the script, they might like the writer.

Interesting. August's blog is one of the best around, and always worth reading.

Speaking entirely for myself...

If I write a screenplay that I wish to sell, I will not post it on SS. I will send it to agents, maybe production companies. I will not expect or hope that posting it online will sell it for me or attract serious interest.

I posted the shorts because I have no serious interest in shorts - they were writing exercises, which broke a long period of inactivity, and I wanted reactions to them. I did not anticipate a Hollywood producer phoning me up and offering me money for it.

Similarly, I am writing the 7WC feature - I use writing in it's loosest sense here! - to get back to writing features, not primarily for any other purpose. (Though everything I write I write to the best of my ability, whatever the purpose).

But the next feature after that...well, it will be written for Geroge Willson to take a look at, and will not be posted here. Nor will any other features that I feel may be used to further my professional ambitions, not at least until I have exhausted any and all possibilities with them.

(Though I may share them privately with SS members)

This may sound harsh - but I seem to remember saying pretty much this in one of my first posts, regarding sharing ideas on the site. My first priority is my ambition to become a professional screenwriter. It would be silly of me to send a script to an agent with a note saying it has already been widely available online, which immediately devalues it.

Everyone who reads it needs to feel they are the first to do so (true or not) - and you don't get that if the entire surfing population of the globe has the opportunity to read your masterpiece, print it out and use it as bird cage liner!

I think August has a valid point.

By the way - this point is being addressed by mypdfscripts, who have removed a review of a not yet filmed script (though they did not post the script itself).

I think I agree with you Niles. If I had a script I thought was really really good, I probably would not post it here.

I'm not worried about my 7WC script however.  ;D

But what would you do if Paramount phoned up and offered you $3,000,000 for it?

Well isn't this a depressing little thread...

So basically we're all here to read shorts and crappy features and beat on each other a bit?   ;D

Quoted from ajr Well isn't this a depressing little thread... So basically we're all here to read shorts and crappy features and beat on each other a bit?   ;D

You're here to get feedback and learn.  Presumably when you do send off scripts to agents and production companies you will feel comfortable enough to do so without having to get feedback about your writing.

Also, if you are having trouble selling a feature, you might post it here to find out why.

But, personally, I think the paranoia about not selling a script if it's posted online here is just that - paranoia.    

I agree mcornetto - about the paranoia, and about the feedback and learning...

I had one thing - my feature - written before I came here. Now I've tried my hand at a couple of shorts, and I have an idea about how to turn one of them into a feature, plus ideas for four other features...

Now if I could only get a patron like they used to do for artists in Athens and Rome way back when...

Call me paranoid,

But I only ever post works in progress. I've never been tempted to post a completely finished script.

Quoted from Niles_Crane But what would you do if Paramount phoned up and offered you $3,000,000 for it?

I'd ask them "where the fuck did you get my phone number?"!  ;D

One word for you - "Inktip".

Isn't that, like, two words, Ren?

Quoted from sniper Isn't that, like, two words, Ren?

Here's another two for ya "smartarse".

Nobody likes a smartarse Rob. But, that isn't true, is it?

Renders

Quoted from mcornetto But, personally, I think the paranoia about not selling a script if it's posted online here is just that - paranoia.

I agree.  Keep in mind that, by posting here, your scripts receive the feedback needed to improve them.  I don't think there's a single script, on these boards, that are perfect.  Every script here benefits from being posted here; you shouldn't submit to an agent or producer until after it's been reviewed by a bunch of us.


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe I don't think there's a single script, on these boards, that are perfect.

The short version of "To Be" is.

Shame I had to spoil it by extending it. The new draft will be perfect though. Oh dear. I sound like a right knob. [that's because you are Re]

Renders

There is no such thing as perfection.

No script, even one that has been rewritten 100 times, filmed, made a billion dollars and won every award for writing in existence, is perfect.

And I'd point out that I have seen scripts on this site which have had multiple reviews contradicting each other - what one person likes, another won't. And in the end, it comes down to the writer of the script to decide what works in their script - not a committee of SS members.

TBF I didn't say ANY production company, I just said Hollywood Companies (At least I think I did).

I wouldn't take too much notice of what I say anyway. I try and be a bit knowledgeable but I can hardly claim overriding knowledge of everyone in such a vast Industry.

If someone was to post a script on here that was so good, so breathtakingly orignial that we all read it and loved it. If it moved us so much that we told everyone on the site about it and they all loved it so much they told their friends about it. If they all couldn't believe how good it was and passed it on to their friends and it ended up that ordinary people were reading it over their breakfast cereal and telling their friends about it in the bar, then a million people tried to join the site just to read it, or tried to download it and a huge clamour built up to see it made into a film...

...Then I guarantee, I absolutely guarantee that a Hollywood company would be interested. The execs wouldn't be able to sleep at night for the sound of money clanking in their ears.

Hollywood doesn't go around looking under every stone for the next big thing, because it doesn't need to. It's got access to any intellectual property it wants, best selling novels, comics, computer games etc Little risk stuff that should keep the tills ticking over.

It will check stuff out that is making a big noise though.

I think anyway. I don't know for sure. But it makes financial and logical sense to me.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films TBF I didn't say ANY production company, I just said Hollywood Companies (At least I think I did). I wouldn't take too much notice of what I say anyway. I try and be a bit knowledgeable but I can hardly claim overriding knowledge of everyone in such a vast Industry. If someone was to post a script on here that was so good, so breathtakingly orignial that we all read it and loved it. If it moved us so much that we told everyone on the site about it and they all loved it so much they told their friends about it. If they all couldn't believe how good it was and passed it on to their friends and it ended up that ordinary people were reading it over their breakfast cereal and telling their friends about it in the bar, then a million people tried to join the site just to read it, or tried to download it and a huge clamour built up to see it made into a film... ...Then I guarantee, I absolutely guarantee that a Hollywood company would be interested. The execs wouldn't be able to sleep at night for the sound of money clanking in their ears. Hollywood doesn't go around looking under every stone for the next big thing, because it doesn't need to. It's got access to any intellectual property it wants, best selling novels, comics, computer games etc Little risk stuff that should keep the tills ticking over. It will check stuff out that is making a big noise though. I think anyway. I don't know for sure. But it makes financial and logical sense to me.

;D When I read your post, I got all tingly thinking about the people on here and what they're capable of in terms of talent. Yup, I can see it too, blazing in the sky: SimplyHollywood.  ;D

Sandra

The feature scripts that Scriptshadow reviews (and is sometimes able to post) are for the most part a whole level above feature scripts submitted here for review and comment.

I think SS is enough under the radar that you can get some meaningful feedback IF the people that can deliver said meaningful feedback would deliver and you could still put your script out there incognito (under a different title).

No one posts a script here, thinking it's awful... except maybe that Screenrider's Blasphemous Adventure script.  The point is, you'll walk away with something if it gets critiqued, here, and you'll know where you can make improvements on it.  I'm not saying that you have to make changes to everything people say, but if everyone says the story is slow, or the characters are two dimensional, you should listen.


Phil

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films TBF I didn't say ANY production company, I just said Hollywood Companies (At least I think I did). I wouldn't take too much notice of what I say anyway. I try and be a bit knowledgeable but I can hardly claim overriding knowledge of everyone in such a vast Industry.

I know. I meant any Hollywood company.  

It was your comment together with that article that made me wonder. It wasn't in regards to my own scripts btw.

I might listen more than you think. After having been here for years, I know who's opinions I pay attention to.  :)

Quoted from Grandma Bear I know. I meant any Hollywood company.   It was your comment together with that article that made me wonder. It wasn't in regards to my own scripts btw. I might listen more than you think. After having been here for years, I know who's opinions I pay attention to.  :)

Re-reading the article, one thing that strikes me is the assumption that aspiring screenwriters have direct access to these scripts. He has the absolute belief that all aspiring writers are already working for the major companies as interns, or readers.

I think that tells it's own story. You've got to be in that circle to make it. If you're dead set on making it that route (The Hollywood route), you've got to drop everything and get an internship at a major studio and work your way up.

If you don't want to go that route, it doesn't mattter a jot where you post the script. The more people that see and hear of it the better.

I think it's fair to say that there is fear in the air. The studios sound desperate to avoid their stories being savaged before they've had the chance to pull the wool over people's eyes. Sounds like they are desperate to protect their little monopoly. The other thread about Paramount hoping to make micro-budget films kind of backs that up. They don't want anyone else to have a chance to compete.

Write your scripts. Network. Try and get a great agent. Pitch your stuff. Do whatever you can to get noticed by the big guys, but don't let them scare you into hiding your stuff from the rest of the world. We don't need them anymore.

If every last major curls up and dies in a corner, we'll still be able to make films.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Write your scripts. Network. Try and get a great agent. Pitch your stuff. Do whatever you can to get noticed by the big guys, but don't let them scare you into hiding your stuff from the rest of the world. We don't need them anymore. If every last major curls up and dies in a corner, we'll still be able to make films.

Fuck yes!!! You know what? I really don't care a shit about Hollywood truthfully. I care about "Our Hollywood".

We've got people here that care about life and extracting what they can from it.

It doesn't matter "what that is" really, but it's about your desire within "what that really is".

Truthfully, I will join with Balt in many of the words he's expressed. He might sound like an asshole, but in my mind, he's got it all together.

My feeling is and my advice is:

To do what you love to do, BUT!!!!!

There's one stipulation!!!!! You must do it for the RIGHT REASON!!!!!

When a person figures that out, then they're on the right track at least and it doesn't matter at that point if they win or lose in this life, but we hit the proverbial:

It's: "How you play the game".

So play nice everyone. (And as Logan says, "Don't curse God.")

Sandra

Meh, I'm of the mind if it's good it'll find its way someday... you just might not be alive to see it is all.  Anyways, post your work if "YOU" feel "YOU" can benefit from it and of it.  If you feel there is an abundant group of competent writers here that can help "YOU" improve your work then don't be afraid to post it up and share it... It'll go through changes anyways.  An idea is only as good as the writer can make it.  Sure a group can give you input and tell you what direction you should go in but ultimately it's your work.

I don't post scripts anymore cos of time, lack of interest from others and no real competition in the genre I write in.  Sure I've written outside the horror/thriller/oddity genre but none of those scripts showcase my talents like the former genres do. And, subsequently no one wants to read 90 to 120 page horror flicks anymore... It's all about the 5 page epics.  And that's cool... I network with writers here and there  and send my work out and that's fine with me.  If I see a script here in my genre that "I" feel is so good I have to challenge it or it challenges me as a writer, then I'll toss something up...

To end this speil... don't be afraid to showcase your worth.  If you feel you have something to show, and it's good enough to contend, get it out there if this is the business you want to pursue.  Don't let anyone tell you, certainly not me, what you are capable of doing.  More importantly, don't let anyone cheapen the worth of this site while you're at it... Yeah, you might not be guaranteed to have Hollywood beatin' down you're door or a 7 figure contract by coming here but you will find that the value of the site has no price tag in terms of what it can offer you.

Quoted from Baltis. Meh, I'm of the mind if it's good it'll find its way someday... you just might not be alive to see it is all.  Anyways, post your work if "YOU" feel "YOU" can benefit from it and of it.  If you feel there is an abundant group of competent writers here that can help "YOU" improve your work then don't be afraid to post it up and share it... It'll go through changes anyways.  An idea is only as good as the writer can make it.  Sure a group can give you input and tell you what direction you should go in but ultimately it's your work. I don't post scripts anymore cos of time, lack of interest from others and no real competition in the genre I write in.  Sure I've written outside the horror/thriller/oddity genre but none of those scripts showcase my talents like the former genres do. And, subsequently no one wants to read 90 to 120 page horror flicks anymore... It's all about the 5 page epics.  And that's cool... I network with writers here and there  and send my work out and that's fine with me.  If I see a script here in my genre that "I" feel is so good I have to challenge it or it challenges me as a writer, then I'll toss something up... To end this speil... don't be afraid to showcase your worth.  If you feel you have something to show, and it's good enough to contend, get it out there if this is the business you want to pursue.  Don't let anyone tell you, certainly not me, what you are capable of doing.  More importantly, don't let anyone cheapen the worth of this site while you're at it... Yeah, you might not be guaranteed to have Hollywood beatin' down you're door or a 7 figure contract by coming here but you will find that the value of the site has no price tag in terms of what it can offer you.

And I think that THAT, is worth taking to the bank and depositing!

Sandra

Personally, I have no problem posting shorts or features on here. If my ideas are any good and draw attention, I'd be happy to have it made by an Indie Film maker, who really cares about hollywood?

As long as your material is executed properly, it's all good in my book :)

I'd love to see my work become eternal in film, that would be the most satisfying thing... but, a little bit of cash wouldn't hurt.

I believe this site will one day have a member's feature turned into a blockbuster.