Ask the Expert: Does This Script Make Me Look Fat?

Question: Why should I get professional feedback?

Honesty or flattery?  Tell me what you want baby, what you really, really want.

We all want, need, crave validation.  But when it comes to script coverage or a professional consult, expect some criticism.  Be eager for it.  In fact, be grateful.  That’s where you’ll learn.

The fastest way to convince me you’re a novice is by refusing to accept that your screenplay could be imperfect.  Professional writers are eager for input.  That doesn’t mean they don’t want and need kudos.  Trust me, they do.  But they are every bit as hungry to learn what doesn’t work.  Beginners tune out all but the compliments.  If all you want is to hear, “Oh baby, you’re the best I’ve ever read,” spend your money on a call girl, not me.

Criticism leaves a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth, but professional writers learn to love feedback.  They have enough experience to know that a script is a way of communicating and a fresh pair of eyes is invaluable.  It forces them to answer tough questions, defend an idea or discover a solution.  They welcome the challenge because it strengthens the story.  In this relentlessly collaborative medium, if you can’t take input, you’re out.  No working writer ever screamed at me, “You mean if I don’t change this one line my script isn’t going to sell?!”

My job as a producer and my approach to a consult is to give writers a fresh perspective and constructive feedback.  What’s on target, what’s missing the mark and how to make every aspect work together.  My goal is to make your script the best possible version of the story you’ve set out to tell.  So how can you convince me that you’re a “serious amateur” hungry for feedback that will make your work better?

Don’t React Right Away

Back in the day, story notes at Disney were known for two things.  First, being staggeringly lengthy and second, an aura of profound politeness while telling a writer what to do.  The phrase, “Perhaps we should consider discussing” was invented to be the spoonful of sugar that made the medicine go down.

Convoluted as it may be, there’s something to be learned here.  Spend some time mulling over notes.  Sure, you know your script inside out, have rewritten it countless times, but could there be some truth here?  You don’t have to agree with everything someone has to say, just know that somewhere in there is something for you as a storyteller to learn.

Perhaps you should consider thinking about that.

Scratch the Itch

I had the great fortune of beginning my career in development working for the writing/producing team of Raynold Gideon and Bruce Evans.  They wrote STARMAN, STAND BY ME, MR. BROOKS and tons of assignments.  They’d been in countless notes meetings with producers and studios.  And they’d worked both sides of the desk, giving and receiving notes.  Their words of wisdom?  “Scratch the itch.”  Simple yet profound.

Don’t do what we say, do what we mean.  Get at what’s really bothering the note giver, not merely what they’re complaining about on the surface.  What’s the underlying problem?  “The second act lags.”  Should you slash and burn or are we yearning for more action?

Scratch the itch, baby.

Take a Walk in My Shoes

I’ve put in my 10,000 hours and read pretty close to 10,000 scripts by my latest calculation.

I read like an industry professional.  That means I’m built for speed and efficiency.  I read fast, and I have a staggeringly high reading comprehension.  What got me in trouble in 3^rd grade reading circles for being so far ahead that I’d lost the place of the group ensured my survival as a development exec.

We stop reading slug lines within the first 15 pages.  If you want us to know where we are, describe it in the description.

We quit reading character names by the end of Act One.  So yes, each character should sound distinctive.

If these are your only methods of conveying where we are and who’s who, you’re sunk.

This is how professionals read.  Period.

“It’s not me, it’s you.”

Please believe me when I say the problem lies not in my reading but in your writing.

I’ve helped launch a few writers’ careers.  I remember one very quiet writer whose first project I set up.  It was a wonderfully wacky offbeat comedy with a fresh spin on a familiar paradigm.  This guy was beginning to develop a voice.  We were pretty excited about working with him and even tried to get him an open assignment on another project of ours.  But he was a soft-spoken fellow, as I said, and didn’t exactly set the room on fire in a pitch.

We were meeting in our offices, going over our producers’ notes on the draft before turning it into the studio.  I was pushing pretty hard on one point in particular – something I insisted didn’t make sense.  The writer was adamant.  It worked.  I insisted some more.  And then something astonishing happened.  He yelled at me!  Right there, he unleashed all his frustration and yelled.  Didn’t I understand that the entire point of this scene was based on a minor reference earlier, symbolized thus and such and all added up to his big point?

I was shocked.

I was thrilled.

I sat there for a moment.  And then I said quietly, “No I didn’t get that.”  Not until he explained it.  And I’d read the script many times.  “This is great!” I exclaimed.  “So now, my challenge as a producer is to figure out how to get you in front of every audience at each screening of the movie so you can explain it to them.”

It went a lot more smoothly from there on.  And the writer went on to have a pretty big career.

If you’re ever explaining, know for certain that you’re in trouble because means it may be in your head, but it’s not on the page.

Writers vs. Readers

Don’t expect us to agree with your writers group.  Nothing personal, but what do they know?  They may have spent four days with McKee, but how many scripts have they read?  How many projects have they taken into studios?  How many breakfasts, lunches and drinks have they spent learning what other people in the industry are looking for?

Chances are, they’re your friends; they’d rather not tell you that you look like a hippo, or they’re busy admiring their own ass.  Meaning writers’ feedback for other writers is all too often laden with iffy or irrelevant ideas.  They’re imagining the story as if they were telling it.  Or they’re trying to make themselves feel superior.  My job is to help you get the best possible version of your story.

The Courage of your Convictions

Yes, I may have just claimed that industry professionals are more infallible than the Pope, but now I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate.  While for the most part, most of us do know better most of the time, when it comes to your story, well, it’s YOUR story.  If you’re positive about what you want to say with it, then you must have the courage of your convictions.

Professional writers might not always agree with every morsel of wisdom that tumbles out of my mouth, and honestly, I don’t want them to.  I’m happy to debate, discuss, spitball and play out alternatives.  That’s where the very best work comes from.

Stand up for what you believe in.  Just remember, it’s your job to make it work.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, Sweat the Small Stuff

Back in the olden days, when scripts existed on paper, aspiring writers wasted an incalculable amount of time on how many brads a script should have.  It was fodder for heated debate on internet sites.  What a waste of time and energy.  As if it would get your script read any sooner or taken any more seriously.  For the record, as someone who sustained more than one brad injury toting around stacks of scripts: a) two and b) not the cheap ones.

Page count.  Yes, this is everyone’s current obsession.  Granted, if I see a script that’s 133 pages, I know there’s a problem.  If a screenplay is 83 pages, I know there’s a problem.  But honestly, if I’m reading 133 pages of a great script, it’s well worth my time.  And odds are, I’m more likely to find a terrific story in 133 pages that need to be tightened than in 83 pages where the writer hasn’t dug deep enough.

If you’ve cut out all the adjectives and articles to make your script a “fast read,” you don’t have a clue as to what a fast read is.  And you’ve made my reading experience miserable.  I’ve read the same screenplay both with and sans the “little” words.  One version had charmingly quirky characters and a unique setting that gave it an off-beat appeal.  Other painful.  Lack sentences.  Not flow.

Words count.

Deep down can say you’re truly looking to make your work better with coverage or a consult?  Or are you spending $$$ to get encouragement?  Everyone eats up compliments, but can you be equally hungry for the bite of criticism?  I get queries all the time from writers boasting that someone read their script and said “excellent writing” or “this is a rich story.”  Unless they said “Great idea for a movie.  I wanna nearly kill myself to get this puppy made!” it doesn’t mean a thing.

You look positively anorexic.

Can I get you a doughnut?

A producer who’s sold to all the majors, Barri Evins created BIG IDEAS to give aspiring screenwriters what it takes to break into the business, teaching techniques she uses with professional writers.  The Big Ideas Screenwriting Seminar gives you an insider’s perspective, shows you how to create stories that ignite interest and develop screenplays faster than ever before. Includes Barri’s mentorship for a year.  Consult info here.  Barri will be a panelist at theScreenwriters World Conference. 

Bestseller Thriller Writer Ann Rule

Bestseller Ann Rule had a heck of a journey to becoming a writer—something she never really wanted to be in the first place. “All I ever wanted to be was a police officer,” she told the crowd in her ThrillerFest session “How to Stalk a Serial Killer and Tell the Gruesome Tale: All You Need to Know to Write Great True Crime.” “The one thing I knew I didn’t want to be was a writer.” Rule thought it was all too hard—heck, you’d have to rewrite what you already wrote.

As a kid, she would visit her grandpa, who was a sheriff, but to see him she’d have to go to the jail. There, she was given the job of bringing prisoners their meals. From an early age, she was fascinated by crime—not thehow, but the why.

Oh, how thrilling.

“I think that we come to our genre naturally,” she said.

Following her passions over the years, she took any ridealong with law enforcement she could get. Attended classes. Got an associate’s degree in criminal science.

And along the way, she began writing, collected innumerable rejections, and penned pieces for true detective magazines, which she realized could pay the bills.

“You have to write about what you know about,” she said.

Back then, not even her children slowed her down. “Unless the kids were actually fighting on top of the typewriter, I could keep writing.”

And then there’s the famous story that led her to her first book, her breakout The Stranger Beside Me.

Her brother had committed suicide, so she decided to volunteer at the crisis clinic in Seattle. The clinic paired volunteers with work-study students. At night, they’d be locked up in the building all alone together. Her partner was a psychology student getting paid $2 per hour.

His name was Ted Bundy.

After his crimes became apparent, Rule attended Bundy’s trial, and the rest of the story is history, amazingly documented in The Stranger Beside Me.

Her writing passion went on to encompass documenting the suspects and victims involved in crimes, and describing their lives before their paths crossed—along the lines of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

In her presentation, Rule pointed out that pros are always saying that you only have a 1/10 of 1 percent shot at becoming a professional writer. But she decided that she was going to be in that 1/10 of 1 percent.

“You can’t let the naysayers make think you can’t make it, because you can,” she said.

If you want to be a true crime writer, Rule said the best thing you can be is immensely curious. And, you should go to trials—something anyone can do. From a life spent in courtrooms, here are Rule’s tips and etiquette for doing just that.

1. You can usually get a press pass, but there’s often a deluge of writers trying to obtain one. Rule calls the prosecutor’s assistant.
2. Study the witnesses, watch the jury, and soak up the entire experience.
3. Try to obtain the court documents from the court reporter or the prosecutor, or purchase them.
4. Observe the other reporters in the room, and analyze what they’re doing.
5. If you’re sitting out in the hall with potential witnesses, don’t ask them about anything. You can comment on the weather or the courtroom benches being hard, but “Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth pretty shut.”
6. Don’t take newspapers into the courtroom.
7. Know what you’re getting yourself into. “You don’t want to start a nonfiction unless you’re really in love with it, and usually you want a go-ahead from an editor.”
8. Absorb detail. “When I’m writing a true-crime book I want the reader to walk along with me.” Rule describes the temperature, how the air feels—“I think it’s very important to set the scene.” As far as the writing, you can novelize, but keep all of your facts straight.
9. Don’t use the real name of a rape or sexual crime victim in your writing. (Though Rule has written about a few who have asked to have their names included.) As Rule said of her subjects at large, “I always care about my people. And if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”

Go forward and win!

Logline Service

I have been getting a lot of request for loglines. I give different prices . Since I have so many requests for this service, I decided to set a single fix price.

Logline: $5.00 Flat Fee

A synopsis or summery is required. It well be used to form the logline. The logline is just one line.

Screenplays

Critique: $50.00 Flat Fee, Discount fee $42.50

 Includes evaluating the basis elements of a script

•  Introduction
•  Development
•  Climax
•  Conclusion
• Character development 
•  Mid point development

Critiques also provide suggestions for improvements and enhancement. 

Payments are made by Paypal or cashier check by mail.


Other services are at regular price.

Query Letters: $25.00 Flat Fee  

Editing: $45.00 Flat Fee

•  Evaluating formatting to industry standards
•  Spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc.

Turnaround time:
Editing: 2 weeks
Critique: 2 weeks

Query Letters: 2 weeks

Feel free to contact me at ahicks4298@q.com or ahicks4298@msn.com.

Feel to call me at (360) 696-4298. Ask for Frances.

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Featured Tutorial | Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner

In This Issue

• From the Editor
• Featured Tutorial | Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner
• Missed a previous tutorial?
• Live Webinar | How to Hook an Agent or Editor with Your Query
• Writer's Digest Tutorials Membership Options
• Second Featured Tutorial | Marketing Your Poetry: Who Says Rhyme Doesn't Pay?

From the Editor

I hope all of you are finding at least a little time to enjoy the 2012 Olympics. The Olympics are inspiring in so many ways. It's especially fun to watch children as they react to watching their favorite event and begin dreaming of their own futures. 

Back to tutorials for the week . . . I have two new tutorials to share with you:  

Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner will teach you how build an airtight mystery that delivers thrills, chills, and a satisfying conclusion. This tutorial is taught by award-winning writer, book reviewer, and writing instructor Hallie Ephron. Hallie is the author of numerous mysteries and thrillers, including Never Tell a Lie. 

For those of you that have been asking for poetry tutorials—a new poetry tutorial is ready! Marketing Your Poetry: Who Says Rhyme Doesn't Pay? is packed with ideas and resources to help you get your poetry into the hands of those that will be inspired by what you have worked so hard on crafting. 

I'd highly recommend taking out a WD Tutorials membership if you haven't already. 65+ tutorials are available to you, at least one new tutorial is added weekly, and many new tutorials are in development. Please feel free to preview the many tutorials immediately available to you through the WD Tutorials site! 

Wishing you only the best!

Julie Oblander
Online Education Manager
Writer's Digest Tutorials

Featured Tutorial | Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner

In this enlightening tutorial session, you'll learn how to illustrate all of the critical elements necessary for crafting a tale that not only grabs readers and keeps them reading, but enables you to build an airtight mystery that delivers thrills, chills, and a satisfying conclusion. 

This tutorial is taught by award-winning writer, book reviewer, and writing instructor Hallie Ephron. Hallie is the author of numerous mysteries and thrillers, including Never Tell a Lie (William Morrow). Never Tell a Lie won the David Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2010, and Publishers Weekly calls it "stunning" and a "deliciously creepy tale of obsession." Hallie is also the author of the Edgar-nominated Writing & Selling Your Mystery Novel (Writer's Digest Books) and The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel (Adams Media). 

Instructor Hallie Ephron gives you an inside look at how to craft enthralling novels that crank up the suspense and compel readers to keep turning the pages until THE END—which is the key to hooking agents, editors, and readers around the world.

In this 65-minute tutorial video, you'll learn:  

• The keys to planning your story, twisting the plot, and constructing a credible surprise ending
• Techniques for creating a compelling sleuth and a worthy villain
• The art of deceiving and revealing with red herrings and clues
• Guidelines for writing credible investigations, spine-tingling suspense, and dramatic action
• Revision techniques—from sharpening characters, to optimizing pace, to word selection
• How to engage every reader
• How to catch the eye of an agent or editor and sell your work!

Preview this new tutorial or subscribe to watch it today >

The Plot WhispererSale: $11.96 Buy Now >	Make a SceneSale: $9.97 Buy Now >	Creating PoetrySale: $8.98 Buy Now >	Words Overflown By StarsSale: $10.00 Buy Now >

HOW TO WRITE YOUR FIRST NOVEL: 6 PIECES OF ADVICE

I’m no stranger to book writing, having written 28 cookbooks — but Island Apart is my first novel and writing it posed all sorts of challenges. During much of the process, I felt like a raw beginner. Hell, during much of the process I was a raw beginner. Here are 6 techniques that helped me go from aspiring novelist to published novelist.

 Steve Raichlen is the author of ISLAND APART, a debut novel 

(June 2012, Forge Books) set on Chappaquiddick Island in Martha’s 
Vineyard. Booklist said of the book, “A sweet grown-up love story … 
Raichlen packs a lot into his first novel … the passages of locally 
harvested food and intense cooking are gorgeous … A beach book 
for smart people.” Before this novel, Raichlen was a New York Times
best-selling author of several cookbooks. Visit his author website here.

1. The world has two sorts of writers: people who talk about writing a novel and people who actually do it. I spent several decades among the former and I have to tell you, it feels great finally to join the ranks of the latter. To paraphrase Nike, stop talking about it and just do it!

2. Write a mission statement … and contract. When I started Island Apart, my mission was to use the skills I had acquired writing food stories and cookbooks over the years; the publishing and media contacts I had accumulated; and the promotional savvy I learned from dozens of book tours (and being married to a publicist—more on that in a future blog) to start, write, and finish a publishable novel within a year. Note the words “start,” “finish,” “publishable,” and “within a year.” These dictated a course of action, goal, and deadline, which made me take the process seriously.

3. The secret to writing a novel—or any book—is writing. You won’t turn out elegant prose every day. But it’s important to keep cranking it out. Bad writing eventually leads to good writing and paragraphs eventually add up to pages, chapters, and a finished novel.

4. There’s no one right way to write a novel. Some writers start with a plot (vague or meticulously planned); others use as their point of departure a phrase, character, situation, or moral dilemma. Some writers craft meticulous outlines before they start writing; others let the characters drive the story. Island Apart began as a title—not that title (more how and why it changed in a future blog). My original title was The Hermit of Chappaquiddick and the minute I had the title, I knew the who of my story (my protagonists) and the what (what would happen). What I didn’t know was how to get from the beginning to the denouement. Fortunately, I didn’t have to make the journey alone—I had the characters to guide me. They knew where they needed to go.

5. Write with your eraser (or delete button). In the course of writing Island Apart, I jettisoned whole characters, situations, and chapters. I probably wrote 1000 pages of manuscript to wind up with a finished book of just under 300 pages. It hurt and I fought every deletion (my wife was a ruthless editor), but the final book is better for all the cuts.

6. Take the time to celebrate the milestones in your writing process. When you finish a chapter, take yourself and significant other out for dinner. When you finish the first draft, uncork a bottle of Champagne. (Not prosecco, real Champagne.) I timed the completion of the first draft to coincide with my birthday. I made a great ceremony of typing the words “The end” just before my birthday dinner. I also took the time to make a sententious speech to my children about the value of setting goals and working hard. I’m sure the latter went in one ear and out the other, but it sure made me feel good.

Writing References

Hello, everyone. Here are some books I suggest for reading if you are interested in writing a novel or are currently writing a novel. Click on the book if you want to purchase them. the prices are reasonable.

Featured Books

 
On Writing Fiction
By David Jauss

Learn More »

 
The Breakout Novelist
By Donald Maass

Learn More »

 
Writer's Guide To Character Traits
By Dr. Linda Edelstein

Learn More »

Check Out Literary Agent Kate Brauning

The Bookshelf Blog

Writer Kate Brauning is on an agent search and, in the meantime, offers up some solid writing advice and more on her blog. (You can follow Kate on Twitter too.)

2010 Award Contenders for Best Screenplay

127 Hours - undated, unspecified draft script by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (based on the book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston) - hosted by: Raindance- in pdf format

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet?

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Alice in Wonderland - October 28, 2008 Blue Revised Shooting Script script by Linda Woolverton (based on Alice's Adventures In Wonderland Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll) - hosted by: Disney Awards 2010 - in pdf format

19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

The American - Undated, unspecified draft script by Rowan Joffe (Based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth) - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

Alone among assassins, Jack is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Pavel that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde, is in the offing as a weapon is constructed.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Animal Kingdom - Undated, unspecified draft script by David Michôd - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

Tells the story of seventeen year-old J (Josh) as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Barney's Version - October 29, 2009 unspecified draft script by Michael Konyves (Based on the novel by Mordecai Richler) - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

Take a ride through the life and memories of Barney Panofsky, a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking, foulmouthed 65-year old hockey fanatic and television producer, as he reflects on his life's successes and (numerous) gaffes and failures as the final chapters of his own existence come sharply into focu

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Black Swan - October 5, 2009 shooting draft script by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin and Andres Heinz - hosted by: Raindance - in pdf format

A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile the Black Swan, daughter of an evil magician.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Blue Valentine - December 23, 2010 Official White draft script by Derek Cianfrance & Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis - hosted by: The Weinstein Company - in pdf format

A story of love found and love lost told in moments past and present. Dean and Cindy are a married couple who spend a night away from theiri daughter in an attempt to save their failing marriage.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

City Island - Undated, Unspecified draft script by Raymond De Felitta - hosted by:Overture Films - in pdf format

The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con (Strait) brought home by Vince (Garcia), the patriarch of the family, who is a corrections officer in real life, and a hopeful actor in private.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

The Company Men - May 28, 2009 buff shooting script by John Wells - hosted by: The Weinstein Company - in pdf format

The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company - and how that affects them, their families, and their communities.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Despicable Me - Undated, Unspecified draft script by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio (based on a story by Sergio Pablos) - hosted by: Universal Pictures - in pdf format

When a criminal mastermind uses a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme, he finds himself profoundly changed by the growing love between them.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Fish Head (filmed as Let Me In) - May 5, 2009 unspecified draft script by Matt Reeves - hosted by: Overture Films - in pdf format

A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

For Colored Girls - August 3, 2010 goldenrod revised script by Tyler Perry (Based on The Stage Play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf" By Ntozake Shange) - hosted by: Lions Gate Awards - in pdf format

Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Get Low - Undated, unspecified draft script by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell (story by Chris Provenzano & Scott Seeke) - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

A movie spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about the mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who famously threw his own rollicking funeral party... while he was still alive.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Greenberg - Undated, unspecified draft script by Noah Baumbach (Story by Noah Baumback and Jennifer Jason Leigh) - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

A New Yorker moves to Los Angeles in order to figure out his life while he housesits for his brother, and he soon sparks with his brother's assistant.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Hereafter - May 1, 2008 unspecified draft script by Peter Morgan - hosted by: Warner Bros. - in pdf format

A drama centered on three people -- a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy -- who are touched by death in different ways.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

I Love You Phillip Morris - April 27, 2008 pink draft script by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa (based on the book by Steve McVicker) - hosted by: Roadside Attractions - in pdf format

Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life. Steven becomes open about his homosexuality and decides to live life to the fullest - even if it means breaking the law. Steven's new, extravagant lifestyle involves cons and fraud and, eventually, a stay in the State Penitentiary where he meets sensitive, soft-spoken Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts Steven to attempt and often succeed at one impossible con after another.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Inception - undated, unspecified draft script by Christopher Nolen - hosted by: Warner Bros. - in pdf format

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

It's Kind of a Funny Story - Undated, unspecified draft script by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (based on the novel by Ned Vizzini - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Jack Goes Boating - January 28, 2009 draft script by Bob Glaudini - hosted by: Overture Films - in pdf format

A limo driver's blind date sparks a tale of love, betrayal, friendship, and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

The Kids Are All Right - August 3, 2009 draft script by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

Two children conceived by artificial insemination bring their birth father into their family life.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

The King's Speech - undated, unspecified draft script by David Seidler - hosted by: The Weinstein Company - in pdf format

The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

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Let Me In (originally Fish Head) - May 5, 2009 unspecified draft script by Matt Reeves - hosted by: Overture Films - in pdf format

A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.

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Made in Dagenham - Undated, unspecified draft script by William Ivory - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.

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Mother and Child - Undated, unspecified draft script by Rodrigo García - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

A drama centered around three women: A 50-year-old woman, the daughter she gave up for adoption 35 years ago, and an African American woman looking to adopt a child of her own.

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Nowhere Boy - February 11, 2009 shooting draft script by Matt Greenhalgh - hosted by:The Weinstein Company - in pdf format

Imagine John Lennons childhood A spirited teenager, curious, sharp and funny, growing up in the shattered city of Liverpool. Two extraordinary sisters tussle for his love - Mimi, the formidable aunt who raised him from the age of 5 and Julia, the spirited mother who gave him up to Mimis care. Yearning for a normal family, John escapes into art and the new music flooding in from the US. His fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the young Paul McCartney. But just as Johns new life begins, the truth about his past leads to a tragedy he would never escape.

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Please Give - Undated, unspecified draft script by Nicole Holofcener - hosted by: Sony Classics - in pdf format

In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in apartment the couple owns.

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Rabbit Hole - Undated, Unspecified draft script by David Lindsay-Abaire (based on the play by David Lindsay-Abaire - hosted by: Lions Gate Awards - in pdf format

Becca and Howie Corbett are a happily married couple whose perfect world is forever changed when their young son, Danny, is killed by a car. Becca, an executive-turned-stay-at-home mother, tries to redefine her existence in a surreal landscape of well-meaning family and friends. Painful, poignant, and often funny, Becca's experiences lead her to find solace in a mysterious relationship with a troubled young comic-book artist, Jason - the teenage driver of the car that killed Danny.

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Secretariat - February 3, 2009 unspecified draft script by Mike Rich (revised by Randell Wallace, based on the book by William Nack) - hosted by: Screenplay Explorer - in pdf format

Housewife and mother Penny Chenery agrees to take over her ailing father's Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing knowledge. Against all odds, Chenery -- with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin -- manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in twenty-five years.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Shutter Island - October 3, 2007 draft script by Laeta Kalogridis (based on the novel by Dennis Lehane) - hosted by: Screenplay Explorer - in pdf format

Drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.

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The Social Network - undated, unspecified draft script by Aaron Sorkin (based on the book “The Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich) - hosted by: Sony Pictures - in pdf format

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication.

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Somewhere - June 4, 2009 draft script by Sofia Coppola - hosted by: Focus Features - in pdf format

Hollywood actor Johnny Marco, nested in his luxury hotel of choice, is a stimulated man. Drinking, parties and women keep a creeping boredom under wraps in between jobs. He is the occasional father of a bright girl, Cleo, who may be spoiled but doesn't act it. When Cleo's mother drops her off and leaves town, Johnny brings her along for the ride, but can he fit an 11-year-old girl into his privileged lifestyle?

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Stone - July 2nd, 2009 revised draft script by Angus Maclachlan (revisions by Edward Norton and John Curran) - hosted by: Overture Films - in pdf format

A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path.

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The Town - August 18, 2009 Pink Revised Draft script by Peter Craig (based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan) - hosted by: Warner Bros. - in pdf format

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

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Toy Story 3 - Undated, Unspecified draft script by Michael Arndt (Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich) - hosted by: Disney Awards 2010 - in pdf format

The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.

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Winter's Bone - undated, unspecified draft script by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini (Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell) - hosted by: Roadside Attractions - in pdf format

With an absent father and a withdrawn and depressed mother, 17 year-old Ree Dolly keeps her family together in a dirt poor rural area. She's taken aback however when the local Sheriff tells her that her father put up their house as collateral for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all. She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crystal meth but anywhere she goes the message is the same: stay out of it and stop poking your nose in other people's business.