Message Board

I`ve read that you should describe (briefly) the ''core'' of the character, what makes them unique. Don`t try to pigeon hole them with a lot of physical detail.

My question is: in description, should we at least give them an age range? If so, do you bracket the age? Such as (20s) or simply 20s and so forth?

I know that there isn't any written in stone" rule, but how long is an average scene? 1 page? 2 pages? I believe that Trotter says to question any scene over 2 pages, but I'm not sure where I read that.

Where can we read this script?

You would like to think that if a person can write, age wouldn't be a factor.

Heath Ledger's Joker is so brilliantly portrayed it overshadows an otherwise lackluster entry to the franchise.

FADE IN:

FULL SHOT -- ASTEROID FIELD - DEEP SPACE

The HISSING of radio static slowly builds as a mega asteroid appears from the blackness of space.

Lesser boulders swirl about each other in a galactic game of chicken with as many near misses as there are violent collisions.

HUSKY MALE VOICE See what you can find on the radio will ya, little buddy?

The SOUND of an old fashioned radio dial rapidly changing stations, voices and music blend into gibberish before we hear...

SOUTHERN PREACHER Yes, brothers and sisters it's an ugly world we live in today. But if you'll send me nineteen ninety five for your very own prayer rug and coin holder...

The asteroid sails majestically past the outer planets as the radio static grows louder.

Another rapid change of the dial before we hear the sobbing voice of...

DEACON Forgive me, Lord, for I have sinned. That ugly serpent Satan has forced me to lay with my neighbor's wife ...AND my neighbor.

NASA satellites and other space debris are obliterated as they cross paths with the asteroid on it's way to the sparkling blue planet Earth. It grows hotter until a fiery tail streams behind it.

Another rapid change of the radio dial as North America is drawn into view.

OLD REVERAND If this congregation can't raise ten million dollars by the end of the month, the Lord said he'll call me home. And friends...this time I think he means it!

The view pans the streets of a major city with thousands of people all calmly pointing skyward until we reach -

I tend to weep like an orphan. My hero's always seems to die or NOT get the girl in my stories.

Thanks Ron,

My first page hints at religion and comedy, as the main theme of the story. The asteroid streaking towards Earth is an ''attention getter'' to be sure, but also has a payoff in the 3rd act. The stories called ''Lucifer, The Adventure Begins'', and tells of Lucifer's early days in Heaven & Earth, and the events that lead to his ''fall''.

Goto this web site, type the email address in the search window and pray.

http://everyonewhosanyone.com/tt/tlta1.html

PS. You can leave out the prayer part, it never seems to do me any good.

Have you ever had a story idea that you couldn't make up your mind which way to take it genre wise? You first write it as a comedy then sit back while reading it for the billionth time and see it as a thriller?

I have many other story ideas to work with but I'm stuck in limbo because I can't get this thriller off my mind. This ever happen to you or anyone you know?

To make matters worse, thrillers aren't my thing, but I see this one so clearly it haunts me.

What's the word on entertainment lawyers? Who's used one, how do they work? Do you call or write them? Can any entertainment lawyer contact any production company/star? Any recommended links you can share?

Thanks

While re-writing one of my stories, I got the idea for a phantom character which is only revealed at stories end that he's not real. My question is, if the character isn't real (is a figment of another characters imagination) can the phantom character appear in a scene by himself (without the presences of the real character? I don't think it's plausible, just thought I'd throw it out there.

Other than Harvey the rabbit, I've never seen an example of it. The ending of Harvey is set up to make you believe that there really is a giant rabbit, but the genre seems to allow for that.

In ''A Beautiful Mind'' the phantom characters never appear on screen (to my knowledge) without the main character (Nash) present.

I'll have to take a look at it again to see when the ghosts are present. I thought it had a great ending, and I for one, never saw that one coming.

In The Sixth Sense Bruce Willis is the main character, therefore the story is from his point of view. I have only seen the film once so it's hard to recall what really happens other than the ending.

It's true we never "see" Harvey, but we do see the lever move (by Harvey?) that opens the iron gate.

I'm with you on this Ron. If only onecharacter can see the phantom then the phantom can't appear (or shouldn't) in a scene where that character's not present.

Luckly for me, this only affects one scene.

Janet, The "speeding up or slowing down" effect you meantion happened in an episode of Star Trek.

My story, Lucifer, The Adventure Begins, deals with a young Lucifer who's bent on staying in Gods good graces no matter what the cost. He starts out as the youngest of the Archangels and Gods favorite. The other archangels resent this, and scheme to turn God against him and vise-versa.

Lucifers only friend is Satan. Most will say that they are the same person in the Bible, which makes little difference because this is anything but a Bible story. As you might guess, Satan is Lucifers alter ego (a phantom) that pushes and prods Lucifer into doing things he only dreams of doing.

Lucifer starts out an awkward teen surrounded by bullies and ends very close to the vile creature history depicts him as. I say ''close'' because the dramatic fall from grace occurs in Lucifer2.

Some might think it foolish to think of a sequel until you sell the first one. The way I see it, when writing on spec your writing for yourself, therefore write what makes you happy and only change it when someone puts a check in your hand.

Don't worry, I have an alternate ending just in case Jerry Bruckheimer calls.

Thanks. I hear it can be very costly so I'll wait awhile longer.

Anyone have the email address?

Page 1 of my romance/fantasy "The Time of My life." [code] FADE IN: FULL SHOT - RAGING STORM -- DAY A corporate Learjet darts threw the clouds as lightening flashes all around it. P.O.V. LEARJET -- DAY Visibility is obscured until the clouds part and a sudden lightening strike illuminates a gigantic pyramid shaped building in the distance, Omega Corp. INT. OMEGA CORP - CONFERENCE ROOM -- DAY The worlds richest man, JOHN ANDRUS(50), sets at the head of a long conference table daydreaming. There's 10 advisors around the table wearing black mourning bands. Everyone has a folder marked SAFE-T-BELT in front of them. A stuffy old British accountant gives his report in the bg. STUFFY ACCOUNTANT Our first quarter profits were down to a poultry one hundreed billion dollars. John's startled from his day dream by the voice of his childhood friend, wise cracking, DAN HARTLY(48) who sets next to him. DAN John. STUFFY ACCOUNTANT Due in large part by the somewhat questionable... The four walls of the room hold large, 9 digit clocks that track days, hours, minutes and seconds. These "TIME CLOCKS" are everywhere in the building and count backwards to zero. On edge, John fidgets as he glances up at the time clock as IT REACHES- INSERT DIGITAL READOUT: 000 24 00 00 JOHN (to Dan) Forbes should have been here by now. STUFFY ACCOUNTANT Acquisitions of no less than...[/code]

That didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.

Thematic Worksheet

What is your protagonist seeking internally at the beginning of his/her arc?

_______________________________________________________________

What quantifiable and measurable goal is your protagonist going after to achieve what he/she hopes will bring them that emotional state?

___________________________________________________________________

What general plan of action will the protagonist follow to attain that goal?

___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

So from what the protagonist learns, how will he/she demonstrate their change?

___________________________________________________________________

What is at stake (internally) to the protagonist if they don't achieve their arc?

___________________________________________________________________

What is at stake to the protagonist (internally) if they don't attain their goal?

___________________________________________________________________

What is at stake to another person, to a specific group of people, or to humanity in general if the protagonist doesn't achieve their arc?

______________________________________________________________

What statement are you making about the human condition through the actions of your protagonist and what is learned (or not learned) within the context of your story's central premise?

___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________

To sum it up for others: your story is about (PROTAGONIST)_______________ seeking (the GOAL)____________________________ who will (the PLAN)___ ______________________________________________________________ and by doing this learn (your STATEMENT ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION) ___________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

THEMATIC PREMISE SHEET

After putting together the Story Premise Sheet to help TSA members crystallize their central conflict, and seeing how well that's helped them define their story's concept, it became clear that more was needed to help them bring their stories alive -- and bring them up to the level of professionalism needed to succeed.

Too many of the the synopses heard during TSA meetings (as well as the scripts read in contests and covered by Hollywood production companies) offer a series of events taking place, but lack the underlying elements that give those events meaning and give that story drama.

WHAT IS DRAMA?

Drama is a portrayal of the human struggle to maintain values and give meaning to the actions taken in life. In a screenplay, that struggle and those actions are taken by your Protagonist.

It is the character of your Protagonist -- what their values are, what it is they are seeking emotionally, and ultimately what they believe is worth fighting for -- that determines the direction of your screenplay. The manner in which the events of the story develop are governed by the decisions of, and the resulting actions taken by, your Protagonist.

WHAT GIVES THESE EVENTS MEANING?

In a screenplay, the events lead up to a battle between the opposing viewpoints that you've defined as those held by your Protagonist and your Antagonist (or Force of Antagonism). Who wins that battle (over what the ultimate goal of the story is, what is at stake in your story) will define the meaning of the story by telling and showing the audience whose viewpoint is victorious.

This viewpoint is yours, the writer. And whatever happens at the end defines what you as a writer are trying to say about some aspect of the human condition that you want to comment on. This is your story's meaning. This is the realization that your Protagonist has by the end of the story's events.

At its heart, this is what your story's central conflict (the story premise) is truly about.

By first filling out the STORY PREMISE WORKSHEET you can see: 1) What GOAL the Protagonist and Antagonist (or Force of Antagonism) are in diametric opposition over, you can define what the highest STAKES OF YOUR STORY are. 2) Whether you have the right Protagonist for your story, have the Protagonist who is uniquely qualified to push forward the events of your story. 3) Have a Protagonist who is internally motivated in such a way so that the highest STAKES OF YOUR STORY have enough meaning to him/her that he/she will be willing to carry the battle with the Antagonist (or Force of Antagonism) all the way until the end.

By next filling out the THEMATIC PREMISE WORKSHEET you can see: 1) What emotional goal is driving your Protagonist in the story's beginning and thereby create AUDIENCE IDENTIFICATION with him/her. 2) What the Protagonist (or other people within the story) learn from the series of decisions and actions that the Protagonist takes throughout the story to achieve their goal (the CHARACTER ARC of the screenplay). 3) What STATEMENT ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION (your viewpoint, your THEME) that you are trying to make sure you are conveying to the audience.

And now knowing what the stakes of your story are, what is motivating the Protagonist to fight over those stakes, what he will do to to win, and how he will change (or change others) -- now you can write a professional synopsis.

Yep, that's where I found it.

Why? I understand the whole "They were money makers in the past" mentality, but enough is enough. It makes you want to give up sometimes.

Everything is a re-make, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" comes out soon. Next, "Forbbiden Planet" and others.

One movie I'd like to see a re-make of is, "Visit To A Small Planet."

Because of legal red tap, it hasn't been shown in years.

When a time traveler journeys back to his youth to reunite with the love of his life, he finds that dealing with the girl that split them up is much harder than he could imagine.

Any thoughts?

The tile is: "The Time Of My Life".

The original logline was:

A cancer stricken time traveler journeys back to his youth to reunite with the love of his life. Once reunited, only one thing stands between him and true happiness, the girl that split them up in the first place.

Ron you must have visited right after I did (last night).

Just saw it and can't say enough about it. This is story telling and movie making at it's finest.

To regain their independence from their over protective offspring, a pair of high spirited grannies take it on the lame through America's mid-west in search of adventure, but find nothing but trouble.

Maybe?

-OR-

To regain their independence from their overprotective offspring, a pair of high-spirited grannies take it on the lame through America's midwest in search of adventure.

Which is still to long.(26 words)

-LAST TRY-

To regain their independence from their overprotective offspring, a pair of high-spirited grannies tour America's midwest in search of adventure.

Patrick wins, his is much better.

In the current story I'm working on there's a reference to Christopher Walken's character ''Captain Koons'', and the famed ''gold watch'' from Pulp Fiction. Koons is never mentioned by name, so I'm fairly sure it's legal to do this as a homage of sorts to Quentin Tarantino.

If I were to somehow use the character, even briefly, I believe I'd have to get Tarantino's permission first, correct?

I recieved this from them today (01-02-09)

Hey Timothy,

I wanted to wish you a belated happy new year and update you on the happenings at Abbot Management.

Alas, after solving a length list of unexpected glitches, our programmers have completed a good looking and functioning beta version of our buyers login.

We're planning on giving out buyers logins to around 10 A++ quality production companies in the first week of January, followed by a general launch in February. It should be an exciting time and we're optimistic for a couple more sales.

In preparation for our launch, we have three requests for you.

1) Please login to your account and double check the "buyers login visibility" options for both your coverage and your screenplay.

2) We have added lots of additional search options into our buyers login, and as such, it is important that after you login, you click "edit details" and update the information for every script which you would like visible within our buyers login.

3) Hover your cursor over "preferences" select "edit profile" from the drop down menu, and make sure that your contact information is current.

Other than that, we should be able to handle the rest.

If you have any feedback, questions or concerns please don't hesitate to ask.

Like most, I have a few thousand songs on my hard drive, so finding something to fit my needs is a snap. What I listen to depends on the scene/genre I'm working on at the time.

For my story ''Lucifer, and The Garden of Evil'', I listened to ''Masked Ball'' from ''Eyes Wide Shut'', most of the sound track from ''A Beautiful Mind'' and Saliva's ''Ladies and Gentlemen''. I thought that Nickleback must have read my script before they wrote their hit, ''Savin Me''.

I'm listening to ''It's all in the game'' by Tommy Edwards for a rom com I'm writing at the moment.

For my own amusement, I also make a sound track for each story I write

Of course sex still sells, always has, always will. I fact, I just bought the blu-ray addition of Debbie does Dallas just last week.

All kidding aside, In the script I'm polishing for the 99th time, Lucifer, and The Garden of Evil, Adam and Eve have to be naked, do they not? Nudity for nothing more than to see a man or womans naughty bits is porn. As writers we shouldn't be afraid to use sex and nudity in our stories where the story demands it. If it's pointless nudity we better have a damned good reason why.

I bought MM over FD because of the "Voice" feature, which was a disappointment. The program as a whole is great.

What should and shouldn't go in a cover letter when sending a script?

First rob a bank, that stuffs expensive.

Don't hit my bank. I had the same idea, did some snooping, and found that even the bank president was over drawn.

Thanks Ron, you want in on that bank caper?

Let's say you have a pregnant lady on page 10, but you don't want it reveiled she's pregnant until page 40.

Do you make a note of this to let the reader know this info is kept away from the viewers, or what?

I've re-thought what I'm after story wise. The fact that she is pregnant isn't the important thing. The fact that she hasn't given birth yet is.

She lives in a time when all the woman of her village got pregnant at the same time (no, she's not from West Virginia) They also give birth at the same time. All but a few that is. they just get bigger and bigger. They all give birth to monsters on the exact same night and die.

The thing I want to hide his the fact that they are twice the size of normal (belly wise). Other than the payload they carry, none of the woman play a role past their deaths.

I've decided that she, and the other "monster mothers", will be seen pregnant the same as all the other woman of the village. After the night of the births, the monster mothers will still be seen waddling about as usual. A comment will be made such as, "You girls will probably pop all at the same time, like the others."

You don't see them again until the faithfull night that they all die when their bellies burst open and their unholy spawn scampers off into the night.

There's one woman in the village that isn't pregnant, and this is revealed in what I hope is a comical way.

On the night of the ''normal births'' there's an EXT. shot of her drunken husband on the front porch with his wife yelling (as if in childbirth) on the inside.

INT. we see her with beads of sweat on her forehead and hair slightly disheveled. A midwive's voice couching in the background. A baby cries...the midwife places the baby in the ladies arms who sighs in relief, '' I never wanna go through that again.'' The babies fussy, the midwife mentions feeding him (spoiler alert, it's ah boy) the woman says, ''Why didn't I think of that?'' then hands the baby to it's mother laying on the bed. Revealing that the woman isn't pregnant, only coaching her friend in the art of yelling. There's a bit of irony in this as it's revealed throughout the story that her husband's abusive yet she never tells a soul.

Sometime later, by the night of the monsters birth(s), this same woman has become pregnant. We're not sure who the father is. It could be her no good husband who raped her, or it could be her lover/hero who is also one of ''THEM''. Similar to the scene just described, her worthless husband will be outside with her screaming in pain inside. The midwife tells the husband, ''She's having trouble, fetch some more water, quick!'' then we cut to the first ''monster'' birth of one of her friends. This will raise the question of what's going to happen to our heroin. After the other pregnant woman (about 100) have given birth (they all give birth and die at the exact same moment) we go back to our heroin as she gives birth to healthy, normal twins.

For a bit of clarity, all the woman that give birth to monsters are shacked up or married to one of ''THEM''. The reader and audience will know in advance that these ''unions'' are a bit unnatural, but won't, I hope, see the blood bath coming.

looks promiing.

promising even.

I think it's a one hour show. I wonder how much time they allow each caller to make their pitch.

It takes that long to state the title!

If your writing with the soul purpose off makeing a buck, your in it for the wrong reason.

Is a pitch in person more or less what you write in your query letter? I've never done a verbal pitch before.

Just saw this on their website:

"PITCHES: Do Not Exceed 1 min!

CALL IN NUMBER: (646) 716-5193

CALL IN TIME: About 6:10 pm. (Show is LIVE at 6 PM, but we will not take calls until 6:20). You will immediately be placed on hold. About 6:20 we start taking calls. We DO NOT have a screener, once we take your call you are LIVE!"

I had basically done just that. Then practiced until I no longer needed to read it off the page. I timed it, and had it just under a minute.

When I tuned into the show, the first thing I heard was that you had 30 seconds to make your pitch. They were supposed to start taking live calls at 6:20, so I continued to listen to get a feel for how things worked. At 6:40 they played a past interview with Lew somebody so I gave up.

I have dial-up (yes, I'm a VERY struggling writer) so it's painful to listen to anything over the net with the constant buffering. I checked out the site a few hours later, and they had posted the winner.

Did anyone actually hear a live pitch or Christ Lockhart for that matter? I did get to hear a taped ''Script Girl'', so that's something at least.

You think you have an accent? I'm from West Virginia!

I'm not sure what happened last night with my computer, but I just listened to the entire hour long show (taped). The guy who won was the next to last caller, and won more on the fact that they liked his title than anything, in my opinion.

I heard that ''and'' & ''is'' are taboo. Any thoughts?

This only applies to action not dialogue, correct?

Following Jeans advice, I've went in and tracked down all the "is" in my script. It makes a world of difference, which of course, makes for a stronger script.

Thanks Jean

Now if there was a program dealing with punctuation.

I have a program called "Style Writer" which has some nice features.

I believe I read in The Screenwriter's Bible, That there are major and minor SLUG LINES.

With this in mind, is this correct?

EXT. BARNYARD — DAY

Cows and chickens doing whatever they do, which leads us to-

BARN

Engulfed in flames, which leads us to-

HAYLOFT

A pair of young lovers trapped by the raising flames...etc.

In writing my current story "A Tangled Web", Once the first head starts to roll (literally) The rest fall pretty easily.

My only problem at this point is, who's going to be left stand once the dust settles.

My only question with that is, Everyone should know that a hayloft's INSIDE a barn. Another example would be:

EXT. - ADAM'S COTTAGE — DAY

Whatever.....etc.

EVE'S BEDROOM

Whatever.....etc.

A bedroom is always INT. to my knowledge. The reason that I bring this up at all's because, to me, EVE'S BEDROOM is just a continuation of the scene and not a whole new scene unto itself.

In reviews I've also been told (when doing it the other way) that it slowed down the read and added unnecessary scenes.

I first got the notion after reading The Screenwriter's Bible. In the section dealing with Sluglines and headers he gave an example not to different than mine. I re-read the example he gave and found something like this.

EXT. BLUE SKY — DAY

Two WW 2 war planes streak across the sky.

INSIDE EAGLE ONE

Something.............

INSIDE EAGLE TWO

Something............

So he's still referring to an EXT. & INT.

As some have mentioned, no matter how you write it, your not going to please everyone concerning format. The story really is all that matters.

Ron,

I think we're talking about "writing" about offing someone, not the actual deed. From your post, I'd swear you were writing from experience...lol

Thanks Ron, Now I I have to see that flick as soon as I can.

Kate Winslet for best actress. Besides the fact that I love as an actress, her manager, Dallas Smith is reading one of my scripts.

I think she'd make a great Eve, don't you?

If so, do you give them a specific age, JOHN 28, or SALLY 35, to go along with their description?

Do you give them a general age range, JOHN 20s or JOHN late 20s?

How much of it do you get?

I'm up at 4:40am jotting down the details of a story that came to me while tossing and turning. Right now I'm calling it "Madhouse", but I'm sure it will change.

When I get a story idea that I want to work on at some point, Always get the ending if nothing else. Most times I get a clear beginning as well. Tonight, I hit the jackpot with pretty much a complete story.

When your ideas come to you, how does it happen? All at once? little by little? inch by inch?

Jean,

I have a very minor character in my current story that I dubbed, "FRAIL OLD MAN". I didn't give him an age thinking that the name would be as much of a description as he needed for his role.

"Old Fogie", now there's a name I haven't heard since I became one.

Your right, it's probably just you.

I taped the show then watched it this morning.

I enjoyed the intro, which I thought was well done. After that, you can make the whole thing more enjoyable by lopping off the musical numbers save for the tribute to the recently departed. Speaking of which, was Heath Ledger mentioned during that? I'm sure I just missed it due to the caterwalling of the queen Mary...I mean queen La-beefa.

All-in-all I thought it went well, it just needs to be under 3 hours...why? Because best actor/actress/picture camer AFTER the 3 hour mark. As you all know, just because you set something to record, doesn't mean you'll get the whole show. I had to tune into E to see that my girl Kate Winslet won best actress...Wonder why her manager hasn't called yet?

Title: Jerkin'

Genre: Teen/roadtrip

Logline: In the year 2048, where everything's become an olympic event, the worlds fastest masturbators converge. A long shot contestant, on the brink of winning the gold, runs into his stiffest competition in the form of a masked figure known only as, ''The Milkman''.

Keep in mind I did say ''for Judd Apatow'' With such recent forgettable films as ''Dilbit Taylor'', Step Brothers'' and ''Don't mess with the Zohan'', this is his kinda flix, totally tasteless!

Paul...''The Milkman'' turns out to be his father.

Paula....Creative minds are open for business 24/7 and don't need to be jumped started with a glass of prune juice and bran flakes at 8am, but you knew that.......right?

Apatow has had a few misses, but most of his other films such as "40 year old Virgin" and "Knocked up" were huge at the box office.

Knocked Up is a movie you couldn't pay me to watch a second time, yet many think it ranks right up there with "Orca" and we all know how much that movie blows.

Hi James,

I was wondering about those little boxes myself. They're supposed to be quotation marks "."

"Most everyone on this board say write about what you know well." If that's the case, someone's bound to have "beat" me to it.

Almost got it that time.

Why Paula, you sound as if someones walked alover your grave...we cross?

I know, that you all know, That it was just a joke, maybe not a funny one as some pointed out.

As Paula correctly pointed out, Sometimes your 4am ideas are best kept to themselves.

I was having a rare "down" moments and wrote that to lift my spirits.

I do feel that someone, somewhere, is writing that script. I wish them all the luck cause I never will.

Congrats Ron, You-Da-Man!

Well deserved CONGRATS!

My bets on (V.O.)

Ask yourself why it's so important to show your character enter or exit. Unless he's busting through the door with an ax, stumbling into the door, etc. I don't think it needs mentioned at all.

When's "Astro Boy" coming out? It can't suck any worse than "Speed Racer" and all that hype.

You also would have to consider who is actually reading your script and writing the feedback. If it's joe schmoe off the streets, how valid is it?

I had a few scripts there (mainly for the coverage),and now their website is down. I sent them an email and it bounced.

I don't believe they were ever on IMDB so what gives?

I'm thinking of taking the plunge. What's the word?

I downloaded the demo to Dramtic and found that I bailed on it after 30 minutes. Saved myself $200 bucks that way.

I looked into the others you mentioned.

As always, Thank!

That's a mouth full. I wouldn't worry about naming 2 & 3 till 1 sells. What ever name you go with, someone down the line will probably change it anyway.

Thanks,

Your right, the server was down and I hit the panic button. As you say, Everything is up and running now.

Most of the coverage is helpful, and free never hurts.

Congrats, I'd be thrilled with a "don't call us, we'll call you." at this point.

I agree with Troy, If the script is as good as the title/logline, you've got a hit.

"Her Unspoke Words Logline: When a group of adult siblings discover unread letters revealing their deceased mother's final wishes for them, they must each contemplate what they could have been as opposed to what they've become."

How about, "The Parting Gift" or "Momma's Wishes" as the title?

Instead of the siblings being adults, could they be teens at different ends of the spectrum. You could have a pregnant female who wants an abortion, against her mother's wishes. One could be the brains of the family, who's secretly hooked on crack and so on. With adults, their lives (depending on their age) might be to cemented for a significant, believable change.

Count me in..I'm looking forward to rubbing elbows with Johnny Depp and bumping butt cheeks with Katie Holmes. Lets not forget that little perk known as cold hard cash.

Did anyone mention the dreadful "King and I" remake a few years ago? When will Hollywood learn to leave the classics alone! What will they remake next, Cat Ballou!

If you want to add a bit of horror to the mix, let's not forget Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2007)

Like The Beatles "Sargant Peppers" Wait, someone's beat you to it.

I'm working on my first outline for a possible future manager. When I write an outline, I do it in single sentence/bullet form to cover a single scene or sequence.

When writing an outline for someone else, how in-depth do you go?

The 2008 Black List, an unofficial compendium of the "most liked" screenplays of the past year, was released Wednesday morning. In the top slot was Kyle Killen's "The Beaver," which has been heating up the buzz circuit for the past few months.

Filling out the top five positions are "The Oranges," by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer; "Butter," by Jason Micallef; "Big Hole," by Michael Gilio; and "The Low Dweller," by Brad Inglesby.

What began as a holiday reading list anonymously compiled by development executive Franklin Leonard (now director of development at Universal Pictures) based on the recommendations of industry friends has bloomed into a kind of bellwether for hot, relatively unknown screenwriters.

Each year, the list of voters has grown, and this year includes more than 250 film executives of varying ranks who recommended as many as 10 of their favorite reads of the year. While well-known names like William Monahan.

What began as a holiday reading list anonymously compiled by development executive Franklin Leonard (now director of development at Universal Pictures) based on the recommendations of industry friends has bloomed into a kind of bellwether for hot, relatively unknown screenwriters. Each year, the list of voters has grown, and this year includes more than 250 film executives of varying ranks who recommended as many as 10 of their favorite reads of the year. Killen, whose script about a despondent man who finds comfort in a beaver hand puppet has attracted the interest of Steve Carrell, is repped by WMA and Anonymous Content, which is producing the film.

Just found the entire list at:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/12/the_black_list_2008_the_full_l.html

Today saw the release of the annual Black List, an index of the year's best-liked, not-yet-produced screenplays. To compile it, more than 250 film executives were polled and each script had to be mentioned four times to warrant inclusion. The one with the most mentions is Kyle Killen's The Beaver (see our exclusive review here!), and No. 2 is by Jay Reiss, the guy who played the word pronouncer in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The full list (with synopses!) is after the jump. Special congratulations is due to Nick Confalone, former writer of Vulture's daily Industry post, whose Knights (co-written with Neal Dusedau) is included.

67 mentions:

THE BEAVER by Kyle Killen ''A depressed man finds hope in a beaver puppet that he wears on his hand.''

61 mentions:

THE ORANGES by Jay Reiss & Ian Helfer ''A man has a romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, which turns their lives upside down.''

44 mentions:

BUTTER by Jason Micallef ''A small town becomes a center for controversy and jealousy as its annual butter carving contest begins.''

42 mentions:

BIG HOLE by Michael Gilio ''An old cowboy goes on a mission to recover his money after a million dollar sweepstakes scam cleans out his entire bank account.''

40 mentions:

THE LOW DWELLER by Brad Ingelsby ''A man trying to assimilate into society after being released from jail discovers that someone from his past is out to settle a score.''

39 mentions:

FUCKBUDDIES by Liz Meriwether ''A guy and a girl struggle to have an exclusively sexual relationship as they both come to realize they want much more.''

34 mentions:

WINTER'S DISCONTENT by Paul Fruchbom ''When Herb Winter's wife of fifty years dies, the faithful but sexually frustrated widower moves into a retirement community to start living the swinging single life.''

29 mentions:

BROKEN CITY by Brian Tucker ''A New York private investigator gets sucked into a shady mayoral election.''

24 mentions:

I'M WITH CANCER by Will Reiser ''A autobiographical comic account of one man's struggle to beat cancer.''

22 mentions:

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS by Peter Straughan ''Based on the eponymous documentary. James Carville and a team of U.S. political consultants travel to South America to help Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (aka 'Goni') become President of Bolivia.''

21 mentions:

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS by Quentin Tarantino ''American soldiers, French peasants, French resistance, and Nazis collide in Hitler occupied France.''

20 mentions:

UNTITLED VANESSA TAYLOR PROJECT by Vanessa Taylor ''After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense counseling weekend to decide the fate of their marriage.''

16 mentions:

GALAHAD by Ryan Condal ''A revisionist twist on the King Arthur legend from the knight Galahad's perspective.''

THE WEST IS DEAD by Andrew Baldwin ''During the Great Depression, a group of semi-outlaws go on the run from the law when forced to vacate a town as the Hoover dam is constructed.''

15 mentions:

MANUSCRIPT by Paul Grellong ''A contemporary thriller about three bright, young New Yorkers with boundless literary ambition who will stop at nothing to get what they want.''

THE TUTOR by Matthew Fogel ''A twenty three year old recent graduate decides, at his mother's insistence, to tutor his ex-girlfriend's younger sister for the SATs. When they begin a romantic relationship, his ex-girlfriend moves back home for the summer and begins to fall back in love with our anti-hero as well.''

14 mentions:

THE DESCENDANTS by Nat Faxon & Jim Rash ''A newly widowed father also one of the richest men in Oahu, Hawaii takes off with his two rebellious daughters to track down his Kauai.''

SUNFLOWER by Misha Green ''Two young women struggle to escape from and exact revenge on the deranged college professor who holds them hostage.''

GOING THE DISTANCE by Geoff LaTulippe ''A couple tries to maintain a long-distance relationship.''

13 mentions:

THE AMERICAN WAY by Brian Kistler ''Two brothers are affected by their parents' murder, leading one to the FBI and the other to a life of crime.''

NOWHERE BOY by Matt Greenhalgh ''The story of John Lennon's rise from lonely, Liverpool teenager to iconic rock star.''

RAINDROPS ALL AROUND ME by Reed Agnew & Eli Jorne ''A socially awkward high school teacher learns to 'dumb it down' in order to fit in with those around him.''

SEQUELS, REMAKES & ADAPTATIONS by Sam Esmail ''The outlandish journey of a young man in search of love and what he's meant to do with his life.''

12 mentions:

A COUPLE OF DICKS by Mark Cullen & Robb Cullen ''Two veteran LAPD detectives attempt to track down a stolen, mint-condition, 1952 baseball card that one of the detectives hopes to sell in order to pay for his daughter's upcoming wedding.''

THE MANY DEATHS OF BARNABY JAMES by Brian Nathanson ''A teenage apprentice in a macabre circus for the dead yearns to bring his true love back to life, but not before encountering the many dangerous and mysterious gothic characters that stand in his way.''

GAY DUDE by Alan Yang ''A comedy about the friendship of two high school seniors that's torn apart after one comes out of the closet.''

UNDERAGE by Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber ''A seventeen-year-old seduces a twentysomething man and then blackmails him into being her boyfriend in order to exact revenge on her high school aged ex.''

11 mentions:

CODE NAME VEIL by Matt Billingsley ''Based on actual events. A young CIA agent struggles to maintain his morality while navigating dangerous and absurd conditions in 1980s Beirut.''

THE FOURTH KIND by Olatunde Osunsanmi ''A woman investigates an extraordinary number of unexplained disappearances from one small town in Alaska.''

EVERYTHING MUST GO by Dan Rush ''A relapsed alcoholic loses his job and his wife and decides to live on his front lawn while selling all of his belongings in a yard sale.''

FOXCATCHER by E Max Frye & Dan Futterman ''Based on the true story of John du Pont, a paranoid schizophrenic who was heir to the du Pont fortune. After building a wrestling training facility named Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate, Du Pont shot and killed Olympic gold medal-winning grappler David Schulz.''

THE PHANTOM LIMB by Kevin Koehler ''A troubled private detective uncovers a blackmail scam involving a gangster who runs a brothel that caters to amputee fetishes (and other taboo sexual interests) and the doctor who performs the body modifications.''

10 mentions:

THE APOSTLES OF INFINITE LOVE by Victoria Strouse ''When an upper class dysfunctional New York family learn their youngest daughter has joined a cult in the midwest, they recruit a cult deprogrammer and go on the road to save her while both parents and siblings confront their issues with one another.''

THE F-WORD by Elan Mastai ''Two best friends struggle with falling in love without ruining the bond between them.''

UP IN THE AIR by Jason Reitman ''A ruthless human resources executive, whose job is to fire people, looks forward to the only joy he has in life, his millionth frequent flyer mile, a goal he pursues with zeal as the rest of his life falls apart around him because he is constantly on the road.''

9 mentions:

BACHELORETTE by Leslye Headland ''Ten years out of high school, three unhappy single friends come together as bridesmaids at a classmate's wedding, get drunk, get high, and trash the wedding dress while romancing new and old loves and settling old business.''

KNIGHTS by Nick Confalone & Neal Dusedau ''A kickass British adventure where knighted celebrities (an entrepreneur, a soccer player, a musician, and an actor) are called upon to defend their country.''

JONNY QUEST by Dan Mazeau ''Young Jonny Quest travels the world with his scientist father, adopted brother from India, Bandit the bulldog, and a government agent assigned to protect them while they investigate scientific mysteries.''

THE KARMA COALITION by Shawn Christensen ''A professor embarks on a quest to uncover the truth behind his wife's death before the world ends.''

KEIKO by Elizabeth Wright Shapiro ''A white teenage girl, who was adopted and raised in Japan by Japanese parents, travels to America to find her long lost father, comedian Dana Carvey.''

TWENTY TIMES A LADY by Gabrielle Allan & Jennifer Crittenden ''Based on the book by Karyn Bosnak. After realizing that she has had twice as many sexual partners as the national average, Ally swears off new guys and decides to go back and visit the previous twenty guys and find out if she overlooked anyone.''

8 mentions:

CLEAR WINTER NOON by John Kolvenbach ''A hit man released from jail in his seventies tries to make amends for the innocent life he took.''

FIERCE INVALIDS HOME FROM HOT CLIMATES by Eric Aronson ''Based on the novel by Tom Robbins. An irascible, world-weary CIA operative is duped by his boss into helping re-place a listening device back in Russian hands that is vital to spying on them.''

ROUNDTABLE by Brian K Vaughan ''In modern day, Merlin attempts to assemble a bunch of knights to battle an ancient evil.''

7 mentions:

PLAN B by Kate Angelo ''A woman sets out to be artificially inseminated and falls in love.''

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF THE MONOGAMOUS DUCK by Neeraj Katyal ''A writer struggling with drugs and his girlfriend's death leaves New York for Los Angeles where he falls in love with a teacher and straightens out his life.''

THE LAYMAN'S TERMS by Jeremy Bailey ''In the midst of the Great Depression, a prodigal son returns home to face his demons and resurrect the dust bowl town he left behind. But the arrival of a mysterious woman soon threatens his way of life when he discovers she is being hunted by the very same Chicago gangsters he used to run with.''

THE MALLUSIONIST by Robbie Pickering & Jace Ricci ''A wannabe illusionist travels cross country with his young son to compete against his archnemesis in a Vegas magic show.''

THE GARY COLEMAN—EMMANUEL LEWIS PROJECT by Dan Fogelman ''Emmanuel Lewis and Gary Coleman save the world from an evil madman.''

WHAT IS LIFE WORTH? By Max Borenstein ''Based on the memoir of Kenneth Feinberg, a dramatization of his involvement in the 9/11 victims compensation fund.''

6 mentions:

ACOD: ADULT CHILDREN OF DIVORCE by Ben Karlin & Stu Zicherman ''A grown man finds himself still caught in the crossfire of his parents' divorce.''

BAD TEACHER by Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupnitsky ''After being dumped by her boyfriend, a foul-mouthed, gold-digging seventh-grade teacher sets her sights on a colleague who is dating the school's model teacher.''

CHILD 44 by Richard Price ''Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith. An officer in Stalinist Russia's secret police is framed by a colleague for treason. While on the run with his wife, he stumbles upon a series of child murders and launches his own rogue investigation.''

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY by Charles Randolph ''The true story of former Assistant United States attorney Stanley Alpert's kidnapping by petty thieves and how he bonded with them in a Queens, NY apartment in 1998.''

INFERNO: A LINDA LOVELACE STORY by Matt Wilder ''The story of Linda Lovelace, the first mainstream porn star who eventually overcame her past, found happiness in suburbia and led a crusade to stop pornography.''

EASY A by Bert Royal ''A good-natured high school student uses the rumor mill to personal advantage by pretending to be the school slut.''

GRAND THEFT AUTO by Jason Dean Hall ''Facing foreclosure on his repo yard, a young ex-con resumes a life of crime only to get blamed when his uncle's coke deal gets hijacked. Caught in double crosses between Russian mafia, Yakuza, and the ATF, the young ex-con kidnaps a crime boss's daughter and steals car after car on a Vegas bound suicide mission to retrieve the stolen drugs.''

HELP ME SPREAD GOODNESS by Mark Friedman ''When an email predator dupes a man out of his son's college fund, the man travels to Nigeria to confront those who ripped him off.''

GIANTS by Eric Nazarian ''A teenager with Marfan Syndrome comes to terms with his estranged father, his overworked mother, and the possibility that he very well might die during his upcoming procedure.''

LONDON BOULEVARD by William Monahan ''Based on the book by Ken Fruen. Fresh out of prison, Mitchell lands a legitimate job as a handyman for a rich actress who's eager to reward him with cash, cars, and sex. But Mitchell can never truly escape his violent past or the dangerous world of loan sharks, drug addicts and other bottom-feeders.''

SHRAPNEL by Evan Daugherty ''Two mortal enemies square off on a hunting trip to the death.''

YOUR DREAMS SUCK by Kat Dennings & Geoffrey Litwak ''An awkward teen with no self esteem regains his self-confidence after joining a Dance Dance Revolution team.''

MEMOIRS by Will Fetters ''Two college students who've experienced recent loss fall in love and heal their fractured families.''

GREETINGS FROM JERRY by John Killoran ''Jerry seems to have it all money, women, and a ridiculously easy job as a greeting card writer until a tiny mistake at work unravels his life. Having lost everything he had but never earned he's forced to confront who he really is and start again from scratch.''

5 mentions:

AFTER HAILEY by Scott Frank ''Based on the novel by Jonathan Tropper. After a twentysomething man's older wife dies, he remains in suburbia and struggles to raise her teenage son from a previous marriage.''

THE BLADE ITSELF by Aaron Stockard ''Based on the novel by Marcus Sakey. Two former childhood friends, who made their reputation committing petty crimes, are reunited years later, forcing one of them to decide how far he will go to protect his past.''

FRESHLY POPPED by Megan Parsons ''A teenage girl who works at a movie theater tries to decide to whom she wants to lose her virginity.''

GAZA by Frank Deasy ''A British woman goes to Gaza to recover the body of her dead daughter and comes to understand her daughter's political ideals.''

BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE by Adam Cozad ''Two orphans, raised by a CIA operative to be assassins, become targets themselves.''

MAN OF CLOTH by Josh Zetumer ''When an English minister's family (wife and youngest son) are unjustly punished and sent off to a prison colony in Australia, the minister and his oldest son travel to Australia to re-unite the family. Upon arrival though, the minister is informed of their death, and quickly vengeance is the only thing that can quiet his hurt.''

GROWN MAN BUSINESS by Justin Britt-Gibson ''An older man who was a gangster in his youth returns to his neighborhood after a long absence to find the boys who murdered the son he abandoned years previous.''

HOW TO BE GOOD by Cindy Chupack ''Based on the novel by Nick Hornby. A woman having second thoughts about her husband is pleased when he begins following a guru, but when her husband invites the guru to live with them, her point of view changes entirely.''

IRON JACK by Johnny Rosenthal ''A renowned novelist's comic quest for hidden treasure in the 1930s.''

THE HERETIC by Javier Rodriguez ''The Roman Catholic Church asks a former inquisitor to assassinate rebel monk Martin Luther.''

UNLOCKED by Peter O'Brien ''A female CIA interrogator is duped into getting a terrorist to provide key information to the wrong side, thrusting her into the middle of a plot to plan a devastating biological attack in London.''

SLEEPING BEAUTY by Julia Leigh ''A haunting erotic fairy tale about Lucy, a student who drifts into prostitution and finds her niche as a woman who sleeps, drugged, in a 'Sleeping Beauty chamber' while men do to her what she can't remember the next morning.''

STOP HUNTINGDON ANIMAL CRUELTY by Adam Sachs ''A lonely journalist finds love and inspiration in a quirky, unlikely manner —covering the misadventures of a young boy's 'protest' of an animal rights movement.''

A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Beau Willimon ''Based on the novel by Charles Dickens. Set in Paris and London during the French Revolution, English aristocrat Sydney Carton sacrifices his own life for his unrequited love Lucie Manette and Frenchman Charles Darnay.''

THE SPELLMAN FILES by Bobby Florsheim & Josh Stolberg ''A family of private investigators use their gumshoe skills to crack cases and pry into one another's personal lives.''

THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED by Hanna Weg ''The tumultuous and doomed love affair of Jazz Age icons F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre.''

WHAT WOULD KENNY DO? by Chris Baldi ''A seventeen-year-old high school kid meets a 'hologram' of himself at thirty-seven-years-old and benefits from their friendship.''

4 mentions:

47 RONIN by Chris Morgan ''Forty-seven samurai seek vengeance upon a regional lord who is responsible for the death of their master.''

THE ZERO by Stephen Chin ''Based on the novel by Jess Walter. After a New York City policeman shoots himself in the head following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he is assigned to work for a shadowy agency at 'Ground Zero' and quickly finds himself drawn into a sinister government plot.''

BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER by Rich Wilkes ''Based on the book by Julian Rubinstein.''

THE DEBT by Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn ''Based on the Israeli film HaHov. Three Israeli Mossad agents discover that a war criminal is still alive and set out to pursue him.''

A BITTERSWEET LIFE by Mark L Smith ''A crime boss asks his trusted lieutenant to determine if his young mistress is having an affair (and to kill her and her lover if she is.) The lieutenant confirms the affair but, entranced by the girl, chooses to let them live. Discovering this, the crime boss orders the lieutenant killed, only he escapes and seeks vengeance.''

BOBISM by Ben Wexler ''A shy college student discovers that life in one thousand years will be based on his blog and he has to stop aliens from the future who want him dead.''

DEADLINE by Soo Hugh ''A discredited journalist navigates dangerous politics to find a missing aid worker.''

BOBBIE SUE by Russell Sharman, Owen Egerton, & Chris Mass ''A hard charging female ambulance chaser becomes the face of a prestigious law firm when an important client is sued for sexual discrimination.''

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY by Susan Walter ''A female clothing designer struggles to find love and success after turning thirty.''

THE ENDS OF THE EARTH by Chris Terrio ''Based on a true story. The controversial love affair between an oil baron and his adopted daughter destroys the empire they built together.''

THE HOW-TO GUIDE FOR SAVING THE WORLD by BenDavid Grabinski ''A loser discovers a book on how to stop an alien invasion and is thrust into action to stop a real one.''

I KILLED BUDDY CLOY by Nick Garrison & Chase Pletts ''When a terrible act of violence shatters Ray's hum-drum existence, his sociopath uncle lures him down an absurd, vengeful path.''

HEARTSTOPPER by Dan Antoniazzi & Ben Shiffrin ''A romantic comedy, with a serial killer.''

JAR CITY by Michael Ross ''Based on the film by Baltasar Kormakur. A police detective's investigation of a murder leads to the uncovering of secrets in a small town.''

SAMURAI by Fernley Phillips ''Set in Japan during the 150 Year War, a ronin out for justice teams up with a ninja and a green-eyed English boy to rid Japan of an evil Lord. Their partnership becomes the stuff of myth.''

THE MOST ANNOYING MAN IN THE WORLD by Kevin Kopelow & Heath Seifert ''A man travels across the country with his annoying brother in order to get to his own wedding.''

THE MURDERER AMONG US by Lori Gambino ''Based on true events. Legendary filmmaker Fritz Lang contends with a mounting police investigation into the death of his first wife, the growing threat of the Third Reich, and a caustic relationship with his female collaborator; all leading to the production of the film M.''

MOTORCADE by Billy Ray ''The President of the United States and his motorcade are attacked during a visit to Los Angeles.''

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HELL by Brian McGreevy & Lee Shipman ''A gritty, contemporary retelling of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO set in the underworld of the Hell's Kitchen Irish mob.''

'TIL BETH DO US PART by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg ''The friendship of two twentysomething men is put to the test when one of them becomes engaged.''

THE SCAVENGERS by Nate Edelman ''Based on the play Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge. A ne'er-do-well Irish twentysomething becomes infamous when he commits a haphazard murder and catches the fancy of a brazen barmaid who, bored with her small town existence, sees him as the rebel he always wanted to be and follows him on the run.''

SHERLOCK HOLMES by Tony Peckham ''A dark, sophisticated take on Sherlock Holmes and his trusted number two, Dr. Watson.''

SERIAL KILLER DAYS by Mark Carter ''A dark comedy blending stories of teen love and municipal corruption set against the backdrop of a town plagued by a serial killer that decides to profit the only way it can by creating a festival and economy around the fact that they have a serial killer.''

SWINGLES by Jeff Roda ''After their best friends get engaged, a dedicated bachelor and a high-strung lawyer team up to help each other get dates by giving revealing insights into the opposite sex (thus inventing 'swingling') but complications ensue when they fall for each other.''

UNTITLED CHANNING TATUM PROJECT by Doug Jung ''A Los Angeles cop escorts a Korean gang leader back to South Korea. When the gang leader escapes, killing the cop's partner in the process, he teams with a young Korean gangster in a bloody pursuit of revenge that takes them through the dangerous and exotic underworld of Seoul.''

If I had realized the list was that long I would have just posted the link.

I except this award on behalf of all those who have posted before me.

I can't take all the credit. I had help from my good friends at the Cut & Paste agency.

Zac Efron as Jonny is bad enough but I just heard that they've cast Chris Rock as Hadji and Janeane Garofalo as Bandit.

http://www.zerogravitymanagement.com/

Not a bad looking website.

I sent them a script a few years ago and never heard a pee from them, don't you just hate that!

In case your wondering, I meant "PEEP"

Congrats.

I've been toying with the story idea of combining the swine flu and bird flu and calling it, One Swine flu over the Cuckoo's nest...The Musical.

Just saw this script sale.

"Story of an ambitious smalltown girl with a big voice who finds love, family and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club that appears to be right out of Bob Fosse's "Cabaret."

Christina Aguilera attached to star. Steven Antin attached to direct. Grant rewrote Antin's original screenplay.

Swiney Todd, The mad porker of piglet street.

Has anyone taken any of the on-line courses they off?

Did you take all 4 of Barb's? I looked her site over and I'm thinking of taking the plunge.

Thanks for the info. I noticed the e-book and was wondering about it as well.

I read the section on subtext "As Good as it Gets", and was blown away. If nothing else, I'm taking that course soon.

"With merger plans moving toward finalization, WMA began Monday putting out more than 100 pink slips to personnel that won't be included in the combined William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. The layoffs cut across all divisions and mostly involve lower-level agents and their assistants in the Los Angeles and New York offices.

The company is giving those let go two weeks in the office to wrap up business and make their exit plans. Severance packages reportedly are significantly more robust than what is legally mandated.

As for higher-profile WMA staff, motion picture lit agent David Lonner, Steve Rabineau and top scripted agent Aaron Kaplan are leaving the WMA fold on their own, but it is not clear which, if any, other ranking agents will follow their lead.

Endeavor's downsizing plans remain unclear but are likely to be less sizable; high-ranking agents from that team who are leaving of their own accord include co-founder Tom Strickler and lit agent Richard Abate."

Cat,

I think "crap" would have been more to the point, as in "Crap, they didn't like my script."

Any chance of giving it a read?

Phone Booth comes to mind. Someone has already mentioned that great acting helps.

I'm a MM user (old version) but recently down loaded the demo to Movie Outline. It costs around $200.00, but looks promising.

Would anyone suggest upgrading my MM to the new version?

http://www.movieoutline.com/