Film Strategy

The good people at  Script Reader Pro  have just made your life easier.  Why is that you say?  Because they've made your filmmaking life easier to manage this year with their  calendar of  all the major upcoming screenwriting contests  (orange) , awards   (blue) , festivals  (green) , fellowships and labs  (yellow)  in 2016. Like Yogi Berra says, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”  Thursday, June 30   Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest Deadline(TBC)   The Sitcom Mission - Comedy Writing Competition Deadline (TBC) Friday, July 1   Screencraft - Horror Screenplay Contest Deadline (TBC) Sunday, July 24   AFI Film Festival Submissions Deadline (TBC) Sunday, July 31   Shore Scripts Competition Regular Deadline (Feature, Short, TV Pilot)

The good people at  Script Reader Pro  have just made your life easier.  Why is that you say?  Because they've made your filmmaking life easier to manage this year with their  calendar of  all the major upcoming screenwriting contests  (orange) , awards   (blue) , festivals  (green) , fellowships and labs  (yellow)  in 2016. Like Yogi Berra says, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”  Friday, April 1   Palm Springs International ShortFest Film Submissions Deadline Tuesday, April 5   CineStory Feature Retreat Deadline Wednesday, April 6   Screencraft - Short Screenplay Contest Deadline (TBC) Friday, April 8   HollyShorts Film Festival Deadline Monday, April 11   Screencraft - Comedy Screenplay Contest Deadline (TBC) Wednesday, April 13   Tribeca Film Festival   Kansas City FilmFest Thursday, April 14   Tribeca Film Festival   Kansas City

The good people at Script Reader Pro have just made your life easier.  Why is that you say?  Because they've made your filmmaking life easier to manage this year with their  calendar of  all the major upcoming screenwriting contests  (orange) , awards   (blue) , festivals  (green) , fellowships and labs  (yellow)  in 2016. Like Yogi Berra says, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”  Friday, March 4   HBO Access Writing Fellowship Submission Period Opens (TBC) Thursday, March 10   American Black Film Festival Screenplay Competition Deadline   Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition Deadline Friday, March 11   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Saturday, March 12   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Sunday, March 13   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW)   Canadian Screen Awards Monday, March 14   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Tuesday, March

Some thoughts on " The State of Diversity in Writing for Television " Finally got a chance to read the WGAW 2015 TV Staffing Brief  and the findings are somewhat depressing: " Not only were minorities still underrepresented by factors of nearly 3 to 1 among all staff writers and nearly 7 to 1 among executive producers during the 2013-14 season, but women television writers also continued to tread water, at best, relative to their male counterparts. That is, women were underrepresented by factors of nearly 2 to 1 among all staff writers and more than 3 to 1 among critical executive producer positions. Meanwhile, older writers who were represented on nearly every show staff during the 2013-14 season saw their fortunes 14 drop precipitously beyond age 50, when they were absent from nearly a third of all shows. Findings like these highlight a glaring disconnect between the increasing diversity of audiences and business-as-usual practices in the Hollywood industry. "

Dear Filmmaker, Here's your homework: Pick one (1) script from the Oscar-nominated ones below and study it for structure, plot and character development and dialogue.  Then watch the movie produced out of it and pick 3 scenes that moved you. Review the scenes in the script and breakdown how the scene was directed. At every point, ask yourself, "Why* did the director do this?" Look for:  What kind of shots were used?  How were the shots composed/framed and lit?  How were the shots edited together?  What kind of transitions were used in between shots?  What kind of sounds and music accompanied them, if any?  How did the actors act and what aspects of the actor's performance did the director focus on?  And how did the production's design (costume, setting, location, makeup, VFX, etc.) contribute to the overall effect? Extra credit: pick 3 scenes from any of the scripts below that did NOT move you and using the script only, determine how you would r