Listing of screen and TV writing resources to succeed in writing. Also refer to movies, scripts, studios, networks, readers, producers, freelance, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions
Screenwriting Resources
by Ron Kurtus (revised 15 February 2004)
The following is a listing of important references and resources for screen and TV writers.
(If you have some recommendations of others, let me know about them.)
Screenwriting Websites
The following sites are places that can help you sell your script or to find information about the film and TV industries.
Writers Guide of America - Place to register scripts before sending them out
Goodstory.com - Online script marketplace
TVtracker.com - Tracks TV shows in development
Screenplay Coverage - UK screenplay coverage and story notes from a professional reader;
ScriptShark.com - Script reading and marketplace; charges $100 to evaluate script
Script Cave - Will read script for $100, evaluate it, and if good enough will get it to an agent
StudioXchange.com - Marketplace for production tools and services
SourceTV.com - Market-leading database for TV commercial contacts
iFilm - Tools and services for film industry
Hollywood Writers Network - Part of the HollywoodNet site for the entertainment industry
Project Greenlight - Online script writing contest from Miramax TV
Hollywood Script Analysis - Critiques and professional screenplay coverage
CineStory - Non-profit screenwriter's organization for honing their craft
Script-Fix - Affordable screenplay coverage and development notes
Coverscript.com - Screenplay services and resources for the writer and screenwriter
Screenplay Coverage - Screenplay management company gives overview on important elements.
Screenwriting Software
Software programs can help you develop a plot, as well as to format the script in the proper style. The following a a list of top programs you can purchase through Amazon.com, which seems to have the best prices, compared with the list prices.
Cinergy Script Editor by Mindstar is a free script writing software package that is available as a standalone program, or built-in to the larger Cinergy Motion Picture Production System. The script editor creates industry standard formatting for motion picture scripts. Scripts created with the Cinergy Script Editor are immediately compatible with the production management features of Cinergy Version 5. The free Cinergy script writing program can be downloaded from the above link.
Dramatica Pro by Screenplay Systems; List price $399; buy for $249.99. - Software helps develop plot and character and assists from the initial idea to the completed narrative treatment.
Final Draft 7.0 by Final Draft Co., $180.00 - Includes formatting tools, a text-to-speech feature that allows you to listen to your script read aloud, and ability to e-mail a scene to your writing partner or the whole script to a producer.
Movie Magic Screenwriter by Write Brothers, $160.00 - Program assists in automatically formatting action, character name, dialogue, and other elements to find the required standards.
Hollywood Screenwriter by Write Brothers, $35.00 - Put the final touch on screenplay or teleplay with this formatting program, including templates for over 40 television shows.
Books
A serious writer must learn proper writing and formatting techniques for screenwriting. Selling the script is an art in itself. The following books are some available to help in the script writing and selling process. You can purchase them through Amazon.com or your local bookstore.
Writing the script
Screenplay: The Foundations
of Screenwriting by Syd Field, DTP, 1984, $13.95
Classic screenwriting book that looks at critical points in a screenplay, based on the study of successful scripts. Comprehensive
technique for writing a script that will succeed.
How to Write a Selling
Screenplay: A Step-By-Step Approach to Developing Your Story and Writing Your Screenplay by Christopher Keane
and Julius Epstein, Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub, 1998, $14.00
Goes through the process from developing a story to finding the best agent. Tips on the difference between writing for film
and television.
Secrets of Screenplay
Structure: How to Recognize and Emulate the Structural Frameworks of Great Films by Linda J. Cowgill, Lone Eagle
Publishing Company, 1999, $16.95
Explains how and why great films work as well as how form and function can combine to bring a story alive.
Formatting the script
The Screenwriter's Bible:
A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script by David Trottier, Silman-James Press, 1998, $19.95
Answers to these questions on screenwriting, formatting, spec writing, and sales and marketing.
The Complete Guide to
Standard Script Formats: The Screenplay by Hilis R. Cole, CMC Publishing, 1989, $18.95
Good reference book on writing script in the proper, industry-standard format.
500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood
Script Reader: Writing the Screenplay the Reader Will Recommend by Jennifer M. Lerch, Fireside Publishing, 1999,
$12.00
Tips to get by the filtering done by studio readers. An important first step in being able to get a script accepted or sold.
How Not to Write a Screenplay:
101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make by Denny Martin Flinn, Lone Eagle Publishing Company, 1999, $16.95
Lists common novice writer mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Information to help keep script from immediately being
tossed in the trash pile.
Selling the script
Selling a Screenplay:
The Screenwriter's Guide to Hollywood by Syd Field, Dell Books (Paperbacks), 1989, $13.95
Shows the process of how to sell a screenplay, from the writer of the classic Screenplay book. (Note that the 1989 published
date may mean some information is outdated, but the principles still apply.)
Spec Screenplay Sales
Directory Deluxe Edition Vol #4, 1994-2001 by Howard Meibach (Editor), In Good Company Products, 2001, $59.95
Documentation of over 800 screenplays sold between 1994 and 2001, including storyline, genre, agent, producer, date-of-sale,
purchase price, buyer, lawyer and more. Also comes with a contact list of more than 50 agents who deal with first-timers.
The Big Deal: Hollywood's
Million-Dollar Spec Script Market by Thom Taylor, William Morrow & Co., 1999, $16.00
Provides examples and stories about the different ways spec scripts have been sold in Hollywood. Shows how connections, chance,
and quality all relate to script sales. Shows you must be clever and lucky to get a sale.
What Makes Sammy Run? by
Budd Schulberg, Vintage Books, 1993 reissue, $14.00
Classic fictional book on Hollywood of the 1930s, the politics of success and the attitude toward writers that still applies
today.
Screenplay examples
The Collected Works of
Paddy Chayefsky: The Screenplays by Paddy Chayefsky, Applause Theatre Book Pub., 1995, $16.95
I love the works of Paddy Chayefsky, a great early TV and movie writer, including Academy Award winners Marty and Network.
His works are good to study for the subtleties of a classic writer.
Summary
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