Industrial Scripts is a London-based
script development and training organization, founded by some of the UK's
leading script analysts and sponsored by major film companies, delivering
a wide range of script development, information and support services to
writers and filmmakers from around the world.
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Dear
Karen,
Awards
Season has almost run its course - the BAFTAs in the bag and the Oscars
on the way - but Festival Season is in full swing after Sundance and the
Berlinale set the table for the year ahead, much like the February
newsletter...
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PINEWOOD ANNOUNCES WELSH STUDIO DEVELOPMENT
Pinewood
Studios announced plans for a new £90m studio development in Cardiff, a
huge boost for our film industry, as the UK furthers its credentials as
one of the premier international production locations. As this year’s
BAFTAs showed with the somewhat controversial win for GRAVITY as Best
British Film, the hidden economy of UK film production goes from strength
to strength – with the upcoming STAR WARS sequels returning to their
British home.
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BERLINALE
ROUND-UP
Festival
fever hit Europe as the Berlinale provided the warm-up act for Cannes'
grand arrival - and Shia LaBeouf and Lars Von Trier continued their
performance art promotional tour for NYMPHOMANIAC - everyone please
remember that Shia LaBeouf is not famous anymore. Just as we'd learned
how to spell and capitalise his surname correctly.
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Wes
Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL touched down in its natural European
home, whilst Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD continued its Sundance buzz to
become front-runner for the title of 'Indie Darling 2014'.
British
film had much to celebrate - Yann Demange's Northern Ireland Troubles
film '71 hooked audiences with its tale of a squaddie caught on the wrong
side of the tracks.
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With the
launch of our new website on the horizon, Industrial Scripts seeks
applications from freelance writers to fill three positions;
Freelance
Article Writer on the Industrial Scripts site (Role #1)
Freelance
Article Writer on the WordsWorth Writing Store site (Role #2)
Freelance
Article Writer on behalf of Industrial Scripts on other sites (Role #3)
Full
details can be found here. Good luck!
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Alongside
our monthly shot of film intel delivered to your inbox, Industrial Scripts
is rolling out articles on our news
page mixing craft insight, industry analysis and some good old fashioned top-10
lists. Ahead of an exciting blog revamp, here's the best of our articles
to date, celebrating the diversity of screenwriting talent - from Brits,
to the Female Players, the Golden Oldies, and the Filthy Rich....
READ OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE
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"10 British Screenwriters Who Broke Into
Hollywood"
Brit Screenwriting talent is well known on these shores – Simon Beaufoy,
Richard Curtis, David Hare, Abi Morgan, Tom Stoppard, Peter Morgan,
William Nicholson… the list is impressive. But what about Brit talent
working in Hollywood? Industrial Scripts looks at British Screenwriters
who have made the leap across the pond to make a name for themselves in
La-La Land... read the
full article here
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"The Top Female Screenwriters"
Which female screenwriters have conquered the box office? Can you name
the multi-Oscar winning women writers? Which hot showrunners are lighting
up your small screens?... read
the full article here
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“10 Screenwriters Who Broke In Late”
Despite the image of the wunderkind screenwriter a-la Orson Welles or
Diablo Cody, many screenwriters come late to the game, with a wealth of
wisdom and experience. As an encouragement to those who remember a time
before the internet, or to those who are wondering when their efforts
will pay off, Industrial Scripts looks at famed Screenwriters who
broke-in after their 40th birthday celebrations... read the full article here
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"The Best Paid Screenwriters in the World
Right Now"
Screenwriting is big business for those at the top. With screenplays
usually accounting for around 1-3% of a film’s sometimes nine figure
budget, some screenwriters can start breaking ground on those holiday
homes when the cheques clear. But just who are the top paid screenwriters
on the planet right now?... read
the full article here
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A new
year brings a new version of the industry's standard formatting software
- Final Draft 9 now in stock,
with a wealth of exclusive bonus materials only available through Wordsworth Writing Software Store.
Whether you're a new writer or a Final Draft old-timer, check out the new
features and see just why professionals trust Final Draft...
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Robert
McKee's STORY is the essential screenwriting tome - and the screenwriting
sage brings his acclaimed seminar to London this Spring. The 2014 Story
Seminar in London, England is fast approaching. You can register early as
the event is usually sold out...
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Fans of
maroon rugs, glitzy clothes and attention starved celebs will be thrilled
to hear that Fashion Fest 2014 hits Los Angeles on Sunday March 2nd.
The
esteemed sartorial gala celebrates the very best in haute couture,
enlivened with scintillating, edgy, insightful questions...
REPORTER:
Who are you wearing?
BUFFALO BILL: The senator's daughter.
Riding
the coat tails of the event's success, some opportunistic film association
has tactlessly wedged their annual awards bash onto the end of the night.
The bare-faced shame of these PR savvy chancers knows no limits.
Hopefully one day we'll all remember the true meaning of this red-letter
day - fabulous fashionistas.
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Amusing Snippet of the Month: HONEST OSCAR POSTERS
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With the
Academy Awards just around the corner, and the spend-a-thon campaigning
for those precious undecided votes in full swing, it’s time for the
annual truthful movie posters collection.
This year’s highlights?
GRAVITY;
“Don’t Torrent it. Don’t watch it on your phone. IMAX: THE SHOWREEL”
BLUE
JASMINE;
“Woody Allen’s best movie since the last time everyone said he’d made a
good movie”
Perhaps
one day the marketing bods will use self-deprecation in such glorious
fashion - hey, it worked for Sochi's Closing Ceremony
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OPINION PIECE
Are
We Above the Law?
Screenwriting
enthusiasts and Quentin Tarantino's THE HATEFUL EIGHT.
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The
screenwriting world can be an odd, incestuous little clique, with
esoteric conventions and traditions unto itself. And just as
plane-spotting enthusiasts expect to dodge those pesky anti-terrorism
laws with merely a nod to their binoculars, so too do screenwriting
aficionados seek a kind of online sanctuary, all in the name of love of
the craft. Snagging shooting scripts and distributing them is just a bit
of harmless fun right? A photocopy of that hot script circling round the
agencies is ripe for review online?
Of
course, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. And that someone
was Quentin Tarantino.
For
those not in the know, QT’s latest script – THE HATEFUL EIGHT, a western
following in the tracks of DJANGO UNCHAINED – was distributed by the
writer-director to a select few people – and of course, it still managed
to end up online. 146 pages of 70mm glory (the scientists among you will
be fuming at the mixed measurements there). Plot details pored over.
Casting rumours circulated. Loglines and fake posters created.
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Contrary to rumours, Carson Reeves has not applied for
asylum with the Ecuadorean embassy...
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So, were
the perpetrators wrong to do this? Legally, yes. This is intellectual
property with a clear author. The breach may not be so obvious as in the
case of a leaked novel or album, in which readers and listeners
prematurely experience the exact product which is to be released.
Compared to the billions of cinema-goers, DVD junkies, Netflix addicts
and late-night TV surfers, the number of people who consume screenplays
in native format is negligible, and very few of the final audience for
THE HATEFUL EIGHT would go within a country mile of a 146 page document,
devoid of performances, soundtrack, direction, production design. Did it
impact the financial performance of the film? Probably not – though it
gave the copycat underbelly of the industry a head-start on the DVDs with
similar titles and cover designs. Was it a breach of intellectual rights?
Of course. Now, would Ikea be mad if blueprints for a new bookshelf were
leaked to the public before their sleek cubes hit showroom floors?
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It’s
that notion that the avid-script readers are not harming a script’s
commercial prospects that is often called forth in their defence. It’s
educational. We just want to know what’s out there. Why wouldn’t I want
to learn from the master? I want to understand that journey from script
to screen, to see what is changed in the production process. Should all
scripts be made available to educate the screenwriting masses in this
regard? Is it even educational, or is it a case of rampant fanboyism (or
fangirlism), eager to be the first to get our hands on something new and
shiny, like the queues for the latest Apple release (Pink Lady back in
’04 was crazy, but nothing like Jazz in ’01).
Ultimately,
there is an author to every screenplay – and it’s their wishes which
should be respected. This is not like Wikileaks serving a public duty and
exposing the frauds and lies of governments. It’s feeding an ultimately
selfish indulgence of a small community, which can be satiated with the
plethora of legal, permissioned, post-release download scripts (the
internet is awash with awards contenders at present). Sure, it’s not
quite as exciting as reading a project years in advance. And to many on
the outside of the industry, the exposure to the factory workings,
feeling like an insider given access to a hot script like they were a
development exec, can be a tempting experience. But the film community is
small, and these leaks do have an impact. A spec script’s commercial
prospects can die a death if every bulletin board has posted a review –
would you want someone passing career judgment on your first draft? What
if your top-secret twist was out there for every exec to read on Twitter?
Perhaps it’s a case of ‘do unto others’ – and if you wouldn’t be happy
with a hacker accessing your files and sending them to every agent,
producer and actor in town, why be part of the feeding frenzy on someone
else’s project?
Ultimately,
this leak has not ended well - QT pulling the project due to the
violation. Perhaps now it's out in the open, it can become an open-source
script, free for amateur film-makers to shoot their own versions,
culminating in a grand film festival which shows only one film - badly
made THE HATEFUL EIGHT fan-pieces. Because, if the fanboys (and girls)
aren't careful, that's all they'll be left with.
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WordsWorth Writing Store continues steady growth..
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We are
delighted to reveal that our sister company, WordsWorth Writing Store,
which opened for business in early 2013, continues to build up steam with
steady sales and customer interest.
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The store stocks a
comprehensive range of storytelling and physical production software,
available at the most competitive prices and with brilliant FREE bonus packs,
unique to us, attached.
However
what we're particularly pleased about is that we will be the first UK
software company to provide ongoing phone support to our customers, so
rather than tearing your hair out on hold to some call centre in Kenya we
can call you back if something goes wrong.
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Unheralded Scene of the Month: UP IN THE AIR (2009)
In our
"Unheralded Scene of the Month" section, our consultants
nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn't received
the admiration it deserves.
It might
be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other,
more "showy" scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted scene
which is outstanding in its own right but wasn't quite in-sync or
critical to the final cut of the film. Warning: plot spoilers below.
Unheralded
Classic: UP IN THE
AIR
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The
film: Jason Reitman’s follow
up to JUNO was a timely look at the fallout from the economic crisis. A
witty dramedy equal parts mismatched buddy road movie and rom-com, the
film was famous for George Clooney laying himself bare (he plays an
avowed bachelor having second thoughts) and a break-out performance from
the excellent Anna Kendrick.
The
plot: Ryan Bingham (George
Clooney) lives the high life, flying all over the US as a corporate
downsizer – telling people face to face that they have been made
redundant – and boy, is business booming. Life on the road suits Ryan’s
no-strings approach to life; in his 40s, unmarried, aiming for the grand
goal of 10 million air miles – he even teaches a motivational seminar in
how to cut yourself free from connections that might weigh you down in
life. But his job is about to throw a spanner in the works in the shape
of peppy rookie Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), who thinks firings by
video link are the cost-saving future – and Ryan has to take her on the
road to show her the ropes. On the way, he meets like-minded Alex (Vera
Farmiga), a jet-setting businesswoman who just might offer him the
perfect no-strings relationship.
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The
scene: ‘How Much Did They Pay
You to Give Up on Your Dreams’ – Ryan and Natalie fire middle-aged father
Bob (JK Simmons) – but Natalie’s cold college intellect fails her as the
meeting turns sour. Step up hotshot Ryan Bingham, who manages to convince
a man who has just lost his livelihood that this is the exact opportunity
he’s been waiting for. Reading deep meaning into a few small details on
Bob's CV – a minor in college, some time waiting tables – he infers that
the man once dreamed of being a Chef. “How much did they first pay you to
give up on your dreams?”. With that, Ryan manages to talk down an irate
man, and proves just why he’s the best at what he does.
You can
watch the scene here
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Why
it's unheralded: In among Ryan’s
musings on marriage and the chemistry with Alex, this scene of
professional protocol isn’t quite so memorable. Understated, but vital to
the film...
Why
it's great: The scene skilfully
establishes the premise of the picture with a demonstration of Ryan’s
very unique talents. His potentially dislikeable position as a
firer-for-hire could undermine the audience’s connection with the
character and leave the entire film with a feel of ‘so what?’ – but by
showcasing his skills, and seeing those skills result in a positive, his
characterisation is significantly strengthened in the audience’s eyes.
Without this scene, the whole film could fail. Falsely confident
Natalie’s subjective academic take on the world is put to its first
objective test as she flames out – score one for Ryan, as he seizes the
initiative in their battle over the company’s future. Bob’s 180 degree
spin embodies the power of scenes who represent meaningful change – as
well as acting as a rallying call to the many watching the film who would
have been in a similar position.
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SCREENPLAY SPEC-SPOTTER FEBRUARY 2014
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Information
is power in the film & TV industries, so here is our vital burst of
screenwriting-related intel for your mainframes!
Sony Picks Up SHADOW RUN by Joe Gazzam
Thriller pitched as SAFE HOUSE on a plane, as a virus outbreak leads to a
prisoner exchange between a Russian Spy and a US Scientist who can cure
the outbreak.
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Universal’s pockets are deep – another $1m
purchase
Pierce Brown’s RED RISING novel & script go for seven figures – tale
of an uprising on Mars. After MARS NEEDS MOMS and JOHN CARTER OF MARS
both flopped, are Universal playing with fire? Only time will tell.
Fox purchases Spy Spec THE FORGER
Loyalties are tested. Identities are secret. Betrayals are commonplace.
You know the drill – but great news as newcomer Alex Allrich makes his
first sale – and a big one at that.
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Anyway
that's about all from us for another month, but just scroll down for
details of our script development services and upcoming training courses,
not to mention our exclusive Insider Interviews series.
The
Industrial Scripts Team
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At
Industrial Scripts we run premium, high-quality training courses
which deliver serious value to participants. Our courses are tailored to
suit the requirements of the industry, and are led by professionals with
proven track records of success in their own individual area of the
business.
For 4
years we've been running training courses in
script reading, low-budget filmmaking and screenwriting. We currently run
3 courses:
HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT - SCREENWRITING FOR
BEGINNERS is our first screenwriting course and has
been designed for creative individuals who possess great ideas for films
or TV shows, but don’t know where to begin. It delivers a huge amount of
information, condensed into one intense day, to participants new to
screenwriting, new to writing, or both. Focussing on both the writing
process, and the industry writers find work in, the course aims to
heavily de-mystify the process by which people become professional
screenwriters, and help new writers navigate the sometimes precarious
early years of the screenwriter.
Next course date:
Saturday 29th March 2014
Our EFFECTIVE SCRIPT READING 1-day
training seminar continues to go from strength to strength, winning
consistently stellar feedback from participants...:
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The
course includes comprehensive contacts documents detailing all the paid
script reading outlets in film and TV in the UK, and also offers
attendees indefinite, ongoing email and phone support once the course is
over. We can't turn you into a great script analyst overnight, but we can
speed you up and save you a lot of time and effort in the process. Click here to book.
Next course date:
Saturday 22nd March 2014
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EVERYTHING AMERICA is our
new course dedicated exclusively to the business of working in the
world's largest film and TV industry.
The
course covers agents, managers, attorneys, VISAs, where to stay, where
not to stay, the structure of the TV industry, the spec script market,
and much much more. It's perfect for UK Producers, Writers and Directors
with one eye firmly on America. Click here to book.
Next course date:
Sunday 30th March 2014
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We
formed Industrial Scripts to provide writers and filmmakers in the
independent TV and film sector with high-quality, industry-standard script development services
not usually available to them. Our consultants all have considerable
experience working for and with the very best companies, and are
currently very active in development (we don't believe in trading on past
glories). We offer 15 different types
of script development service, some are listed below, but you can visit our website to
view them all...
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Project Selection Service
- £39.99
"Should I spend 6...12...18...months of my life developing this
project?" is a question that haunts many writers, who invariably
have more ideas than man-hours. Here writers submit 10 loglines (without
synopses), and Industrial Scripts will put them in order of excellence,
encouraging writers to channel their efforts into promising ideas rather
than, as above, wasting time and energy writing themselves to a dead end.
This service also includes an overview (up to 250 words) on why
particular projects merit more attention than others.
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Coverage Report -
£124.99 * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
This report on feature-length scripts consists of 4+ pages of notes and
feedback to help the writer move on to his or her next draft. This is
most suited to writers either in the early stages of development (at 1st
draft stage, for example) or right at the very end of the development
process, when notes to help "tweak" the script are required,
rather than offering substantial changes.
Detailed Development Notes
- £269.99 * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
Our Detailed Development Notes service delivers an extremely detailed
analysis of your feature script, together with lengthy suggestions on how
to move forward to the next draft. These reports run to 12+ pages, and
offer a truly forensic analysis of the script, which will leave you in
absolutely no doubt of how to improve the project and move it forward.
Script Doctoring -
Fees Vary * eligible for TALENT CONNECTOR
Through our resident Script Doctors we offer writers, producers and
directors the opportunity to have their project re-written, doctored,
polished, re-structured and significantly improved according to their
requirements. Fees are by negotiation, to book any of our doctors to work
on your project or to request a quote please contact us with as much
detail as possible about your script, and your requirements.
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Industrial
Scripts brings you The Insider Interviews
- exclusive FREE content from leading industry professionals that you
can't access, anywhere else. Click here to access these
free interviews and either download them to your iPod, or read them
online:
STORY
Guru Robert Mckee
"Charlie Kaufman...what an as*...he's Mr. Theory! He's not an
anti-theorist!"
Download the podcast...
Screenwriter
Kevin Lehane (GRABBERS)
"I think the horror-comedy is a really tough genre...I wanted to
write a monster movie, like TREMORS, or GREMLINS".
Download the podcast...
Head
of Development Sophie Meyer (Ealing Studios)
"If I had to boil it down to one thing it would be "does it
make you care?"
Download the podcast...
Writer-Director
Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST, DOWN TERRACE)
"Short films are a waste of time...I thought if I was going to put
in that much effort, I may as well try and make something I can
sell..."
Download the podcast...
Screenwriter
Jack Thorne (THE FADES, THIS IS ENGLAND '86, THIS IS ENGLAND '88, THE
SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS)
"I wrote 12 plays before I had anything produced..."
Download the podcast...
Producer
Richard Holmes (RESISTANCE, EDEN LAKE, WAKING NED, SHOOTING FISH)
“I thought to myself "this is filmmaking: doing something you don't
want to do and for which you will probably be punished by God!””
Read more...
Film
Journalist Nev Pierce (Editor-at-Large, Empire magazine)
"Interviewing directors is my favourite thing...it can be thrilling
if you're meeting someone you admire...to sit down for 2 hours with David
Fincher...I feel incredibly blessed to have that kind of
opportunity".
Download the podcast...
Producer
Gareth Unwin (THE KING'S SPEECH, EXAM)
"I'd done something a bit daft just through eagerness and I said to
someone within The Weinstein Co. - "I hear I'm not in Harvey's good
books anymore" and she said "Harvey doesn't have good books,
there's just people he hates less that week!"
Download the podcast...
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Actor
Tom Hiddleston (THE AVENGERS, THOR, WAR HORSE, ARCHIPELAGO)
"(when the THOR call) came in I was just about ready to sing and
dance...it was the longest audition process I've ever been through...".
Download the podcast...
Literary
agent Rob Kraitt (Casarotto Ramsay)
'I once sold a book to Tom Cruise - it was before he and Michael Mann
made COLLATERAL. It was a big six-figure deal and doesn't happen very
often.'
[at the time of recording Rob Kraitt worked for AP Watt]
Download the podcast...
Literary
agent Nick Marston (Curtis Brown Group)
'There are these moments in agencies when one generation wants to leave
and the other generation has to somehow find the money to take over...
and in our case that came from the 'honey pot' of the Winnie the Pooh
estate.'
Download the podcast...
Studio
Executive Alexei Boltho (Paramount Pictures)
'A typical working day for me? Smoking cigars, that's about it really!'
Read more...
Screenwriter
Stuart Hazeldine (EXAM, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, KNOWING)
'I had to keep the faith, and finally the phone rang and it was a big
agent from ICM in LA saying he had read my two scripts and wanted to take
me on...'
Read more...
Screenwriter
David Scinto (44 INCH CHEST, SEXY BEAST)
'GANGSTER NO.1 is one of the best scripts we ever wrote, sadly in other
hands it was ruined. Bastardised. Mutated. Amateur.'
Read more...
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