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John J. Austrian
Saber Tooth Tiger
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 418
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 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:09 am Post subject: First Annual Scriptshadow Logline/Screenplay Contest |
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Hey! The guys over at Scriptshadow (you do read Scriptshadow? Right?) are having their first Logline/Screenplay contest!
http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-annual-scriptshadow.html
Let's see how many cat's can get into the top 100!!!
| Quote: | I’d like to welcome everyone to the First Annual Scriptshadow Logline/Screenplay Contest. I know you guys are eager to get going so let me explain how this is going to work. Starting today, you have two weeks (deadline: November 9th 11:59pm Pacific Time) to send your logline to this e-mail address: CarsonReeves3@gmail.com. On Monday, November 16, I will publish the Top 100 loglines, along with the writers' names, on the site.
These 100 contestants will be notified and have two weeks to send me either a one-page synopsis of their screenplay or the first ten pages. On December 21st, I will announce the top 25 from that list. These 25 will then have three weeks to send me their full script. On February 8, 2010, I will announce the winner, as well as the first and second runner-up.
FIRST PLACE – A review on Scriptshadow, which will likely garner (but not guarantee) requests from agents, managers, and producers.
SECOND AND THIRD PLACE - Second and third place finishers will have their loglines posted on the site, as well as a contact e-mail, in addition to receiving coverage from me.
RULES
1) Anybody can enter.
2) The contest is free.
3) Limit 1 logline per contestant
4) Loglines are limited to 50 words or less.
5) Loglines WILL be posted on the site.
6) Synopses WILL NOT be posted on the site.
7) The winning script will not be posted unless the writer would like to do so.
 Anybody who uses multiple e-mail addresses to submit extra loglines will be disqualified. Remember, this contest costs nothing so please be respectful of the rules.
HOW TO SUBMIT
1) Send your loglines to CarsonReeves3@gmail.com.
2) Submissions should contain your NAME, the TITLE, the GENRE, and the LOGLINE.
3) You will receive confirmation within 3 days. If you don’t receive
confirmation, feel free to check back in with me.
So how do you write a good logline? Well, there’s a great website dedicated to just that. If you’re not sure what you're doing, this is a great place to start. As per the site, here are a couple of examples for reference…
JAWS
After a series of grisly shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster, in spite of the greedy chamber of commerce.
THE FUGITIVE
A doctor - falsely accused of murdering his wife - struggles on the lam as he desperately searches for the killer with a relentless federal agent hot on his trail.
THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
After a luxury liner is capsized by a tidal wave, a radical priest struggles to lead a group of survivors to escape through the bow before the ship sinks.
I know I originally discussed giving multiple loglines to each contestant, but I’d like to keep this first contest simple and fast. For that reason, you’re strongly advised to only send in a logline for a screenplay you've finished. You don’t have that three months, as initially reported, to write the script should you make it into the next round. As for what kind of loglines will do well, there are two: Flat outright good loglines, and loglines that appeal to my sensibilities (see my Top 25 if you’re curious about what those might be). Finally, if the above timeline is confusing, don’t sweat it. Just get your loglines in before November 9th and if you make it to the next round, detailed instructions about subsequent rounds will be sent to you. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
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http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-annual-scriptshadow.html
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Last edited by John J. Austrian on Fri Nov 20, 2009 8:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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fletch137
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Joined: 09 Apr 2009
Posts: 284
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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Well, since I only have the one finished script (sigh...I know, right?) this'll be an easy choose for me.
Time to revisit my logline for 'Boot Hill'. Thanks for the heads up, brother.
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Mike Rinaldi
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Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Posts: 1810
Location: California
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Only one logline? Grrr. *sigh* Now I have to narrow it down, but I'm guessing the one most likely to appeal to his senses is In the Heat of the Dead of Night.
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Mike Rinaldi
Liger
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Posts: 1810
Location: California
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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How's this?
A Southern town divided by racism and intolerance must come together to survive an invasion of the walking dead and the only man who can unite them is a compulsive necrophiliac.
I think it still needs work.
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Cam_O
Tiger
Joined: 05 Jun 2009
Posts: 128
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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Holy irony Mike man!
All I ask is how in the world that situation would come around. How is he the last hope?
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John J. Austrian
Saber Tooth Tiger
Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 418
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Mike Rinaldi wrote: | How's this?
A Southern town divided by racism and intolerance must come together to survive an invasion of the walking dead and the only man who can unite them is a compulsive necrophiliac.
I think it still needs work. |
Works great for me. But I've been wanting to read it ever since you pitched it to me...
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"There's only one kind of woman...or man, for that matter. You either believe in yourself or you don't. -- James T. Kirk (TOS: "Mudd's Women")
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Mike Rinaldi
Liger
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Location: California
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:22 am Post subject: |
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I decided to read one of ScriptShadow's current top 25 screenplays, so I picked The F Word. It was the logical choice since it's also on the Black List and it has my name on it. (The screenplay was based on a play that was cowritten by a Michael Rinaldi.) It wasn't bad, but it didn't feel like Black List material to me. I wouldn't normally have gotten past the first ten pages. It had some funny parts and some clever lines, but mostly in the second half. It felt similar to (500) Days of Summer and not in a bad way.
I still feel good about pitching a zombie necrophilia comedy.
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crazrick
Liger
Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 655
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:06 am Post subject: |
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these would be my options... what to do to make them Top 100-worthy?
GRINDING STARDUST
GENRE: ROP (DRAMA)
LOGLINE: A long-grieving widower with a compulsion for poker and a meth-addicted single mother face their demons together to save her precocious daughter from a vengeful and abusive ex-con.
WICCAN GAMES
GENRE: OOTB (FANTASY)
LOGLINE: an immature witch using glamours to beguile suitors is seduced by a Warlock and cursed to find true love or lose her soul
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Felicia
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fletch137
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Joined: 09 Apr 2009
Posts: 284
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:24 am Post subject: |
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| crazrick wrote: | | these would be my options... what to do to make them Top 100-worthy? |
I find the log for Wiccan Games more intriguing. In that one line you summarize your main character, reveal her flaw, show the consequences of her actions, and set up the challenge she must face...or else.
The log for Grinding Stardust seems like a handful of disjoined characters. A widower and a single mother team up for no given reason to save the daughter from a gangster who may or may not have anything to do with either of them.
If you can make those connections a little clearer, Stardust might be worth showing, but as is, Games is clearly superior and is an honestly good and intriguing logline. To me, at least.
Meanwhile I'll have to see if I can dust off my Boot Hill logline. As cool as *I* think cowboys vs. zombies is, I don't know if it can compete with zombie necrophilia...
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writingmama
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crazrick
Liger
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 12:32 pm Post subject: |
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ya, GS is impossible, I know... I suck at selling this story right...
let's try again:
GRINDING STARDUST-- On his way to the World Series of Poker, a long-grieving, selfish gambler is charmed and recruited by a recovering meth-addict to save her precocious daughter from the child's vengeful ex-con father.
or something... 
and Felicia, isn't your interest in knowing what really happens in Act II something a writer wants to earn thru a logline?
maybe the new GS version helps, the selfish gambler with a dream to play the WSOP has to choose between his goal and saving the child of a single mother who has managed to charm him (both mother and child work their charms on his cold dead heart, and the single mother is a meth addict who has to overcome her addiction in order to not lose her child to the state or to her ex-con ex...
as for WG, the witch uses magic to charm men, which gets the attention of an evil warlock, who curses her back for charming him, requiring her to find true love or lose her heart and soul to him when he comes calling... do you need to know the 'other guy' the love interest part? in order to want to read more?? hmmm... otherwise, I do think that logline is pretty tight...
thanks for some insights!
write on!
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Secrets have a way of coming out...
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Rachel T.
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Location: Michigan
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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Fletch, I think Boot Hill is pretty tight. I liked it!
Rick, GS still needs one tight theme. Right now, there isn't a clear one.
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Mike Rinaldi
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fletch137
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Posts: 284
Location: San Diego, CA
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| You're killin' me, Rinaldi.
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The zombie western is becoming it's own subgenre, so it'll be interesting to see how the different voices compare when all the screenplays and films start coming out. Although I already saw one at a Redbox over the summer. I think someone needs to get the jump on