I've been reading the threads here and I'm really intrigued by what a powerhouse this community is in terms of knowledge, experience, and creativity. I'd like to toss out for discussion a synthesis of some of the threads.
I'm not hot on competitions that hold out rewards. But I do like challenge events where a group is challenged to pull their diverse talents to create a product. On this board, we have writers, directors, DPs, audio and visual experts. I'm sure we have a few actors lurking also.
I like the basic idea of the First Hundred--providing a logline, characters, or a short summary which then starts as a launch board for creation. I know this has been done here on other occasions. It would be cool to link some of those scripts to directors who can film them. The purpose, as Knightly suggested in another thread, is to really see different approaches to writing and visual storytelling.
Here are the guidelines I'm proposing.
1. There will be five film groups headed up a director. These will be selected by an independent review group who are not among the "contestants" to avoid favoritism. They will choose five directors whose work they think is innovative and top notch.
2. There will be five scripts selected by an independent set of readers who are not among the contributors, again to avoid favoritism. All scripts will be sent to one person, who removes identifying information and forwards them to the volunteer readers.
3. The selected directors can then view each of the five scripts and select which one they want to film. This is probably best done by having each rank their choices from 1 (most) to 5 (least). The assignments are then done by an independent individual.
This raises the challenge a bit but a good director should be able to work with a decent script and give it his or her own vision.
4. These are mounted or shared on Vimeo or another site.
The purpose is to highlight and promote some of the talent on this site by bringing together creative individuals.
SCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Scripts cannot exceed 20 pages. This should translate to approximately 15 minutes screen time.
2. Only the first 100 scripts will be accepted. These are sent to one individual who will not be reading them but simply shuffling them out to volunteer readers from this group.
3. Readers will not know who has submitted what. I would ask that the readers give BRIEF feedback to the writer to help them. A scoresheet would be used to help determine the top five stories.
4. Writers are expected to use the provided information to create their screenplay, though they are free to be creative in its interpretation and storytelling. Please bear in mind the cost of actors, locations, props, etc. and that there is a limit of 20 pages.
WHAT READERS WILL LOOK FOR:
1. Is this in industry format--grammar, spelling, spacing, etc. This is NOT to limit creativity but to help new writers get a sense of what it is like to submit professionally. (NOTE: None of us here have 'sensitive eyes' but we'll let you know when you're too sloppy.)
2. Is the story well paced? Do the characters seem believable and interesting?
WHAT READERS WILL NOT LOOK FOR:
1. Rigid adherence to a particular approach or structure. We want to encourage creativity. Just recognize that there is a direct link between structure and pacing.
2. Who has written what. The independent collector will take your script and remove your personal information before it is assigned for reading. Those who volunteer to read are not submitting their own scripts. This is to eliminate fear of favoritism and make the process more equal.
The one hundred scripts will be winnowed to five. These will be made available to our five directors (again without your information) for consideration.
DIRECTOR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. You should select a clip no longer than 10 minutes which best represents your style, use of lighting, camera technique, and directing. These should not have any personal identifying information in the clip.
2. The independent collector will make these available to a panel of three independent reviewers for evaluation. Again, these four will not be participating themselves in the process.
3. You may only submit one clip. A scoresheet will be used to evaluate the clips and some BRIEF feedback will be provided.
4. The collection of clips will stop after 50 submissions.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
1. After a period to be determined, the directors will be allowed to rank the five selected scripts that they want to produce. Those are turned into the initial contact.
2. After the assignment are made, the writer and director are given each others contact information.
3. An announcement of the assignments will be made to the bulletin board, though the scripts will not be shared. That will be your surprise for us.
4. The director panel will have a good idea of the time taken to shoot, so they will set a deadline for the final submissions so they can be posted.
5. The group sits back with popcorn and watches the efforts of our creative geniuses.
My gut feelings are that five readers can get through 20 scripts in about three weeks. If the directors can work as quickly, the actual assignments can be made. Given that, if scripts and clips are submited by 2/28, a final assignment should be possible by 3/21. This would allow three months for shooting and editing. The videos could be ready in June or early July.
I'm thinking out loud here. I welcome feedback and thoughts. Hopefully this will give both filmmakers and writers an opportunity to shine. There is no money, no prizes. The goal is simple connect promising filmmakers with promising writers. Having a reel and film credit is its own reward sometimes.
I'm not hot on competitions that hold out rewards. But I do like challenge events where a group is challenged to pull their diverse talents to create a product. On this board, we have writers, directors, DPs, audio and visual experts. I'm sure we have a few actors lurking also.
I like the basic idea of the First Hundred--providing a logline, characters, or a short summary which then starts as a launch board for creation. I know this has been done here on other occasions. It would be cool to link some of those scripts to directors who can film them. The purpose, as Knightly suggested in another thread, is to really see different approaches to writing and visual storytelling.
Here are the guidelines I'm proposing.
1. There will be five film groups headed up a director. These will be selected by an independent review group who are not among the "contestants" to avoid favoritism. They will choose five directors whose work they think is innovative and top notch.
2. There will be five scripts selected by an independent set of readers who are not among the contributors, again to avoid favoritism. All scripts will be sent to one person, who removes identifying information and forwards them to the volunteer readers.
3. The selected directors can then view each of the five scripts and select which one they want to film. This is probably best done by having each rank their choices from 1 (most) to 5 (least). The assignments are then done by an independent individual.
This raises the challenge a bit but a good director should be able to work with a decent script and give it his or her own vision.
4. These are mounted or shared on Vimeo or another site.
The purpose is to highlight and promote some of the talent on this site by bringing together creative individuals.
SCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Scripts cannot exceed 20 pages. This should translate to approximately 15 minutes screen time.
2. Only the first 100 scripts will be accepted. These are sent to one individual who will not be reading them but simply shuffling them out to volunteer readers from this group.
3. Readers will not know who has submitted what. I would ask that the readers give BRIEF feedback to the writer to help them. A scoresheet would be used to help determine the top five stories.
4. Writers are expected to use the provided information to create their screenplay, though they are free to be creative in its interpretation and storytelling. Please bear in mind the cost of actors, locations, props, etc. and that there is a limit of 20 pages.
WHAT READERS WILL LOOK FOR:
1. Is this in industry format--grammar, spelling, spacing, etc. This is NOT to limit creativity but to help new writers get a sense of what it is like to submit professionally. (NOTE: None of us here have 'sensitive eyes' but we'll let you know when you're too sloppy.)
2. Is the story well paced? Do the characters seem believable and interesting?
WHAT READERS WILL NOT LOOK FOR:
1. Rigid adherence to a particular approach or structure. We want to encourage creativity. Just recognize that there is a direct link between structure and pacing.
2. Who has written what. The independent collector will take your script and remove your personal information before it is assigned for reading. Those who volunteer to read are not submitting their own scripts. This is to eliminate fear of favoritism and make the process more equal.
The one hundred scripts will be winnowed to five. These will be made available to our five directors (again without your information) for consideration.
DIRECTOR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. You should select a clip no longer than 10 minutes which best represents your style, use of lighting, camera technique, and directing. These should not have any personal identifying information in the clip.
2. The independent collector will make these available to a panel of three independent reviewers for evaluation. Again, these four will not be participating themselves in the process.
3. You may only submit one clip. A scoresheet will be used to evaluate the clips and some BRIEF feedback will be provided.
4. The collection of clips will stop after 50 submissions.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
1. After a period to be determined, the directors will be allowed to rank the five selected scripts that they want to produce. Those are turned into the initial contact.
2. After the assignment are made, the writer and director are given each others contact information.
3. An announcement of the assignments will be made to the bulletin board, though the scripts will not be shared. That will be your surprise for us.
4. The director panel will have a good idea of the time taken to shoot, so they will set a deadline for the final submissions so they can be posted.
5. The group sits back with popcorn and watches the efforts of our creative geniuses.
My gut feelings are that five readers can get through 20 scripts in about three weeks. If the directors can work as quickly, the actual assignments can be made. Given that, if scripts and clips are submited by 2/28, a final assignment should be possible by 3/21. This would allow three months for shooting and editing. The videos could be ready in June or early July.
I'm thinking out loud here. I welcome feedback and thoughts. Hopefully this will give both filmmakers and writers an opportunity to shine. There is no money, no prizes. The goal is simple connect promising filmmakers with promising writers. Having a reel and film credit is its own reward sometimes.