Archive for June, 2008

interview with Creative World screenwriting competition

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Hey folks,

Here’s an interview I had with the Marlene Neubauer, co-founder of the Creative World Writing Competition. I wanted to post it so you all get a better sense of why their banner is up on every page of Scripped.com this month!

Creative World Awards (CWA), co-Founder Marlene Neubauer
An interview with Marlene Neubauer regarding the Creative World Writing Competition.

Ryan: Who sponsors CWA, and what is their background in the industry?
Marlene: In addition to the growing list of prominent companies and executives that have committed to reading our finalists, Heather Waters and I are the key sponsors for the 1st Annual Creative World Awards. Before segueing into producing and writing, I worked for over 15 years in film distribution with such companies as Capella Films (AUSTIN POWERS, MY LIFE, CARLITOS WAY); Pathe Distribution (IN THE CUT, THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING); Mobius Pictures (THE WENDELL BAKER STORY starring the Luke and Owen Wilson, BORDERTOWN starring Jennifer Lopez); and GreeneStreet Films (UPTOWN GIRLS, SWIMFAN and WEDDING DAZE starring Jason Biggs). Heather Water’s background ranges from the performance side of film to writing and producing for television. If you wish, you can view the CWA website to get a more extensive list of our sponsors’ credits.

R: Why enter a screenwriting competition?
M: There are several important reasons for entering. A top one is exposure. Most emerging writers don’t have access to agents, producers or production companies and screenwriting awards and festivals provide an important venue to bridge this gap. I would recommend entering several contests as an important way of increasing your exposure. Getting your script in the hands of the decision makers is what it’s all about. Also, mentioning any placement in a prominent competition increases your chances of getting seriously read at production companies. Inline with that, these competitions also provide an important catalyst for meeting writing deadlines, providing valuable feedback and simply, getting your script read.

R: What do you offer your winning writers?
M: In addition to a prize award, we, at CWA, have made it our goal to find emerging talent and give them access and exposure to key industry people. Through the judging review process and post award circulation, our winning screenplays will be sent to top agencies, major studios, managers, producers, and international financers. In addition, several companies have committed to reading our top finalists. These include: Mel Gibson’s Icon Films & Entertainment (APOCOLYPTO, PASSION OF CHRIST); Crystal Sky (BRATZ, GHOST RIDER); GreeneStreet Films (UPTOWN GIRLS, SWIMFAN, TENDERNESS starring Russell Crowe); Voltage Pictures (FLYBOYS, PERSONAL EFFECTS starring Ashton Kutcher). Be sure and check out our website for the rest of this list. In addition, we also have a myriad of companies that are not listed but have also agreed to participate.

R: Who judges each phase of the competition?
M: The first round of judging is done by qualified, hand selected readers and professionals. If your script advances to the quarterfinalist round, it will then be read by multiple industry professionals who will help determine which scripts advance to the semifinalist and finalist rounds. The top three winners of the 2008 Creative World Awards will be determined with the help of leading industry executives.

R: What advice can you offer to Scripped writers?
M: Write from your heart, set your intention and get your work out there. Any way you can! Along with entering contests, take a trip to LA, surround yourself with like-minded individuals. Deals are made everyday in coffee shops, restaurants – you can meet a contact just walking in the street. Remember the industry is screaming for good scripts. So if you feel your script is ready to go out then you’re half way there. Be sure to check out our video showcase on our website. Each week a key industry individual offers invaluable tips on the whole filmmaking process.

R: Why is CWA excited about Scripped.com?
M: Heather and I are very excited to be teaming up with Scripped.com and its writers. What Scripped offers writers is invaluable and unprecedented to date in the industry. It’s this kind of creativity and support that writers need and we applaud the Scripped guys’ efforts for thinking and creating outside the box. The most important thing for a writer is to get your thoughts and ideas on paper and now with Scripped.com there is no excuse.

Don’t forget to give this competition a shot! Prices go up on July 1, so submit now!

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Scripped Newsletter #4 — CWA Submission Deadline Approaching!

Friday, June 27th, 2008

Scripped Newsletter #4

June 27, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE:

Creative World Awards Regular Entry Deadline Approaches

Contact us any time at: contact@scripped.com

Greetings Scripped Users!

The regular entry deadline of our screenplay contest partner, Creative World Awards, is fast approaching. Finish your script and submit it for just $55 by June 30. These rates will go up in July, so
submit now!

This contest is a terrific way to gain access and exposure to the industry’s finest, including Mel Gibson’s, Icon Films & Entertainment (APOCOLYPTO), Crystal Sky (GHOST RIDER), Voltage Pictures (THE MUTANT CHRONICLES), among many others.

Click here to see Scripped’s exclusive interview with Marlene Neubauer, Director of the Creative World Awards screenplay contest. Marlene will share why it’s important for emerging writers to submit to contests and why she is especially excited about getting submissions from Scripped!

Happy submitting!

Zak, Sunil, and Ryan
The Scripped Guy

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This Week’s Feature Showcase on CWA

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Just an FYI, everybody. From our CWA partner:

Creative World Awards ongoing video showcase THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING is up and rolling. This week features Tomas Jegeus, Co-President of 20th Century Fox International. He jointly handles and overseas the international releases of all Fox’s titles. Following him in the upcoming weeks:
Anthony Mandler, one of the industry’s hottest up-coming feature directors. His background includes being one of the top music and commercial directors as well as a world renowned photographer.
Mark Gooder, CEO of Mel Gibson’s Icon Entertainment Group. He overseas the production, acquisitions and distribution of all of Icon’s films.

Don’t miss out on these valuable insights. A slue of prominent names will unveil through out the summer.

Deadline for regular entry is June 30th! www.creativeworldawards.com.

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Whirlwind

Tuesday, June 17th, 2008

Well, the past few weeks have been pretty insanely busy for me. Last Friday, I graduated from UCLA’s MBA program and my whole family was in town. It was great to have my sister here from Barcelona, and a few other friends from college. I was also happy that my girlfriend took a short video of me receiving my diploma (just in case I need to use it to verify that I actually graduated - just kidding of course).

The weekend before, I was in Las Vegas with my classmates celebrating our last weekend as students. We stayed at The Palms, and the entire time I was looking for the Carl’s Junior, but I couldn’t find it (there’s an advertisement with the Maloof Brothers about a “6,000 dollar burger.”). Not that I would have spent the $$$, but I had to check out the Carl’s just to see what it looked like. I guess the simple pleasures in life keep me happy.

I was in Maryland the weekend before for a wedding of a good buddy of mine from college. Chelsea Clinton was there (see picture above), and I had the chance to run Scripped by her , which was pretty cool. The wedding itself was in St. Charles (which is where The Wedding Crashers was filmed), and it was an extremely beautiful location…. I’ve just been all over the place lately.

The big news is that Zak, Ryan and I are all grinding away at Scripped and we’re going to be making more exciting announcements over the next month or so. We really want to help every single member of the site have a shot at making their Hollywood dreams come true! If you’ve written your screenplay, the hard part is already over…. In any event, free screenwriting software is cool, but we want to give you guys more than that!

Email us and tell us how your screenplay is going.

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Scripped Newsletter #3

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Scripped Newsletter #3

June 4, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE:

Creative World Awards

Horror Script Wanted
Edward Burns & Aaron Lubin!

Contact us any time at: contact@scripped.com

Greetings Scripped Users!

Here is a quick 3rd newsletter to make three short but very exciting announcements.

To help you make something of the 7500 scripts you’ve started since January, we are proud to announce two new partnerships, the first with the Creative World Awards screenwriting competition, and the second with an Oscar-winning producer who wants your script.

And third, we are very excited to announce that Edward Burns and his partner Aaron Lubin are officially on our Board of Advisers!

Creative World Awards

At Scripped.com, we are always on the lookout for innovation in the screenwriting community, and we definitely found it with the Creative World Awards (CWA).

CWA is an international screenwriting competition that is aggressively setting a new industry standard. We have spoken extensively with the nice folks running this competition and as a result have been thoroughly
impressed – from current executive video showcases to upcoming collaborative writing projects for entrants, this competition brings screenwriters avenues to refine their craft and gain additional exposure within the screenwriting community and industry.

Check it out - Entries now open!

All CWA winning screenplays will receive cash prizes and be sent to top agencies, major studios, managers, producers, and international financers. In addition, this competition has secured an unprecedented number of commitments from major high profile production companies to take first looks at the finalists. To see this impressive list, click on the Creative World Awards page at Scripped.com.

- Regular Entry Fee $55 May 16th – June 30th
- Late Entry Fee $65 July 1st – July 17th
- Quarter Finals/Top 32 Announced August 1st
- Semifinalists/Top 16 Announced August 8th
- Finalists Announced/Top 3 Announced August 15In addition to the CWA industry commitment list, winners will receive the following prizes:

- Grand Prize Winner $5,000 cash prize
- 1st Runner up $1,000 cash prize
- Second Runner up $500 cash prize

Submit your screenplay now!

Horror Script Wanted

An Oscar-winning producer came to Scripped to ask a favor, and we were more than happy to oblige! He really likes Scripped and wants to find his screenplay here.

On our collection page we’ll take the title, logline, and summary, as well as a document outline or snippet of your script.

You will have to comply with a standard submission agreement. However, there is no submission fee for this terrific opportunity!

Edward Burns and Aaron Lubin join Scripped!

And finally, we are very excited to have Edward Burns and Aaron Lubin come on board to make Scripped even better!

You may have seen Eddie in The Brothers McMullen or She’s the One and most recently in 27 Dresses, and
starting very soon you’ll see and hear from him a lot on Scripped. Producer Aaron Lubin is extremely talented in his own right, and we’re designing some new features that will allow you to interact directly with Aaron and Eddie.

And the coolest part is they are just as enthusiastic about this as we are.

As always, it is fun to serve. We especially like getting your emails, so keep them coming!

Cheers,

Zak, Sunil, & Ryan
The Scripped Guys

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