Some of you may remember Jason Henderson. He was on SimplyScripts Radio last year. The second in his Alex Van Helsing series comes out today.

Jason is hosting Castle Dracula Podcast tonight at 10:30 pm edt. It is a panel show on vampires, vampire movies, and anything cool in the horror genre. With “Alex Van Helsing” and “Sword of Dracula” author Jason Henderson, “Halloween Man” creator Drew Edwards, “Psy-comm” and “Clockwerx” manga creator Tony Salvaggio, and token female Julia Guzman, attorney.

You can check out more info on Jason Henderson and the Alex Van Helsing series on the Harper Collins website.

Update: Thanks to Darren for joining in as the “audience” You can listen to the podcast here:

On the eve of the Winter Solstice, I thought I take a moment to thank the moderators and members of SimplyScripts. Thank you for your contributions to the site and allowing me to share in your successes. I’d also like to thank the moderators of the discussion board George, Mike, Michael, Nixon, Topher and Steven.

I’d particularly like to thank Dr. Robert “bert” Newcomer who is really the unsung hero of the site. Not only is he an excellent moderator to cleans up and helps throttle the discussions so they don’t get out of hand, but he has on a number of occasions given me sage advice before I stick my foot in my mouth.

Bert and the other moderators do their work without compensation. They also are many times of target of the ire of folks unhappy with the decisions they have made.

So, as a small thanks, over the next month the theme for The Script of the Day will be Bert. I’ll be starting off with scripts that Bert has had a hand in. Starting December 25th will be “The 12 Days of Bert” featuring a work of Bert’s for each of the 12 Days of Christmas.

Thank you everyone for your contributions to this dorky little website.

Don
Webmaster
simplyscripts.com

The trailer for the film Sparrow is up. It is based on Matt’s thriller script Camp Nightmare.

Six teenage friends take a camping trip to a forest which is the site of a presumed historic murder. But their disbelief in this urban legend is soon changed when strange happenings begin to occur to each of them…as well as other campers who are fortunate enough to spend the night there

MoviePoet.com announces the winners of their annual Feature Length Contest.
In the first round, writers submitted their title and logline. In the second round, the top 30 writers submitted their first ten pages. In this final round, the top ten writers submit their finished scripts.

“Ezra & The Soul Dealer” by MJ Hermanny ~ First Place
An amnesic boy wakes in a strange land. Tricked into taking a blood oath he sets out on a perilous journey to free a magical kingdom from a deadly soul dealer and to reclaim his own lost memory.

“Cameo” by Pete Barry ~ Second Place
An avant-garde filmmaker, stranded in the backwoods of New England, struggles to evade the law and prove his innocence when an eccentric Alfred Hitchcock aficionado frames him for murder.

“Pit” by Dan Delgado ~ Third Place
An adopted woman’s longing to find her identity leads her to a mysterious asylum and a confrontation with the ancient being that destroyed her family.

Each month, Movie Poet runs a free online five page screenplay contest. On the first of each month a new contest is announced. During that month, you can enter your script. During the next month, you can read, vote, and comment on all the entries. Finally, during the third month, the results are announced.

Head on over to Movie Poet and give it a go. – Don

Michael Cornetto’s short script, a spec script written in 6 hours on assignment, The Honeymoon is Over was filmed as Anniversary by Jim Exton

Read the script and check out how it got translated to film.

The Honeymoon Is Over (pdf format) by Michael Cornetto

For five years, on the anniversary of his wife’s death, in order to pay his respects Arthur has visited room 323, the room in which she died. This year Arthur tells her that he’s met someone else and he’s ready to move on. But his dead wife isn’t going to take this news lying down. short, 9 pages, pdf format.

talk about it on the discussion board.

Congratulations to Matt.

His thriller script Camp Nightmare begins shooting in Poland today under the new title Sparrow. It was discovered by new indie producer Wojciech Stuchlik. Unfortunately, since the script is in filming, it was removed from the site, but many of you may remember the script. You can check out info on the cast at CastingCall Pro. Check out the official Sparrow Movie site. You can also check ‘em out on facebook.

Six teenage friends take a camping trip to a forest which is the site of a presumed historic murder. But their disbelief in this urban legend is soon changed when strange happenings begin to occur to each of them…….as well as other campers who are fortunate enough to spend the night there…

We take you away from your regular programming for this Public Service Announcement.

My friend, voice over actor DC Dougles, recently got fired as vo talent from Geico. No, he wasn’t the gecko

(Well, DC is not so much a friend, but rather about five or six years ago he sent me an email asking if I would exchange website links with his voiceover site MyVoiceOverGuy. We did. I was one of the first sites to exchange links with him since my link is, like, at the bottom of his links page. A few years go I asked him if he was interested in recording a script for one of our One Week Challenges. He said no, ‘cuz he was painting his house.)

Anywhoo, DC Douglas was fired from Geico after leaving a drunken voicemail at Tea Party HQ Freedomworks. He’s back with an important, moving PSA: Please, please, don’t drunk dial the Tea Party.

Check out some background info on the whole thing here.

Hey, DC. If you do get blacklisted and have a little time on your hands and would be interested in recording a 15 page script, give me a call shoot me an email.

Oscar-winning screenwriters, Hollywood Agents, Studios, Producers, A-List Casting Directors, Top Casting Agencies, and A-List Actors are just a taste of the multitude of Hollywood professionals and insiders who will be at the NCS – Screenwriters, Filmmakers, and Actors Expo this March 26, 27, 28, 2010 at the Silverado Resort in Napa, CA.

Friday and Saturday will be presentations and workshops with top industry professionals. Sunday will be a “Pitch-Fest”. Actors can have their headshots reviewed by top Casting Agencies and Hollywood Casting Directors. Screenwriters can pitch screenplays to Hollywood Studios, Agents, and Producers.
For tickets, visit: ncsexpo.com. For a $100 discount, anyone interested should enter SIMPLY at checkout.

This just in from Heyuguys.co.uk

At Heyuguys.co.uk, you can join your fellow Goonies, Lost Boys, or Mogwais and talk tv and films from past, present and future. We’ll be throwing our spotlight on the latest film news, reviewing the random films and tv we see and blog all the coolest stuff we can find. You may notice a reference here and there to classic films of the 80s around the site…this is entirely intentional. So, join us. Remember to comment or argue for all you’re worth, relive and share those great film moments from your past and tell us what you think we should look forward to in the entertainment world. Enjoy, comment and remember, the most important rule – the rule you can never forget, no matter how much we cry…or how much we beg…. never, NEVER, read it after midnight.