Last December, one of the members of the SimplyScripts discussion board took his own life. I never met Tony Gangemi face to face. I’ve read his work that he and his writing partner and wife Aimee put out. I thought they were a great team and wrote some great stuff. Tony is my contemporary. Old people die. People you don’t know die. When someone I know, particularly someone very much like me, dies, it bothers me, tho I don’t choose to admit it to anyone.

Oddly enough, or perhaps not so oddly, I have found comfort in Amiee’s blog, SixWordsBlog. Her inaugural essay The Still Point is a frank and honest recounting of the events of December 21st. Amiee is very open about her feelings on what was, ironically, the longest night of the year. She has been posting regularly for the past few months. I admire her courage to put herself emotionally out there in writing.

Just got word that an online friend recently lost his father. I wrote to him, what I hope were encouraging words. I told him to talk about his feelings and get them down on paper. And, get someone to read it. Don’t worry if you got it right or not. I’m taking my own advice. Good luck, Jack.

Thank you for indulging me.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming.

-Don

Thank you for your patience.

Don

MoviePoet.com announces the winners of the June 2012 short script contest: “Even More of Less is More” – In screenwriting every page, every paragraph, every sentence, and every word counts. Tell an entire story in one page during our annual micro-short screenplay challenge.

“Vicious Circle” by Greg Tonnon ~ First Place
Michael is crestfallen when an accident he caused takes the life of his new bride. Thirty years later, technology gives him a chance to make things right.

“His Future” by Matthew Fettig ~ Second Place
An unemployed father barters his last pretense of success for his son’s birthday gift.

“Going Up” by Derek Anderson ~ Third Place
A destitute victim of domestic violence finds solace in an act of kindness from a stranger.

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

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:

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

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

“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

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.