David Johnson, screenwriter of the film, Orphan sat down and talked with Lance of DailyActor.com during Comic-Con. They talked about David’s new movie, Orphan, if he writes with actors in mind, improvising and other stuff.

There is a quick intro over on Daily Actor as well as the full interview in audio form.

The script has been floating around for a while. A February 5, 2007 draft can be found here among other places. (Thanks “V”, “phutreclash”, “dave” and anonymous es for the heads up – Don

NYC Midnight’s sixth annual Screenwriter’s Challenge persuades creative types to write what they [don’t] know by asking them to compose short screenplays of surprise genre and topic in as little as 24 hours. The first round of the contest, which runs from April 17th – 25th, challenges all registered writers to come up with an original short screenplay in just 8 days. Up to 100 winners will be selected to advance on to the final round, taking place June 5th – 6th, where they will have a chance to compete for over $13,000 in cash and prizes by writing an original short screenplay in just 24 hours.

If you use “SIXTHTIME” promo code you can get $5.00 the entry fee.

A number of SimplyScripts regulars have participated in the past and enjoyed it. Also, the SimplyScripts One Week Challenge is patterned after the NYC Midnight’s Screenwriter’s Challenge. So, give it a good and let me know how it goes. – Don

Thanks Audrey for the heads up on Fade In Magazine’s Response to the recent article in The Wrap entitled Are Aspiring Writers Being Lured With Promises Fade In Can’t Keep? which I blogged about last week.

After having received the following from Audrey…

You have a link to “Fade In response,” which does not go to Fade In Magazine’s response*, which is at – www.fadeinonline.com – It is illegal to disseminate defamatory and libelous information from a third party**. I understand why it’s newsworthy but would appreciate you also link to and or give Fade In’s side to the story***. If not, I’ve been instructed**** to contact our lawyers to send you a letter to remove the deragatory [sic] statements*****, as mediabistro****** and other sites******* have had to do in order not to be sued*******. I hope you understand. Please read my letter from the editor at www.fadeinonline.com and click on the links. You may understand better.*********
(astrisks added)
…I was left scratching my head about what I wrote in my blog post that was derogatory, defamatory or libelous (I’ll wait for the lawyers to let me know) and of course felt compelled not only correct the errant link, but also to make sure you are aware and have a chance to read Fade In Magazine’s response which begins, Did a new entertainment media competitor maliciously attack Fade In and its editor in chief in order to attract readers to its new website or is there something more sinister going on besides sloppy reporting? You decide.

So, read the other side of the story which I think you will find interesting and informative and a deep dive on the interworkings of online media magazines. – Don

update: For what it’s worth, MediaBistro still has their article on this up.

*That was the only response at the time
**ain’t been proved.
***done
****instructed by who? Zorgon? The Voice in your head?
*****What deragatory or derogatory statements?
******mediabistro’s article is still up.
*******nope, just two dorky sites have posted about this.
********Bring it. Hollow threat. Seriously, “put my link up or I’ll sue you.” Please have your lawyer contact me. You are pathitic and whiney.
*********see above response.

Thanks to Trevor for the heads up on the “Raiders Story Conference Transcript” (7MB in PDF format). This 125 page transcript documents the five day story conference in 1978 between Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan for a little film called Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If you don’t want to download the transcript (it is hosted on a “sendspace” site), I’d highly recommend Mystery Man’s blog post where he has a number of excerpts from the transcript and commentary on the discussion from which he gleens 10 Screenwriting Lessons. – Don

Thanks Alex for the heads up on this interesting and informative article by Amy Kaufman (picture left) at The Wrap about the Fade In Magazine screenwriting contest called “Fade In Awards”. The article, Are Aspiring Writers Being Lured With Promises Fade In Can’t Keep?, does a deep dive on the purported inter workings of the Fade In Awards contest.

Update:(fixed the broken links) Here is The Wraps take on Fade In Magazine’s initial response and The Wrap’s response to the response.

Update #2: Here is Fade In Magazine’s response to The Wraps original article.

Also, Screenwriters Utopia will have an interview with Amy on Wednesday March 18, 2009 at 6 PM, PST time over on ScreenTalk Radio where they will talk about the Fade In contest and screenwriting contests in general.

Regardless, it always helps to check out the Movie Bytes contest directory before forking over your hard earned cash for a contest. – Don

ScriptGirl sez, 1987 Atlanta prison standoff, man has touching relationship with a beaver puppet, five groupies in trouble when band leader sells his home, urban re imaging of “Death at a Funeral”, “Karate Kid” remake in China, a Japanese “Sideways” remake and Monopoly the Movie!

Congratulations to PC. Her short End of the Tour was filmed by Scar Tissue Films.

Read End of the Tour by P.C. – Short – A young man returns from his tour of duty only to find out that everything has changed. 1 page – pdf, format.

Watch the film.

Shout out to PC on the Discussion Board. – Don

Edit: Just found out that this short film has been entered into Virgin Media Shorts contest. If you have a moment, why don’t you sign in and comment and rate the film. – Don

Better Days Episode 05 “Three Ways to Hell”
by Steven Cameron
Read by iScript.com

The new girl, Danielle and Jason hit it off when they find out they both love the series Banana Chan. Poppy becomes jealous of there friendship and decides to do something about it. Kenny finds a new friend in Casey.

Short Series – Comedy
Rated R (for language)

Read the script (18 pages – html format). Discuss the script. Listen to the script:

 

 Better Days Episode 05 "Three Ways to Hell" by Steven Cameron: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1668)

{note: This audio recording is released under a Creative Commons, attribution, noncommercial, no derivatives 3.0 license. You can share the audio recording in its entirety, but you can’t change it or sell it. }

Thanks to Leon for the heads up on the lastest over on Daily Script – Monkeybone. This is a February 3, 1999 seventh draft by Sam Hamm (based on the comic book ‘Dark Town’ by Kaja Blackley and Vanessa Chong). Sam Hamm has written, in my opinion, some of the best unproduced scripts out there. A quick search of Sam Hamm in the Script Search shows he’s written unproduced sequel to Batman, as well as Planet of the Apes and Watchmen. Monkeybone, which came out in 2001, is about a cartoonist who finds himself trapped within his own underground creation and must find a way to get back, while racing against his popular but treacherous character, Monkeybone. The film starred Brendan Fraser and Bridget Fonda. Check it out over on the Movie Scripts page.

Thanks to “Tierney Cat” for his insightful posting on the discussion board on a breakdown of what a WGA writer might typically earn. I think this sums it up pretty well, I’m on strike for the future of my union, for my health insurance and my pension. Right now, it’s sadly not about the writing which I love but about the business of writing which always plays like black comedy. Check out the rest of his post here.

I’ve just finished listening to Bill DeSmedt’s Singularity and thought I’d share. You can listen to the book over at Podiobooks.com. You don’t gotta have an MP3 player to hear the story. You can listen to it right on your computer.

On June 30, 1908, there was a massive explosion near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River. It was called the Tunguska Event. The explosion felled an estimated 80 million trees over 830 square miles. Yes, it was a big boom. Against this back drop, Bill DeSmedt’s Singularity weaves a present day tale of an astrophysicist, a rookie agent and an analyst who unearth a scheme to capture the submicroscopic black hole that caused the Tunguska Event and use its awesome power to transform the world. If you enjoy Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton you will dig this taut, fast-paced thriller. It is well read by the author – voices and all with plausible near future science and technology.

WGA – Day 6 – Strike news and insight over at Diaretical Throw-Up by David Press