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

As you all know, earlier this month we had the October One Week Challenge wherein participants were asked to write a 12 page comedy script about carving a Jack O’Lantern. We had 27 entries. The fine folks over at iScript.com were kind enough to select one script out of the group to be recorded. The selected script is Gourdy by Antonio Gangemi and Aimee Parrott.

A heartbroken farm girl dukes it out with kinfolk and yokels when she falls head over heels for her Halloween creation.

You can read along with the pdf version of the script here. You can discuss the script here.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the October One Week Challenge. - Don

Very special thanks to iScript.com for sponsoring the challenge and judging the final scripts.

Offered by the UCLA Professional Programs at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.

Is there a Coppola or Spielberg inside of you? Did you ever want to know how a movie or television director thinks, or how they approach their craft? Or how a director tells a story not in the broad strokes but in the minutia? How a director impacts his or her audience, works with actors, and guides the creative ship? In this two-day course, we will see how directing is about good planning, collaboration, trust, and delivery.

For more information, go to http://www.filmprograms.ucla.edu/short_courses.htm. - Don

Stranger Things: Episode 2A was written by Earl Newton and directed by Alex Traywick

In addition to reading the screenplay, you can view the video podcast of Discontent on your computer. You can also subscribe to the Stranger Things podcast via iTunes. However, if you don’t have a video iPod, you can still view each episode (as well as Earl’s engaging video updates) at StrangerThings.tv. - Don

And thus begins the premier of the video podcast series Stranger Things with Episode 1 Sacred Cow.

Stranger Things is a science fiction anthology video podcast created by Earl Newton. I am extremely honored that Earl has allowed me to feature the screenplay (pdf format) to the premier episode of Stranger Things - Sacred Cow here in Simply Scripts. This second draft script, which you can read here, also contains additional director’s notes about the evolution of the script from the page to the screen. This is a valuable resource for not only writers, but also folks looking to direct.

Sacred Cow was written by Earl Newton, based on an original story by Scott Sigler.

In addition to reading the script, you can view the video podcast of Sacred Cow on your computer. You can also subscribe to the Stranger Things podcast via iTunes, however if you don’t have a video iPod, you can still view each episode (as well as Earl’s engaging video updates) at StrangerThings.tv.

If you enjoy The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits or the recent short-lived anthology Masters of Science Fiction, then you will be quite at home with StrangerThings.tv. The writing, the acting and the production quality are top notch and on par with anything you are going to see on television today. This is, to my knowledge, the only video podcast you can watch in High Definition. This ain’t a blurry youtube vid. - Don

Winning short script PRODUCED! All writers will receive feedback. Prizes for the Short category awarded to 2nd and 3rd place as well as an Artistic Vision Award. The top three in the Super Short category are entered into competition for the Grand Prize, among other prizes. Gimme Credit was created with the single purpose of producing one talented writer’s short script and giving exposure and development advice to as many writers as possible. Open to anyone anywhere who has ever wanted their work produced! Short category is for scripts up to 30 pages; Super Short category is for scripts up to five (5) pages. All live action genres welcome!

Visit http://www.gimmecreditcompetition.com for more information or to enter. - Don

Thanks to everyone who participated in the One Week Challenge. Without a doubt, this was the best Challenge yet in terms of the quality of the scripts and the wide interpretation of the theme. You can take a look at the “writer’s choices” - scripts that the participants in the challenge thought were of merit - on the discussion board - Don

Writers of unproduced scripts, please note, The Writer’s Room “…accept and read unsolicited scripts for film, TV and radio drama, and narrative comedy…” For more information check out Writing for the BBC.

Merry Christmas or Happy Monday as appropriate. - Don

Also, 52 Screenplays has just blogged Casablanca.

Lastly, the Scary Dairy Tales One Week Challange will come to a close on Friday, October 20th at 11:59 pm. Get your short script submitted and join in the discussion. - Don