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Welcome to SimplyScripts A database of hundreds of downloadable scripts, movie scripts, screenplays, and transcripts of current, classic and maybe a few soon-to-be-released movies, television, anime, unproduced and radio shows. A screenwriter's resource. See below for what is new on the site or click on a script category! - Enjoy! I'm not ignoring you. You just need to check your spam folder. |
Over on the Unproduced scripts page are fifteen original scripts for your reading pleasure.
And a few site updates!
We’ve updated the Treatments and Series Bibles page.
We’ve created a new page of Unproduced treatments and series bibles.
And there has been a massive overhaul of the Produced scripts page and full listing of produced movie scripts (Now with fewer broken links!)
THE COST OF WAR (5-page short historical screenplay) by Marnie Mitchell
A waitress fed up with the antiwar protests in 1962 New York City changes her stance once the effects of war hit close to home.
Finishing as Week 5’s top-scoring script for the final week of the Writer’s Tournament was Marnie Mitchell’s impressive historical short, The Cost of War. Under Week-5’s theme of “Winning at Any Cost”, Marnie was assigned the following three criteria items to include in this week’s entry: a COFFEE SHOP, a BAG OF COFFEE GROUNDS and a MODEL, all written under her assigned genre, HISTORICAL.
The story opens in New York City circa 1962, where Pamela, an aspiring model, works as a waitress at the famous Gaslight Cafe, a well-known venue for famous folk artists and poets. She has a crush on a patron and performer there named Bob. Bob performs his latest song he just finished writing. If you’re old like me, you’ll recognize the lyrics and realize that this is Bob Dylan.
The song (“Blowing in the Wind”) is clearly an antiwar/protest song, which seems to turn Pamela off a little bit. You see, her father is in Vietnam, proudly serving his country. And Pamela doesn’t understand what all the protesting is all about.
PAMELA
You know my dad is there, he’s
a Lieutenant. He writes us all
the time and tells us it’s no
big deal. He says it’s really
important that we win. So why
are people trying to end it?
We can’t stop until we win.
After a few days, writing away at the cafe or “bleeding on paper” as Bob tells Pamela earlier, he notices that she hasn’t been around for a few days. It isn’t until the next week that Pamela returns to work. But she returns with a new outlook on the antiwar protests once discovering some tragic news, the effects of war hitting very close to home.
BOB
Hey. Glad to see you back.
Ain’t been the same without you.
What you been up to?
PAMELA
Bleeding on paper.
She then hits the stage, reciting a heartfelt poem documenting the tragedy her family had endured due to the war and how her stance on the protesting had changed. I won’t give away everything, but there is one beautiful excerpt in her poem that really hits hard – “… When you’re willing to win, at any cost – it’s obvious to many, that – you’ve already lost.”
Perfectly capturing the feel of the 60s – a very divisive and turbulent decade defined by the civil rights movement, assassinations and antiwar protests, Marnie Mitchell’s tightly-woven script makes us feel like we’ve gone back in time and experienced Pamela’s pain for ourselves.
BUDGET: Low. There are exterior shots of protesters, but the amount of extras can be cheated on camera. It is a period piece, so 1960’s style wardrobe would be needed. Other than that, it all takes place in one location.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Marnie Mitchell is an award-winning screenwriter and 5-page contest junkie. Due to her addiction, she’s written over 80 shorts, 15 having been produced. Currently she’s working on her 8th feature, an adaptation of a horror short she wrote 10 years ago. Some of her work can be found on her site, BrainFluffs.com. Some of her photography can be seen here: marnzart.wordpress.com. Marnie can be contacted via her website.
Read THE COST OF WAR (5-page short historical screenplay)
Discuss this script on the discussion board
*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
Find more scripts available for production.
About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.
Huge thanks to John for the heads up on David Koepp’s script archive. Like John August, Koepp has posted what apprears to be his entire library of his scripts to the internet. This is an invaluable resource for screen writers as he has posted multiple drafts of incredibly popular movies where you can see the evolution of the script as well as see the difference between a spec script and a shooting script.
I highly recommend checking out the early draft of Jurassic Park with his revision notes and compare to the final shooting draft.
There are a ton of scripts with multiple drafts including Mission Impossible, Carlito’s Way, Zathura, Stir of Echos, Death Becomes Her, and much, much more!
– Don
Thanks to Sword Girls for the heads up on not one, but three drafts of the screenplay for 2011’s Conan.
Conan – October 7, 2009 revised draft script by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer (Based on the writings of Robert E. Howard);
Conan – February 2010 working draft script by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer and Andrew Lobel (Based on the writings of Robert E. Howard);
Conan – November 19, 2010 revised script by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer – Sean Hood revisions (Based on the writings of Robert E. Howard) – hosted by: DailyScript – in pdf format
A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.
Information courtesy of IMDb
Thanks Aaron for the heads up on this one:
Top Knot Detective – December 22, 2015 final shooting draft script by Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce – hosted by: Top Knot Detective – in pdf format
This is the story of how a failed Japanese samurai series became an instant cult classic.
Information courtesy of imdb.com
Find other movie scripts on the Movie scripts page.
WINDOW CREEP – by Rob Herzog
short, horror script
A nine-year old boy tries to outwit the visitor who scratches at his window screen in the middle of the night.
Are you afraid of the dark?
Since time immemorial most of us have felt that most primitive of fears – being afraid of things that we cannot see and of things that go bump in the night.
Remember being a kid? Most of us can recall waking in the middle of the night listening out for another creak of the floorboards, or startled by the groan of a wardrobe-door yawing open of its own accord. Covers pulled up and over our heads we would lie in wait, dreading the moment when something might pounce from the closet, or jump out from underneath the bed… Terrified that there was something evil lurking under the cover of darkness.
In Rob Herzog’s chilling horror, Window Creep, we meet Eddie, a plucky nine-year old kid who we sense is somewhat used to fending for himself. Amidst the backdrop of an ordinary pre-teen bedroom – posters of superheroes and monsters adorning the walls – Eddie’s enjoying his usual bedtime ritual. He’s up late, playing with his toy soldiers. The lights are out and the gleam of Eddie’s flashlight bounces off the walls, when all of a sudden –
– A breeze blows in from an open window…
The curtains sway slightly
There’s a tiny shift and — from out of nowhere —
Someone or something claws Eddie’s window screen.
Fingernails drag slowly across metal: Zip. Ping. Scrape.
Something’s trying to get through…
At this point Eddie’s going to do what every petrified kid will do under the circumstances, and that is scream and call out for his Mom.
But it’s also at this point that writer, Rob Herzog cleverly ramps up the tension and suspense even more than before, because…
EDDIE
Mama…?
Mama’s not answering. In the bedroom down the hall it appears she’s out cold which means Eddie is now all alone and at the mercy of whatever this Creep is and whatever it wants.
So, what does Eddie do next? Well, there’s one trick in Eddie’s arsenal and it’s the same ploy he uses with his toy soldiers when they’re not behaving. He attempts to hypnotize it in the hope that –
EDDIE
… On the count of three, I will
control your mind and you’ll go
away.
But… toys are just toys and Eddie’s about to learn that whatever this Creep is, it’s very real, it’s very evil, and it won’t be fooled by childish games.
The Creep’s hand tears through the screen.
He hooks Eddie’s shirt with one grubby, long finger –
And then…
Well, I can’t spoil the fun and the scares can I?
Suffice to say you will not guess the sting in the tail of this cleverly written part monster, part parable tale following in the tradition of such horror gems as Lights Out, Bedfellows, The Babadook, and Don’t Breathe.
Rob Herzog’s Window Creep might well be the stuff of nightmares, but for you filmmakers out there it could be the perfect calling-card for your dreams.
But don’t go hiding under the bed. Better burst out and into the light. The only thing scarier than not getting your claws into this one would be missing out on it altogether. And you really don’t want that… lest the lost opportunity haunt you for the rest of your life.
BUDGET: Low. Self-contained one location, one plucky kid, one Mom, one Creep’s hand with some light SFX.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Rob Herzog is a Chicago screenwriter. He has sold two short scripts and won prize money in two small screenwriting contests. His short horror script Creak and Shriek was produced in 2019 by Mad Dreamer Entertainment and can be viewed on various platforms like Amazon Prime, YouTube and Vimeo. He has a master’s degree in English composition from Northeastern Illinois University. Rob can be reached at: robherzogr (a) hotmail.
About the Reviewer: L.Chambers has been writing all her life – especially in her head, and on scraps of paper. It’s only in the last few years she began to get serious about screen-writing. Prior to this she worked in the Features Department for ABC TV as a Program Assistant, and trained as a FAD. She currently works as a freelance web-content editor and lives with her husband (also a screenwriter) in Sydney, Australia. L. Chambers can be reached at: libbych (a) hotmail.
Read WINDOW CREEP (short, horror script)
Discuss this script on the discussion board
*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
Find more scripts available for production.
THE TALE OF TIN CAN KADE (5-page short western screenplay) by Mark Renshaw
On a quest for vengeance, a grieving outlaw’s chance encounter with a scam artist turns out not to be a chance encounter at all…
Today’s review is of yet another short screenplay from the annual Writer’s Tournament, a western written by Mark Renshaw – this was one of Week 4’s top-scoring shorts (there was a three-way tie for top honors). The three criteria elements that Mark was assigned to include in his entry were: an OBSERVATORY, a LEATHER BELT and a PHARMACIST.
We’re taken back to the year 1843 in Cincinnati – back then, it was considered the wild frontier. This was a time when frontier justice was the real law of the land. We meet charismatic outlaw and title character, Kade as he enters the town’s main drag with a tin can strapped to his belt, something rattling inside of it. It’s here where he meets salesman/street pharmacist, Doc Barth, who travels from town to town, selling miracle remedies and cure-all potions to naive townsfolk.
Later that night, while both men yuck it up over a bottle of whiskey at a saloon/cantina, Doc lets Kade in on a little secret in regards to his miracle remedies…
BARTH
It’s all in the mind. The ingredients
are just there for effect. The power
of the mind is what cures these folk.
And if not, I’ve a potion for that too!
As the night continues, Kade reveals the source of the rattling inside the tin can he keeps with him, calling them his “little reminders” – he shows Doc his daughter’s first tooth she had lost as child.
BARTH
Well, I’ll be damned. Mister Kade, are
you a sentimental man?
We find out that Kade is indeed a sentimental man, at least when it comes to his family… a family he lost tragically… a tragedy that has left him thirsty for revenge…
What was really impressive about this script was that it takes you places you’d least expect. Rather than a traditional, rootin’-tootin’ western with shootouts and train robberies, the writer tells a different kind of revenge tale… without compromising the thrills.
BUDGET: Low to Medium due to location.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Mark Renshaw is an award-winning screenwriter/producer, his sci-fi TV pilot script “Nearscape” reaching the semifinals of the prestigious Page Awards and 2nd round of the Austin Film Festival. His short script, “Cyborn” was the inaugural winner of the Inroads Screenwriting Competition. Reaching the top 4% of the BBC’s Open Drama Submission, Mark has also been added to their list of promising writers. His latest sci-fi short, The Survivor: A Tale From the Nearscape, which he wrote and produced, currently has a worldwide distribution deal with Meridian Releasing, also serving as a proof of concept for a TV series. You can check out Mark’s produced films and scripts on his website at www.mark-renshaw.com.
Read THE TALE OF TIN CAN KADE (5-page short western screenplay)
Discuss this script on the discussion board
*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
Find more scripts available for production.
About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.
Round 5 Writers have been revealed. Congratulations to Marnie and her winning script The Cost of War
Congratulations to Paul (PKCardnial) Knauer who was the overall winner of the Tournament.
Several scripts have already been option or sold as these are generally limited location/limited cast scripts and easy to film. So, now is the time to reach out to these folks to secure rights to film them.
Round 1: Money is the root of all evil
Round 2: Blood is Thicker than Water
Round 3: Nature vs Nurture
Round 4: Your Hero Is the Villain
Round 5: Winning At Any Cost
Several of the winning scripts have been reviewed by Michael Kospiah (with more to come)
Zach White has put together a great page on The Black List scripts from 2017, 2018 and 2019
Check it out at: www.BlackListHost.com
