Please join STS in congratulating writer Rick Hansberry.  Not once, but several times…

1) His recently reviewed short, Last Dance, has been picked up for student production by Megan McPherson.

Other directors take note: Last Dance is still available for professional use, as are several more Rick-flavored scripts!

Cards (drama) –  A pair of copyrighters continue their career-long battle long after retirement.

Over the Lump (drama) – Objects in the mind’s mirror may appear larger than they are.

Freak (drama) – A simple wave and smile alters the life of a teenager.

By the Power Vested in Me (drama) – Will a power outage serve as a sign that a wedding shouldn’t happen?

Hello (drama) – Interesting what you can find in used bookstores – and often there’s a reason it’s there.

‘Til Death (Comedy) – A marital tiff erupts to epic proportions….

Burn the Ships (drama) – Life lessons alter the courses taken by a teacher and his student.

Taking the Reins (drama FEATURE) – A reckless equestrian struggles through personal and professional setbacks to try to make history as the youngest winner of the elite Rolex championship, but his destructive personality poses the biggest obstacle to claiming the title.

2) Rick’s SF feature length, Alienate, is now available for purchase!  Take a gander at the DVD review here!

Tick Tock Toe

An elderly man plays tic tic toe with his granddaughter resulting in an unexpected outcome

Life isn’t a game you win or lose.

Rose is a born loser. An awkward, angsty, acne-ridden 14-year-old. After a long day of being ridiculed by the popular kids at school, she stops by the nursing care center to visit her grandfather, Sidney.

Sidney is a born winner. Or at least he was, until he got put out to pasture here at the old folks home. Here, his winning days exist only as faded photographs of yesteryear. Nowadays, Sidney is a bit of a curmudgeon. He calls things like he sees them, and what he sees is that Rose could use some life lessons.

To kill some time, Sidney and Rose decide to play a good old game of Tick Tac Toe. Sidney plays to win. Rose plays not to lose.

Naturally, game after game ends in a draw. What’s the point of a game you can’t win?

As the two trade moves on the board, they swap stories, as well. Sidney’s time in the war has given him a unique perspective on life, and some advice for Rose on how to live it. Following draw after draw, Rose begins to adopt a new and positive outlook, and Sidney realizes that perhaps it is time for him to try a new approach to the game of life. He knows all too well that if you kill enough time, it may just kill you right back.

In the tradition of Gran Torino and Little Miss Sunshine, Tick Tock Toe is a classic mentor/mentee character-driven drama, examining what the young can learn from the old and vice versa. There is also an element of life mirroring the game ala Searching for Bobby Fisher. The script offers a profound meditation on the nature of life, death, and everything in between. The kind of weighty rumination that would make Terrence Malick proud, TTT is surely set to be a standout on the festival and awards circuits.

If you are looking for a real winner, play a game of Tick Tock Toe!

Pages: 13

Budget: Medium. One central location, the nursing home, with a short school scene and a (spoiler) casket shot.

About the Reviewer: Dane Whipple is living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. He is currently working on that screenplay everybody keeps talking about: The Wild Age. Contact him at dane.whipple (a) live.com

About the writer: An award winning writer, Bill Sarre has had scripts place both finalist and quarter finalist with Page and Bluecat. Another short of his, The Grieving Spell, was recently grand prize winner of the London Film Awards. Bill can be reached at Bill.sarre (a) gmail.com

Read Tick Tock Toe

Find more scripts available for production

This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

Mucho Congratulations to Breanne Mattson!

Reviewed on STS back in March 2014 , her script A Day With Death was subsequently discovered by Asurf Oluseyi and Asurf Films, Ltd. The film was shot in Lagos, Nigeria – bringing terrific cultural flavor to an already charming script.

As of today’s writing, Day has been officially nominated for Best Short Film for the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards!  (AMVC).  Not bad at all – fully deserved! For yet more information, the film’s Facebook page is available here:  https://www.facebook.com/adaywithdeath

*******

Oh – and then there’s Breanne’s OTHER amazing news…  Her feature length thriller Warning Shot has now officially cast Hollywood fav Bruce Dern in a pivotal role.  Here’s what the press has to say: The character-driven drama/thriller Warning Shot starts filming in Los Angeles in early 2016 with Bruce Dern heading its cast. The project was brought to Dern by veteran Casting Director John Jackson, known for his work on the award winning films The Descendants and Nebraska. Dern, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the film Nebraska, can also be seen this December in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. In Warning Shot, Dern will play a dying businessman whose legacy is in jeopardy.

The story centers on a single mother and her young daughter struggling to make ends meet until they inherit a farmhouse. When a family business rival sends armed men to take the water rights to the farm’s creek by force, the situation spirals out of control.

Written by Breanne Mattson, the script was a Nicholl quarterfinalist in 2011. Dustin Fairbanks will make his feature debut as director with Ross Otterman (Gutshot Straight, Excision) producing. Executive Producing is DJ Dodd, whose film 10,000 Saints premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

But WAIT – THERE’S MORE!  (Oh so much, much more…) Directors in search of their next big thing should be aware that Breanne’s got more shorts available. Reposted for your consideration, please find The End in Sight – a gritty crime thriller by Ms. Mattson that’s just aching for the right producer to see it, er, visualized…

The End in Sight

A hired killer tries to finish one last job before going blind.

A bad guy with a soft spot – looking to do something right after a lifetime of mistakes…  What the heck is it about characters like this that captures the imagination?  Because they do. Every time.  They’re just so… more interesting than vanilla good guys. Hit men especially.  Watch the Professional or In Bruges, and dare to disagree.

The End in Sight is a short script that “hits” that exact note perfectly.  Enter Hugo – the consummate hit man.  He’s killed efficiently all his life. Now – unfortunately – he’s going blind.  Which, one could imagine, is really bad ju-ju for a man who relies on visual acuity…

Hugo’s trying to finish one last job before he retires: kill a gangster, and return a wayward prostitute, Winter, to a rival pimp named Skarda.  Needless to say – things get emotionally complicated and go horribly wrong.  Given the setup, this could have been a cliche script.  But The End in Sight does things right; pulling out twists and character beats that make the whole trip worthwhile. So if crime and thrillers are your forte, crack this one open. It’s got a killer ending…

About the writer: Breanne Mattson is no stranger to accolades.  Her feature lengths have made Nicholl Quarterfinalist three times (yeah, that’s three times, beeyotch!) She’s also made semi-finalist in Bluecat, Final Draft and honorable mention in TrackingB.  She’s also received a “worth the read” from Scriptshadow.  Her website can be viewed at www.breannemattson.com (IMDB credits here.)

Pages: 35

Budget: Okay. This one’s no “newbie” script.  Thirty five pages long, it features plenty o’ squibs and bullet hits,  stunt car driving, and both inside and outside locations.  But in experienced hands, this script could be amazing.

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

Not surprisingly, Matias’ pivotal boxing drama short Win/Lose won… a director that’s guaranteed to bring it all the way to the final round! Which is far from shocking, given Mr. Caruso’s battle-tested writing chops.

But as long as we’ve got you on the ropes, STS now directs your attention to a few more Matias gems. Grab one of these in a head-lock quickly: anything you produce from them is bound to be a knock-out!

Oh – and before you take a gander at these?  Here are a few more things to bear in mind:

• Our dearest Mr. Caruso recently signed onto CAA.  Seriously.  CAA!!
• And… his script Carnival made it onto this year’s one and ONLY BLACKLIST!!

Translation – you DO want to grab these. Don’t you?!? 🙂

Sweet Poison (Noir Horror) – A jaded demon hunter sets out to trap the Incubus who killed the woman he loved…

Like a Moth to a Flame (Drama) – A woman attempts to exorcise her lost lover. But is his pull too powerful to wish away?

About the writer: An optioned and award winning screenwriter, Matias Caruso has far too many accolades to name. So we’ll stick with just one: he’s the 2014 Grand Prize Winner of the International Page Awards Contest. Not to mention an all-around terrific guy. Interested in Matias’ work? Email him at matiascaruso32 “AT” gmail

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM 

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. 

The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

BETTER TIMES

A desperate young couple are faced with a stark choice in exchange for the promise of a better future.

The Hunger Games, Mad Max-Fury Road, Interstellar, Tomorrowland, The Maze Runner, Insurgent, The Giver, Looper, Elysium, The Purge, Snowpiercer, Dredd — Ooh, I’m running out of breath… These films make up a partial tally of the last few years of movie releases in the Sci-Fi/Dystopian genre. No guessing then that the popularity of this genre is at an all time high, and with box-office gold almost guaranteed, the demand for quality stories is on the increase.

Dystopia, as the name suggests, features worlds where the setting is bleak, oppressed, threatened. In the extreme – impending nuclear fall-out and zombie apocalypses. At the other end of the spectrum – a dying earth, societal breakdown, hard-core surveillance. One thing’s for sure, there’s always a fight for survival. Second thing is, audiences appear to have an insatiable appetite for these future worlds of bedlam, mayhem and decay.

Up and coming filmmakers will be interested to know that quite a few esteemed directors transitioned from the short format with Dystopian fiction, to feature film success.

Spielberg’s Minority Report was originally a short story by Phillip K. Dick; James Cameron made Xenogenesis – a short film featuring a female heroine, cyborgs and a giant robot inspiring Terminator; George Lucas made his dystopian short film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB and its later incarnation THX 1138, a ‘short’ which put him on the map. More recently Neil Blomkamp with collaborator Sharlto Copley shot Alive In Joburg, expanding upon that same source material to eventually produce District 9.

Want to scale the same heights as the aforementioned film luminaries? Recall me mentioning quality stories?

STS is pleased to present Steve Miles’ short screenplay, ‘Better Times’.  Set in the not too distant future of 2078, Better Times is a cautionary tale of a world run by big business and ruled by corporate hegemony.  Sebastian and Eileen Cade, a couple in their 30s with a baby on the way, are facing the biggest decision of their lives. Sebastian has just agreed to the ultimate sacrifice – all he has to do is sign on the dotted line. Question is, will he be signing his life away in a deal with the Devil, or will this most noble act result in the couple’s salvation?

Better Times is a flawlessly written and atmospheric tale of two ordinary people trying to survive in a most extraordinary world… with a chilling revelation in the final act that you won’t see coming.

Do you have your eye on a bright future in the film world? Then look no further than: Better Times. 

Budget: Not bad at all. A tiny bit of Tech-FX, but just to add that extra flair.

Pages: 9

About the Reviewer: Libby 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 has also worked professionally as a freelance web-content editor and proofreader. She is thrilled her first ever entry (Simpatico) into a Screenplay Comp – The LA Comedy Festival ‘Short’ screenplay division took out Top 3 Finalist and hopes the high placing will be a continuing trend. 🙂 Libby would love to see her words come to life on screen.   She lives with her husband (also a screenwriter) in Sydney, Australia, and describes him as being both a good and a bad influence on her writing. You can contact Libby at libbych “AT” hotmail

About the Writer: Steve Miles decided to get serious about writing around three years ago. Since then he’s concentrated on putting together a collection of shorts with a goal of finishing up a feature or two by years end.  Oh, and giving George RR Martin a run for his money! Email him at stevemiles80 “AT” yahoo.co.uk

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

Believing Isabelle

How do you deliver a very special Christmas gift, when you’re stuck in an airport on Christmas Eve?

When it comes to telling the perfect Christmas tale, there are a few essential ingredients. Precocious kids, family bonding, and some sort of crisis that brings the brood together, just in time for the holidays.   (You know, like almost losing the family bank, Jimmy Stewart style.)

Mix in a sprinkle of one, half a dash of the other… and voila! You’ve got a heartwarming story for the ages.

Oh – and it helps to be a good writer, as well.

Fortunately, auteur Sally Meyer has all those ingredients in her kitchen. And the skill to bake them into a sweet holiday treat.

As Believing Isabelle opens, a family gathers at the airport… racing to catch a last minute flight for home. In attendance are dad Daniel and bickering siblings Mike (10) and Isabelle (6).

Also in line at the ticket counter is elderly matron Betty, on her way to visit her even more aged mother. Betty’s hubby is on a business trip, and she’s feeling kind of… abandoned.

When Mike and Daniel head off to grab a snack, Betty and Isabelle are left alone. A fast friendship forms; the old woman charmed by Isabelle’s chatter. But when the family finally reaches the front of the line, there’s seriously bad news in store. The flight’s sold out – they’ll be celebrating Christmas on plastic seats and in front of warm Starbuck’s Venti cups.

That is… until Betty comes up with an unexpected solution; proving Isabelle to be wise beyond her years.

Smoothly written – with some great sibling dialogue – Believing Isabelle is like a holiday treat. Fun to unwrap. And very sweet to eat.

About the writer: Born and raised in England, Sally Meyer has had three screenplays filmed.  IMDB Credits available here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2946574/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Pages: 6

Budget: Not marginal, but not too high, either.  You’ll need access to an airport (or reasonable facsimile), and a decent sized cast of characters.  But – except for maybe a bit at the end, nothing will be needed in the way of special props.

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM 

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

A Taste for Blood

In the midst of the storm of the century, a group of research scientists become stranded at a remote Antarctic base.  With the weather worsening and food supplies getting low, desperate times call for desperate measures.

 A stranded group in an isolated Arctic location. Low on food, high on paranoia… faced with the need to survive against all odds. Over the years, that scenario’s made for several damned good (and surprisingly varied) films. The Grey. Thirty Days of Night, to name just two. The premise is a recipe for success… if handled correctly. Stephen Wells is a writer that does just that, carving a fresh tale from the concept’s icy foundations.

The heroine of this particular story is Sarah – a researcher at the Bellingley Antarctic Research Station. A storm has hit, and food is running low. Sarah’s husband, Cole, plans to travel to a neighboring station to stock up on supplies. He’ll be back in less than a month – plenty of time. Sarah protests, but Cole insists. They have no choice. He takes off on the arduous trek – leaving Sarah and six other members of the team. Did I mention? Sarah’s pregnant, and almost due.

Not suprisingly, things get more dire as time passes. The team loses radio contact with Cole. As food stores dwindle, a member of the team, Doc, proposes a radical solution. I think you can guess what that is. As the team’s numbers decrease, the remaining survivors become more desperate. In a deadly game of eat or be eaten, who will live another day? Can Sarah save her unborn baby? Can she even save herself?

Beautifully and visually written, A Taste for Blood brings to mind aspects of several film classics: from The Shining to The Thing. But the script has a fresh feel of its own – perfect for a horror director with a taste for drama.

About the writer: Born and raised in England, Stephen Wells is a graphic designer who has been writing for 5 years after getting the screenwriting bug in 2009. He had a feature script optioned in 2013 and placed as a Quarter-Finalist in the 2014 Bluecat feature competition.

Pages: 18

Budget: Not shoestring. But don’t let the setting worry your frugal sensibilities too much. With the exception of an establishing shot (which could theoretically be pulled from stock footage), the story takes place inside. So a dingy warehouse and props could suffice, if handled artfully.

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

Letting Go

After a horrible accident, a young girl’s mother has a very hard time letting go.

 The loss of a loved one. Whether it be through death, disappearance or tragic social circumstance, the grieving process is one which all humans experience at one time or another. And one we never truly get used to – especially when an innocent child is concerned. Stories that deal with such issues will never get old. When done properly, the result can be an emotional powerhouse; because it’s so universal. And because we’re often so powerless to stop it.

A simple short, Letting Go follows Jason and Jenna – parents devastated by the loss of their four year old daughter Lily. We meet the couple upstairs in their home. Friends and family have gathered downstairs, but Jenna is in no mood to greet them. Eventually the well-meaning guests depart – leaving Jenna and Jason alone. With their memories, and an empty child’s bedroom.

Carefully crafted, Letting Go explores its topic with respect… Providing a few twists – and a poignant ending – along the way.

About the writer: An award winning writer AND photographer, Marnie Mitchell Lister’s website is available at brainfluffs.com. A Scriptshadow selectee, Marnie’s had 5 shorts produced (so far) and placed Semi-final with her features in Bluecat.

Pages: 6

Budget: Minor. One house setting, three main characters (including a 4 year old), and a handful of extras.

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.

Family Trip

A poor Texas family loads up their camping gear for a weekend trip, but one of them will not be returning.

When it comes to political controversies, there are few as emotionally volatile as abortion. And that’s not surprising. Where one stands on abortion strikes right at the heart of one’s fundamental values (religious or secular). At what point in fetal growth does personhood and rights begin?   And once they do – how to balance the rights of a developing human against those of the woman who must carry it? It’s a diversive issue – driven by deep philosophical and political beliefs.

But when it comes to the actual procedure, the reality is far from abstract. Regardless of one’s decision, the impact of abortion is intensely personal. For the woman – and often her family.

Family Trip focuses on that aspect – following the Heron family as they travel out of town… ostensibly for a camping trip. Going along for the ride are Wendy, Hank and their fifteen year old daughter, Carrie. Despite the camping gear piled on top of the car, it quickly becomes clear that the Herons aren’t heading to the woods. As the appointment and the clinic nears, FT handles a number of potentially inflammatory scenes with remarkable subtlety: discussion of possible protestors. The legal requirement in Texas for the doctor to show Carrie an ultrasound of the fetus. Eschewing overly-dramatic scenes, writer Eric Wall instead uses touches of dialogue and small details to do something far more impressive: create a three dimensional view of a family that clearly loves each other; bonding together during a difficult time in their lives.

Thoughtfully written (and devoid of grandstanding), FT is likely to act as a Rorsach test for its readers – the message differing depending on how one interprets it. But regardless of one’ s personal stance on abortion – this is one script that deserves to be part of the discussion.

About the writer: I’ve been writing screenplays for over ten years. For most of that time I considered it a hobby, but I decided to make a serious go of it a little over a year ago. Since then I’ve written several short scripts and one feature, with another feature nearing completion. Despite occasional inquiries, I have not been optioned, but I’m hoping that changes in 2014.

Pages: 17

Budget: Reasonable. There are a variety of settings: the car, the clinic, a diner. Probably best not done on a shoestring… but nothing exorbitant, either. The main requirement: get solid actors that can handle subtle dialog and context.

READ THE SCRIPT HERE – AND DON’T FORGET TO COMMENT!!

FOR YET MORE SCRIPTS AVAILABLE FOR PRODUCTION:

PLEASE SEARCH SIMPLYSCRIPTS.COM

OR THE BLOG VERSION OF STS HERE.

All screenplays are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. The screenplays may not be used without the expressed written permission of the author.