Please go Vote for Pumpkin Nightmare II.

Voting ends Today! This is the short video that Dena and Pia filmed last year.

Stealing Moses (22 pages in pdf format)

The story of 2 fatherless boys on an unlikely journey of brotherly love. Josh needs to get little Moses to his Father, but in doing so he will jeopardise his own future. God is watching.

This award nominated short film was accepted into The British Urban Film Festival. Written by Bobby Stevenson and Directed by Martin J Pickering. British /urban Film Festival supported by Channel 4 UK.

Stealing Moses on IMDB

Over on the Original Scripts page are twenty four original scripts for your reading pleasure.

Please note that regular script submissions are closed until October 23rd while the One Week Challenge is underway.

– Don

The Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference is the place where experts, newbies and everybody in between in the writing world come together under one roof and share. This is where you will learn and grow as a writer, get a better understanding of the new and exciting storytelling outlets such podcasts and digital series, learn valuable information about other arenas like writing for the stage, brainstorm your own ideas, find good material if that’s your goal, or just simply find your own voice and where it fits in the universe. And if just watching movies is your game, we have hundreds of them, an 8-day extravaganza of cinema. Did we leave anything out? October 26 – November 2 – Find out more at AustinFilmFestival.com.

– don1

You have seven days to write a screenplay between 6 and 12 pages. The screenplay must be properly formatted and in PDF format on the following theme:

Fight that Phobia

Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
Rating: Children / Young Adult / Adult
Budget: Open

A character must possess and fight some kind of phobia. And, the last line of dialogue should contain “Rest in Peace”. Here is a list of phobias for inspiration.

The scripts are due on Friday, October 20 at 11:59PM HAST (Baker Island Time – this is the last place in the world that it is October 20th in the world aka GMT-12) and must be submitted to: SimplyScripts.com/owc.

Timeline:
October 13 at 12 Midnight GMT – Theme and Genre announced.
October 20th at 11:59PM HST (GMT-12) – Scripts are due to SimplyScripts.com/owc (check the timer on the Discussion Board)
October 22st (Sunday edt) – Scripts Posted
October 29th – Writer’s Choices submitted
October 31th – Names and writer’s choice revealed.

The Gist

6 – 12 pages, properly formatted & saved as a PDF file, Script submitted anonymously, Free to submit*, This isn’t a contest. There are no prizes. One entry per person.

You can revise your script as many times as you wish up until the deadline.

Participants are strongly encouraged to read and comment/review the scripts submitted.

Do not put your real name on your script. However, please use your real name when submitting your script. (After the challenge closes you can either have your script removed or resubmit with your script with your name on it.)

Please put © 2017 on the bottom left corner of your title page.

There will be a Writer’s Choice wherein the participants (and only the participants) will be asked to rate the scripts.

Questions? Post ’em on the Discussion Board.

When Dena and Pia get together for the weekend, I get bad dreams. And ideas…

A woman suffering from coulrophobia must deal with being stuck in an elevator with a clown.

The theme and genre will be announced this Friday the 13th at Midnight Greenwi[t]ch Mean Time.

Scripts will be due Friday the 20th at Midnight HAST (Baker Island Time)

This will be open to all comers.

And it is free. (Not a contest).

Over on the Unproduced Scripts page are fourteen original scripts for your reading pleasure.

And a heads up. On Friday the 13th the Genre and Theme of the October One Week Challenge will be announced.

Don

Ready Or Not by Tim Ratcliffe

“A little girl has an easier time hiding from her father than the harsh realities of life.”

You had me at “hello.”

Rather like Renee Zellweger’s infamous one-liner to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire, you’ll be had immediately with the first few lines of description in Tim Radcliffe’s sentimental short, Ready Or Not:

The girl in the photo, ABBY, four, curly hair, stands in the middle of the room. Her hands cover her eyes.

            ABBY
Eighteen, nineteen, twenty.

     Her hands fall away to reveal her face beaming with excitement.

            ABBY
Ready or not, here I come.

Who’s not a sucker for stories about adorable kids and their loving parents?

Abby and her dad Jack play hide-and-seek. A lot. And according to Abby’s mother Jenna, Jack is pretty good at it. On one particular occasion, Jenna tells Abby: “He’s hiding in a really good spot.” But young Abby is never deterred. “I’ll find him. I always do.”

Abby searches all Dad’s usual hiding places: a kitchen cupboard, under the dining table, behind curtains. Will she find him? Of course she will! Because this game has one indisputable rule: Jack ALWAYS lets Abby find him.

            JACK
You got some x-ray vision
that you’re not tellin’ me about?

And just like it’s supposed to be for an adorable daughter and her loving dad, Jack raises a giggling Abby over his head.

            ABBY
No Dad, I’m just good at this game.

So it goes… until the familiar and fun game of hide-and-seek isn’t just child’s play anymore.

Ready Or Not speaks volumes. Three words uttered — in most cases screamed — after counting to twenty in the popular kids’ game, signal the beginning of a game. In RON those words ultimately deliver an ironic ending: Sometimes there’s no fun and games whatsoever when it comes to the unpredictable game of life.

Are you a director with a soft spot? If so, be ready to be had by Ready Or Not too. Here’s a guarantee — you won’t be alone.

Budget: Low. Simple casting because ALL four-year-olds are adorable. Two loving parents required, plus one extra. Several interior shots could be staged for two common locations.

About the Writer: Tim Ratcliffe is an Australian writer who frequently travels the world in search of new adventures and experiences. A former journalist, he has written a number of short screenplays and had a few produced. A lover of all things creative, Tim has also tried his hand at acting, improv and stand-up comedy. He can be reached at tjames.ratcliffe ‘AT’ gmail.

Read Ready Or Not (5 pages in pdf format)

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.

About the Reviewer: California über reader/reviewer KP Mackie is working on her animated feature.