Last weekend was the shooting of my short film SHECKY, and it was definitely something most memorable. That’s me in the middle with some of my more-than-capable crew.
For the majority of two consecutive days, four actors, sixteen crew and two behind-the-scenes photographers occupied my house. Thank God my cousin was able to take the dog for the weekend or that poor animal would have lost her mind.
My wife and I did what we could to take care of everybody in the best possible way (i.e. food and beverages). A good part of it was purchased, some was donated, and some was homemade. Helpful tip – feed them well. They will notice and it will be appreciated.
When you write a script, there’s a good chance you probably don’t think about all the aspects involved in the actual making of the film. And believe me, there is A LOT. Probably a lot more than you realize.
Lighting and sound equipment, and the related insurance. Props. Set decoration. Wardrobe (which the actors provided). The aforementioned food (also A LOT) and related items (breakfast, lunch, snacks, plates, cups, coffee maker, drinks, etc). Hard drives to store the info from memory cards used during shooting. I most likely saved a chunk of change by using my own house for the location.
And paying your cast and crew. This is not something you want to skimp on.
Believe me – IT ALL ADDS UP, so definitely make sure you can afford it. You’re a producer, and that’s your job: to take care of all of that, and probably a lot more.
It’s probably safe to say that all those “behind the scenes” scenes you’ve seen in movies and TV are just the tip of the iceberg. Producing your own film, even if it’s just a short, is a HUGE undertaking. The closest comparison is organizing a wedding. Leading up to the actual filming, I made it clear more than a few times that this was my first time as a producer, so to please bear with me.
Everybody was great, patient, and very understanding. They were all experienced (except for one PA who was also a first-timer) for which I’m very grateful. Over the course of the weekend, just about everybody came up to me to say that they really liked the script and were excited to be part of the project.
As for the actual filming, it really is mind-blowing to see characters, scenes and dialogue you wrote literally come to life in front of you.
That being said, there’s also a lot of “hurry up and wait” while the crew gets the equipment ready for each shot and scene.
But then everything’s good to go and the director says “Action”…
Magic.
I gave myself a few days to recover (including dealing with some kind of sinus infection), and am now gearing up to launch the crowdfunding for post-production – another world of which I have a lot to learn. I don’t know how that’ll go, but am hoping for the best possible results.
Would I do it again? My initial response is “Lord, no.” But I suppose once this film is completely and utterly finished, I might consider it.
Someday my belief that most people are inherently good and really want to help others will win out over my cynicism. But not today.
A new connection on social media was interested in some of my scripts and asked to take a look.
Did my homework. They were listed as a producer, with credits.
I’ve worked with credited producers before. Some have proven to be fantastic connections, whereas others…
After some back-and-forth emails, I found out that after reading my scripts, if they deemed any of them worthy of receiving a “CONSIDER” rating, I could then pay a “collaboration fee” as a confirmed commitment from me to get the ball rolling towards production. The “fee” would also give me an Executive Producer credit in addition to a writing credit.
And if that weren’t enticing enough, they ended with “Be rest assured. Production is guaranteed.”
Of course it is.
I really, really hate when this happens, and it seems to be happening more and more – especially with things getting tougher in the industry. Somebody offers to help out a writer, but IT’S GONNA COST YA.
A new or less-experienced writer is easy prey. They’re desperate to break in, no matter how, and figure “This is it!” Maybe they figure a 3- or 4-digit price tag is worth paying now in exchange for “guaranteed” results later.
Time goes by, with constant reassurances that “it’s coming along”, and then “we’ve hit some snags, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
Communication becomes less frequent, and then they can’t understand why their emails remain unanswered and their “partner” has seemingly vanished from the face of the earth, along with the money they shelled out to make their dream come true.
A tough way to learn a lesson, but it happens more often than we think.
As soon as a more experienced writer sees this, they quickly realize the whole thing is a scam and remove themselves from the situation as fast as possible.
A PROFESSIONAL PAYS YOU. YOU DO NOT PAY THEM.
If you find yourself in this kind of situation, just say “thanks, but no thanks” and walk away.
Ask any screenwriter how their most recent draft compares to, say, their very first one, by which I mean THEIR ABSOLUTE VERY FIRST ONE, it’s probably a sure thing they’ll say something along the lines of “It was awful!” or “An absolute mess!”, or maybe even “I don’t even want to think about it it was so bad.”
Taking a look at some of my first attempts, I can say the exact same thing. Scenes that drag on. Flat action lines, or ones that were way overwritten. Big chunks of text on the page. On-the-nose dialogue that’s pure exposition. Spoonfeeding story details to the reader to make sure they understand what’s going on.
Nothing to be ashamed of. There are vomit drafts, and “looks like my printer vomited words all over the pages” drafts. You gotta start somewhere, and the important part is YOU GOT IT WRITTEN.
Nowhere to go but up, right?
So you start working on getting better. You get feedback. You start to understand why things aren’t working and what you can do to fix them. You learn, and all this new knowledge helps shape the next draft to better than the one that came before it.
You put in the time and the effort and it becomes more noticeable how your writing is getting better. All of those newbie mistakes are a thing of the past. Your script seems more polished. There’s still room to improve, but it doesn’t seem as daunting now, does it?
Multiple drafts and seemingly neverending rewrites are par for the course. It happens to even the most experienced screenwriters. The hardest part is getting that first draft written. Accomplish that and you’re already ahead of the game.
There will most likely be a ridiculous amount of rewriting in your future, and the end result may be totally different from what you started with, but think about how far you’ve come. You probably had no idea when you were just starting out that you’d be so willing to put yourself through all of this, over and over again.
And that might even be for just one script.
Sure, you might be a little embarrassed when you look at your earliest scripts, but look at your most recent draft or the pages you wrote last weekend. As if they’d been written by two entirely different writers. Because that’s exactly what they are.
Past You was just starting out and made a lot of mistakes. Present You knows what’s needed and does it.
And just imagine the skills that Future You is going to have.
As this blog enters its 15th(!) year of existence, its primary purpose has been and continues to be about one thing: helping screenwriters.
While my experience, influence, and social media presence may not be as extensive as some, I try to offer whatever help and guidance I can.
If that means giving writers the chance to include their script on a list for anybody and everybody to peruse, share, and spread across the internet, then that works too.
Therefore, I humbly present The Maximum Z Winter ’23 Script Showcase.
An amazing assortment of 71 screenplays and 39 TV scripts covering a vast spectrum of genres and subjects, many of which with notable contest achievements.
And to make it that much more of a valuable resource, each writer’s contact info is included. A script or three sounds like it would be a good read? Drop the author a line and say “Hey, I’d like to read that!”
If your script is among those in this list, take pride in that (You finished a script! Yay you!) and feel free to tell the Internet to your heart’s content. (In fact, it’s highly encouraged.)
Once again, a huge thanks to all the writers who participated. I wish you nothing but amazing results and stupendous returns.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy.
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FILM
21:00 ZULU TIME
Sadia Carone
Military, Action-Adventure
A mysterious ancient hourglass gets accidentally tipped over at CIA Headquarters — triggering a series of events. A beast in Scotland awakens. A similar hourglass in Cairo starts to glow. Seven chosen people. Who can put the facts together to unlock the ancient secrets?
A robbery sets off a chain reaction of revenge as an aspiring country singer, a broke bartender, and a two strike criminal find their lives thrust together under the neon shadows of music city as they try to make it out alive.
Quarterfinalist – 2019 Nicholl Fellowship
Winner – 2019 California Film Awards
Finalist – 2019 Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival
A former Military Intelligence Soldier is recruited to root out corruption and seeks revenge on the turncoat who killed her men and almost succeeded in killing her.
A hotheaded political journalist is ordered to relax at Niagara Falls and write a puff piece about the monumental dewatering project going on there, but discovers a cold case mystery involving one of the construction workers and her pageant-winning twin sister.
A safe-averse lawyer plans on reuniting with his ex but must first defeat her uncles – two Rabbis – in a court case seeking to find her incompetent as heir to her fathers’ billions because she’s a lesbian! – And Broken Promises!
An Oahu-based marine biologist sets out to determine the cause of unusual shark behavior while the research institute employing her battles for funding, and her relationship partner issues unrealistic demands.
After a big-city schoolgirl, obsessed with her gig as a pirate-radio broadcast DJ, is forced to move to a tiny town just after graduation, she lies to win a legit radio license – claiming to be a Native American – and then must redeem herself with the tribe (and outfox the FCC) to stay on the air.
Jillianne is trapped in a haunting Voodoo curse when she marries into an influential French Quarter family. After her husband succumbs to the family’s twisted beliefs, Jillianne must uncover the truth behind the curse and protect her unborn child from the clutches of Desmond Bennett, a deranged killer determined to prove the curse’s power.
After learning that his ex-girlfriend is nine months pregnant and trapped in her home from a weather disaster, an irresponsible high school senior must act as labor coach for the birth of his child, over video chat.
After losing millions on a risky investment, a group of ex-bankers pull off a daring heist against the Russian mob and must use all their smarts when the Russians seek revenge.
On the moon’s largest colony, one happy-go-lucky stoner must do what no one has done before, protect the aliens he accidentally saved until they can make ‘official’ first contact unless a xenophobic moon command – or far, far worse – stops them.
Desperate to save his job and regain family brownie points after a pink eye “incident”, a neurotic germaphobe ventures to a remote tropical island chasing an interview with a free-spirited pop star during a hurricane, in spite of his phobia for water, wind and girls.
Unable to afford his dream college, a high school graduate lands his first job where he creates friendships with the jaded staff and follows his passion as a comic book artist.
Quarterfinalist – Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards – Season 8
When his girlfriend leaves him for not being “big enough,” an introverted engineer will walk a path of self-discovery through bodybuilding that turns into a self-destructive journey fueled by anabolic steroids, cocaine, and casual sex.
After six years in a French convent high school, a teenage girl with a pathological narcissist disorder in full bloom is released to return home in California determined to having sex with herimagined hero, her father’s best friend, the man she’s always call Uncle Chuck.
When two young up-and-coming filmmakers gain mentorship from their retired hero, they jump at the opportunity for his help completing their student film before the old man’s erratic behavior turns deadly.
A rebellious, resistant and inherently funny hell-on-wheels seventy-five-year-old alcoholic falls down the stairs in her home twice in the last two years. She is rescued by her daughter who intervenes by sending her to detox and rehab with Francine discovers that recovery will take her in an unexpected direction that offers her a chance to reclaim her sobriety and dignity after facing down her demons.
Winner – The Big Apple Film Festival
Finalist – LA International Women in Film Screenplay Awards
Semifinalist – NYC Screenplay Awards
Official Selection – Cannes International Cinema Festival
Official Selection in the Toronto Independent Women in Film Festival
After she is stabbed by an obsessed Stalker, a troubled J-Pop Idol and Her Loyal but suspicious Manager fight a curse: A Demon that kills the Idol’s loved ones whenever she feels love, as punishment for rejecting her Stalker.
Quarterfinalist – 2022/2023 The Script Lab Free Screenplay Competition
When a music obsessed graduate student discovers the members of a hot new boy band are actually bloodthirsty vampires, she teams up with friends, family, and former bandmates to stop the pop group’s evil beat.
An Atheist, desperate to comfort her dying son, tells him she will enter Heaven by his side, which leads to haunting and exorcism intended to make her keep that promise.
This film hasn’t received any awards. However, my short film, Penance, was an Audience Favorite at HollyShorts Film Festival, where the screenplay was also a Finalist.
When Nazis invade the Soviet Union in WW2, young Ukrainian flier Lilya Litvyak joins the Soviet Air Defense and fights not only the pilots of the Luftwaffe but the sexism and bureaucracy of the Soviet system to become the highest scoring female ace in history only to have her records and story buried by Stalin.
Finalist – Nicholl Fellowship
Quarterfinalist – Austin Film Festival
Quarterfinalist – Screencraft True Story & Public Domain Competition
After making a discovery at a vintage record store, a nostalgia-obsessed musician begins an on-air affair with a mysterious radio DJ, only to discover that she’s broadcasting from 1977.
The mysterious sole survivor of a small plane crash ingratiates himself into the family of his rescuer – a kind Nebraska schoolteacher and her troubled teenage son – with sinister results.
A brilliant young software developer puts her career and life in jeopardy when she fights to hold a billionaire tech titan accountable for assaulting her and stealing her world-altering code.
When his new girlfriend is accused of a felony, a former alcoholic lawyer battles against an ambitious prosecutor who is also the woman who left him at the altar and caused his emotional descent.
When Krampus discovers his former boss and toxic-bro, Santa, has enspelled the entire North Pole with dark magic, he must get over his hundred-year-heartache and return to rescue his old flame, Mrs. Claus.
A lonely neuroscientist transfers her elderly cat’s consciousness into the mind of one of her coma patients. But when the cat gets his tongue, the fur starts to fly and she has a difficult decision to make.
When a precocious 7-year-old girl, adopted by her late mother’s twin sister, receives a mysterious terrier for her birthday, they instantly bond and are joined by unseen forces to survive a deadly plot to destroy her and her family.
Senior year, a newly-questioning Muslim and a love-lorn agnostic Jew begin a FWB relationship, for their first sexual experience, but when they begin to fall in love, they must figure out if they’re truly right for each other.
When her scorned suitor shows up with an army of 300 men and abducts her into the heart of the Viking world, a semi-legendary princess struggles for vengeance while envisioning a new nation of laws that would prevent this from ever happening again.
A group of teens and their transformer spaceship form a formidable team, guided by a veteran they’re able to face the federation tyrannical Admiral and his army of cyborgs and machines.
America’s first chrononaut sets off on an exploratory mission to travel back in time. But when he returns to the present, he finds that this initial breach of space/time has set off a chain reaction that’s sent the world into chaos.
Five years after surviving a madman’s murder spree, a real-life “final girl” finds herself falling for the DP of a documentary crew dedicated to exposing her darkest secrets.
When a successful architect’s search for his husband’s misplaced wedding ring is interrupted by home invaders, his life and all he knows to be true are upended until he starts to question his identity.
An emotionally-guarded young widower struggles to find a way to connect with his eight-year-old son who – believing he’s responsible for his mother’s death – refuses to leave the house unless he’s wearing the caterpillar costume she had made him for Halloween.
Seven years after the disappearance of his son, a grieving father partners with the mother of another missing youth to hunt down those responsible—a sadistic backwoods cult operating under the radar of local police.
Semifinalist – 2023 Austin Film Festival
Recommend – 2023 Roadmap Writers Accelerator Program
Top 10 Finalist – Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards Season 7
Burnt out and disillusioned with Hollywood, a fragile and struggling actor finds a lifeline when he’s thrust into the heart of an epic guerrilla film shoot led by an infamous director.
After a bus crash, a teenage dancer caught between life and death must grapple with the father who abandoned him, his own deepest regrets, and the prospect of saying goodbye to his love – or joining her forever in the afterlife.
Winner – Fantasy Category – 2020 Script Summit
Semifinalist – Filmmatic – Inroads Fellowship Season 6
Quarterfinalist – 2020 CineStory Feature Retreat and Fellowship Competition
Quarterfinalist – 2021 Industrial Scripts – The TITAN Awards
A troubled biker and a pistol packing ex-nun rescue an abused woman and play a deadly game of hide and seek when her powerful preacher husband calls in a hitman to save his political career by burying the family sins.
A Nendoroid encounters a human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world and forms a friendship. However, their friendship gets tested when they face off against a killer cyborg. It’s Wall-E meets The Terminator.
A genetically gifted teen is forced to go on the lam when an egocentric scientist and his dying henchman, hunt him down to harvest his advanced DNA as a cure.
Invention comes with with both a spark of genius and a moment of deceit. This is the story of Philo Farnsworth, the boy genius who figured out the electronics of television at the age of 14. And the corporation that erased him from history.
In a world where state-sponsored death penalties are banned, a private execution specialist faces a moral dilemma when a family’s conflicting views on capital punishment challenge her mission.
Finalist – Fall 2023 WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab
Finalist – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards -Diversity Initiative III
Semifinalist – 2022-2023 Finish Line Script Competition
When a gallery owner with a thieving side hustle is hired to steal a priceless Mummy and take down a shady museum director, she enlists the help of an eclectic team with their own agendas and must outsmart her Interpol boyfriend.
While escaping a tyrannical wizard, a novice witch from a magical dimension ends up stranded without her powers in the least magical place of all – New Jersey.
3rd Place – Family/Teen/Animation – 2023 StoryPros
Christopher D’andre Williams & Nicole Simone Backus
Teen Horror
In a tale of supernatural reckoning, ‘Voodoomon’ follows a bullied teen’s return from death, her soul infused with voodoo might. As she seeks retribution, her mother faces a heart-wrenching choice: kill her own daughter to save the world.
Hired by a ruthless CIA asset to hunt down North Korean agents operating in Los Angeles, a burnt-out spy living off the grid discovers his target… is himself.
Comedy about a gay male couple and their straight best friends who plan a double wedding with unexpected romantic, financial and familial complications –and the world’s most take-charge wedding planner (based on my produced L.A. stage play).
When a gutsy third grader becomes the first girl to wrestle on a boys’ team under federal law, she must fight injury and animosity on her way to the State Championship.
Claustrophobic and confined to an underwater grave for stealing billions in Bitcoin from the Russian mob, a Los Angeles retail store manager has just 60 minutes to prove his innocence and save his family.
Semifinalist – 2023 StoryPros
Quarterfinalist – 2023 PAGE Awards
Recommend – Dec 2023 Barb Doyon/Extreme Screenwriting
After a big snow storm hits, a jaded New York businessman and renown holiday grump finds himself trapped in a Christmas-obsessed small town just as their famously cheesy holiday festival is starting.
Isolated for six months on a seafood processing vessel in the wild Bering Sea, a young man struggles with sanity when the love of his life disappears from the ship without a trace.
Pregnant from a sexual assault, the pro-life granddaughter of a conservative Supreme Court justice attempts to escape her forced-birth state to obtain an abortion, but gets apprehended by a vigilante group headed by her brother and incarcerated at a “Life Mall” where she must remain until she gives birth.
After being robbed of their phones and money on their first date, two middle-aged strangers must work together to get home on one crazy, awful night in Los Angeles.
A fragile woman with an unhealthy reliance on her helicopter parents gets a chance at growth and redemption when both she and her fed-up therapist are held hostage in a dysfunctional bank robbery. (No Hard Feelings meets Bandits)
The sociopathic Dr. Victoria Frankenstein brings Mary to life, and forces her to kill people for scientific experimentation, but as Mary evolves into an ethical person, she must find a way to sabotage her creator’s evil agenda.
Semifinalist – 2021 Screencraft Fellowship
Finalist – Fall 2021 Big Apple Film Festival
Semifinalist – Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards Season 7
At a clinic where troubling emotions can be cleansed, a series of tormented clients discover that the seemingly utopian procedure is an expressway to destruction.
Quarterfinalist – 2023 Filmmatic TV Pilot Awards
Quarterfinalist – 2023 Page Turner
Honourable Mention – 2023 Finish Line Script Competition
Exceptional Achievement – 2023 Multi Dimension IFF
After a female football prodigy saves a failing collegiate program, she defies the odds and becomes the first woman head coach in college football history, until she discovers an underground sports-betting plot against the team and threatens to expose it to the world, even if it means destroying her own legacy.
Best Drama – Script Summit
Best Screenplay/Excellence in Screenwriting – Twin Falls Film Festival
Best Sports Screenplay – Las Vegas International Screenplay Contest
Based on the 2004 case of Jack Irwin, a reclusive veteran is taken advantage of by two women and disappears. Without the determination of his only friend, Sandy Bailey, his case would have vanished like him, instead, it uncovered a twisted case of elder abuse and a horrifying murder in the mountains of Southern California.
Semifinalist – 2023 Austin Film Festival
Quarterfinalist – 2023 Creative Screenwriting Pilot Competition
Three unusual kids with secret mind-bending abilities struggle to contain the detrimental side effects that their existence causes society. But when their medical records are leaked, the cure they so desperately need is at stake.
Semifinalist – 2021 ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition
Quarterfinalist – 2022 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition
After a failed writer accepts a temp job on the City’s Equity Team he is quickly pulled into the absurd labyrinth of municipal government and must find his way out.
A goofy and not-always-honest attorney’s unique–and illegal–plan to have an old friend carry his baby hits a literal bump in the road when a pregnant ex appears.
Top 50 Pilot – 2023 Roadmap Jumpstart
Second Rounder – 2023 Austin Film Festival
Quarterfinalist – The Script Lab Free Screenplay Competition
Semifinalist – 2022 Omaha Film Festival Screenplay Competition
Lala and Jon – a biracial couple – are caught in the middle of an American race war. With battle raging, and a bounty on their heads, where will they run? Where will they hide?
An unhealthy accountant that’s inherited a gym from his recently deceased dad works to keep things afloat as he deals with the annoyance of his extremely fit staff and manages a health scare after collapsing while filling in as a yoga class instructor.
A devilishly-charming former Scotland Yard Inspector tries to redeem his fall from grace & dark past by working as a private detective in a quirky Cotswolds village in 1950’s England, surrounded by equally-quirky & eccentric inhabitants with secrets of their own.
Semifinalist – 2022 Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards
Quarterfinalist – 2022 Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards
Quarterfinalist – 2023 ISA’s Table Read My Screenplay
After 28-year-old James McKinnon wakes up in a field as a walking corpse, he enlists his high school best friend-turned-mortician and a transplanted police officer to help him answer the question of what is happening in their small, Midwest town.
Semifinalist – Creative World Awards
Quarterfinalist – Stage 32 Happy Writers TV Contest
When a kid’s collection goes viral overnight, she must learn to navigate the cut-throat fashion world with only her working-class mom’s help and a talking magazine cut-out of her favorite supermodel.
Seeking adventure in a divided fantasy society, a tenacious teenage girl and her friends unknowingly repeat history when they take on the responsibility of saving their world from a corrupt Queen.
A high school football star recovering from a brain injury must stop his friends and family from being infected with a sentient slime mold that threatens to turn everyone in the remote Minnesota town of Kitteritch into a single, murderous hive mind. TOMMYKNOCKERS x TWIN PEAKS
Eight diverse career struggle talented artists with personal and Mental Health issues partner up to develop a TV series to level up their troubled careers.
A homeless detective – who can only solve crimes when drunk – struggles with sobriety. Mick has 8 days to solve a murder, while living in his car. But each clue pulls a thread of mystery that could unravel the town, and cost him more than a job.
In the midst of a forbidden affair with her commanding officer, a sharp-witted transgender combat medic embarks on a journey to be true to herself, challenging old-school military rules amid internal conflicts and the complexities of love, identity, and self-acceptance.
N.E.S.S. (Nightmare and Extraction Storage Solutions)
Simon Laurence Doyle
Comedy/Sci-Fi
A government agent trained to infiltrate and extract rich clients’ nightmares must balance his debt to the mob, a suspiciously keen new intern and some rather stabby dreams of his own. Easy peasy.
Hakeem, a drug dealer and Voodooist from New Orleans, is the first spiritual son of the Voodoo deity, Obba Nani. Despite his reoccurring psychosis, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery and love, guided by his poetry and Obba Nani’s mystical teachings that bestow upon him supernatural powers.
After his estranged son steals a new tech innovation with destructive capabilities, a retired mercenary must track him down before a war is waged between a multitude of corrupted corporations.
The true story of the world’s most infamous terrorist and how he teams up with his bumbling Jihadi cohorts to evade U.S. forces and convince superstar pop singer Whitney Houston that they are each other’s soulmates.
After leaving her cheating, well-to-do husband, an ex-graphic designer opens an edgy greeting card design studio and store. When her ex opens a competing card studio she must ramp-up her edgy and take her studio Over The Edge!
Semifinalist – 2023 The Script Lab’s TSL Free Screenplay Contest
When a huge first round upset busts 99% of America’s March Madness brackets, the uptight and introvert owner of the last possible perfect set of selections is forced to navigate overnight fame, a desperate rookie reporter, and the Las Vegas underbelly, when pick after pick goes his way.
Quarterfinalist – Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards – Season 8
A former JAG attorney starts a new life as a private sector lawyer and gets caught up in a class action lawsuit against a crooked pharmaceutical company.
A bold, dark comedy that follows our main character Matthew, who’s stuck in a temp job at a call center, living with his ex-girlfriend and battling an extraordinarily mediocre existence. He eventually finds solace and friendship in the one place he never thought to look: the people who also inhabit the unpredictable world of his temp agency.
A young privileged African-American baseball scout puts his job on the line when he vouches for an undiscovered pitching phenom who’s trapped in the drug game.
A happy-go-lucky private investigator finds himself stuck between a past he’s been running from, and the hope of what the present brings. But his curious nature leads to a revelation of supernatural proportions.
A crew of desperate college journalists investigate a peaceful cult in their area. However, the more they uncover about this community, the less peaceful they seem.
The son of a famed Draconian Knight survives years of imprisonment and torture with an iron will and singular purpose – to escape his oppression and exact revenge upon those who murdered his family… giving birth to a terror that had endured over five centuries.
When the Princess of the Zombies is outed as a vegetarian she runs away from home, finding a portal into the monster multiverse and proof that her Father, the missing King, is still un-alive.
A young man crashes into his own past when he wishes for a second shot at a high school romance. A time-travelling LGBTQ+ love story, told against a backdrop of slightly askew seaside attractions, a chilling serial killer and a gaggle of elderly genies.
Finalist – 2022 Screenwriters Network TV Pilot Competition
Semifinalist – 2021 The Script Lab Screenplay Competition
A Westernized East Indian teen defies and denounces his Muslim upbringing and culture much to the chagrin of his traditional parents, who’s arranged marriage for him is in conflict with the white girl he plans on marrying.
Three siblings struggling to overcome a heinous family secret become the prime suspects in the death of a renowned entrepreneur and wrestle with the consequences of grief, guilt and growth.
Tim Schildberger is an experienced writer, script coach, and co-founder/Head Judge of Write LA – an annual screenwriting competition that gives writers a chance to get read by managers, and hear their winning script read by professional actors in LA (and posted on YouTube). He cares far too much about helping writers improve their craft and get access to the industry. Tim is an expat Australian, a former TV journalist, writer on the globally popular soap opera NEIGHBOURS, newspaper columnist, creator of a comedy/reality series for the Travel Channel called LAWRENCE OF AMERICA, and one of the key members of the original BORAT team. He has stories.
In his spare time, Tim is a husband, parent, tennis player, road tripper, and he and his family foster kittens. Seriously. Twitter: @write_la Instagram: @writela
What was the last thing you read or watched you considered exceptionally well-written?
I hate to be a cliche, but THE CROWN – sets the bar very high. Peter Morgan is a genius. His ability to tell story with and without words, and build tension in scenes that on the page might appear boring, is remarkable. THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT had similar skill, attaching us to an unconventional character quickly and effectively. Feature films – I loved PALM SPRINGS – structurally, and characters/dialogue, and who doesn’t love a woman solving the problems using education and intellect!
How’d you get your start in the industry?
I was 22, living in Australia (where I’m from), working as a trainee TV News Producer. I had applied to newsrooms, and I’d called up various TV series, asking if they needed a writer. It was a simpler time. A nightly soap opera, NEIGHBOURS, let me do a writing submission, which they liked – and said they’d get back to me. In the meantime I got the job in TV news.
One day, six months later, I got a call in the newsroom, it was NEIGHBOURS, asking if I’d like to write an episode. I said yes, obviously. They mailed me the scene breakdowns, I typed my script on a typewriter, and ten days later mailed it back. All after working a full day in the newsroom. I did that 5 more times before it all got far too overwhelming. I was the youngest writer they’d ever had, and that experience made it clear to me that writing, in all its forms, was my future.
What was the inspiration for creating the Write LA competition?
We wanted to create a competition we’d want to enter. I’ve been writing for a long time – and I’ve entered competitions large and small. I’ve won a few, placed in a bunch, and it became clear that many of the writing comps out there don’t really do much when it comes to attracting attention, gaining industry access, or launching careers. And pretty much none put any kind of focus on helping writers improve their command of craft. So our goal was to build a competition that somehow combined both goals – to help with the craft, and to help with the access.
What makes Write LA unique compared to other screenwriting competitions?
Two things I think separate us. First, we are a competition run by actual writers. So we are able to deliver a certain degree of respect and admiration for the act of actually finishing a script and entering it – that many competitions lack. We know how it all feels.
Second, we stand proudly in front of the competition. Everyone knows I’m the co-founder and Head Judge. When you email a question, it comes to me. I do an enormous amount of reading, and I’m supervising every aspect of the competition. We try hard not to be a faceless comp where sometimes it can feel like you’re sending your script into a void, and then hoping something emerges. It matters to us that the entrants feel ’seen’.
A big concern for writers entering a screenwriting competition is the quality/experience level of its readers. How does Write LA address that?
I hear that. And I’ve experienced it first hand. A script will make the Nicholl semifinals, and won’t make it out of the first round somewhere else. And then you get ‘feedback’ that feels like it was written by someone who never actually read the script, they just strung a few buzzwords together.
So to address that – I’m heavily involved in the reading process. I’ve handpicked our small team, I do a ton of reading personally, and I set pretty clear parameters when it comes to what I’m looking for when it comes to command of craft. Every script that makes it into our top 15 semi finalists will have been read by at least three different people, including me.
We give every script, whatever the genre, or whether it’s a TV pilot or feature, full respect and attention. And all the additional feedback (offered at an extra fee), is done by me personally. So there is a consistency of the feedback, and a name attached to it (mine). I’m not interested in telling anyone what I would do, I’m focused entirely on maximizing the opportunities presented by the writer and doing my best to empower them to bring the most out of their idea, and their skills.
What do you consider the components of a good script?
Gosh – this isn’t easy to answer quickly, but I’ll try. For me, a good script needs fleshed out characters, who face clear challenges – no matter how big or small. Because no matter how detailed the world, or ‘big’ the story, if we don’t care about the characters, it’s all a waste of time.
Also, an understanding of the audience experience is awesome. A writer who is aware of audience expectations, and is able to manipulate those expectations is exciting. And finally, a clear sense of where the story is heading. Not a lot of extra clutter. Just a solid story, competently and confidently told.
What are some of the most common screenwriting mistakes you see?
Misuse of Scene Description is HUGE. Using it to reveal character details an audience couldn’t possibly know. Using it to show off a writer’s literary command – with all sorts of flowery descriptions that waste time, rather than establish ‘mood’.
Not writing an outline. I’m confident I can pick within 5 pages if a writer has an outline, and a firm idea of who this story is about, and where it is going. And taking too long to dive into story. Spending page after page building a complicated world, and then finally starting some sort of story – is a big mistake. Even STAR WARS had a brief title explanation, and then we were into Darth Vader storming Leia’s ship. The rest we figure out as we go.
Lastly, I have to add too many spelling errors. A sloppy script does not inspire confidence.
What story tropes are you just tired of seeing?
A character waking up, turning off their alarm, and getting into the shower as the first thing we see. Happens WAY more often than you would expect, and is not only dull, but unwise. What viewer who sits in a darkened movie theatre wants to see a feature film start that way?
I’m also not a fan of drawn out action sequences. It’s great that you see the car chase in your head, but all a reader cares about is ‘does someone important die?’
Oh, and a shot of ‘overdue bills’ on the kitchen table. Anything but that please. I see a lot of stereotypes with the characters too – which usually tells me a writer is basing a character on another character they’ve seen in a movie or on TV – rather than an actual, flawed, complex human being.
What are some key rules/guidelines every writer should know?
What you are doing is more about hard work than flashes of inspiration. It’s less about talent than it is about grind.
Accept that re-writing is inevitable. Your first draft will not be a work of art. It’s a starting point.
Learn to receive notes as comments on the words on a page, not a personal attack, or a statement on your writing ability.
Characters are more important than story nowadays. Put the extra effort into figuring out who they are, and their emotional journey through your story.
What you are doing is brave, and awesome, and you should feel very proud of yourself every time you finish anything. Every time. Plenty of people talk about writing something. You went and did it. That’s huge and should never be ignored.
There is no work of art in the history of human beings that has ever been loved by 100% of the people. Accept that your work will not be universally loved – because humans are humans.
Details matter. Every scene matters. Every line of dialogue matters. Everything you do is conveying a message to an audience. Understand and embrace that.
Have you ever read a script where you thought “This writer really gets it”? If so, what were the reasons why?
I read many scripts like that! I read hundreds of scripts a year, so I regularly find writers who are very skilled. As for reasons, I would say the absolute, clear number one is making me feel something. I’m not alone in this. I tell anyone who’ll listen if you can make a reader feel a genuine human emotion, that is FAR more important and impactful than any set piece, world, intricate story or cute scene description. It isn’t even close.
Also, it’s fun to read scripts by writers who think about the audience, and work hard to provide us with a rich, enjoyable experience. I know the expression “write what you know” is popular. My version is “write what you know, but make it accessible to strangers.”
And while I’m here, let me add that writing what you know really refers to your emotional experience and authenticity. Not your time in middle school. If you can dig into your emotional space, which is uniquely yours, and share that on the page – that authenticity connects you with a reader/audience, and goes a long way to establishing what the industry likes to call your “voice”. I’d like to say it was easy to do. It’s not. But it’s important.
Readers of this blog are more than familiar with my love/appreciation of pie. What’s your favorite kind?
I have to say I’m a big fan of custard. There’s a custard tart in my homeland Australia – a mini pie – which is very much my favorite. But as that doesn’t really exist here – I’m going to say I like banana cream, apple, peach, and I’m a big fan of all the cobblers and crumbles too. I don’t think I’d refuse any pie that came my way.
Maximum Z 