submitted a query to BenderSpink for an action adventure set in 1910 Alaska, they requested the script and a request from them is great news, noW we just wait and see if they like it,

First! remeber, no spell checking on this site, save it for your work!!!


it's that time of year when all the best contests are out there waiting for your dollars, and your screenplay. best advice is to cruz the web and check em out, donedealpro has the scoop, or one of the DD'rs has it on the forum. get the low down before spendging your money, above all make sure the reward is worth the time and energy.

personally I went with; Nicholl, trackingb, and a contest on DD given by Wilsonreads from scriptshadow.

still reading, or restarting again, took a month off for health reasons but I'm ready to go again.

I still read at Abbot Management, probably will as long
 as they exist. the reason? I really enjoy Tim Lambert, more so I enjoy reading scripts from new writers and always get more out of the really bad ones than I do out of the really good ones. Also, still reading about one produced script a week just for shits and giggles (some of them are [pretty bad also)

I have had some angry/upset writers let me know how much they don't appreciate the negative comments I make when I pass on a script. Fact is I try and read the whole screenplay even if it really sucks, and I keep the negative stuff to a minimum and try to explain why something does not work.

the biggest flaws for screenplays are still 1. character developement, 2. plot, story line, 3. dialogue.

keep writing

well, been a while since my last post. all of my animation spec were passed up, no big deal I'm still pushing them and writinig another one. leave it to me to fall in love with a genre that is almost impposible to sell ha!:)

finally went over the 200 mark at ABM, now I am reviewing the scripts I covered, doing some adjusting to the ratings I gave them to get them more in line with ABM's idea of coverage.

entered the Coworte contest, script seems way off base from what the producer was asking for, and most of the winning entries don't follow any screenplay standards, lots of narrative about things that can not be seen on the screen (great for a book, not for a movie) not sure if I will enter this time.

working on a couple new screenplays, and adventure set in 1910, and a horror/slasher low budget idea.

everyone keep writing. don't spell check me, cause I don't care on this blog,grammar and spelling are out the window.

Mike

Brad Kushner at Creative Management turned down King of the North, as did Levi at Mad house ent. currently Levi is looking at Encroachment. IVL Animation's Derek Reeves,  has King of the North and Encroachment that he is looking at, got my fingers crossed for this one, and my toes.

a couple more screenplays at abbot management and I will have read and submitted coverage on 200 screenplays, the vast majority of which were pretty bad to say the least. you would think that anyone considering submitting a screenplay would at the very least use proper formatting, grammar and spelling. Most of those passed on were pretty bad, poor grammar, lousy spelling and no format to speak of.

I really do not mind reading the bad ones though, reading the bad ones is a good thing for me, I learn more from a bad screenlay than I do from a very good one.

everyone keep writing
lots of white space on the page!!!

having finished 4 feature length animation screenplays I find that I like writing animation far more than live action. I have submitted two of them "King of the North" and "Keepers of the Rock" to several companies and have had requests from most of them. Currently, Keepers of the Rock is now being looked at by IVL Animation, as well as Heroes and Villains Entertainment. King of the North is with Creative Convergeance (Brad Kushner) and Levi Hawkinson at Mad House Ent.

I do hope they like what they read, these are good screenplays and would make great movies in the genre. My favorite is doomed to be forgotten and was given great reviews by some readers and managers, It was called Encroachment, but it is too similar to the soon to be released screenplay "Furry Vengeance" in fact it is eerily similar and happensd to have been concieved the same year I wroite Encroachment. since the log lines are almost identical I will do a search through my data base to  make sure I did not send this piece to anyone that has a hand in making Furry Vengeance. ( I am sure it is only a coincidence, and these things happen all the time)

any way, keep writing, wish me luck

Mike

after reading 160+ screenplays and doing the math, I see that I recommend about 9% of them, the rest are mostly passes, a few are considers. it is such a treat to read a good screenplay, not just a good story, but a well formatted piece of work that is almost marketable as is. (wishing most of my own were this good)

not sure if 9% is a good number to recommend, but after reviewing these, I find that they are still the same, great screenplays with wonderful stories and great characters. 

I have at least accomplished a few of my own writing goals. I finished my fourth animated feature, and now have 20 finished feature length screenplays in my library.

everyone keep writing
lots of white paper.

I've finally covered over a hundred screenplays now, not a great feat, but a tiring one. I would not have believed that reading screenplays and giving coverage would make a man tired, but it did. it could be that reading bad screenplays made me tired, because I really enjoyed reading the good ones, though they were few and far between.

everyone keep writing, lots of white paper please

reading is tough, especially when you consider the feelings of the writer you are covering. I have read a few screenplays from writers that use English as a second language, and it is amazing that they can sit down and craft an entire screenplay. unfortunately the grammar, spelling and jut the use of the language is so bad that the screenplay could never be submitted and truly considered. I often suggest the get someone fluent in the English language to rewrite the screenplay, because many times the premise is a good one.

then I get those that have been typed on a typewriter that is in derious need of a good key cleaning! I would rather read a bad screenplay than one that kills my eyes because part of the letters are either missing or extra bold.

overall, the failure rate so far is about ten to one, there are a few consideres in there, if the writer did enough more work to change the screenplay.

the thing I hate most! why can't a writer comply with the industry standards. I see everything from landscape pages to comic sans 36 fonts. come on, this is rediculous considering all the free information out there on the net, there are whole sites dedicated to helping a new writer turn out a good screenplay, and most of them are free.

Out of the 25 screenplays I have read and supplied coverage on, 1 was a reccomend, and three were consider. all the rest has such obvious problems that there was no way to rewrite them and make them into simething better. the bulk of the problem was that the writers just did not understand basic screenplay format. I saw everything from courier 24 to times new roman to italics and massive bold blocks of text. I find it hard to believe, with all the free screenwriting resources on the net that someone would not avail themselves of this and at least conform to the standard format. There were also mnay other mistakes, camera directions were on every scene, numbered scenes or characters, pretty little starts printed to the right of every line of text. then there were blocks of dialogue of action that ran on for pages and pages, so much so that the reader just wanted to die, rather than continue. I always ask the question, why would you want to shoot yourself in the foot on the fisrt page of your screenplay? I don;t get it, use the free stuff that is out there for everyone to see. spelling and grammar come in a close thrid for problems, I don;t pay any attention to the spelling or grammar on this blog, and I don;t care! but in your one shot at fame and fortune? come on, get with it and read, and learn what you are sup[osed to do, and how to do it.

keep writing, lots of white paper.

oh yes, I am still waiting on a read for my own stuff...

It is a wonderful thing to run across a screenplay that is written in the correct format, and it would amaze most would be screenwriters, how many people send in scripts that don't even come close to being in the right format. As a reader, I see everything from wrong font, to a script riddled with camera directions, to just horrid examples of writing. It is hard to believe that some people think that a good screenplay is a bunch of special effects. Many writers do not understand how to make their characters alive and real, many think that a fight, or a battle, or a love making fest gives life to their otherwise flat 2D characters... it doesn't. Dialogue is the kicker for characters that the reader and audience will fall in love with or hate. After all, we are striving for realism aern't we? writers should sit on a bench soemwhere and listen to the way people talk, none sound like robots, or have perfectly phrased answers to questions, they just talk. Out of the last bunch of scripts, only 2 had real dialogue, they had a few other flaws, but nothing major, nothing that a good rewrite would not fix. When your dialogue is bad, everything else about the screenplay is bad, and it is sure to get a pass from anyone reading it.
well, this is just my two cents, and yeah, I do not spell check my posts so don;t tell me about it.


keep writing, lots of white paper.