AMPTP Kills the Waiver

AMPTP has stopped doing waivers PERIOD.

What is the bottom line about the ending of the waiver or "Guaranteed Completion Contracts"?

Indie films are really going to have trouble getting financing because they have no safety net against a strike. And the money people will not fork over the money with no assurance like the waiver.

So the AMPTP has effectively stabbed the Indie film business in the heart, to make sure that they have less competition for a smaller and smaller money supply. Cute, real cute.....

Read Nikki Finke's article about this mess at:

AMPTP Kills the Waiver

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/toldja-sags-halt-of-guaranteed-completion-contracts-hurting-indies/

Version Control

I installed a FREE version control software called Subversion and installed a FREE client software to access the version control server.

Using my scribble text files, I am able to add and update my text files with version control now.

http://subversion.tigris.org/

My screenplay scenes are now version controlled!

I can now track all the revisions I make to each scene, compare versions, roll back to a previous version, and many other cool features of version control.

Scribble

I am working on a "scribble" type of program that allows a screenwriter to write his screenplay scenes in a text file, using any kind of editor that they want.

The author embeds a code for each line like the following example:

TI|My Working Title

**|This is a comment line

SC|EXT. Car Driving
AC|This is some action
CH|This is a characters name
DI|This is dialog for the character speaking

PA|This is Parenthetical
TR|This is Transition
SH|This is Shot
TE|This is Text

Then i convert the scribble file and import it into the screenwriting software of choice.

Currently I am supporting imports into Celtx and Final Draft.

There is a huge advantage to using a scribble text file for authoring.

You can write anytime, anywhere, with any kind of computer or browser.

You don't need your screenwriting software loaded at the time you write.

Scribble text files can be versioned i.e. put into a version control system to track all your changes over time.

See the post about Version Control for more info.

Thanks to Mark Martino for this idea of Version Control integrated with screenwriting.

Celtx 2.0

Celtx is an awesome FREE screenwriting software program and I am really getting into...

Check out version 2.0, it has storyboards that integrate with the script and many other great features.

http://celtx.com/

Why is Hollywood Afraid of Showing a Good God?

To clarify, why is the Hollywood movie industry not making many movies with people that have a GOOD relationship with God?

I think I have found the answer.

If you know who Polti is, then skip this next paragraph...

Polti (1868 - ) was a French writer that did a massive amount of research to find and categorize the known dramatic situations from a survey of popular publications up until that time. He was able to categorize them into 36 dramatic situations. Since then writers and now screenwriters continue to use his list as the starting point for any plot. Some Internet writers have suggested #37 should be "Mistaken Identity" as a missed category.

#31 on his Polti’s list is "Conflict with a God".

Nowhere in his list is "Harmony with God" or any such thing.
I cannot speculate why he left this one off the list. All I know is it missing.

And since writers and screenwriters are using Polti’s list as their "Bible" for dramatic situations, this explains why most Hollywood movies that involve God come across in a negative light. Yes there are exceptions to this like "Passion of the Christ" and C.S. Lewis’s "Prince Caspian" and "The Chronicles of Narnia". I will not list the few so called "comedies" that involve God, just a bit of fire insurance on my part (insert humor here). The cynic in me says there are other reasons for the omission but I want to make my main point undiluted without chasing rabbits.

I would like to propose that we writers and screenwriters add to Polti’s list, "#38 Harmony with God"


38. HARMONY WITH GOD
A.
(1) Work with God.
(2) Accord with the believers in God.
B.
(1) Unity with God.
(2) Reward for respecting God.
(3) Reward for humility before God.


If you want a feel good story plot line, add the old #38, it will do wonders for your character arc.

Welcome to my blog on shoestring budget screenwriting

I will attempt to write about my screenwriting journey, including how to keep my development costs low and how I write a screenplay with a low budget in mind.

I am currently reading the following screenwriting books and they are helping me with the structure of my screenplays.

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

Screenplay by Sid Fields

How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make by Denny Martin Flinn