MOVIE IDEA Winner Eyecatcher by Jun Shimizu Runner-up Tis of Thee by Brodrick Haygood, Rob Alicea, & Scarlett Carmago TV IDEA Winner A-Pop by Richard Scott Runner-up Hellgate by RB Ripley
Here are some of the most notable script sales from June 2020: – Searchlight Pictures has picked up Stefani Robinson’s pitch Black Mozart, based on the true story of Chevalier de Sant-Georges. Stephen Williams is attached to direct. – Lionsgate, Good Fear, and Mangata have picked up Stephen Herman’s horror spec The Culling. David F. Sandberg is attached to direct. – Thunder Road Pictures picked up Doug Simon’s 2019 Black List script Breathe, a sci-fi/thriller. – Will Packer Productions and Universal Pictures have acquired One and Done, written by Chad Sanders and Chris Spencer. The sports drama script follows a top high school athlete who decided to attend an HBCU. – Brendan O’Brien has been tapped to script the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot for Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures. – Christina Hodson will script the next entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for Walt Disney Pictures…
Winner Killing Che by Alexander Vargas Alexander was born and raised in Miami, Florida—a mutt of Cuban and Swedish upbringing (his parents met on a dare, which may or may not be his next feature). Less than a month after graduating from the University of Miami almost 10 years ago, he took the plunge across the country to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. Not knowing where to start, he landed an internship at several production companies while tutoring kids on the weekends. Eventually, the stars aligned for an assistant position at a talent management company where he cut his teeth covering scripts for clients. He went on to other production companies and continued to plow through the weekend read, covering as many scripts as possible. He credits doing coverage as the single most helpful tool in learning how to write screenplays. He stayed inspired and motivated thanks to his supportive…
Winner X by Estevan Estevan is a queer/Latinx writer, actor, and director. After receiving his BFA in Film & Television Studies from The University of Arizona, Estevan began his career as a Manager of Television Development & Programming at dick clark productions, penning red carpet specials for live entertainment programs including The Golden Globes, E! Live from the Red Carpet at the Oscars, The Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, The Streamy Awards and more. Recently he worked as the Writers’ PA on season 2 of the Bad Boys franchise spinoff series LA’s Finest for Jerry Bruckheimer Television and Sony/Spectrum/Fox. In 2020, Estevan served as the Writers’ Assistant on Long Slow Exhale from from EP/Showrunner Pam Veasey for Hello Sunshine/Made Up Stories and Paramount TV/Spectrum/BET. A proud, gay, Mexican-American kid from Phoenix, AZ, Estevan grew up shaped by the quick wit of queer culture and the tough Spanglish love of…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from May 2020: – Jamie Lee Curtis and Russell Goldman’s climate change horror script Mother Nature was acquired by Blumhouse. Curtis will make her feature directorial debut. – Taika Waititi and Krysty Wilson-Cairnstaika will write a Star Wars spinoff for Disney and Lucasfilm. Waititi will also direct. – Paramount Pictures and di Bonaventura Pictures picked up Mattson Tomlin’s sci-fi/drama/dystopian spec 2084. – Paramount Pictures, Weed Road Productions, and The Tea Shop & Film Company are teaming for Flight. Miles Chapman’s spec is a contained thriller set on an international flight, based on an idea by Johannes Roberts. Roberts will also direct. – Paramount Pictures and Fully Formed Entertainment won out in a bidding war for Daniel H. Wilson’s sci-fi spec The Blue Afternoon That Lasted Forever, based on his short story. – Good Films Collective will produce Petter Skavlan’s true-story drama…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from April 2020: – Paramount Pictures and Gina Rodriguez’s I Can and I Will Productions have acquired Ryan Firpo’s sci-fi/comedy spec The Aliens Are Stealing Our Weed. Along with producing, Rodriguez is attached to star. – Anthony McCarten’s Whitney Houston spec I Wanna Dance With Somebody found a home with Primary Wave and Muse of Fire Productions. Stella Meghie is in talks to direct. – Lionsgate, along with Zaftig Films and Vertigo Entertainment, picked up John Fuqua and Glenn Ficarra’s zombie spec 16 States. – See-Saw Films, Anonymous Content, and Screen Australia are moving forward with Thomas Wright’s crime/thriller The Unknown Man. Wright will direct, and Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris are set to star. – David Callaham will write the live-action Hercules remake/adaptation for Disney. Anthony and Joe Russo will produce. – Paramount Animation, Hasbro Studios, and eOne have tapped…
Moviemaker magazine named Script Pipeline as a “submission-worthy” competition in 2020. Excerpt from the Greg Gilman article: “Evan Daugherty has adapted Snow White, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tomb Raider, and He-Man for the big screen, but he didn’t get his big break while working in Hollywood. He lived in Dallas when he funneled a fresh spec script, Shrapnel, through Script Pipeline’s 2008 screenwriting competition, and won. “I decided to actually fly out to L.A. for the ceremony. I had no expectation of winning,” he told Script Pipeline. “I was just using it as an excuse to visit some L.A. friends. So, when I was announced as one of the Grand Prize winners, it was a real shock.” The win helped him land a manager, an agent, and his first job—writing a draft of Warner Bros.’ Masters of the Universe film. Shrapnel became the Robert De Niro-John Travolta film Killing Season. And he also sold Snow White and the Huntsman, a…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from March 2020: – Paramount Pictures and Original Film have picked up Murder in the White House, a crime/mystery/thriller spec written by Jonathan Stokes. After the President is murdered during a private dinner, a female Secret Service agent has until morning to identify the killer to prevent a peace agreement from failing. – Over with Warner Bros. and J.J. Abrams’s Bad Robot, The Pinkerton found a home. Daniel Casey’s spec is described as a supernatural revenge-western hybrid. – The faith drama When We Pray is moving forward with Cinema Libre Studio, Fight to Fame Films, and Fast Mouse Films. The script was written by Jamie Foxx and Donald Ray Caldwell, and Foxx will also direct. – Loos Change Films has optioned Max Goodson’s drama script The Rescuer, which follows a young pastor torn between turning his church into a glitzy megachurch…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from February 2020: – Taika Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson will script the next installment in Marvel/Disney’s Thor franchise: Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi will direct, and Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, and Tessa Thompson will also return, with Christian Bale potentially joining the cast. – And in more Marvel/Disney news, Michael Waldron will rewrite Jade Bartlett’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness script. Sam Raimi is in talks to direct, while Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, and Elizabeth Olsen are set to star. – Chris Thomas Devlin will script the Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot/remake for Legendary Pictures and Bad Hombre. Fede Alvarez will produce; Ryan Tohill and Andy Tohill will direct. – Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton will star in a spiritual sequel to The First Wives Club entitled Family Jewels. The script, written by Peter Hoare,…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from January 2020: – Previous Script Pipeline winner Evan Daugherty (Snow White and the Huntsman) will script the Anaconda remake for Columbia Pictures. The original movie was written by Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, and Jack Epps Jr. – …and previous Script Pipeline winner Tripper Clancy (Stuber) has an action/comedy series over at Quibi. Titled Die Hart, the series is written by Tripper and Derek Kolstad and directed by Eric Appel, and it stars John Travolta and Kevin Hart. – Rian Johnson’s sequel to Knives Out is in development. Johnson will write and direct, and Daniel Craig will possibly star again as well. – Jennifer Harrington’s sci-fi/action/comedy sped It’s the End of Liz as We Know It was picked up by The Detective Agency and Sony Pictures Entertainment. – Robert Sudduth’s ensemble Latina female-driven drama spec Tias found a home with Will Packer…
Some of the most notable script sales for December 2019: – Jimmy Warden’s untitled bear spec has found a home with Lord/Miller (Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s production company), Radio Silence, and Universal Pictures. The horror/comedy is described as a cross between Good Boys and The Revenant, and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will direct. – Sanjay Shah’s untitled script about an Indian boy band was acquired by Universal Pictures, Marc Platt Productions, and Lighthouse Management & Media. Nisha Ganatra is attached to direct. – Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby were tapped to adapt the Skybound/Image comic book Stealth, written by Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri. Lee Daniels will produce/direct for Universal. – Anvil Pictures and Universal are moving forward with Storybook Ending. The fantasy ilm was written by Dean DeBlois and Bill Teitler, and DeBlois will also direct. – William Boyd will adapt John Treherne’s novel The Galapagos Affair…
Here are some of the most notable script sales from the month of November: Erin Cressida Wilson is attached to write The Invisible Woman for Universal, based on a pitch by Elizabeth Banks. Banks is set to produce, direct, and star as well. John Logan is set to write a currently untitled Michael Jackson biopic for GK Films. The life rights were acquired from the Jackson estate. J.T. Petty to write and direct Appetite for Productivity Media and David S. Goyer’s Phantom Four Films. The thriller follows a mother’s investigation into her daughter’s disappearance, which leads to terrible consequences. Ryan Ridley’s script Renfield found a home with Skybound Entertainment and Universal. The horror/drama follows the character R.M. Renfield from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Adam Hoff’s script Signing Day signed with Unanimous Media and Sony Pictures. The drama follows a sports agent who desperately tries to sign a coveted basketball star. Joe Epstein’s untitled horror/thriller found…
We were huge fans of writer-director Jordan Peele’s directorial debut Get Out, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we also loved his recent follow-up, Us. Unlike Get Out, which was equal parts horror movie and caustic social satire, Us’s script focuses primarily on genre thrills. That’s not to say that the film is devoid of commentary, mind you. It’s just that the themes and metaphors are less transparent. While Get Out took its influences from The Stepford Wives and its message was a condemnation of a very specific type of racism, Us has more in common with horror classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and Night of the Living Dead: The social commentary exists, but it’s obliquely referenced and open to interpretation (though we definitely have our theories). But the primary driving force instead comes from character, plot, and the typical set pieces inherent in the…
SCREENPLAY Action/Adventure The Motherfuckin Ruckus by Joe Tower & Alex Gradet – Winner JOE TOWER is a screenwriter and content manager specialized in entertainment marketing and developmental editing. He taught creative writing at Columbia College, was the Associate Editor for F Magazine, and founded the renowned Chicago literary series, Readings Under the Influence. As a producer for Hatbeard Company, he created long-time Los Angeles storytelling series, Tales Of Our Folly, as well as multiple podcasts, and helped found the theater company Barker Room Rep with director Mark Sitko. He’s written dozens of commercials, TV pitches, and is a published interviewer, essayist, and cultural critic. Over the course of his career, ALEXANDER GRADET has created award-winning graphics, music, lyrics, screenplays, stageplays, puppetry, comic books, commercials, promos and branding content for Disney Channel, Blue Sky Studios, DC Comics, and The American Museum of Natural History. His most recent credits include co-writing The Motherfuckin’ Ruckus with Joe…
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