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Nov 03 2015
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October 2015 Script Sales

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Fox picked up Brian Duffield’s spec Underwater, a thriller following a crew after an earthquake destroys their underwater station. Fox also bought Ascension, a sci-fi spec written by Shannon Triplett focusing on a scientist after Earth’s gravity disappears. Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) to possibly produce and direct. Focus Features acquired Matt King’s drama/thriller spec Boomtown about a sinister criminal conspiracy in North Dakota oil boom country. And New Line optioned Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer’s female-driven heist spec Met Gala Heist. Other script sales: – Dennis Kelly to pen the sequel to World War Z, based on an earlier draft by Steven Knight. – Olivia Milch has been tapped to write an all-female remake of Ocean’s Eleven. George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh to produce, Gary Ross to direct, and Sandra Bullock to potentially star. – 42 to produce the thriller In Darkness, written by Anthony Byrne and Game of Thrones‘ Natalie Dormer. Dormer to star, Byrne to direct. – Universal picked up Ori Guendelmann…

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Oct 23 2015
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Contest-Winning Screenplay Headed to Production with 21 Laps

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Tripper Clancy's coming-of-age comedy Henry the Second, winner of the 2010 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition, is headed toward production. 21 Laps (The Spectacular Now) and producer Shawn Levy join 3311 Productions (Table 19) at the helm. "I think for any screenwriter, the dream is to write a script in a vacuum and watch it go all the way into production," Tripper said. "With Henry the Second, it’s been a long journey that all started with winning the Script Pipeline competition. It took the script a little while to find a home, but no one ever gave up hope. That’s probably the best thing about a feature script: as long as the people involved care about it, it’s never dead." Tripper's script will be the second Script Pipeline contest winner produced in the last several years, joining Evan Daugherty's Shrapnel, which was made into the action/thriller Killing Season starring Robert De Niro and John Travolta. Other recent Script Pipeline contest...
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Oct 16 2015
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UTA and Madhouse Rep 2015 Script Pipeline Contest Winner

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A few weeks after Script Pipeline sent the 2015 finalist/winner loglines industry-wide, Screenwriting Competition winner Henry Dunham was picked up by Madhouse Entertainment (Prisoners). Agency powerhouse UTA followed soon after. "While I'm a little surprised he found representation so quick, I'm not at all surprised it happened," said Script Pipeline Senior Executive Matt Misetich. "It was inevitable. And it goes beyond writing ability--he's one of the most grounded, humble writers I've met all year. That attitude will take him far in what will of course be a continual process of collaboration. For two tremendous companies like Madhouse and UTA to jump on board is extraordinary. No doubt this will be the first step in a long writing career." Read Henry's Script Pipeline interview. SUBMIT A SCREENPLAY
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Oct 06 2015
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Life In Pieces – Pilot

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

Television has become a mecca for creativity. Nowadays, almost every company that has any connection to the entertainment industry (including E!, Amazon, Yahoo, Xbox, and even AOL) has produced or is producing original scripted series, and as a result, there is an unprecedented number of outlets for TV writers. But the higher demand makes it harder to stand out—now, when a network releases a new show, there’s a good chance another network’s already working on something very similar. In order to catch the network’s attention, original ideas have become an even greater necessity. Without a unique twist, there is little chance of going to series. Suffering from the same pitfalls as most family shows, Life In Pieces does not have the most original characters or plotlines, but the show’s conceit helps distinguish it from Modern Family and Parenthood: each episode is divided into four short stories. So instead of Modern Family‘s approach of intertwining the lives of the extensive Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan throughout each…

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Oct 06 2015
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September 2015 Script Sales

By Script Sales

Warner Bros. acquired Hammerspace, a sci-fi script written by Mike Van Waes. The story focuses on a terminally ill teenager who discovers an alternate, animated dimension while searching for his missing father. After a bidding war, Universal bought Todd Jones and Eral Ritchey Jones’ family drama/fantasy spec Humbug, an updated version of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol. Ice Cube is set to star and produce. And New Line picked up Michael Gunn’s The Virginian. The period-action spec follows a young George Washington who, eager to join the British Army, goes on a dangerous mission to conquer a French fort and save the American colonies. Other script sales: – The infamous website Silk Road is getting the movie treatment in Dark Web. Will Staples (Call of Duty) is set to write. – Liam Neeson has signed on to Byron Willinger and Phil de Blasi’s thriller The Commuter. – Jordan Peele’s horror/thriller script Get Out has been picked up by Blumhouse Productions. Peele is also set to…

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Sep 16 2015
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Nir Paniry

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– Nir Paniry, runner-up in the 2015 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition with The Coyote.  What pushed you more into writing than any other field within the film industry? Besides the love of writing itself, I think it’s the autonomy of it all. Every other job in the film business relies on moving parts. If you’re a director you need a script. If you’re an editor you need a film, etc, etc. . . . You’re reliant on others in order to start creating. When you’re a writer (unless you’re on assignment) you are completely dependent on your own mind and gumption to put pen to paper. It’s insular, like painting a picture. I can think of a story tonight and start writing it tonight. There are not many  jobs in this business that function that way. And yes, ultimately if it moves up the pipeline, your story will change and morph and become a…

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Sep 09 2015
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Howard Jordan Jr.

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– Howard Jordan Jr., runner-up in the 2015 Script Pipeline TV Writing Competition with the comedy Family Be Like. An advertising industry veteran, Howard is pursuing a career in writing television comedy. You worked for many years in advertising. Tell us a little about your background and how you transitioned into TV writing. Technically speaking, my career started at 12. I ripped ads out of magazines, rewrote, and my mother mailed them in. But it officially began when I attended masters program “slash” boot camp for wannabe advertising creatives. My first job was at a small agency in Manhattan. I worked on anything and everything. I didn’t have time, or money, to do much else. But I managed to take sitcom writing classes at night. I’ve always loved sitcoms. And I’m kind of an unofficial pop culture encyclopedia, so I figured, why not do both? However, as I advanced from junior copywriter to creative director with famous campaigns…

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Sep 03 2015
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August 2015 Script Sales

By Script Sales

Hollywood all but decided to take the month off, making August one of the slowest months for script sales this year. Summit Entertainment and The Gotham Group picked up John Gary’s sci-fi/thriller spec, and besides that: no other spec sales. However, a few other projects were set up. Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil, Law & Order: CI) is attached to star in and direct screenwriter Andrew Lanham’s western The Kid. Jac Schaeffer’s Blacklist script The Shower, a sci-fi comedy about an alien attack during a baby shower, is moving forward at Andrew Lauren Productions, with Anne Hathaway to produce/star. Finally, Sascha Penn’s thriller script April 29, 1992 was picked up by Lionsgate and Will Packer Productions. Other script sales: – Dwain Worrell’s Dante’s Inferno found a home at Warner Bros. – Reese Witherspoon to produce/star in Bill Marsilii’s supernatural thriller pitch Cold. – New Line picked up Mikki Daughtry and David Boxerbaum’s thriller pitch The Children. – Finally, Pez Candy is getting an animated movie, based…

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Sep 03 2015
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The Lego Movie – Screenplay

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

Usually, we post final drafts of scripts to give writers good examples of what to do, but that’s ignoring the most necessary, and oftentimes grueling, process: rewriting. Rewriting isn’t an exact science, if by science you mean banging your head against the keyboard and furiously hitting backspace. It’s also incredibly difficult. In most first drafts, writers are still finding the characters and themes, and by the end of it, the plot they initially envisioned may no longer support the themes or characters they ended up falling in love with. Changing one element in Act One is like pulling a thread from a sweater: you never know how long the thread’s gonna be, and there’s no way of knowing until you’re done pulling. But everyone has to rewrite. Even the professionals. The vast majority of this Lego Movie script, written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who currently have two of the best track records in Hollywood (Exhibit A,…

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Sep 02 2015
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Henry Dunham

By Exclusive Interviews

– Henry Dunham, winner of the 2015 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition with the contained crime/thriller The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (formerly Militia), which released in January 2019. The film, his feature directorial debut, received massive praise from Rolling Stone, Birth.Movies.Death, Slash Film, and other top critics. A Detroit native and Michigan State alum, Henry has written, directed, and produced his own short films prior to Standoff. Prior to entering the Script Pipeline competition, how had you tested the waters—submitting to production companies, other contests, querying managers and agents. . . ? To be honest, I never submitted to production companies/agencies blindly before because I used to intern for them and spent a lot of the time having to actually read those blind submissions, seeing firsthand how futile a process it is. You’re not getting the attention you think you are, and some kid (like me) who’s probably very tired and probably over-worked is reading your story, and…

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Aug 08 2015
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2015 TV Writing Contest Results

By TV Writing Contest Results

– Grand Prize Winner – Beechwood by Gregory Martin & Eric Beu Greg Martin graduated from Berklee College of Music in the summer of 2010, then promptly threw his clothes, instruments, and film scoring degree in a car and drove to Los Angeles. There, he was able to ingratiate himself with the community and start working as a composer for film, TV, and ads. Greg’s music has been heard on FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC Family, TBS, and many more. Eventually, Greg’s passion for film scoring started to reveal a much deeper passion for storytelling, and with his writing partner Eric, they began the process of teaching themselves the art of screenwriting. A process that — hundreds of pages later — appears to have no end in sight. Eric Beu studied at the Université Paris Diderot and the University of Washington, from which he graduated in 2011 with a degree in…

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Aug 08 2015
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2015 Screenwriting Contest Results

By Screenwriting Contest Results

– Grand Prize Winner – Militia by Henry Dunham Detroit native Henry Dunham is a Los Angeles-based writer/director. After attending Michigan State University as an English major, he moved to Los Angeles to intern at various production companies including Mandeville, Mosaic, Atlas Entertainment, and directly under producers Charles Roven and Andy Horwitz. Parlaying his natural ability for storytelling into working as a script reader, then consulting on numerous projects, he began writing his own original material, then wrote, directed, and produced the short film The Awareness. Once accepted to shortoftheweek.com, it became one of the highest rated sci-fi short films on the site and was featured on over 20 filmmaking blogs, including Vimeo ‘staff pick’, io9.com, Aintitcool.com, and Geek tyrant. The short later premiered on opening night of the Brussels International Film Festival Leuven. After winning the 2015 competition, Henry signed with industry partner Madhouse Entertainment, later getting picked up by UTA. His winning…

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Aug 04 2015
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True Detective – Pilot

By Essential Reading - Screenplays and Pilots

Anthology television has seen a resurgence recently, with such series as American Horror Story, Fargo, and American Crime leading the way, but no series has made as much of a cultural and critical impact as True Detective. Although season two has not been as well-received (the consensus at Script Pipeline is it’s still very good, but needlessly complex), the first season deserves all the praise critics and audiences heaped upon it. Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Conan Doyle popularized the detective genre with C. Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes, respectively, and Agatha Christie perfected it with Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. In the decades since, thousands of writers have contributed to the constantly growing genre (in every medium imaginable—TV, film, graphic novels, even podcasts), making it harder and harder for authors to standout. But True Detective succeeded where others failed due to its uniqueness. The show’s first season follows Detectives Rust Cohle and Marty Hart as they investigate a…

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Aug 04 2015
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July 2015 Script Sales

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It was a slower month for script sales. Disney acquired Prince Charming, a fantasy/comedy spec by Matthew Fogel about Prince Charming’s brother who has never lived up to his family name. MGM has purchased the spec script Bed Rest written by Lori Evans Taylor, a Hitchcockian thriller about an expectant mother confined to bed rest. Fubar Films optioned Bill Kennedy’s Blacklist script The Fixer, a gritty mob drama set in Los Angeles. Paramount and Red Hour films moving forward with Red Shirts, a college football comedy pitch from Veep‘s Timothy Simons and Matt Walsh. Ben Stiller to produce. Other script sales: – Paul Thomas Anderson to write Pinocchio for Warner Bros. and Robert Downey Jr.’s Team Downey. RDJ attached to star. – Hero Films and Fable House will co-produce Manhattan Love Story, a multiracial romance written by Andy Tennant, Rick Parks, and Adrien Brody. Brody to star, Tennant to direct. – Derek Connolly and Colin Trevorrow will go back to Jurassic World for the next film in the franchise. – Sony…

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Jul 29 2015
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Screenwriting Contest Winner Tyler Burton Smith Co-Writing WB Feature

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Grand Prize winner of the 2011 Script Pipeline Screenwriting Competition, Tyler Burton Smith has been tabbed to co-write the Warner Bros. horror Five Nights at Freddy's, based on the uber-popular app/PC game of the same name where animatronic characters come to life--to kill people, of course. Tyler will be teaming with director Gil Kenan (Monster House, City of Ember, Poltergeist). Roy Lee (The Lego Movie), David Katzenberg (Gremlins, It), and Seth Grahame-Smith (The Lego Batman Movie) producing. After his animated comedy feature Henchmen was selected as a top-4 winner in the competition, Tyler found management and was hired on various writing assignments, including the action video games Quantum Break, Sleeping Dogs, and Prototype 2. He's repped by Chris Goble (Grandview) and WME. Read Tyler's Script Pipeline interview. SUBMIT A SCREENPLAY
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