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| The Screenwriting FAQ |
WELCOME TO THE
F.A.Q.
(FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS)
FILE
FOR
SCRNWRIT
The purpose of the F.A.Q. is to address some of the most often posed inquiries that SCRNWRIT (motion picture and television screenwriting E-Mail discussion list) receives.
The document you are reading now contains a chapter by chapter list of all the material currently available. You may access each chapter and either read and/or down load as you desire.
By reading the entire F.A.Q. you can "catch up" with the regular contributors to SCRNWRIT and get a better grasp of some of the matters discussed there. The F.A.Q. will also introduce you to some of the SCRNWRIT participants. You'll find a lot of excellent information here mixed with humor and common sense.
The topics covered in the F.A.Q. are:
I. Art vs. Commercialism
II. Agents
A. The Basics Of Getting An Agent
1. Part 1
2. Part II
B. Step By Step Of Getting An Agent
C. Querying Agents
1. How to Start
2. A Hint
3. Some Percentages
4. Cover Letter
5. Registration #
D. One Agency
E. Small vs. Large Agency
1. (Part I)
2. (Part II)
F. Agents and Money
1. Reading Fees
2. 10%
G. Canadian Agents
III. Books
A. Craft of Screenwriting
B. Biographies of & Interviews With Screenwriters
C. Published Scripts
D. Marketing Screenplays
E. Business of Hollywood
F. Misc.
G. Book Stores
IV. Brads
V. Contests and Fellowships
A. Commentary
B. Contest Book
C. Contests & Fellowships
1. America's Best
2. Austin Heart of Film Festival
3. Chesterfield Film Company
4. Christopher Columbus Screenplay Discovery Awards
5. Walt Disney
6. Nevada Motion Picture Economic Development
7. Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
8. Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema
Screenwriting
9. Southwestern Writer's Workshop
10. Sundance Institute
11. Texas World Video
12. Warner Bros./Lorimar
14. Writer's Workshop
15. WorldFest Charleston
16. WorldFest Houston
17. T.W. Wharton Screenwriting Awards
18. Claddagh Films Annual Script Awards
19. Cyclone Productions - Screenwriter's Project
20. H.B.O. Screenwriter Project Contest
VI. Copyright/Registration
A. Basics
B. Copyright Protection Explained
C. Copyright Info - On Line
D. WGA Registration
VII. Legal Matters
A. Danger Signals
1. A Deal But No Money
2. Partnership Agreements
B. Standard Release Forms
1. About Release Forms
2. One Example
3. Two Other Examples
4. A Fourth Example
C. Rights for a Sequel
D. Buchwald vs. Paramount
E. Parody
F. Fair Use
VIII. Magazines
A. American Cinematographer
B. Box Office
C. Creative Screenwriting:
D. Drama-Logue
E. FilmMaker
F. Film & Video
G. Hollywood Scriptwriter
H. InMotion Film & video
I. Markee
J. Movieline
K. New York Screenwriter
L. Premiere
M. Science News
N. Scenario (The Magazine of Screenwriting Art)
O. WGA Journal
P. Wired
Q. Writer's Digest
R. The Writer
S. Screenwrite Now! Magazine
IX. Misc.
A. Lies My Agent Told Me
B. What Does A Script Consultant Do?
C. What Does A Script Reader Do?
X. Options
A. The Basics
B. Options - Details
C. Option $$$
D. Free Options
XI. Script Sources
A. Book City
B. Hollywood Scripts
C. MagicImage Filmbooks
D. Script City
E. The Write Stuff
F. Scott Moskal
G. ftp Sites
H. Notes
XII. Script Format
A. Intro
B. Format Book
C. Screenplay Elements
D. Universal Studio's Format
E. Nicholls Fellowship Format
F. Type Font
1. Point and Pitch
2. Point =
G. Master Scene Style
1. The "How" of Master Scene Form
2. The "Why" of Master Scene Form
a. Part I
b. Part II
c. Part III
H. Format Variations
1. S'MORES and CONTINUEDs
2. Contradictions
a. Part I
b. Part II
3. Centering Character Names
4. One Script Reader's Standards
I. Titles On Spine
1. Part I
2. Part II
J. Script Covers
1. Part I
2. Part II
3. Part III (Plus Title Pages)
K. Animation Script Format
L. Simultaneous Dialogue
M. We See/We Hear
N. X's
O. Bottom Line Format Points
XIII. Seminars and Workshops
A. Gotham Writer's Workshop
B. The International Film & TV Workshops
C. Robert McKee's Story Structure
D. The Screenwriting Center
E. Writers Book Camp
F. Truby's Writers Studio
XIV. Software, E-Mail, BBSS
A. Software
1. Script Writing Programs
a. Overview
b. Final Draft
c. Movie Magic
d. Macro Concepts (MS Word add-on)
e. Movie Master
f. PlayWrite
g. Scriptor
h. ScriptThing
i. Scriptwriting Tools
j. Scriptware
k. Opinions
(1) Final Draft for Mac # 1
(2) Final Draft for Mac # 2
(3) Macro Concepts (MS Word Mac)
(4) Movie Master # 1
(5) Movie Master # 2
(6) Scriptor
(7) ScriptThing
(8) Scriptware
2. Story Construction/Assistance Programs
a. Collaborator
b. Corkboard
c. Idea Fisher
d. PLOTS UNLIMITED
e. Storyline Pro
f. Dramatica
g. Example - Idea Fisher
h. Opinion
(1) Corkboard # 1
(2) Corkboard # 2
(3) Dramatica
3. Other Computer Programs of Interest
a. MovieBuff
b. Quotez
c. Storyvision
d. Storyspace
B. E-mail Lists
1. Writers Discussion Lists
a. Screenwriters and Playwrights Page
2. Other E-mail Addresses of Interest
a. LISTSERV list information home page
b. ftp Site for Copyright Info
c. Movie DB gopher
d. Buena Vista Pictures Marketing
e. An Interesting Group
f. Purdue University Writing Lab - Online
3. E-mail codes
C. BBSS
1. Writer's BBSS
XV. WGA
A. WGA Addresses
1. WGAw
2. WGAe
3. WGC
B. Registration of Scripts
C. Registration #
XVI. Writing Tips
A. Some Basics
1. Newbie Questions
2. Getting Started
3. Where Do You Get Your Ideas From
4. Common Problems
5. The Treatment and the Spec
6. The Ultimate Writer's Block Solution
7. When to Stop
B. Things on Paper
1. End of an Act
2. Outline 1
3. Outline 2
4. Map For A Screenplay
5. Accent in Dialogue
6. Character Intro & BEAT
7. Backstory
8. Beat Sheet
9. Tightening Character Relationships
10. Becoming A Major Writer
11. Success
C. Network Writing
1. Married With Children Info - I
2. Married With Children Info - II
3. Bibles & Episode Guides
4. Writing Teams
D. Major League Tools
1. Grisham's 10 Commandments
2. Other Writer's Lists & Tips
3. Stanley's Script Rules
4. The Moral Question
5. Story Paradigms
6. Road Blocks To Love
7. 37 Dramatic Situations
8. Novel Into Scripts
a. One View
b. Another View
E. Putting It Out There
1. Query Woes
2. Synopsis
3. Log Lines
4. The Pitch
5. Marketing Tips
a. Method Tips #1
b. Method Tips #2
F. One Last Word
1. The Muse -- On Call
> Whenever you see this mark at the left edge of a page
> it means the contents of that line are repeated from someone's
> previous message.
(The information here comes from many different respondents
and as often as possible the individuals are credited for
their contributions). The file is updated as often as the
list owner (Jack R. Stanley, Ph.D.) can [or feels like it
at the time ;-} ].
