17 Jan 2010, Posted by Asher Emmanuel in Articles,Drama,Filmmaking,Screenwriting, 2 Comments

Gold for Screenwriters: Bonus Edition

Last week I posted an article which argued one of the best ways to improve as a screenwriter is to read scripts. If you want to become a better chef you not only cook, but read other people’s recipes. Seems like a no-brainer, but I have met many aspiring writers people who simply aren’t doing this. Its only to your benefit and there are plenty of free resources out there one can take advantage of. I posted some links to get started.

If you are like me you’ve read the screenplays to your favorite movies and enjoyed seeing how a scene on screen was written on a page. Have you ever had the desire to read a screenplay first and then watch the movie? How about a movie that no one has seen yet? ScriptShadow is a blog that reviews screenplays that haven’t been produced or are in production to becoming produced. Often you can find the screenplay linked in the article, but if the screenwriter protests the owner of the blog will take it down. The vision of ScriptShadow is to bring exposure to unknown writers and give aspiring writers more access to screenplays.

There are debates whether the blog is actually helping or hurting unknown screenwriters. You can check out John August’s thoughts on the matter here. Personally, I’m transitioning to reading screenplays where I haven’t seen the movie and ScriptShadow provides such a resource.

Do you think what ScriptShadow does a help or hindrance to unknown screenwriters and the craft at large?