Internet script sites

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There seem to be plenty of sites that post screenplays or pitches to be reviewed by site users or put into competition, like Trigger Street and Zoetrope Studios. But it occurs to me that it's a perfect way to have your really good ideas stolen, or have someone jump the bandwagon and get into production before you do. What does everyone think? Are these things worth entering?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]There seem to be plenty of sites that post screenplays or pitches to be reviewed by site users or put ... someone jump the bandwagon and get into production before you do. What does everyone think? Are these things worth entering?[/nq]
Tough call. It all comes down to controlling the exposure of your work.

Personally I prefer to polay my cards a lot closer to the vest. Now you may say "Ah, but you're already working and already have an agent." But I felt that way before I was working and had an agent too. Nothing as old news as a script that's been seen and passed on by everyone.

"If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."
Elmore Leonard

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There seem to be plenty of sites that post screenplays or pitches to be reviewed by site users or put ... someone jump the bandwagon and get into production before you do. What does everyone think? Are these things worth entering?[/nq]
Well, I don't think that it's a matter of somebody grabbing your idea and going into production before you do.
The real issue comes down to viewing your screenplay as a commodity specifically as a commodity that has value.
And when you've been in the business awhile and you send out a spec, essentially the first question you're going to hear from anybody will always be, "Where has it been?"
Part of what makes a screenplay presuming that it's good and has, at its heart, a good idea valuable, is it's rarity. A buyer wants the sense that he's got something that nobody else, or virtually nobody else has seen or had access to.
The last thing that a potential buyer wants to hear is that the script that he's reading has been posted (essentially published for free) on the web and that essentially anybody might have seen it, read it, copied it that, basically, you gave it away.
Because, when you, the copyright holder, posts something in a public forum where hundreds of thousands of potential readers have free access to it, and could download and redistribute it, that's what you're doing. You're giving it away.
Just as if you printed hundreds of copies and just handed them out indiscriminately to anybody who wanted one.
That doesn't strike me as ever really being a good idea, whether in the context of Zoetrope or Trigger Street or anyplace else. If you are interested in having your work read and reading other peoples' work as a learning experience and you don't come with any expectation that your work will ever sell, then fine. As a process for perfecting your skill, then I suppose that process of critiquing and having your work critiqued might have some value.
But as a means of selling your work, I think it is very far from the optimal means of going about doing it.
Far better to target companies that are appropriate to the kind of screenplay that you've written, do your homework, call them, pitch to the appropriate people, and send them your screenplay.

NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There seem to be plenty of sites that post screenplays or pitches to be reviewed by site users or put ... someone jump the bandwagon and get into production before you do. What does everyone think? Are these things worth entering?[/nq]
Those sites have always struck me as inherently dangerous. I've posted my screenplay to only one site that I trust, which only makes it available to legitimate producers, and I am notified of every single one that views it.

The thing I've noticed after reading several scripts on places like Trigger Street is that a lot of them just seem blatantly amateurish, and in some cases downright childish (as well as some of the "reviews"). As if they were written by inexperienced teenagers trying to sell their little story. Granted there are a few good ones, but I've never liked the idea of making a "good" screenplay visible to pretty much anybody. Too risky.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]There seem to be plenty of sites that post screenplays or pitches to be reviewed by site users or put ... someone jump the bandwagon and get into production before you do. What does everyone think? Are these things worth entering?[/nq]
Ideas have little value. What does have value is a fully realized completed screenplay. And, if it is copyrighted and registered with the WGA (W/E) then you are safe.
One wise person told me the best thing that can happen is to have your script stolen and produced.
Think about it.

The Entertainment Industry Network
http://www.dwacon.com/ein

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Ideas have little value. What does have value is a fully realized completed screenplay. And, if it is copyrighted and ... told me the best thing that can happen is to have your script stolen and produced. Think about it.[/nq]
Sure. And if they've changed enough of it for the courts to deem it non-similar, you're ***. I'd rather be able to tell potential buyers that either no one else has seen it, or only a select few other producers have seen it (and provide the names).
Btw, who was this wise person?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Ideas have little value. What does have value is a ... to have your script stolen and produced. Think about it.[/nq]
[nq:1]Sure. And if they've changed enough of it for the courts to deem it non-similar, you're ***. I'd rather be ... or only a select few other producers have seen it (and provide the names). Btw, who was this wise person?[/nq]
Art Buchwald.

She wondered, ?what is he chewing on??
And suddenly, she realized...
www.cafepress.com/dwacon

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Sure. And if they've changed enough of it for the ... (and provide the names). Btw, who was this wise person?[/nq]
[nq:1]Art Buchwald.[/nq]
Ah. Guess that makes it obligatory.

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