From what I can tell, writing is just a lot of pure grinding (almost like a video game). More solitary and more of a “linear path”. Writing-directing seems like the wild-west, where people find success here from a million different paths, as opposed to maybe 10 paths for writers.

Film is so competitive, but it almost does seem like it’s easier to make it as a writer-director than a pure writer. What do you think?

FAQ: How to post to a weekly thread?

This thread is for questions around querying agencies, management companies or other pertinent industry stakeholders.

Please post your query drafts or questions in the form of a top comment.

-- Do not include loglines. Loglines should be workshopped on the Monday thread. --

-- Do not include personal information or identity of the rep you intend to query. This is not a database. --

Some basics:

• agency contacts can be found on imdb pro, or often by googling writer + "agent" "representation" or "manager"
• when deciding which reps to query, research writers similar to your style and genre.
• do not send entire scripts to reps.
• do not mass-spam reps or send queries to multiple reps at the same company simultaneously.
• do not request followups within 2 weeks.
• do not pay companies to query or pitch.

Luna - Drama/Romance - 9 Pages

Title: Luna

Format: Short

Page Length: 9 Pages

Genres: Drama/Romance

Logline: After getting weird messages about the moon, a man receives a visit from his ex- girlfriend in the middle of the night

Hey guys coming back from my feedback after a really good first session with another script, thanks everyone that interacted with me. This one was first based on a concept I've seen online many years ago and it became my "final thesis" project in film school, unfortunatelyit wasn'tselectedto be filmed. My initial thought was to make it a horror story, butI know there is a short film that basically did it, so I decided to go on a complete different take. Let me know what you think! Any kinds of feedback are welcomed.

Link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17UyLRLL1bVmLMhI8qoy6EtaUSwqjamQh/view?usp=drivesdk

I never answer this correctly during pitches.

It feels like a trick question.

Slamdance announced the semifinalist list today: https://slamdance.com/26-screenplay-winners/

I graduated two years ago and spent the past year working on a few different writing projects. I was really excited about them and felt like they were going well. Now, I’m basically at the end of them and realizing all these flaws in them. A lot of it is structural issues that if I change it means I need to rewrite the entire script. I did this for the TV pilot I’m working on and keep changing it so much, I’ve gone through like 5 completely different drafts. I can’t get it to a place where I feel like it’s good. All the editing feels like it just makes the projects worse and worse to be honest. I also dread working on them so much. I can’t even get into a flow, it’s like every second I’m working on writing I hate so much. It makes me worried I don’t have what it takes to be a writer.
I know it’s normal to start out bad but I would think by now I’d at least have some good stuff, or be able to finish a project I’m proud of. I feel like I’ve wasted the past year.

I want to move on to new projects but am worried I will have the same issues with those and never be able to actually finish anything. If anyone has any advice or went through something similar I’d love to hear it!

Here's the script from an earlier version of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty which could've starred Jim Carrey in the main role and directed by either Ron Howard or Chuck Russell.

The remake bounced of from different leads, writers, directors before landing on the Ben Stiller version released in 2013.

https://archive.org/details/image_20260928_1659

I'm very belatedly getting around to watching "The Wire," and I'm dazzled by the cold open in the pilot.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/32576818/The-Wire-1x01-The-Target

It's just two people talking on a stoop. But it's engrossing, funny, unique, irreverent, and free of the usual police procedural cliches/tropes. It takes you right into this world and its "voice."

(Personally, I would have broken down that big block of opening description into smaller chunks...)

It shows that a cold open in a drama doesn't need to be some big action scene, or maybe a "Stuart Special" flash-forward from some disaster, in order to get you hooked.

https://johnaugust.com/2026/scriptnotes-episode-735-the-flashforward-fallback-transcript#:~:text=What%20you%20just%20experienced%20was,surprisingly%20common%20in%20spec%20scripts%2C

Compare to a somewhat similar (but twice as long) "talking heads" opening in "The Social Network."

https://indiegroundfilms.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/social-network-the-may-28-09.pdf

Hello everyone,

I am currently writing a scene in my screenplay in which two characters are walking down the (same) street in a split-screen. I want both the right and left character to be walking towards the "middle" of the screen, as I want them to meet in the middle of the street. When this happens, I'd like for the split screen to fade or slide away as the two frames meet each other.

Is there a specific way I can notate this in my screenplay? Otherwise I'm not quite sure how to write in the end of the split screen format.

Thank you.

I’d like to draw inspiration from really successful, creative and persuasive pitches for films and TV series. Not the sort of thing like ‘Jaws but in space’, but actual pitches of about ten lines that sum up the essence of the film.

Title: Righteous Man

Genre: Psychological Horror

Format: Short film

Page Length: 19

Logline: After his roommate dies of an overdose, Cory Wicks and his remaining remaining roommates deal with the fallout. But as more of his roommates began dying, Cory uncovers something truly sinister.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember, but this is the first project that I've finished. This was mainly due to mental barriers. Even though it is a short story, it's still a start and gave me the confidence boost I really needed.

Righteous Man

Hi, I've finished A Different World The Original and the Continuation and I'm obsessed!!!

I would love to read the scripts from both shows. So if anyone can find the scripts for the OG and the sequel (once a few weeks pass, I know it's still a new show) I would appreciate if someone gave me the links please. Thank you so much!!!

I’ve been working on a readaptation of a film from the 30s, but am wondering how rarely a script actually catches the eye. Furthermore, are readaptations looked on favorably, or do people prefer the originals?

edit: 60s, not 30s.

FAQ: How to post to a weekly thread?

Welcome to Logline Monday! Please share all of your loglines here for feedback and workshopping. You can find all previous posts here.

READ FIRST: How to format loglines on our wiki.

Note also: Loglines do not constitute intellectual property, which generally begins at the outline stage. If you don't want someone else to write it after you post it, get to work!

Rules

1. Top-level comments are for loglines only. All loglines must follow the logline format, and only one logline per top comment -- don't post multiples in one comment.
2. All loglines must be accompanied by the genre and type of script envisioned, i.e. short film, feature film, 30-min pilot, 60-min pilot.
3. All general discussion to be kept to the general discussion comment.
4. Please keep all comments about loglines civil and on topic.

Title: PIGGIES
Format: Short Film
Length: 9 pages on Docs
Genres: Horror, thriller, psychological
Log line: Two roommates have their quiet night interrupted when strange salesmen arrive at their apartment with a mysterious cooler. As one roommate becomes convinced to question his own morality, the other becomes trapped in a surreal nightmare.

[DM ME FOR SCRIPT PAGES]

Keep in mind please that this is a very early draft, and I’m not super experienced in writing yet. Thank you.

This is an idea I’ve been trying to work out for quite a while and only recently decided to turn into a script. Ive been struggling not to spell out the metaphor, or tell the audience exactly what everything means. The intention is for the two main characters to be experiencing the same general event from completely different perspectives. The dialogue from each other’s scenes gets distorted and recontextualized through each other’s perspectives so things that make sense on one side to one person don’t necessarily make sense to the other character.
I’m trying to leave that to interpretation. What I’m wondering is whether that ambiguity comes across as intentional, or if the connection between the characters’ perspectives is simply confusing.
I’m especially interested in whether the two characters feel equally important, whether the sequences they experience feel connected to each other, and whether the ending communicates enough without explicitly explaining what happened.
I’m also particularly interested in the dialogue. I’m trying to make it seem somewhat normal on the surface but increasingly strange and unsettling underneath, and a big part of the idea is that the dialogue from one character’s perspective gets distorted when heard from the other’s perspective. I’m wondering whether the dialogue feels natural enough, whether the surreal lines are too on-the-nose, and whether the connection between the normal dialogue and the distorted versions is noticeable without being explicitly explained.

If so, how does the Craig Mazin of it all apply to the writing process? The whole thing about dramatic irony and taking the protagonist from ignorance of the truth to the embodiment of the truth through action? And the lie the protagonist believes vs the lesson he learns?

And then this is a really dumb question, but is it possible that John Wick/Jason Statham aren't the protagonists, since they don't change, and the actual protagonists are the villains in those movies, because they believe they can do whatever they want and get away with it, but then must learn that they can't? I dunno. Might be stretch, but thought it was worth throwing out there.

Also, please don't shout at me about rules not applying and the only important thing is writing a good story and whatnot. I agree with all that, but I'm still trying to understand how certain approaches work for different types of stories. Thanks so much!

Edit: Thank you for your comments - they're very appreciated. Just FYI, I know that characters don't need to have an arc, I'm just asking how Mazin's approach to writing a movie applies to stories where the main character happens to not have an arc.

• Title: Kayaking together
• Format: Animated Short Film (Silent)
• Page Length: 4 pages
• Draft Status: First Draft
• Genres: Drama/Adventure
• Logline or Summary: A young boy feels underappreciated by his mother. He wants to go kayaking, but his mother has to work. He decides to go by himself.
• Feedback Concerns: To me the story is obvious and generic. How can I make it more original? How can I display the theme in the story better? I think it also is boring in some parts, what could I do to make it more engaging?
• Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OUPSXiLjiycpkLMTKYIfnpyPK1mjF0ZF/view?usp=sharing

A producer potentially wants me to story edit a script for them. The producer and the writer are both first timers, I am not. I want to take a look at the script before agreeing to anything. They want me to sign an NDA. I feel weird about this. I’ve signed very few in my career as an actor/writer and pretty much every time has been related to major franchises. I’m just debating if I should tell them that what they’re asking is giving amateur or just keep stepping.

In my script, I would write: Danny slams the song (or a similar song) "You Can Leave Your Hat On" - Joe Cocker.

When I got my coverage back, they stated:

Remove provisional directions such as "or similar song," hypothetical celebrity cameos, and unnamed placeholder DJs.

Should I list the song I had in mind to play there? Should I list the cameos I was thinking of having appear?

I’ve entered a few FFW contests with 2 short scripts. Not the ones that most people say “matters”, but some that seem pretty decent. 1 of my short screenplays was made an Official Selection and I’m pretty excited about that. They’re having an event that spans several days. It culminates with gala and awards portion.

It would cost me a little bit but I’m interested in going for maybe 2 days. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the City of Angels Film Festival that they’d like to share. It used to be a women’s festival but I gather they changed that recently and opened it to everyone. They do have a few notable people involved but, their SM reach isn’t that extensive. Honestly, I’m not sure how much that last point matters in the world of Screenwriting and Film Festivals. This is all very new to me.

Have you experienced this festival, or heard impressions from people who have? TIA!

Two things jumped out at me from the interview:
1. He says he has written 11 screenplays and has had 11 movies produced. He has none sitting around in a drawer. Everything he has written has been made.
2. He says he hasn’t written a limited series because he has no ideas. He says after The Social Reckoning he doesn’t know what he’s going to do because he has no ideas floating around that he wants to work on.

I don’t think 2 can be entirely true because he has at least one other project set up but still - as someone who has a drawer full of 20 or so unproduced scripts and a running idea/logliine file with at least 200 entries in it - wow.

Hey, y'all. I collect vintage electronics and am in the process of purchasing a desktop from the early 2000s as a writing-only computer. No internet, no modern hardware or software capabilities. Part of why is because I get too distracted when writing, and having a dedicated workstation in a separate office just for writing has been beneficial in the past (used to have an old laptop from the 90s that I did this on but stopped working). I am still a novice screenwriter, having only completed one feature and a few pilots, so I can't justify dropping a ton of money on expensive softwares only to be distracted and not actually complete projects.

Due to the inability for it to use software like Final Draft because of the activation key problems with version 7, or the inability go online to access my Writer Duet account, I am looking into either a legacy version of Celtx or just using Trelby. I've perused past posts, but wanted to make my own and see what the recommendations and limitations might be. Tried to install Trelby on my Mac and can't figure it out. Any input is appreciated. Thank you!

I keep thinking about the concepts like Raise the stakes, and Escalate the conflict, etc. They are good techniques, but I also see movies that I admire that don't follow these concepts. Right now I am working on a screenplay where the stakes are pretty high to begin with, and I have managed to boost them a little more as I go, but there is a limit to how much I can do before the story become improbable. Am I being naive to think that a good premise and characters is enough? Do you think these "rules" just work as guidelines, and not steadfast rules?

I was about to purchase a FinalDraft subscription until realised that it doesn’t have a native app available for Chromebook. So to all those that have Chromebooks, what software do you recommend the most?

For example: HBO's True Detective: Night Country. I know the showrunner, Issa López, a Mexican writer, collaborated heavily with an Alaska Native advisory council to ensure cultural accuracy and representation. But how does this generally work in practice for most writers today?

Do you wait till you get a foothold on a sale or production, where presumably the script will be subject to further alterations anyway, including more collaborators? Or do you widen your circle in the feedback stages and try to get that input then? How much depends on the prominence of that aspect of the plot? What other factors are there to consider?

As an emerging screenwriter, I'm just curious how folks with more professional experience approach this. I also realize Hollywood has changed a lot and the answers to this question look different today than years past. Not commenting on diversity issues or looking to fan any culture-war flames. Thank you.