We've started receiving some two-page scripts from you lovely writers out there. Some are great and others not so much. We will respond to every submission and do one of three things.
1. Accept the script and ask for more details about you, the writer, so we can post them on the site.
2. Offer notes if the script is almost there but, for practical or financial reasons is not something we can film without some tweaking.
3. Reject the script.
If we reject it, we will give feedback as to why. In most cases this will not be because the script is bad.
A two-page script, correctly formatted and presenting a complete story/situation that has fully formed characters and a reason that the actors and crew will want to make it. Could be the genre or a particularly gripping or surprising ending... a story they would be proud to say they were involved in and that we can push to festivals in anticipation of winning.
Given all that, also bear in mind that we intend to film and deliver this in a day!
Here are some things to avoid.
• Lots of locations
• Specialised locations requiring special access or permissions
• Lots of supporting artists
• Lots of characters - 3 to 4 max
• Lots of SFX or heavy reliance on makeup or props
• Specialist vehicles - unless you can provide free access to a fully spec'd police car/aeroplane/tank etc. (Let us know if you do though... we could use them!)
• Children (they need chaperones and extra care in vetting cast and crew - something outside the scope of our brief)
• Animals - you all know the saying...
Let's make films about characters, people we can engage with, and stories to make us laugh or cry or gasp out loud.
It's hard to do in two pages, but that's the point - challenge your skills, push your limits and let's make the magic happen!
Very occasionally we will feedback that we think the story deserves more space to breathe and may ask you to re-write it up to 5 pages long - but that's the max.