The Screenwriter's Column

RESOURCES FOR WRITERS

Screenwriting General Sites

• Scriptwriter's Network
  A Los Angeles area screenwriters organization offering programs to their membership
• WriteMovies.com
  The international entertainment portal
• Done Deal's Links Page
• Library of Congress Copyright Office

Screenwriting Tips, Advice, and 'How-To' Sites

• Wordplayer
  Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott's excellent screenwriting site
• The Craft of Writing for Film and Television
  Interviews From the WGA
• The Stephen J Cannel Seminars
  Five lectures of the award-winning producer/writer
• Screenwriter Interviews
  Screenplay Writer offers more than 150 complete interviews
• John Hewitt's Writer's Resource Center
• Writers Write
  A full service writing website
• How to Write a Screenplay
  Writer/director James P. Mercurio presents a step-by-step approach to writing your screenplay
• TV Screenwriting
  Veteran TV writer and producer Catherine Clinch presents her method for writing a TV screenplay
• Scriptwriting Secrets -- Writing Your Million Dollar Story
  Stephen Sashen's book answering formatting questions
• Writing for Film
  Rich Wilson's site
• Screenplay Treatment
  Writer/Producer Michael Halperin lays out an approach you can use to writing treatments for your feature and TV scripts
• A Few Thoughts on Treatments
  Hollywood Scriptwriter Lou Grantt
• The Elements of Good Storytelling series
  Kimberly Appelcline's interesting articles

Screenwriting Software & Software Reviews

• The Zen of Screenwriting
  A good review of software programs out there and their prices
• Final Draft
  The official site for the screenwriting software
• Screen Style's online store
  Good prices of a variety of software products
• Screenplay.Com
  Home of Movie Magic's screenwriting software
• Screenwriting Software
  Free and inexpensive style sheets for screenplay formatting on the computer
• Screenwriting Software from Cinergy

Screenplay Contests/Fellowships

• The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting
  The most prestigious screenwriting competition in the country
• The Chesterfield Writer's Film Project
  Another respected screenplay contest
• AAA Screenplay Contest
  Sponsored by Creative Screenwriting magazine, the AAA Screenplay Contest is held twice a year (June and December) and offers big prizes and access to more than 350 production companies, agencies, and managers for its winners
• Moviebytes' List of Screenwriting Competitions
  A list bursting at the seams with screenwriting competitions
• Scriptapalooza -- Screenwriting Competition

Screenwriting Magazines and other 'Trades'

• Variety
• The Hollywood Reporter
• Creative Screenwriting
• Hollywood Screenwriter Trade Paper
• Written By
  The Magazine of the Writers Guild of America, West

Scripts Online

• Drew's Scripts-O-Rama
  The best source for film scripts on the web
• Script World
  2000+ scripts, for a price
• INFlow's Screenplay Repsitory
• Awesomefilms Screenplays
• The Daily Script
• Hollywood Book & Poster Company
  For hard to find screenplays
• The Script Shack
• Simply Scripts

Professional Organizations

• Writers Guild of America, West
• Writers Guild of America, East
• American Screenwriters Association

The Business of Screenwriting -- The Industry of Film

• The Hollywood Creative Directory
  Up-to-Date industry contact information
• The Writer's Store
  For all of your writing needs
• Done Deal
  The Latest News On Script & Pitch Sales in Hollywood (and excellent general links)
• Box Office Guru
  Great stats and economic info
• Scriptwriting Business
  Writer/producer Michael Lent presents his five-year plan for scriptwriting success and writer/producer Ron Suppa fills in the gaps in your knowledge base on becoming a working professional
• Entertainment Industry
  Writer/producer Heather Hale presents a step-by-step guide on how the entertainment industry works and who has the real power in Hollywood
• The Motion Picture Association of America
  The movies as BIG BUSINESS
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Home of the Oscars

Film Schools

• The Los Angeles Film School
  Information on LA's newest film school
• UCLA School of Theater, Film & Theater
  
• List of Graduate Programs in Radio/Television/Film/Screenwriting
  (GradSchools.com)

Industry Workshops

• Glenn Bennest's screenwriting workshops
  In the Los Angeles area

Miscellaneous Film Links Useful for Screenwriters & Filmmakers

• The Internet Movie Database
  aka, The IMDB
• The IMDB Film Glossary
  Excellent list of terms and definitions from the film business
• A Glossary of Film (Production) Terms
  (Joel Schlemowitz, The New School)
• WhoRepresents.com
  A quick reference guide to & for representatives
• NALIP
  The National Association of Latino Independent Producers dedicated to helping Latino writers and filmmakers
• TriggerStreet.com
  Kevin Spacey's Screenplay Forum, a platform for your work to be showcased, receive some constructive criticism, and give your talent some exposure
• Film Threat
  Film reviews & indie news
• Independent FilmMaker's Coalition
  Film resources
• World Festival of Foreign Films
  Bringing you a World-Wide selection of foreign films on video and DVD
• The Hitchcock Centennial
  Look back at the master's work
• You've Got Reviews
  The Online Film Critics Society
• Words From Here
  An interesting site worth checking out
• ScriptBlaster
  Provides an inquiry service for screenwriters to pitch their screenplay prjoects by email
• Showbizdata.com
  Headlines & reviews
• Foreign Films.com
  A great place to find foreign films on the web
• Planet Sharkproductions
  Promoting some of Hollywood's hottest industry events
• Entertainment Executives 411
  A resource to find producers
• New Hollywood Order
  Just what the name indicates
• David Kirschner Productions
  Producer looking for material
• Filmmakers AllianceInformation on filmmaking and the filmmaking community
• CineStory
  A national non-profit screenwriter's organization
• Media-Match
  The online production crew search engine for the United States, modelled on the award winning UK site Productionbase
• Project Greenlight
  Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's site
• Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang
  (William Denton)

Basic Grammar & Writing

• GrammarCheck
  Helps you learn new grammar and writing skills
• Big Dog's Grammar
  A Bare Bones Guide to English
• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
• The Internet Grammar of English
  University College, London--an in-depth, interactive site
• Handouts on Grammar and Mechanics and Writing
  Purdue U. Writing Lab
  

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