Screenwriting

From structure to content to representation to industry trends, this is the place to discuss, share content and offer tips and advice on the craft and business of screenwriting

Maurice Vaughan
Coffee & Content: Why Crime Dramas Dominate & How to Write One That Sells

Stage 32’s founder and CEO, Richard “RB” Botto, shares two videos in today’s blog.

In the first video, Jennifer Dornbush (a screenwriter, author, forensic science specialist, and consultant) breaks down the key elements of crafting successful crime dramas, from structuring mysteries to incorporating...

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Maurice Vaughan
It’s Introduce Yourself Weekend!

Introduce Yourself Weekend is Friday through Monday. Meet people, build industry relationships/network, catch up with friends, talk about your projects/goals, and share your victories (small and big).

Don’t forget to comment on other people’s posts. It’s a great way to network and show your support...

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Lonnie James
Time to Completion?

I have been diligently writing my movie script for several hours, and am on page 42 currently with a goal to be at 90 pages for a submission in the Big Break Contest. This however has given rise to a question I have. What is the general time taken by you as a screenwriter, to write a coherent movie...

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Lonnie James

Maurice Vaughan It is a Horror/Action type film with elements of religious, history, and psychological elements.

Drongo Bum

Lonnie James One-pagers in particular are a great exercise in economy. Try writing as many as you can; the discipline will almost certainly spillover into your longer format scripts and the result wil...

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Maurice Vaughan

Sounds interesting, Lonnie James. Horror Action is my favorite genre mix to write. You could post your script on your profile when it's ready. Producers search profiles on here for projects. Click the...

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Michael David

4 months

Marty Howe

2-3 months

James Timothy Lagrimas
FINALISTS ANNOUNCED: 5th Annual Feature Drama Contest

Congrats to the Finalists in this year’s Feature Drama Contest!

XIAYANG LI

CHRISTINE MILLER

VINCENT ESSID

JESSE KALFEL

JOSE DE AVILA

ROSY MOORHEAD

ROSEMARY ZIBART

MAO NATORI

RYAN L. JONES

MIKE MACKE

Let's show our support for all the finalists, and if you placed, tell us more about your script! See...

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Rosy Moorhead

Congratulations to all! Absolutely buzzing at this news :)

Maurice Vaughan

Congratulations, Finalists! So happy for all of you!

Rosemary Zibart

I admit I've been working on and off on this script DIVIDED for 5 years so it's very satisfying to be named in top ten!!!! I think everything's changed except the title.

Ryan L. Jones

Congratulations everyone. I'm so excited!

Thanks for letting us see your script

“Thanks for letting us see your script. While it was well-written, it’s not something we’re interested in developing. I found the dialogue well executed, especially in the early going, but I think it needs additional character development. (_____?_____) Thanks, again, and good luck with your writing...

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Ferdaouss Moussamih

This is helpful. merciiii. Never gotten a script rejected yet tho but it feels like a psychological preparation for me haha

Maurice Vaughan

I’ve had responses like this before, Lee Matthias. They stung at first, but they motivated me to keep getting better at writing and keep pitching.

You said, “Character development in movies emerges out...

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Bill Albert

I've got a few of those. "I love it, I'd watch it, it's just not the kind of thing I do." It can get pretty frustrating.

Drongo Bum

File it and move on.

One think I quickly learned was to focus entirely on writing, both in quality and quantity.

As soon as I sent something out I forgot about it because I was already immersed in somet...

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Maurice Vaughan
February Virtual AMAs

Set your reminders! Stage 32 is hosting a FREE Ask Me Anything every Wednesday in the Lounges this month!

From Financing & Publicity Experts to Writers, Producers, and Development Executives, these industry pros are ready to share their wisdom, experiences, and insider tips to help you crush your cre...

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Lonnie James
AI Reviews

I use AI to read my scripts for various projects and have it give me feedback and review. I feel this process is amazing for quick feedback, although I still have human Readers when available to read my scripts as well. My findings so far, is the AI says quite a bit in line with human Readers yet, i...

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Mike Childress

"Do androids dream of electric sheep?"... Not surprised "AI says quite a bit in line with human Readers" since AI platforms are driven by...human inputs. Are there legal stipulation guarantees/checkbo...

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Ewan Dunbar

I’ve read script coverage from AI and found it covered a lot of bases and could break down individual characters and the events, but it couldn’t pick up on subtext and tensions caused by what isn’t sa...

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Lonnie James

Mike Childress It will give you information on grammar, act structure, where script stories fall into lulls, and various other things. It really gives you a broad coverage of the entire script in seco...

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Lonnie James

Craig Anderson Same, plus I've had AI write test scripts off my prompts and find the story it tells just lacks something I can definitely do better. Though when it comes to structure and industry stan...

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Lonnie James

John C. Bounds I recommend trying it, even if it is ChatGPT, though someone mentioned some more scriptwriting focused AI here as well which may be better.

Tara Sandoval
What is a screener?

I had a producer respond to my query asking me to send a screener. Does anyone know what that is?

Anthony McBride

Tara Sandoval You can hire someone.

Caliann Lum

It's possible they misunderstood and thought you were talking about a film.

O-lawal Joshua Seyifunmi

A screener is usually a preview version of a film or TV show sent to producers, distributors, or critics for review before the official release.

Mike Boas

They thought you had a film to submit. Clarify with them that it's a screenplay and ask if they're still interested.

Tara Sandoval

Thank you all. He did email me back and said that he misread the email.

Maurice Vaughan
Finding Joy In Collaboration & Critiques

The journey of a screenplay from first draft to production-ready is rarely a solo endeavor. It takes commitment, openness, and a willingness to embrace critique!

Check out today’s blog to read about:

The joy of collaboration and why feedback...

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Maurice Vaughan
Video Game Studios Are The New Streamers

And Stage 32 has a webinar called "How To Break Into And Write For The Video Game Industry" (www.st...

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Maurice Vaughan

Glad to hear there's a GEARS OF WAR and METAL GEAR: SOLID adaptation planned, Mike Childress! I only played the first METAL GEAR game, but I've been waiting for a long time for it to be a movie. I did...

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Dan MaxXx

Long time ago, I met some dudes at a car show and they created Grand Theft Auto Vice City. They were talking about a live action movie at the time; I think they hired screenwriters to try to crack the first person narration game to 3rd person pov for a movie audience.

Maurice Vaughan

GRAND THEFT AUTO would be an incredible movie and hit, Dan MaxXx! There's enough in the GTA universe to make sequels, a show, spin-offs, and adult animated series. I think someone will crack the first...

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Mike Childress

Maurice Vaughan Metal Gear is a...solid (haha) game. I might have to acquire those games and the GoW ones.

Mark Deuce

Twitch is big!

Maurice Vaughan
FREE Awards Season Script Giveaway!

Hollywood "Awards Season" is upon us. Stage 32 is giving away scripts to all of this year's Awards nominated movies for you to read and study!

Reading screenplays is one of the most effective ways to sharpen storytelling skills, uncover industry secrets, and gain insights from the best in the busines...

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Awards Season 2025: Awards-Nominated Scripts
Awards Season 2025: Awards-Nominated Scripts
Hollywood "Awards Season" is one of the most exciting times of the year! The world's best actors and filmmakers step out in their finest fines to strut the red carpet amid the flashing lights and ador…
Greg Zawaski
Why pay $$ to pitch when your pitch is easily available through your profile/social media?

These people who want to find new scripts want $$ for the opportunity to pitch them.

Why don't they seek out the diverse content on this platform?

I'm not charging for the opportunity to review my material.

I am reluctant to spend $$.

Charles V Abela

Mike Childress Thanks for the info. But how you do you spot them... which source(s)?

Charles V Abela

Mike Childress You mention Ghost Writers. They will be keeping in touch with many of the ones on the French Riviera, their masters, while they continue to bank on their masters' notoriety. Jealousy ha...

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Mike Childress

Charles V Abela SimplyScripts is my go-to these days, but basically any non-shady site that comes up after searching "screenplays to read" or similar search terms....

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Michelle Dionne Wardlaw

Greg Zawaski i agree with you completely. I wrestle with whether the pitch sessions are little more than money grabs. It doesn’t help that oftentimes you don’t get your feedback in a timely manner, on...

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