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I believe that most screenwriting books, seminars, blogs and other screenwriting resources don’t spend nearly enough time on teaching people how to market their screenplays. SellingYourScreenplay.com tries to bridge that gap.

When I started out in the industry I didn’t know anyone. I was just a guy with a few ideas and a dream. With a lot of hard work and persistence I have been able to sell several screenplays (click here to view my credits on IMDB) by applying the exact lessons I’m going to teach you on this blog. It’s not quick or easy and it’s going to take a lot of hard work. But if you’re willing to do the work I believe that you too can have some success as a screenwriter.

There are no shortcuts and neither I, nor anyone else, can sell your screenplay for you. Ultimately you’ve got to decide if it’s worth the effort to make a go at screenwriting. You’re reading this blog, so that’s a good first step. But that’s all it is, a first step. Now you’ve got to really dig in and start doing the hard work.
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A big congratulations to all the writers who’s screenplays have advanced to the quarter finals of this year’s Six-Figure Screenplay Contest!

There were lots of well written, exciting, original, and interesting screenplays in a wide variety of genres this year, and choosing the ones to advance was no easy task.

We’re still busy at work trying to figure out which screenplays will move into the semi finals, so stay tuned for that announcement on September 26th.

Here is the list of screenplays that have made it through to the quarter finals (listed alphabetically by title):

Feature Screenplays

A Mistlepaw Christmas (romance) by Judith Ingram
Log Line: An angel cat answers a young girl’s Christmas wish and helps her big-city aunt rediscover her hometown ties and capacity for love with a handsome local veterinarian.

Anywhere (drama) by Adam Seidel
Log Line: An underachieving Wyoming roughneck discovers that his charming scumbag brother is secretly screwing his restless and sultry truck stop waitress wife, and takes violent action to save his marriage to the only woman he’s ever loved.

Alaka’i Prep (drama) by Ross Matlin
Log Line: A houseless single mother journeys to the far side of O’ahu so her son can interview for kindergarten at the best private school in Hawai’i.

American Fallout (action/adventure) by Harry Kakatsakis
Log Line: When a global incident spirals out of control, a lone wolf doomsday prepper agrees to be the mentor for an unprepared owner of a remote gas station and finds she’s not prepared to fall in love.

Hospice (horror) by Todd Biggerstaff and Paul Gonzales
Log Line: A distraught hospice nurse moves to a rural farmhouse to care for a dying man when she finds herself living a nightmare the longer she stays and the longer he lives.

Local Talent (dramedy) by Vincent Scarsella
Log Line: A self-proclaimed TV producer disappears after convincing small-town actors and film crew with dreams of Hollywood, to raise $60,000 to shoot a sizzle reel that he can then pitch to Networks and Streamers. The sizzle is shot for much less and the TV producer then disappears.

On Time (drama) by Xavier Burgin
Log Line: Renee Johnson, a mother living in South Central LA, must make a difficult decision when she’s late for her job interview.

Only Apparently Real (sci-fi) by Michael Richter
Log Line: Philip K. Dick investigates a break-in at his house . Before it actually happens.

Purgatory (horror) by Brian Schwab
Log Line: After falling victim to a brutal and sadistic serial killer, a young paraplegic woman awakens to find herself living out the same grisly series of events over and over again.

Sad Vacation (drama) by Adam Simmel
Log Line: After deciding to kill himself, a young man travels home to reconcile with his father before it’s too late.

Tasered (comedy) by David M Hinds
Log Line: After a celebrity therapist known online as The Happiness Angel is tasered, she develops a lethal compulsion to attack her lovers mid-act. It electrifies her sex life and transforms her into a dangerous Jekyll and Hyde-type personality. She experiences the real-life taser-related disorder EXCITED DELIRIUM.

The Corpse Dresser (sci-fi) by Daniel Cooper
Log Line: A mortician who specializes in restoring the faces of the ‘traumatically deceased’ encounters an existential crisis when he finds the next body that crosses his table is himself, 20 years older, with a bullet hole in his head and an ominous message tattooed on his chest.

Short Screenplays

Grounded (animation) by Martin Tylicki
Log Line: A frog awakens to find itself trapped underneath the Colombian rain forest with no memory. In its search for a way out, the frog forms an unexpected friendship with a large tarantula.

Nets Flicks (comedy) by Katharine Rex
Log Line: Two residents of the Bridgewater Assisted Living Facility want to spice up their lives with some Nets Flicks, but first need to figure out whose funeral is coming up next.

Papa (drama) by Bella Rinsky
Log Line: A woman in her late forties struggles to accept her father’s illness and combats a tearing desire to set herself free.

Primal Magic (animation) by Heather Parra
Log Line: After losing his mother to a poacher, a young shape-shifting tiger struggles to find his way as a Guardian.

Ramona (drama) by David Woll
Log Line: No logline provided

Tattoo (drama) by Steven T Smith
Log Line: A vicious tabloid reporter willing to do anything to get his next big story learns the true meaning of “skin in the game.” It’s enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

The REVVER (thriller) by Mike Hanson
Log Line: At wit’s end with a motorhead neighbor always revving his big truck, a beleaguered artist takes matters into her own hands to finish her masterwork.

The Rusty Nail (horror) by John Acquaviva
Log Line: Two best friends on a mission go clubbing when one meets a handsome stranger over drinks and things take a turn for the worse.

This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with filmmakers Charles Guard and Thomas Guard. These brothers talk about being the Writers/Directors of the Action/Thriller Dead Shot (2023).

Topics also include how they adapted the script for Dead Shot from a book The Road To Balcombe Street by Steven P. Moysey.

The podcast is available in iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher (for Android users), the Windows Marketplace, and the Blackberry store or you can simply listen to it or watch it right from my blog.

You can also read a transcript of this episode.

Links mentioned in the show:

This is a transcript of SYS 502 – Adapting A Novel For The Screen With Charles Guard and Thomas Guard .

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Below is a list of all the screenplays that made it into the second round of SYS’s Six Figure Screenplay Contest 2023.

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This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with German Filmmaker Maximilian Erlenwein.

They talk about the Drama/Thriller The Dive (2023), a movie Maximilian Erlenwein is the Writer/Director of which was a remake of the Swedish film Breaking Surface (2020) from Joachim Heden.

Other topics include how being a deep sea diver helped Maximilian write The Dive and how he made this remake different from the original story.

The podcast is available in iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher (for Android users), the Windows Marketplace, and the Blackberry store or you can simply listen to it or watch it right from my blog.

You can also read a transcript of this episode.

Links mentioned in the show:

This is a transcript of SYS 501 – Deep Into Writing A Remake The Dive With Maximilian Erlenwein.

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This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with Filmmaker Brian McQuery.

They talk about the Crime/Drama Plea (2023), a movie Brian McQuery is the Writer/Director of.

Topics also include how Brian McQuery met filmmaker Kevin Smith and how he got his start by working in telemarketing.

The podcast is available in iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher (for Android users), the Windows Marketplace, and the Blackberry store or you can simply listen to it or watch it right from my blog.

You can also read a transcript of this episode.

Links mentioned in the show:

This is a transcript of SYS 500 – Making The Movie PLEA With Brian McQuery.

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This week Ashley Scott Meyers talks with filmmaker Anthony DiBlasi.

Our guest Anthony DiBlasi talks about his new limited location Horror movie Malum (2023) which is a re-imagining of his prior movie Last Shift (2014). DiBlasi tells us about working with Co-Writer Scott Poiley.

Topics also include how legendary Horror writer Clive Barker became a mentor for him early on and the lessons Anthony DiBlasi learned from him.

The podcast is available in iTunes, YouTube, Stitcher (for Android users), the Windows Marketplace, and the Blackberry store or you can simply listen to it or watch it right from my blog.

You can also read a transcript of this episode.

Links mentioned in the show:

This is a transcript of SYS 499 – Lessons From Clive Barker and Making Horror Movies With Anthony DiBlasi. .

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