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What's New, BlueCat?                                          
The Official Newsletter of the
Bluecat Screenplay Competition   


August 20th, 2013

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
2014 Call for Entries
We are now open for submissions!

Official Call for Entries
Next Deadline: Thursday, September 1, 2013
Entry Fee: ($60 Features, $40 Shorts)
All entry fees increase after September 1.

This year, BlueCat establishes one of the largest cash prizes in the world for a Short Screenplay, with a Grand prize of $10,000, along with an increase in our Feature prize to $15,000.

Students will be eligible to submit their short screenplay at a discounted rate of $29 for the duration of the competition.

 

Each Short Screenplay submission will receive one written analysis, while each Feature Screenplay entry will receive two.


All submissions will be eligible for a Resubmission entry if received by the October 15th deadline.

 

Best Feature Screenplay

 $15,000 Grand Prize
Four Finalists

$2,500 Prize

 

Best Short Screenplay

$10,000 Grand Prize

Three Finalists

$1,500 Prize

 

The Cordelia Award

Best Feature Screenplay from the UK

$1,500 Prize

 

The Joplin Award

Best Feature Screenplay from outside the USA, Canada or the UK

$1,500 Prize

 

 SUBMIT YOUR SCREENPLAY

Recent achievements by BlueCat Alumni include:

  • Young Il Kim's script, RODHAM, a 2012 Blacklist Script, recently attached director James Ponsoldt (THE SPECTACULAR NOW). Young recently won the 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Commissioning Grant from Sundance, where he will write a biopic on Stephen Hawking.

  • Elijah Wood produced Ana Lily Amipour's A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, set for release in late 2013.

  • Aaron Guzikowski's PRISONERS, starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Melissa Leo, will be released September 2013.  The Sundance Channel recently bought Aaron's TV pilot, THE DESCENDANTS, making it their second scripted show after RECTIFY.

  • Ashleigh Powell sold her script, SOMACELL, to Warner Brothers, with David Goyer attached to produce.

  • SOMACELL, along with RODHAM, were two 2012 Blacklist Scripts written by BlueCat Alumni.
2014 Title Contest  
Quarter-Finalists
 
Every year, the BlueCat Screenplay Competition holds a Title Contest for all of our early submissions. All entries submitted by August 1st were eligible.

Out of the 1847 submissions BlueCat has already received, we selected the following 130 Quarter-Finalists. 

 

All entrants will vote to determine our Semi-Finalists, which will be announced next week. The Top 3 Winners will receive $250 each. 

 

Congratulations to our Quarter-Finalists, and thanks to everyone who submitted.

 

 

8 Ways  (my Mother was Conceived)byMichaela Di Cesare
A Gringo HoneymoonbyDavid Blake & Alexandra Debricon
A Homeless HousewarmingbyCurt Kirkhoff and Khoa Pham
A Love So LoudbyHeather Ferrell
A Morning Like No OtherbyPedro Santos
A Second Last BreathbyAmanda Creiglow
A Sort of HomecomingbyJason Hancock
A Succession of Ordinary DaysbyMatthew Haynes
Accordian Boy - Life And Times OfbyWilliam Golych
All The Way With LBJbyRandy Schubring
Alone To.get.herbyFrancine Obum
American BuddhabyAndrew Quinn
An Australian Psycho In DixiebyMatt Torina
Anything but NormalbyMicele L Kirby
Apocalypse... When?byGreg Dorchak
Asshole by ChoicebyAnil Gonnabathula
Backstabbing BettybyKimberley Sutton
Bad Night WorsebyNate Early
Beyond the Badge 
byRobert Carl Johnson
Big BrothelbyPaul Staples
Birth of a MotherbyJulia Woods
Blind and DangerousbyLeon Tidwell
Blue BloodbyBastiaan Koch
Breakfast at Gerardo'sbyKim Nunley
Broadcasting SexbyJohn Arnold
Brothers in ArmsbyTom Moriarty
Brownstone FolliesbySuzanne Griffin
Budd & SpiffbySeth Newton
Bullets & MenbyBrando Keoni Bowthorpe
Bury 'Em DeepbyStephen L. Stafford
But Jesus' Mother Was Only 14!byWayne Dean
Cadillac Dreams 
byDAVID LEWIS
Camp WishawaybyShauna Becker
Carnival of EmotionsbyMadeline Ortiz Mendez
Cash and QuinnbyMiriam Tenner
Casualty of LovebyErik Santos
Chasing BugsybyOla Hall
Children of the SkybyJamie Duneier
Coney Island WhitefishbyBart Teracino & Dan Spellacy
Continuity ErrorbyEdward O'Neill
Cool Rockin' JesusbySteven Ray Brooks
Cracks In Her MakeupbyLeon Kelly
Darkness in ParadisebyJames E. Pendergast
Dating PicassobyNicole Barrett
Dead Men Will RisebyConnor Twigg
Death & The Pizza GuybyDaniel Rogers
Do These Jeans Make My Ass Look Big?byAlec Peters
DreamRbyGil Weinberg
Drinking In ChurchbyKieran Angelini
Drunken Rat BastardsbyLuis Cordoba
Elves Gone Wild 
bySandi Craig
Essentially AmericanbyBrad Staggs
Fat YearbyMarcy Jarreau and Jessica Stickles
Fathers, Sons and Green BeansbyKathleen Twombley
Fountain of RuthbyDante Savoy Love
From SomewherebyTim Shaw
Frying Bacon with Aaron CohenbyNadia Anatolia Selvaggi
Fuck. I'm in my Thirties.byJill Rasmussen
Funny How it HurtsbySarah Zimmerman and Grace Pushman
Gumbo & HashbyJonathan Chauser
Guns and ButterbyAdam Vander Schaaf
Halloween JenkinsbyMatt Black
Hitting the MattressesbyMichael J. Schrader & David W. Strom
Hopeless HeroesbyDee Chilton
Hush The Moon Is SleepingbyJohn  Preuss
If It Happens Again I'll Kill YoubyLisa Jay
If The Trees Could TalkbyMichael Weinstein
In Between the Shades of TruthbyDelilah Karenina Gámez
In Kevin McConnell We TrustbyMark von Sternberg
It's a Fuzzy SituationbyJoseph Kotisso
Larry Gone DemonbyMatthew John Lawrence
Leaving GracelandbyTracey Lion-Cachet
Lies To Get Laid BybyTorkjell Stromme
Life Is GaybyBrad Raucci
Little George: The Goat SuckerbyBill Daley
Long Way from TexasbyTim Fitzharris
Love and Death on Waterloo BattlefieldbyGabriele Dado'
Man, I Feel Like a WomanbyJordan Imiola
Memories of a Forgotten LovebyMohammad A. Nawaz
Motor City BurningbySean O'Reilly
Mustard Seed Kids 
byMICHAEL MCCLENDON
My Purple Bicycle of InsanitybyCurtis Torchia
No Rhyme... No ReasonbyDawn and Kathryne Leak
Nobody In My Family Has SexbyCarol C. Farrand
Nobody's DarlingbyMatthew John Lawrence
Nurse Roberts and the Five Cent SongbyEileen-Rita Folwell
Odyssey of TruthbyMichael J. Tucker
Of Wolves and Men 
byRobert Dan O´Neill
Once, Before I Knew YoubyDavid Anthony
One Second ChancebyFrank S. Ramisch
Operation Love FestbyAnthony Ecclissi
Painful Beautiful SexbyJeff Aron Lable 
Play within a PlaybyEllie Pyle
Pretty Ugly ThingsbyKate Maracle
Product of a One Night StandbyLisa S Smith
Rachel Within Richard 
byLINDA ALGAZI
Reeling In The YearsbyRoddy Forsyth
Requiem for a Beauty QueenbyWayne Coughlin
Rescuing SupermanbyLois Wickstrom
Rolling DarkbyPaul J. Williams
Runnin' With The DevilbyJustin Briggs
Scandinavian RhapsodybyJennifer Hahn
Sex, Drugs & Spiritual EnlightenmentbyKyle Bostian
Skiing with ShakespearebyJulian Mountfield
Soup SandwichbySabrina Siebert
Southern DiscomfortbyMatt Torina
Stick it to The Man?byMatthew Scheer
Student (Getaway) DriverbyNick Scown
Sunday MourningbyTony Sarrecchia
SWAParazzibyJohn Woodard
Take Your Grandma to Work DaybyDavid Ngo
The Art of Falling in LovebyRandall Barber
THE DEAD CAN'T HUNT YOU DOWNbyLee Matthew Goldberg
The Death of ChristmasbyLowell Smith
The Devil's JokebookbyPhil Clarke Jr.
The Graveyard GirlbyJamie Michael Perrington
The Legend of Slink E. Weesel 
byMichael Pallotta
The One. The Only.bySharon Goldner
The Postman's LetterbyEllen Johnson
The Sunny Side of DownbyLuke Nuto
The Ugliest Woman in the WorldbyAmina Kearney
The Vegan and the BeastbyJodi Lustig
Three Bed, One BathbyTanner Bean
Turn Your Head And CoughbyBarry Kelly
UNPLUGGING AUNT VERAbyAngela Page
Walking CitiesbyAnna Abrashina
Welcome to the Real WorldbyGary J Collins
Winning Isn't AnythingbyRich Ehrenreich
You Don't Know DickbyChristine Lucas
Zen and the Supermarket Sample LadybyScott Burton
The Screenwriters of SPECTACULAR NOW 
On creating realistic characters, and dealing with executives     
Scott Neustadter (left) and
Michael Weber (right)
Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber are a pair of indie screenwriters that are on a hot streak that started with (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, led to another hit this summer, and will continue with four more upcoming adaptations.

The first interview features Michael Weber discussing the process of crafting realistic teenage characters in their latest script, THE SPECTACULAR NOW.

From TheWeek.com:
"The duo...have crafted a script that's far more complex and fully realized than the average teen drama."

The second interview features both writers discussing adaptation, collaboration, and advice for executives.

From StudioSystemNews.com:

"Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, the screenwriting partners who debuted with the surprise indie hit, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, are back with THE SPECTACULAR NOW, a subtle, deeply felt look at teen love and disillusionment. Neustader and Weber have made a name for themselves as scribes with a knack for character; something highly sought-after in development circles."
Long Lost Orson Welles Film Recently Found in Italy    
TOO MUCH JOHNSON 
  

Last week we shared a clip of Orson Welles delivering a talk to a French film class. This week, we thought we'd share the news (in case you haven't heard) about a recent discovery of a Welles film that predates CITIZEN KANE by two years.

The film stars Joseph Cotten, and is described as "...a very significant piece of the jigsaw of Welles' art." 
 
From the Los Angeles Times: 

"A 35mm nitrate work print of TOO MUCH JOHNSON was recently found in a warehouse in Pordenone, Italy, by staff at Cinemazero, the film exhibition organization that partners with Cineteca del Friuli for the city's annual silent film festival, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto." 
Writing Tips from Famous Writers
BuzzFeed    

BuzzFeed sure can compile lists. Every once in a while, they can provide something useful for a writer. Case in point: "30 Indispensable Writing Tips From Famous Authors."

From BuzzFeed:

"Writing is easy: All you have to do is start writing, finish writing, and make sure it's good. But here's some vastly more useful wisdom and advice from people who seriously know what the hell they're talking about."

40 Foreign Films to Watch Instantly
From GearPatrol.com
 
It's been a while since we've had any streaming suggestions to share, but with help from GearPatrol.com's "Streaming Cinephile," the drought is over.

From GearPatrol.com:

"In the golden age of the so-called 'art cinema', college-aged cineastes and middle-aged professorial types needed only to congregate at the local repertory theatre for a fix of the latest and greatest in international film...[Now] a vast library of international movies are available to watch instantly with the stroke of a keyboard, granted they're already paying for access to services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime...You too can become a film snob - with very little actual work."
 
Selected Script:  

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER     
Written by Scott Neustadter
& Michael Weber   
 
40 Filmmaking Podcasts You Should Listen To
From Filmmaker IQ 
 
If you don't have a group of local filmmakers to talk shop with, the internet provides a slew of great alternative.

With thanks to FilmmakerIQ, here's a long list of filmmaking podcasts that are sure to provide enough discussion to get you through every day of the week.

40 FILMMAKING PODCASTS 
Video Interview: Danny Strong
Writer of LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER
Danny Strong Describes His First Screenplay
Danny Strong Describes His First Screenplay
Danny Strong, another actor-turned-screenwriter, has hit his stride when it comes to his writing. With LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER out now, Strong will also serve as writer for two installments of the HUNGER GAMES series.

Go Into the Story recently posted a collection of videos from Big Think, featuring Strong discussing his writing.

From Go Into the Story:

"Danny Strong began his career as an actor, then with the 2008 HBO movie RECOUNT, he added screenwriting to his resume. Other writing credits: GAME CHANGE, LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 1 and PART 2."

When Women Ruled
Early Days of Hollywood  
 
Frances Marion 
We've covered the gender gap in Hollywood in past newsletters, so we were excited to find this article on BuzzFeed (click here).

The article expands on the highlights of a San Francisco Chronicle column which details the early successes of female screenwriters in Hollywood.

From SFGate.com:

"In the early days of Hollywood, most screenwriters were women. Some started out as actresses, others as journalists. Some regularly collaborated with specific directors; others, with female stars. Yet today few people know about them.

Take Frances Marion. She was one of the most successful screenwriters of all time. She penned 200 produced films, in every possible genre, and even helped create a genre, the prison drama, with THE BIG HOUSE (1930), for which she won an Academy Award.
 
Marion's name should be as recognizable as that of directors Cecil B. De Mille and Erich Von Stroheim. But it's a familiar Hollywood story: The writer gets the shaft."

The Mystery of Storytelling     
TEDx Talk: Julian Friedmann   
The mystery of storytelling: Julian Friedmann at TEDxEaling
The mystery of storytelling: Julian Friedmann at TEDxEaling

This video features a TEDx talk on storytelling. Take a look and see if you can apply Friedmann's lessons to your screenwriting.

From TedXTalks:

"How we tell stories seems to be a mysterious process that millions around the world want to be able to do, but 99.9% effectively fail. Why is it so hard for storyteller and audience to be one? What we communicate can change the lives of the writer and the audience. However, why stories matter and how to tell them better may not be as mysterious as it seems. Julian Friedmann has worked with writers for over 40 years; he believes understanding that storytelling is more about the audience than the writer will result in better storytelling."
 
Hey, Whaddya Say?

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Follow the conversation on Twitter and look for writing tips, videos, and screenwriting articles. 
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BlueCat Workshops
 
BlueCat Screenplay Workshops are a one-day, intensive opportunity to certifiably improve your script in a small group environment, led by award winning screenwriter and BlueCat founder Gordy Hoffman.

Your script will be read in advance both by Gordy as well as the other workshop participants; everyone receives in-depth feedback on their script from a number of different perspectives.

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS:
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