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

BlueCat Screenplay Competition   



January 7th, 2015 
 
   

 

 

As the awards season draws near, the scripts for this year's Oscar hopefuls have been released to the public.

Read through eighteen of the past year's best:

Belle                              The Grand Budapest Hotel

Big Eyes                        How to Train Your Dragon 2

Birdman                        The Imitation Game

Boxtrolls                       Kill the Messenger

Boyhood                        Locke

Calvary                          Nightcrawler

The Fault in Our Stars   St. Vincent 

Get On Up                      The Theory of Everything 

Gone Girl                       Wild
 

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
  • The Hollywood Reporter Roundtable - The Writers
  • Guillermo Arriaga on writing 21 Grams
  • 3 SCRIPTS: Twelve Monkeys, Saving Mr. Banks, and Sleepy Hollow 
  • BlueCat Archive: How to Start a Screenplay
  • From Oscar-Winning Short to Feature-Length Film: Before I Disappear
  • The BlueCat Community Corner
  • BlueCat Workshop information
The Writers Roundtable
from The Hollywood Reporter






The Hollywood Reporter's Executive Editor Matt Belloni hosts a roundtable discussion with Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), John Favreau (Chef), Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar), Chris Rock (Top Five), and Graham Moore (The Imitation Game).

Guillermo Arriaga on Writing 21 Grams
From Script Magazine
Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga is known for Babel (2006), 21 Grams (2003), and Amores Perros (2000). In this article Arriaga discusses the genesis of 21 Grams, his use of structure to convey an emotional story, and his main sources for developing characters.
 
How to Start a Screenplay 
From The BlueCat Archive 

 

"Starting a screenplay can sometimes be as hard as finishing one." Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat's founder and judge, shares his approach to beginning a new screenplay in this article from our BlueCat archives. 

 

HEY, WHADDYA SAY?

 
"I tend to jot down moments, lines, interactions that don't really make any sense. I try and explain these scattered notes to my close friends, and they become more and more logical. I see screenwriting as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve."

- Asghar Farhadi
Writer of The Past and A Separation  
SELECTED SCRIPTS
Three Screenplay PDFs

Twelve Monkeys
by David Peoples and Janet Peoples

Saving Mr. Banks
by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith

Sleepy Hollow 
by Andrew Kevin Walker & Tom Stoppard


Converting an Oscar-Winning Short into a Feature
from Creative Screenwriting

Screenwriter Shawn Christensen discusses his award-winning short, Curfew, and the process of turning it into the full length film, Before I Disappear.

  READ THE INTERVIEW    

HEY, WHATCHA UP TO? 

The BlueCat
Community Corner

 

 

BlueCat is continuing our Community Corner in the newsletter where each week we feature what YOU'RE up to.    

 

 
Do you play in a band, paint, write books, draw, sculpt, make short films or web series, etc.? Do you participate in an arts organization our community should know about?

 

Share your accomplishments as well as upcoming fairs, shows, screenings, and gatherings by emailing: info@bluecatscreenplay.com 

Please use the subject line Community Corner Submission 
Advertise With BlueCat
Would you like to advertise in our newsletter? Interested in a dedicated e-blast? We have nearly 13,000 screenwriters who read our newsletter every week. 
To discuss, please contact Heather at: info@bluecatscreenplay.com.
BlueCat Screenwriting Workshops
 
BlueCat Screenplay Workshops are an 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.

Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman has taught screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, as well as led workshops all over North America, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He has served as a panelist for the IFP Script to Screen Conference in NYC, Women in Film's Script DC Conference in Washington, DC, and the George Eastman House Film Festival, as well as a judge for the McKnight Screenwriting Fellowships in Minnesota. Gordy Hoffman founded the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 1998 and remains its judge.

  

THE FULL SCRIPT WORKSHOP

Participants read all screenplays in advance of the workshop. During the workshop, Gordy provides direct and in-depth feedback on each screenplay, with everyone encouraged to contribute his or her own thoughts and concerns.

  

Each writer will leave with a great sense of what they can do specifically to improve their screenplay, as well as a better awareness of where they might properly develop as a professional screenwriter as a whole. Writers benefit from the direct focus placed on their screenplays by the workshop, along with the analysis of the other scripts.

  

Screenplays can be first drafts or rewrites, incomplete or partial, with first time writers and veterans all welcome. Scripts are due 10-14 days prior to the date of the workshop.

  

Note: Screenplays submitted to the workshop are not eligible to be entered into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.

  

  

Regular Registration Option

Do you want to participate, but do not have a script to submit at this time? Regular registration for the workshop allows you to attend without submitting written material, read the scripts in advance and still participate in the discussion.

  

  


UPCOMING WORKSHOPS: 
 

Los Angeles - February 21st - REGISTER 

Full Registration Sold Out 

 

Billings, Montana - March 3rd - REGISTER

Intro to Screenwriting - Montana - March 4th -  REGISTER

 

Salt Lake City - March 5th - REGISTER 

(Only 5 spots left)

 

Online - March 19th - REGISTER  

 

Austin - March 21st - REGISTER  

 

Honolulu - March 28th - REGISTER 

 

San Francisco - May 2nd - REGISTER  

 

Online - May 7th - REGISTER

Los Angeles - May 16th -
REGISTER
 
Please let us know if you'd like the BlueCat Workshop 

to come to your town!

 

See you soon.