Reader Question: Where can one go to find spec scripts to read?
A Tweet from @agirlandapistol: “Where can one go to find spec scripts to read?”
First things first: Do you realize how damn lucky we are nowadays? Back when I first broke into the business, I had to walk ten miles through twenty feet of snow, past rows of high-priced hookers through the rough streets of Beverly Hills, then kiss up to savagely snarky agent assistants to coerce them to obtain for me actual hard copies of scripts. Next I had to hand copy them word for word in my own blood, then return the original, just so I could read and analyze screenplays.
Nowadays there are sites like SimplyScripts with thousands of screenplays available online. Anytime. For free.
Which is my way of guilting you into reading scripts. It’s one part of three paths to screenwriting success: Read scripts. Watch movies. Write pages.
Hey, wouldn’t it be fantastic if someone online would host a monthly script reading and analysis series where we could read great scripts, then break them down per their structure, characters, themes and dialogue?
Oh, wait. We do that here on GITS! In fact, a week from Monday, you can join us in reading Up In The Air. You can learn more about that here.
While it’s both necessary and important to read movie scripts, it’s also hugely valuable to read current spec scripts that sell or don’t [yet], but make the Black List. Why?
* Content: You can see what types of movies studios and production companies are interested in at the moment.
* Research: If, for example, you’re writing a found footage film, what better way to see how to write one than read examples of FF specs that have sold.
* Style: Screenplay style is constantly evolving. A script written five years ago may not resembles the style that is currently in vogue per a specific genre in Hollywood circles now.
* Analysis: Any time you read a script, you learn something about the craft. Any time you read a spec script that sold within the last year or so, you learn something about the craft as it exists now.
As to the $64,000 question, “Where can one go to find spec scripts to read?” Well, you could sell everything you own, relocate to Los Angeles, become an assistant to an agent or manager, then you would have access to virtually every spec script that funnels through the acquisition process.
Or you could do something much easier: Join an online resource like The Tracking Board. For the price of your subscription, you not only get access to their excellent daily coverage of what is going on in Hollywood, you also get access to forums where spec scripts magically appear.
[NOTE: You have to sign a user agreement which stipulates in part you will not disseminate any of those scripts. They are for your own personal use and education. This is serious business. Writers do not want copies of scripts they have in active development floating around as that can lead to inappropriate commentary in public venues which could negatively influence the perception of the story.]
If you haven’t discovered ScriptShadow, you should. SS reviews spec scripts, so you can learn a lot there.
I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to obtain current spec scripts and I leave that up to those of you in the GITS community to provide suggestions in comments.
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