So. This is Interesting

As if I don't have enough to do already...

I've been looking over the script to 7 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT and re-thinking some of the staging for the festival in February. I realize that the script is actually in really good shape and the real challenge will just be the new directing and production elements. I took a break and then did some internet surfing to find this contest called COWRITE.

I wouldn't put much stock into it but it is being sponsored by some legit organizations (including Benderspink, one of the best management companies finding new talent--they are behind the discovery of Juno scribe Diablo Cody, for one).

The contest is based around the premise of co-writing a script. First person writes the first 10 pages (and wins $3000!) and then people submit the next ten pages. There is a winner and then people used those 20 pages to continue the story...

Each of the 11 biweekly winners will win $3000 in cash and prizes, a meeting with management/production company Benderspink (A History of Violence, American Pie, Just Friends) and a shot at the grand prize: a $5000 paid rewrite!

I've seen experiments like this done by theater companies to write plays with different playwrights. It's gimmicky and fun.

Oh, and it's usually a dismal failure.

But hey, it's hollywood and who knows, could be a good way to make a movie...

Or...

It could be an elaborate way of finding new talent (and only having to read 10 pages of that new talent's work--trust me, most of the time 10 pages is all you need).

If it weren't for the fact that it costs money to enter, I'd be more enthusiastic. But the plus side is that they have the story already, so you just have to come up with the characters and set up. I know that's not easy, but at least its not starting completely from scratch.

Here's the premise:

Determined to be a high-level Jason Bourne type operative, an awkward teenager enlists the help of a mysterious, supposed ex-CIA agent in his hometown and finds himself entangled in a dangerous plot that is way over his head.

Oh, and by the way, have I mentioned in this blog that the first ten pages of any script, play or screenplay, is the hardest?

No?

It is.

Because you have to know where the ending is to make the beginning work so well. Which is why this contest is interesting...because no one has written the ending yet.

I'll definitely have to keep checking back on it, just for the freak show appeal of the experiment.