Screengrab of quote on The Blacklist Film & TV Writer’s Calendar
Not all screenwriters are brainstorming in the writer’s room of a hit TV show or arguing dialogue lines on the set of a summer blockbuster with a director or cast member.
Many, let’s face it, most, are toiling away either waiting for their first break into the industry or doing smaller budget project with paychecks nowhere close to WGA scale.
So anything FREE is worth looking into as a screenwriter.
Two recent offerings that could assist many screenwriters hoping to make their name in a festival or spruce up their pitch or even brainstorm an idea visually are The Blacklist’s 2014 Film and Television Writing Calendar and Amazon Studio’s Storyteller.
The Blacklist Calendar is free online and filled with tons of deadlines for screenwriting contests and festivals of all kind, as well as mentorship programs such as the Women In Film Mentoring Program deadline on June 13, 2014.
Amazon Storyteller is a free storyboard program currently in beta. Now what’s in your head doesn’t have to only be on paper. It allows those of us who can barely draw a stick figure to “picture” a scene.
Both the Calendar and Storyteller have limitations.* When I visit the Calendar online, I’d love to see a way to download it or integrate with my own calendar. If that is possible, I can’t figure out how. Storyteller is only available if you are part of Amazon Studio. That might not be your cup of tea, but you can learn more about the storyboard software on tested.com, where Jeanne Bowerman, Editor of Scriptmag, took it for a drive.
Now get writing!
— AMANDA LIN COSTA
* UPDATE 1/31/13 – Turns out The Blacklist Calendar is perfect! They kindly reached out to me on Twitter and I realized my browser screen was slightly zoomed in. Links to Google/iCal version are in the lower left hand corner. I love Twitter.
nywift
Related Posts
Meet the New NYWIFT Member: Christy Veeder
Welcome to our new NYWIFT Member, Christy Veeder! Christy is a screenwriter, former climate scientist, and erstwhile bureaucrat whose first major work of fiction, a personal interpretation of The Dark Crystal, was written in response to not being allowed to see Jim Henson’s fantasy epic in the theater with her other third grade friends. But what Christy really loves is 30-minute comedy and the ways in which it can illuminate our hopes, defang our fears, and help us keep going in this thing called life. Christy’s screenplays culminate a career spanning years of editing and writing about the culinary arts, publishing academic journal articles, handing out coupons at the Port Authority while dressed as a box of cough syrup, impersonating celebrity cats on Twitter, and drafting federal legislation in the U.S. Senate – all of which have been rich preparation for the process of creating worlds on the page. Christy discusses her diverse career background, her experience as a writer, and how she first got into the field.
READ MOREMeet the New NYWIFT Member: Guneet K. Singh
Welcome to NYWIFT, Guneet K. Singh! Former NYWIFT intern Guneet K. Singh is a producer and writer with a passion for diverse storytelling. She was most recently the producer for the poignant play, Irreparable, which premiered at the Act One One-Act Theater Festival. She has worked in television development for NBC and Peacock, working on programs such as That’s My Jam, Password, Joyelle Nicole Johnson: Love Joy and 5 More Sleeps ‘Til Christmas. Her first producing role was as the Digital Producer for the Emmy nominated The Kids Tonight Show. She began her career as an NBC Page, working on shows like Saturday Night Live and The TODAY Show. In our interview, Guneet discusses her exciting time in NBC’s legendary Page Program, the power of networking, and finding her calling as a writer and producer.
READ MOREHow to Decide Which Screenwriting Contests to Submit To
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of screenwriting competitions out there — so how do you decide which ones are worth your time and money? As the co-founder of Moonshot Initiative, a nonprofit that works toward gender equity in film and television, NYWIFT Member Katrina Medoff has been on the other side of the application process. Her team reads hundreds of submissions a year for the Moonshot Pilot Accelerator and their newest program, the Moonshot Feature Accelerator. They know that their applicants poured their time, talents, and energy into their scripts, and that every fellowship submission means putting more time and money into your career. So it’s important to carefully consider which labs and contests to prioritize. If you’re ready to submit your feature film screenplay or TV pilot script to screenwriting competitions, here’s how to determine which labs, fellowships, and contests would be a good fit.
READ MOREMeet the new NYWIFT Member: Stacey Messina
Let’s all give a warm welcome to our new NYWIFT Member, Stacey Messina! Stacey began her career in tourism and hotel marketing, eventually moving into the academic fundraising arena. She most recently finished a freelance gig in nonprofit theatre production and fundraising, and is now fully investing herself in her creative screenwriting projects. She recently completed a semester at NY Film Academy and will begin pursuit of her MFA in Film and Television Production at the New York campus in January. After 25 years of only dreaming of the movies, Stacey is finally engaged in the pursuit of writing and producing the stories that take shape in her head as scenes from a film. Check out the rest of the article to learn more about Stacey and her big leap towards her dreams!
READ MORE
