Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

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  • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

    ScriptShadow is burning bridges, plain and simple. His ego is going to be his undoing.

    The dude was considering "I'm Carson Reeves" t-shirts. I think that's all that really needs to be said on the matter.
    Ring-a-ding-ding, baby.

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    • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

      Originally posted by sppeterson View Post
      Not to defend what Scriptshadow is doing, but really he's not the problem.

      Anyone with access to the internet can find scripts and write reviews on a blog. A homeless person could do what he's doing.

      The problem is that other people in the business apparently attach far too much significance to this guy's opinion.

      And what's particularly freakish about that is that by the time it gets into the development pipeline at even a mid-sized company plopping out little $20M films, the script's most likely been vetted and given coverage by managers and their assistants, an agent and the agent's assistant, a crew of people at the production company -- most of whom are people the decision-makers personally select and actually pay money to do this very thing.

      But then some wannabe with a lot of spare time posts reviews and *he's* the expert??

      Even if Scriptshadow gets raptured off the planet tomorrow, thirty other people could start up their own services and, apparently, take over this town.

      In fact, if you really wanted to take him down, recruit other people to start up their own script review blogs and drown him the **** out.
      Happy Birthday Steven
      It's the eye of the Tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

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      • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

        When is charging 1000 dollars for a script read ever okay?

        I know the answer for me: never.

        Even 100 for a read is pushing it, and that's from pro script readers, not a failed writer on a blog whose idea of coverage is telling you what he likes and doesn't like.

        I shudder to think that some desperate writer, *absolutely convinced* that his script will match Scriptshadow's tastes, will pay 1000 for ONE SHOT. That's what it is. One shot with a guy who's tastes, though generally solid, have a few headscratchers in there: he is downright myopic with movies like Inception, Dark Knight Returns, but scripts like Junior Executive, Passengers (Pruss) and Sunflower are in his top 25.

        And how many times have we writers been convinced our script was production-ready, submitted it to friends, readers, contests, and cringed to think we submitted that flawed version?

        Well, guess what my friend. Instead of free-80 bucks, you're out a 1000.

        And as Bitter script reader said, he lacks any moral character to tease writers with the shot of representation for a 1000 bucks.

        Think about all the other ways you can break in with a 1000 dollars. You're a writer. Do the homework. 99.9999999 percent of writers broke in a different way. If you honestly think Scriptshadow is your best shot at finding a rep, YOU'RE NOT READY. I repeat, YOU ARE NOT READY.

        And you know what? You'll have more than one shot and more money in your pocket instead of paying for Scriptshadow's swanky new Hollywood pad.

        Would you pay big time producers 1000 bucks? Most won't, and the ones that do will probably feel like a cheap hooker on Saturday night.

        Would you pay a small time, do nothing producer who's actually had movies made? Probably not.

        So why would you pay Scriptshadow who's even lower on the totem pole?

        There are no easy short cuts. All the money you throw at your career will be wasted when you should be using that money for something else, like BUYING TIME TO WRITE.

        Yes, Scriptshadow has helped writers get repped. That is indisputable. But as I said, there are numerous ways to do that without paying 1000. Any one of those writers would've found reps eventually. Hollywood is, above all else, a meritocracy. Believe it.

        And when you do become a working writer, do you really want to have some guy on a blog KILLING perhaps that one project you have in development? And you've paid his bills for him to do that? Do you want to be that guy?

        CHARGING 1000 BUCKS FOR ONE READ IS NEVER NEVER NEVER OKAY.
        Last edited by AlexNoa; 09-17-2012, 08:48 AM.

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        • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

          I guess we're kind of piling on here, but....

          Until 1) the t-shirt thing, 2) Carson's constant tweeting about his new loft in LA and his upcoming screenwriting book, and 3) hearing that he charges $1,000 for coverage, I was a semi-regular Scriptshadow reader. I think there was a pre-TDP Scriptshadow/Carson Reeves and a post-TDP Scriptshadow/Carson Reeves. I'm a much bigger fan of the former...

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          • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

            Woah hold on he charges a THOUSAND DOLLARS?! For that money just buy a camera and film some s**t.

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            • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

              Originally posted by TheConnorNoden View Post
              Woah hold on he charges a THOUSAND DOLLARS?! For that money just buy a camera and film some s**t.
              Yeah that's kind of ridiculous, no wonder he was able to get a nice ass apartment. Most folks if they want to get read by him should just try their luck at AF.
              Just a note he always charged a grand I think so the prices didn't change when he helped those guys get repped but i'm sure he gets alot more business now.

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              • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                Originally posted by TBEagle View Post
                Yeah that's kind of ridiculous, no wonder he was able to get a nice ass apartment. Most folks if they want to get read by him should just try their luck at AF.
                Just a note he always charged a grand I think so the prices didn't change when he helped those guys get repped but i'm sure he gets alot more business now.
                A couple of years ago, he was charging $99 for notes but as he got more attention his prices kept climbing. Can't blame the guy for trying, but I think he's gotten way out of hand now...
                "We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free.-- The Late Great Bill Hicks...

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                • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                  Oh come on, I know the guy, the Carson Reeves t-shirt was obviously a joke, just him messing about.

                  PLUS YOU DON'T NEED TO PAY HIM TO GET READ/REVIEWED.

                  That's what the Amateur Friday is for, that's how this Friday got repped.

                  Amateur Friday Submission Process: To submit your script for an Amateur Review, send in a PDF of your script, a PDF of the first ten pages of your script, your title, genre, logline, and finally, why I should read your script. Use my submission address please: [email protected]. Your script and "first ten- will be posted. If you're nervous about the effect of a bad review, feel free to use an alias name and/or title. It's a good idea to resubmit every couple of weeks so your submission stays near the top.

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                  • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                    I like the fact that while "Carson" reads a script he's also, at the same time, reading Twitter and composing tweets.

                    If you pay him to read your script, there's no doubt he flips back and forth between your script and Twitter. That must be why he thinks he's worth $1,000 -- his type of careful, thoughtful analysis doesn't come cheap.

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                    • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                      Originally posted by Chief View Post

                      PLUS YOU DON'T NEED TO PAY HIM TO GET READ/REVIEWED.

                      That's what the Amateur Friday is for, that's how this Friday got repped.

                      .
                      We didn't pay for notes -- nor were we asked to pay, nor was it suggested we might benefit from notes etc. etc. -- when our screenplay was reviewed on an Amateur Friday in April. It hasn't been our experience there is some sort of quid pro whatever.

                      For what it's worth...

                      P.S. -- Did I use "nor" correctly?
                      Last edited by ClintW3; 09-17-2012, 09:24 AM. Reason: double clutch

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                      • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                        Originally posted by ClintW3 View Post
                        We didn't pay for notes -- nor were we asked to pay, nor was it suggested we might benefit from notes etc. etc. -- when our screenplay was reviewed on an Amateur Friday in April. It hasn't been our experience there is some sort of quid pro whatever.

                        For what it's worth...

                        P.S. -- Did I use "nor" correctly?
                        He doesn't advertise his notes service, or has he done so in the last year or so. But people want to complain.

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                        • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                          I don't understand why this is such a point of interest or discussion. People sign with agencies every day, the scripts get there through all sorts of avenues. Beyond that, Hollywood, from its inception, has been populated by people who decided to create themselves, Carson's no different. I think the right move for him would be to try and find a job at an established company, this is not the time to try and break in as a producer who doesn't know how to make movies.

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                          • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                            Wow, lots of people in agreement. And not just pros.

                            Didn't someone say you can tell how green a writer is by what he thinks of SS? I'm kinda starting to agree with that. "The more you know..."

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                            • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                              Because I know many people don't like to go back and read every page, let me bump the two bests posts on this thread.


                              Originally posted by Bitter Script Reader View Post
                              I want to make a couple points here:

                              1) Reviewing in-development scripts will have consequences for the individual doing it. When that individual is merely a blogger with no further aspirations in the business, the threat of reprisal is small. When that person is attempting to enter the industry where he has alienated people with a fair degree of influence in it... he might find some doors not only shut in his face, but also locked and bolted.

                              2) If anyone else calling themselves a "producer" was charging $1000 a read as part of a sale pitch that they could take you from total outsider to industry player, every last person on this board would be calling them a scammer. And they'd be right. Charging a $1000 a read is a scummy thing to do no matter what. When it comes from a guy saying he wants to "produce" your script and intends to attach yourself to it, it's downright unethical.

                              3) Carson's own words: "What I'd like to do instead is find material through Scriptshadow, partner up with a much more established producer (say Scott Rudin), sell the script to one of the studios with both of us attached, then let him use his muscle and expertise to get it through the system. In essence, I would be more of a silent producer."

                              There's a word for producers like this: Producers In Name Only. But it's easier to just call them leeches. Attachments like this can hurt scripts, not help them. To say nothing of the fact that Carson's own post is an admission he doesn't know what he's doing. So why would you trust your script and your career to that man.

                              4) Carson announced that he's hiring interns, though subsequent conversation on Twitter indicates he's completely ignorant of the recent crackdown on interns. His post makes it sound like he's going to be using them almost as unpaid assistants - which is exactly the sort of chicanery the CA Labor Department is bringing the hammer down on.

                              At least one studio last year brought the hammer down COMPLETELY on all companies affiliated with their productions. No interns. At. All. The fact that he was clearly unaware of all of these issues just further demonstrates he's out of his depth.

                              You put all this together and I can't see how he won't fall on his face at some point. My fear is that he's going to take some innocent writer with him, or that before it's over, he's going to fleece a lot of innocent writers who are convinced Carson is their ticket to the big time.
                              Originally posted by jcgary View Post
                              The quickest route to divining whether or not a writer has a shot in this town is where he or she comes down on ScriptShadow. The closer you get to doing well around here, the more you understand how ScriptShadow is a net negative on screenwriters. I don't know a single professional writer who likes ScriptShadow. Either they don't know who he is or they don't like what he does. I don't know an agent who knows about ScriptShadow. Seriously, I was at a party last week, and I was talking to assistants from Gersh and UTA and agents from Verve and CAA, and I brought up ScriptShadow in the context of him being a producer now. Every single one of them said, "Who?" I know a couple guys at WME who know of him -- because they're actively trying to get him removed from a script.

                              Producers don't have side businesses as consultants. $1000 a script consultants shouldn't enlist interns to work for free. If you follow me on twitter, you've heard me say those things already. I don't begrudge a guy making a living, but this is too much. Charging those prices for reads is pretty bad, but hey, so's capitalism. Also being a producer and enlisting interns means he's crossed the line from where I stand.

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                              • Re: Writer signs with WME after Scriptshadow Amateur Friday

                                For what it's worth, to anyone even thinking of contemplating of potentially maybe paying $1000 (or whatever it is) for notes, in my experience the best notes on spec scripts I've ever gotten are from friends or acquaintances whose tastes and opinions I respect and understand.

                                Find people like that. Surround yourself with people like that. Find *other writers* whose work you like and respect and get notes from them.

                                There are absolutely no shortcuts into this career. And anybody promising one for a fee cares more about your money than they care about your script.

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