30 Scripts in 30 Days: Part 3

Missed what's going on? Check out Part 1 or Part 2.
Throughout this challenge, I’ve discovered that my favorite time to read is while flying, and lucky for me, it’s the holidays, and I have family all across the country, which means plenty of flying. Depending on the length of the flight (and what I’m reading), I can knock out 2-3 scripts per flight. Mainly because I’m a captive audience and because the alternative would be active procrastination, which would be watching movies to avoid doing the work.
 
The first 10-scripts I read were well-known and produced screenplays for the most part. However, as I enter the halfway mark of the challenge, I’m opening the doors to more screenplays from unproduced writers from around Twitter and in the Writer’s Café (shameless plug). When I’m reading a script from an up-and-coming writer, I always try to provide feedback, so for me, this is where I slowed down the most on the challenge. So you read the Script, collect your thoughts, give the notes, succumb to creative drain, wait four days, go again.
 
The following ten scripts are also where I realized I might not finish all 30 scripts in precisely 30 days. But, not to be deterred, I kept my head down and plowed ahead, starting with some popular shows that many of you may be familiar with:

11. Barry (ep205) - written by Alec Berg & Bill Hader

-- If y’all are fans of Barry, then you’ve seen the episode where Barry is tasked with assassinating a Taekwondo champion and his daughter. This episode drew a lot of attention for being a bit of a non-sequitur within the series, and it is a fun episode. The biggest takeaway is the way the fights are written/or not written. The writer leaves a lot to the imagination of the stunt coordinator, and this dark comedy episode comes in at just 22 pages.

12. Maniac (pilot) - written by Patrick Somerville

-- I watched this show a few years ago, and I thought it was a fantastic presentation of a sci-fi show about depression and connection. It was intimate, confusing, and introspective. However, the pilot script only does part of this. The script is confusing, even for a sci-fi that follows a character dealing with depression. It presents our protagonist Owen, as a down on his luck New Yorker, who not only feels alone but is suffocatingly lonely. No one hears him or even pays attention to him as he moves through life. The modern era is an overwhelming cacophony of noise and technology, but while the script has some good world-building, I wasn’t left with a sense of where this story was going next or what I could expect from this series.

13. The Lobster (feature) - written by Yorgos Lanthimos & Efthimis Filippou 

-- This script is so extraordinary. I’ve heard most stories by Yorgos Lanthimos are unusual, but it’s so refreshing to read a script that doesn’t fall into any pre-prescribed style. The world is incredibly unique, the conversation is intentionally flat, and the consequences are always life or death. It’s a love story crafted in an apathetic world where everyone is desperate to find someone but terrified to open up to them. (FYI, the way action blocks are formatted are absolutely massive).

14. Seldon Seen (pilot) by Peter Feuchtwanger

-- This script was a lot of fun. The witty comedic style was fast-paced and full of keen insight, very reminiscent of Scrubs and Malcolm in the middle episodes. I enjoyed Selden’s narration and ability to break the fourth wall in a way that felt complimentary to the story. For the most part, the story was a heartfelt meet cute and could easily be seen as a series in addition to a feature

15. Boomerang (short) - written by Rylee Ebson

Not based on either the show or the movie, Boomerang is a COVID story about a family trapped in a pandemic, dealing with many personal problems, including the daughter’s need for (physical) connection and the mom coming out gay in her 60’s. My biggest takeaway from this was something I tell a lot of early writers, be careful not to retread information that the audience or characters already know. If we see something crazy happen, and the character needs to tell their best friend, assume they’ve already discussed the crazy situation. Now tell us How they are dealing with it.

​16. Silent Women (pilot) - written by Christine Garver

-- Silent Women was a fantastic read filled with sharp, witty dialogue, fast-paced action, and poignantly motivated scenes! It’s a story that takes us back to 1915’s Hollywood. It’s a story that knows what it is and circumvents many of the gender inequalities that you might expect while giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make a movie (back in the day). I would absolutely watch this show.

17. Vigilante (feature) - written by Mark Mapes

-- I love diving into the superhero genre and seeing what new stories are being told. Vigilante is a return to the gritty world of disenfranchised heroes similar to 'The Boys" and "'Invincible'. It’s a fun action, packed, and does a great job showing us a world where everyone is out for themselves.

18. Hell Bent (pilot) - written by Mimi Collins

-- It is a tight, action-comedy that closely follows Satan’s return to Earth and rediscovering his love for the stage. I won’t go into more detail since she wants to keep it off the radar, but it was a quick, entertaining read!

19. The Neighbors Across the Lake (short) - written by C.J. Greene

-- Reading this is a bit of a cheat since this is a short story, but I’ve read so many features that I’ll allow it. I always enjoy stories like this that take a well-known property and build a story from somewhere else in the world (or, in this case, the neighborhood). This short follows an Elderly couple watching the final Avengers battle with Thanos... and then having to defend themselves as some of the enemies make their way over. It was concise, funny, and very in line with everything we know about his universe without actually introducing any heroes.

20. Dickinson (pilot) - written by Alena Smith

-- If you’ve seen the apple TV+ show, then you’ll know that it moves pretty quickly. The Comedy is modern; the drama is period-appropriate (a woman must be a housewife*), but I enjoyed most about it how the Script is relatively light on scene description. Once they introduce you to the world and characters, most of the writing is spent in dialog and emotion. (And a few producer-specific notes.

Am I getting too GIF heavy? I don't know, but I also don't care. In here I am all powerful and gifs are my one true vice.

20 scripts in, 10 to go. 

​Until next time in Part 4.