I haven't seen the movie. Nor have I read the entire script. But I am convinced this script WILL get an Oscar nomination.
This one script is a living lengend in Hollywood. It was original written by up and coming screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski about 20 years ago. He frequently used it as a sample script and constantly impressed people with it at all levels of Hollywood. And then in the mid-1990's when he wrote his very own how-to book on being a scriptwriter, The Complete Guide to Scriptwriting, he included JUST the first 10. And baby! It was a PHENOMENAL first ten! Very rarely have I ever read anyone's first-10 and just been salivating for the remaining 100.
That book was one of the first screenwriting books I ever read (upon the reccomendation of a fellow screenwriter at another message forum) and I am grateful for having read it. I highly reccomend it myself.
That first-10 showed us the following: rich characters, a credible and historically accurate background of life and work in 1920's Los Angeles, vibrant believable dialogue, a touching mother-son relationship, a heart-wrenching plot development of her son going missing, and then in the final page of just that 10 we saw her frantically running through the evening streets of Los Anegles seeking out her boy. And we were even given a cleverly disguised glimpse into her inner thoughts as she ran-- her thoughts were written in such a way as to be camouflaged as describing the sights and sounds of the streets, but it was really all about her and her anxiety. And then the first-10 came to an end. Wow! Give me more!
The book The Complete Guide to Scriptwriting is used in a lot of college film courses as the primary textbook. So that first-10 has been read by thousands and thousands of Hollywood screenwriters, and at least a few of those have surely made it into the Academy at this point in time. You'd be hard-pressed to find a screenwriter in Hollywood who hasn't at least heard of that first-10.
So ... here's my early prediction for an Oscar nomination.
This one script is a living lengend in Hollywood. It was original written by up and coming screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski about 20 years ago. He frequently used it as a sample script and constantly impressed people with it at all levels of Hollywood. And then in the mid-1990's when he wrote his very own how-to book on being a scriptwriter, The Complete Guide to Scriptwriting, he included JUST the first 10. And baby! It was a PHENOMENAL first ten! Very rarely have I ever read anyone's first-10 and just been salivating for the remaining 100.
That book was one of the first screenwriting books I ever read (upon the reccomendation of a fellow screenwriter at another message forum) and I am grateful for having read it. I highly reccomend it myself.
That first-10 showed us the following: rich characters, a credible and historically accurate background of life and work in 1920's Los Angeles, vibrant believable dialogue, a touching mother-son relationship, a heart-wrenching plot development of her son going missing, and then in the final page of just that 10 we saw her frantically running through the evening streets of Los Anegles seeking out her boy. And we were even given a cleverly disguised glimpse into her inner thoughts as she ran-- her thoughts were written in such a way as to be camouflaged as describing the sights and sounds of the streets, but it was really all about her and her anxiety. And then the first-10 came to an end. Wow! Give me more!
The book The Complete Guide to Scriptwriting is used in a lot of college film courses as the primary textbook. So that first-10 has been read by thousands and thousands of Hollywood screenwriters, and at least a few of those have surely made it into the Academy at this point in time. You'd be hard-pressed to find a screenwriter in Hollywood who hasn't at least heard of that first-10.
So ... here's my early prediction for an Oscar nomination.
Last edited:
