Are you a screenwriter who is looking to read great scripts because you want to learn more about the craft? Are you a television writer looking for examples of scripts from that show you want to pitch? Or are you a film buff simply looking for the script of your favorite movie? I have some links to some great sites that can get you in touch with that script you’re looking for.
One of the most common pieces of advice given to fledgling screenwriters is “Read a lot of scripts.” It’s good advice. Like a novelist or a poet, it is very helpful to screenwriters if they become familiar with some of the better examples of their own discipline. As the playwright would be knowledgeable about Hamlet, a poet of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, or a novelist of Light in August, screenwriters would do well if they knew scripts like Casablanca, Pulp Fiction or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. You don’t have to pick these specific scripts, but reading some of the greats will be very helpful and very educational. But make sure to at least read the scripts from the films you like or films that fit your style or genre. Wizard of Oz, Unforgiven, Star Wars, Rocky… these are all examples of great scripts within their own genre.
TV writers, same thing. Except you have your Rod Serling, your Arrested Development, and your Singing Detective to read through.
Reading what others have done throughout history can give you a good sense of what’s worked and what has not in the past. It will also show you what true greatness is all about and give you a high target to shoot for. A way to really test yourself and grow your craft. Just watching the movies won’t cut it.
So where do you get scripts? You used to have to get them from a studio, a well connected friend or buy a version in a bookstore. That’s how I started. I used to broker scripts with my friends like baseball cards, “Hey, I’ll give you a copy of Casablanca for a copy of that Chinatown you got.” Or even better, “You got Sam Hamm’s Watchmen? I’ll give you a Cameron Spiderman for it.”
Nowadays, most screenplays are just a click away. You can google a lot of really good screenplays by typing in something like Pushing Daisies Script. It’s too easy. But if you would like to go to a web page and browse, here are some places you can go. These are great warehouses for links to screenplays online.
Simplyscripts is a cornucopia of screenplay goodness. Updated frequently with the lastest finds, even stuff that hasn’t come out yet! Here you can find movie scripts, TV scripts, unproduced scripts, foreign language scripts, plays, radio scripts, treatments and much more. Updated frequently, you are sure to find the latest scripts here. One of the more complete archives you will find on the web.
The Legendary Drew’s Script-O-Rama. This was the first site I went to for scripts. Drew has been at this a long time, gathering links to scripts for us without so much as a thank you. Drew, thank you. I’ve been a visitor since 1995 and I still drop by from time to time to check out what’s new. It is not updated as regularly as it once was, but if there is something a little older or more obscure, this is the place to go. There are still some things there that you won’t find anywhere else. More than just a script warehouse, it’s like an online screenplay museum.
IMSDb
Another great reliquary of movie scripts and a lot of the newer stuff as well. It appears that most of the screenplays are transcripted and hosted on the site, so I would guess that you are not as likely to get the dreaded “404 File Not Found” message when you find something that you really want to read. This can be a really good thing. It gives you confidence that the script is actually there. It’s not the actual script, so you don’t get the benefit of seeing the original formatting and it can be a pain in the ass to print, but if you just want to read it online or even on your phone, then this is the best place to go. Phenomenal. Options, baby. Options.
If you know of some other really good resources, leave a comment below. I’ll check it out, and amend the list. This thread is about where to get scripts, and the more resources we have to share, the better.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s a great – and very useful- set of links, John, but it’s also slightly sad that writers are expected to conform to a set pattern to see their scripts accepted. Every new script has to follow some already-established commercially succesful format. You cannot sell a film idea unless you market it as (eg) “It’s ‘Harry Potter’ meets ‘Twilight’ ! ”
Where are the film companies that are willing to make stuff that is unlike anything ever done before? Terry Pratchett, possibly the most successful British comedy novelist ever, tells the true tale that he was once approached by a Hollywood film company to make a film of his novel “Mort”, which is about a young lad becoming the apprentice to Death, the Grim Reaper….the producers loved the story, but told Pratchett that he would have to lose the (central!) character of Death as USA audiences wouldn’t like it…. understandablyPratchett turned the offer down!
Great points. And that Pratchett story sounds all too typical. But the problem there wasn’t with the format, it was with someone making decisions at a studio who obviously had no business doing so.
Also, I’m a firm believer that film adaptations of books are nearly impossible. It’s like making a painting version of a sculpture. Yes, you can make a sculpture of the Mona Lisa, but it’s not the same and it will never be. Some great films are based on books, but even the best don’t come close to being the same experience of reading that book.
As for format, that’s the reality of the business. A script is a blueprint for a film, and in order for that blueprint to be universally understood by everyone in the industry, it has to adhere to that format. But ultimately, I agree with you that there isn’t enough creativity or originality in a lot of what we get from Hollywood. It’s not that they’re incapable of making great films, they just don’t seem to be that interested.
Today, it seems that true creativity in film isn’t coming from the independent industry either. But I have seen a lot of wonderful stuff online. Some things by established filmmakers, and some by total unknowns. To me, online seems to be the place where true artistic expansion is happening today.
I’m putting together a post on where to find some of this stuff, so stay tuned.