Thursday, August 27, 2009

FREE Story Consulting!


It’s that time of year again people… Summer distractions will soon be over. It’s time to dust off our umbrellas and hide our sexy, toned and tanned beach bodies beneath winter clothes (hey not all writers are pale and sloth-like!) With ¾ of the year now gone it’s also a time to begin thinking about what we have to show for 2009…


Great, another smug blog to make you feel guilty and unproductive…


Wrong!


A lot of people have extended me an olive branch of advice, encouragement and general feedback and they continue to do so. As I advance in years, experience and lessons along the winding path of life in the land of movies, I’ve tried to do the same, be it sitting on juries and panels at script workshops or doing some pro bono story consulting from time to time.


And that’s exactly what I’m offering here today as my Fall 2009 act of “giving back” and saying “thanks” to all of those amazing people who have been gracious and generous enough to help me over the years…


THE DETAILS: Paste a logline for your project (short, feature or TV series) and the best/most intriguing/most insane one wins. Simple as that.


WHAT YOU GET: Me! Well, kind of… I’m not going to come over to your house and do your laundry and I’m not willing to give you a kidney either. What I am willing to do is read your script and provide you with written coverage AND an hour or two of my time in person (if you’re in Vancouver) or on Skype (if you’re outside of Vancouver).


The only rule is that the logline be for the script you want feedback on and that the script is completed! I can’t give feedback on 5pgs of a feature that you know (when you get round to writing it) will one day be amazing.


Any genre, any subject… And feel free to post more than one if you have multiple scripts kicking around. Depending on the response, I may give feedback on the loglines themselves prior to selection – maybe we can get a fun dialogue going here.


I’ll make my final choice on October 1st, 2009


Who doesn’t love free stuff, huh? So let’s see those loglines!


Until next time folks…

12 comments:

  1. Here's one I have pretty much shelved after I did pass at a second draft. It is a feature film script.

    Title: THE MARKED
    Logline: Kali, compelled to return to a childhood home she barely remembers, discovers her soul mate in a native boy named Billy, and all she has to do to fulfill her powerful, mystical destiny, is kill him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've got a script that will blow your mind, possibly the greatest script ever written by a Canadian. This script has one thing that proves success over and over again.

    Midgets.

    And you know what midget's spell's?

    F-U-N-N-Y.

    And also-- KA-CHING!(From all the box offices taking it fat rolls of cash)

    ... Midgets. The future of filmaking.

    Think about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not to get all PC about this Christopher but don't you mean Little People? Do you have a logline for this script by any chance? Maybe it would make a good IMAX film (in 3D of course!) - could make for an interesting visual irony...

    ReplyDelete
  4. A mega rich Billionaire discovers that he can create midgets in a lab from the DNA of Mosquito's. When he creates a Midget theme park on a far away tropical island, all hell breaks loose!

    Pure Gold.

    *** Please replace all uses of the word Midget with 'Little People'.

    ReplyDelete
  5. And no IMAX 3-D for this guy, nope...

    I'm all about the OMNI-MAX 3-D with smello-vision!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enough joking, I think its super cool that your giving away your services to someone who could use it. Just so everyone knows, Neil is by far and away the best story guy in Canada. Bar none.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Title: Just a Small Town Girl
    Logline: When KORA runs away from the rez to attend a prestigious Performing Arts School she realizes she’s not as ready for an exciting city life but she’ll do anything to make her dream a reality.

    A modern day Fame with an Aboriginal twist.

    Note: I do have an hour script that was actually greenlit last year but as the 'constraints' were impossible for an hour drama I need to rewrite to fit a half hour. And make it better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Title: Photos of a funeral
    Logline: What should a woman give up for her independence? Her family? Her husband? Motherhood?

    A layperson’s guide for when Mister Right become Mister Wrong, leaving you single, childless, and the big 3-0.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Title: Photos of a funeral
    Logline: What should a woman give up for her independence? Her family? Her husband? Motherhood?

    A layperson’s guide for when Mister Right become Mister Wrong, leaving you single, childless, and the big 3-0.

    From Kerry Patten

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Neil,

    I logged onto your blog with the idea of finding some sort of mentoring process in this city. A step beyond consulting. I have a little metaphor to describe my current state of awareness of what's missing from my writing. I won't go into it now, as I've stumbled upon your offer. Thanks for giving back.

    David


    Title: The Code of Happiness
    Logline: Set in a dystopian future, an unemployed 29 year old man is told he holds the key to happiness. Refusing to believe in his gifts, he takes a job with the "unpronounceable corporation," whose CEO has his own plans for controlling happiness. He must choose his destiny by either exposing their sinister aims or existing in a utopian state of being.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Title:

    Prayer Bargain

    Logline:

    God gives a life-long procrastinator one year to fulfill every broken promise he's ever made to him.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey, Neil! Here is the log line for my feature script. :o)

    ~Ellen

    Title: Save You

    An ex-Army Ranger must battle his own personal demons, as well as his lack faith, in order to save a young boy from a sinister adversary who believes they are doing "God's work".

    ReplyDelete