Script Formatting Guidelines

Screenplays must be properly written in standard screenplay format. If you are not familiar with standard screenplay formatting, we recommend the following book as a guide:  The Screenwriters Bible by David Trottier

DO's 1. The screenplay should be copied onto three-hole punched paper with two to three metal fasteners (brads).  2. White card stock cover (front and back) to protect the scripts during handling by our staff and judges. Hint: Do not use construction paper. White card stock is your heavier paper available at most office supply stores. 3. All pages, other than your title page and first page, must be numbered. Please check for missing or duplicated pages. 4. Scripts must be in 12-point regular courier font and dark enough to be easily legible. Hint: Do not provide scripts that have badly photocopied pages or in light print.  5. Total script length for scripts must be between 80 – 130 pages (not including the cover page) 6. Adaptations are acceptable for entry in competition as long as you have all the appropriate and/or required approvals/waivers/permissions from any and all right holders. If you are unsure please consult an entertainment attorney for your own protection.

DON'Ts 1. Do not include extraneous camera directions. These are better left to the director. 2. No writing on the spine of the script. 3. No additional materials should be attached to the submission such as illustrations, casting suggestions, letters or resumes. No special packaging or gimmicks. We appreciate your creativity but won’t have the time to enjoy it!

Tips on Preventing Common Script Submission Problems

1. Scripts were not correctly prepared (see above)

2. FADE IN did not appear as the first words of the script. 

Recommendation: Entering a screenplay competition is a big step for a screenwriter. If you put yourself out there by submitting your script make sure it is properly formatted.

3. Characters are one dimensional. 

Recommendation: Get some friends or screenwriting colleagues together and do a read through of the script with yourself as the screenwriter doing nothing but listening. We guarantee you will 'hear' the problem areas and character weaknesses. If you don't your friends will! Fix the problems and you're halfway there!

4. Plot ideas are thin. 

Recommendation: We've all heard the cliché about there not being any more original ideas because Shakespeare introduced them all. Whether you believe that or not, the point is to find a new twist to an idea.

5. Script is not in proper script formatting.

• One script had fifty-three (53) 'Cut To" in the first ten pages of the script. Wow, how many scene changes can happen in the first ten minutes of a movie (unless you are shooting a 10 minute car chase to start the movie, which few movies do)?
• Pages printed and assembled back to back. No script should be printed back to back. Single page, front side only.
• The date the script was written appeared across the top of every page in the script. (it's usually not a good idea to date your script in anyway as someone might see it was written four years and assume it's old stuff)
• Script was written in acts and pages indicated ACT I, ACT II, ACT III, etc. these are screenplays, not stage plays

6. Poor/sloppy writing skills

• Script had four pages of the main character talking to himself (NOTE: the character was not crazy, just talking to himself because there were no other characters with whom to interact)
• Script explained words it used - "His arms are bound with surgical tubing - the type used to restrict (cut off) blood flow." People know what 'restrict' means, you don't have to explain words in parenthesis [e.g. "cut off"].
• Ten pages into the script and not one character has spoken, all scene description. Ten minutes without anybody talking? Works at the beginning of Saving Private Ryan because of the action, but even then some soldier was shouting orders of some kind. Otherwise, it's a movie, people talk, interact and react.
• The 'Narrator' talked throughout the entire script, on almost every page.
• Be aware of oddities that don't fit - one script had a sailboat getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle - the only problem is the sailboat was in the Pacific Ocean.
• Script included things that weren't there, couldn't be seen by the viewer or weren't critical to the story line - "The road was deserted. There is no wind, and the scene is extremely peaceful." If there is no wind why write it, it can't be seen and it's not part of the story.

ASA SCRIPT REGISTRATION 
The American Screenwriters Association recommends you use the ProtectRite script registration service. Founded in California in 1994 by writers and attorneys, National Creative Registry's ProtectRite service processes thousands of online registrations each year from writers, screenwriters, attorneys, songwriters, advertising agencies, Internet & software developers, inventors, scientists, individuals and corporations worldwide. ProtectRite provides confidential time sealed registration of original works, intellectual property & records. As a disinterested third party, ProtectRite registration establishes the completion date of your registered materials and offers the security of long-term storage in the event your original is lost or destroyed. 

REGISTRATION OF YOUR SCRIPT WITH THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Register your script with the Library of Congress. Only The US Copyright Office can issue a formal copyright. We want our registrants to be well protected and do advise that writers explore filing final drafts with the US Copyright office. Also, always save all correspondence with anyone you send your work to. A rejection letter can be important evidence in an infringement case.

              Library of Congress Copyright Page

American Screenwriters Association
http://www.asascreenwriters.com/

 

Writers Guild of America
http://www.wga.org/

Script Software

The purpose of a properly formatted script is to accurately indicate the program's running time and allow production requirements--talent, locations, props, etc.--to be identified quickly. Each script element--scene headings, action, dialogue, parentheticals, character names and transitions--has separate formatting requirements. Scriptwriting programs (more properly labeled script formatters since none writes dialogue or action on its own) let you forget about the rules and allow you to concentrate on the story.

Final Draft 7
The Screenwriter's Choice ®
You have a story to tell. Use Final Draft to write it.

Use your creative energy to focus on the content; let Final Draft take care of the style. Final Draft is the number-one selling word processor specifically designed for writing movie scripts, television episodics and stage plays. It combines powerful word processing with professional script formatting in one self-contained, easy-to-use package. There is no need to learn about script formatting rules — Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script to industry standards as you write.

Final Draft AV 2.5
Watch your ideas line up.

Final Draft AV is the only dedicated full-featured scriptwriting software specifically designed for the professional writers of commercials, corporate and training videos, documentaries and presentations. Unlike standard word processors, Final Draft AV keeps the audio and video columns automatically aligned when text is added, edited or deleted. There are no complicated commands to learn and no need to worry about style or placement of text; Final Draft AV creates a professionally formatted Audio-Visual script in no time.

Movie Magic Screenwriter
Movie Magic Screenwriter is the best selling* screenplay formatting software and the choice of Hollywood professionals. Screenwriter automatically formats while you write so you can focus on what you’re writing, not where it goes on the page. It also formats for television, stage, novels and comic book scripts so you’ve got an all in one package for any story you want to write. With a massive set of features designed to make the rewriting process fast and simple you can get from FADE IN: to FADE OUT effortlessly. Online collaboration, the ability to compare drafts of screenplays and the most comprehensive production features of any screenwriting software all make Movie Magic Screenwriter the clear choice for getting your stories from concept to screen.

*NPD tracks world-wide software sales at over 27,000 brick and mortar retail locations, including CompUSA, and 9 e-commerce retailers, including Amazon.com.

Page 2 Stage
The Screenwriter's word processor

Page 2 Stage is screenwriting software designed expressly for people writing screenplays, scripts, and plays. It provides numerous features needed by screenwriters not found in standard word processors. Written from the ground up it is the fastest and most modern screenwriting word processor available on the market today. Page 2 Stage operates exactly as you expect a Windows program to.

Scriptware
What makes Scriptware the best-selling scriptwriting word processor in Hollywood (and the rest of the world)? Simple. With Scriptware scriptwriting software you have the fastest, easiest and most powerful way to get the story that's in your head onto the page in the format professionals demand.

As you type, Scriptware formats. Automatically, instantly and perfectly. Margin changes, capitalization, spacing and all the rest happen on the fly and on your screen. And when you get to the end of a page, Scriptware knows what to do there, too. It breaks scenes, action, and dialogue in the proper places. It puts in (more) and (CONTINUED) lines when you need them. When you make changes on page one, Scriptware invisibly checks and paginates every page afterwards!

If you know nothing about formatting, Scriptware does everything you need. If you want to change a format so it's just right, Scriptware lets you do everything you want.

Scriptware is a full-featured word processor with everything you'd expect: Cut and Paste. Speed Buttons. 100,000+ word Spell Check and Thesaurus. Headers and Footers. Find and Replace. Autosave. Bookmarks.

Plus, Scriptware has features you won't find in your word processor, but will want as a script writer: Quick Lists (to enter names, scenes and more with one keystroke). Electronic Script Notes. Automatic Page, Scene and Act numbering. Instant Title Pages(s). Scene Shuffle (rearrange your script as if it were on index cards). Breakdown reports. And much more.

Scriptware's simple installation, easy-to-read manual, online help and telephone technical support give you all the back-up you need. Just open the box and you'll be up and writing in minutes.