Have you ever tried to discuss the world of your screenplay and gotten a little lost? Or handed over your PDF and have someone tell you they couldn't picture the characters or story? Well, ScriptHop introduces an online tool for Hollywood that allows writers to share their screenplays more securely and promises a new kind of dynamic, interactive, and navigable experience that excites people to read.
It also offers writers more influence on the distillation process used by Hollywood to make decisions about projects.
They let me try it this weekend and I absolutely loved it, so let's get into it here.
First...what is ScriptHop?
ScriptHop offers an online system that allows writers, agencies, studios, and production companies easy access to scripts and information around those projects, filling a major gap in how scripts have been delivered, shared, and reviewed to date.
The life of my screenplay is something like this: I send it in, get notes, and then send it out to companies and hope for the best. I have no idea who has read it, or if they even took a look at any of the supporting materials like the article I have sent.
Also, I want my ideas protected. I want to know who is looking at it and how they're using it. Also, I want to know they see the same story I do, but sometimes that means providing extra material such as images and even a lookbook.
You can view a sample packet here!
Founders Brian Austin and Scott Foster, a 12-year veteran and former head of UTA’s Story Department, believe this will change the way scripts travel in Hollywood and beyond, while making the job of industry readers more streamlined so story analysts can focus on the most important part of their job: critiquing the script. ScriptHop’s “Packet” bundles everything a writer needs to market their script in one simple link.
“The Packet makes a writer’s vision resonate beyond any bland distillation, adding dimension to a process that’s tended to make both writers and decision makers suffer,” Foster explains. “It's also a transposable source industry readers can transfer into their coverage, while maintaining the writer’s version of the logline and synopsis. It presents these distillations in a much more engaging form, and enables readers to focus on really reading the script and giving the writing its due when they evaluate it, rather than waste their own time abridging it.”
I really enjoyed using it with a historical drama I just finished. Not only did it let me use old headlines from newspapers to build out my world, but I could add photos of the people from my dream cast juxtaposed against the portraits of the people from time gone by.
You don't have to take my word for it, writer Dana Stevens says, “ScriptHop brings screenwriters into the 21st century with the perfect software to platform their projects. Writers are now being asked for visuals and casting ideas in their pitches and presentations. ScriptHop makes it easy to create an enticing packet for studios, creative partners and financiers to envision your script on the screen.”
The best thing about ScriptHop is that they are consulting with real industry writers for this program.
Advisory Board Members
- Michelle Amor (The Honorable) (Writers Guild - Co-Chair Committee of Black Writers)
- Shane Black (Iron Man 3, Predator, Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys)
- Don Bohlinger (USC - Professor of Screenwriting)
- Akela Cooper (Luke Cage, American Horror Story, The Nun 2)
- Hilliard Guess (Deadly Class) (Writers Guild - Co-Chair Committee of Black Writers)
- Brian Gunn (Brightburn, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Little Monsters)
- Peter Hanrahan (The Lowlands) (UTA, Village Roadshow - Story Analyst)
- David Hayter (X-Men, X2, Watchmen, Scorpion King, Warrior Nun)
- Jim Herzfeld (Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Tapeheads)
- Dale Launer (My Cousin Vinny, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Ruthless People)
- Randy McKinnon (War of the Worlds - Apple TV, Extra - Annapurna)
- Jason Newman (Untitled Entertainment - Partner/Manager)
- Gladys Rodriguez (Vida, Sons of Anarchy, recent sale to AMC)
- Chris Schwartzy (AFI - Manager AFI Conservatory, Master Seminars Moderator)
- Kristi Shuton (Disney - Creative Talent Development & Inclusion)
- Ed Solomon (Bill & Ted 1-3, Men in Black, Now You See Me 1-3, Mosaic, Levity)
- Dana Stevens (City of Angels, For Love of the Game, Fatherhood, Viola Davis project)
- Jim Uhls (Fight Club, Jumper)
- Ivan Williams (Media Tech Entrepreneur)
At the end of the day, I find the biggest advantage of ScriptHop to be simplicity.
“The Packet is easy to email or text,” explains Brian Austin, who designed the system. “It includes the script along with documents like lookbooks and bibles, and information about the project such as the logline, synopsis, character breakdowns, attachments, writer bio, and more. It’s easy for the recipient to access and no special software is required. Users simply click a link.”
Austin says The Packet is also heading off insidious forms of tech at the pass. “The need to digest content is so great that many are pursuing AI to read and choose which scripts will be successes,” he explains. “Seeing this trend caused us to make a major pivot from focusing on AI to focusing on empowering the creators. It’s utilizing technology in the right way while keeping the human and artist element in place.”
The Packet is available by invitation only to start but for more information visit ScriptHop.
Source: ScriptHop
