What services are you using to host your screenplays and get discovered? Are you hosted on The Black List or Stage 32? Or are you looking for a new home for your projects after the closure of Coverfly?
We've been poking around and looked into Wscripted, which is a company focused on diversifying story discovery and financing for film, TV, and publishing.
And now, it offers a newer platform called Wscripted+ that is advertised as helping producers, agents, and executives review scripts and books more quickly, hopefully opening opportunities for more writers. Unlike Coverfly's contest-focused model or The Black List's evaluation system, Wscripted+ is open about being AI-powered.
Wscripted+ received funding from Techstars Atlanta and was selected for Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs' generative AI accelerator, with Universal Pictures testing an early version of the site (per Deadline).
When it launched last October, founder Ellie Jamen said in a statement, "Wscripted+ is a tool that will help any producer, agent, professional, even a sales agent, go through their stack of submissions faster and discover scripts and books from outside their network."
Jamen said 2,000 female and non-binary writers were invited to join the platform at launch, and it has gained industry attention through its Cannes Screenplay List, which has been curated by jury members like actor Vanessa Kirby (via Deadline).
Credit: The Black List
What Does It Look Like?
The platform's pricing structure has a free option and a $10 per month option for writers. Execs and producers pay a higher fee ($50 monthly) to browse projects, with breakdowns and an option to listen to submissions.
Upon sign-up, users are taken to a dashboard where works are hosted. We're prompted to upgrade in order to upload scripts. At the free tier, we could search for different genres and formats to view the available projects. You can send requests to read private scripts.
The paid subscription tier offers writers the ability "to upload 2 new projects per month and get all their projects recommended to professionals based on their creative interest." So you must be at this tier for industry professionals to see your projects.
Just for comparison, The Black List charges per evaluation and a fee for monthly hosting, and Coverfly made its money via contest entries.
What's the Takeaway?
The screenwriting services industry is experiencing significant upheaval, with Coverfly shutting down permanently and major contests like Nicholl changing its submission processes. Writers are diversifying across multiple services rather than relying on single platforms.
The reactions to Wscripted+ and its AI focus have been mixed. Comments on Deadline include concerns that "AI can summarize plots but cannot feel, care about characters, root for them, fall in love with someone's writing, and judge submissions the way a potential audience member does."
On Reddit, the reaction to AI coverage in general has been lukewarm, with some seeing the benefits, though those who dislike it really dislike it. Other members indicate they are using the Wscripted+ platform.
If you search the Wscripted+ policy, they state the site is "designed to be user-controlled, providing decision-makers with generated results that aid their workflow without undermining their independent judgment." Users can request further information about how the AI works if they desire.
We reached out to ask about the platform's AI and how it differs from other large language models, but have not received a response as of publication.
In her launch statement, Jamen said the industry "doesn't have time to discover new projects, new stories, and this creates this bias preventing women and underrepresented writers getting in, because they're always at the bottom of the pile."
Let us know your thoughts.
