ICON PUCKERS UP FOR 'KISS'

ScriptShark receives a lot of material from Hollywood's "slush pile"-writing that's already been rejected or was simply never read. But maybe the experts missed something, says ScriptShark CEO Ed Kashiba. "There may be a grocery-store bag boy out there who's a great writer and just doesn't have the right access." Jamie Bussin, 33, has a slightly better job-he's a lawyer in Toronto-but he still skipped the normal channels for fear that his script would be ignored. "If you're sending out a bunch, that can get expensive. Not to mention frustrating," Bussin says. So he sent "The Housesitters" to ScriptShark. The Web site wasn't crazy about it, but it liked his writing. Last month Bussin began hammering out a deal with a Hollywood agency. He won't be thanking the Academy any time soon, but he's convinced the Internet got him farther than he would've with a stamped envelope


ScriptShark.com will give basic notes and a ''recommend,'' ''consider'' or ''pass'' grade on screenplays and book manuscripts, which could be adapted into films. If a script gets a ''consider'' grade, it can be posted on the site. That process worked out for Craig Doyle, who submitted his inside-Hollywood story Martin Guthrie to ScriptShark. Producer Greg Silverman liked it so much that he helped Doyle get an agent (at CAA) and is developing the project. ''It was a well-written script,'' Silverman says. ''But here is a guy I would have never had any contact with if it wasn't for ScriptShark.''


IS SCRIPT SHARK SPEC MARKET THE SCHWAB'S DRUGSTORE FOR THE DIGITAL AGE?

In the latest episode of "Screenwriters Discovered on the Net," Paramount Pictures bought North Carolina native Mark Smith's screenplay The Devil's Kiss for Mel Gibson's Icon Productions. Smith's script, a Western thriller, was plucked from obscurity off the Script Shark Spec Market, which posts log lines from scripts that have been rated as "consider" by its readers. Devil's Kiss was apparently a strong consider because it had several people interested at one time, including Revolution Studios for Bruce Willis, MGM, and, of course, Paramount. According to the site, Smith's first sell is about "a retiring sheriff (who) is forced to stay on the job until he's helped his new, young replacement solve a string of grisly, mysterious murders." Smith has no agent, yet, but he was helped in setting up his project by managers-producers Roy Lee, J.C. Spink and Chris Bender, who may join Icon as producers on the film. Script Shark apparently has about a 95 percent pass rate, so Smith overcame substantial odds just to get posted as a "consider" on the site. And he might not be done yet: Smith's screenplay On Condor's Wings also was rated a "consider" and is posted on Script Shark for potential buyers. A few weeks before this deal, producer Anne Francois (Nine Months) optioned Kyle Thornton's Neon Messiah after discovering it on the site.


Hungry for scripts, recently launched ScriptShark.com is using the 'Net to identify un-represented scribes with promising talent. For a fee, aspiring writers can send in scripts for coverage by a professional reader. If it receives a ``consider,'' the script's coverage is posted for industry members. If it garners a ``recommend,'' ScriptShark attempts to set up the writer with a manager or agent. Ed Kashiba, Story Editor at Scott Free Prods. (Tony and Ridley Scott's production banner), co-founded the site in August.
"The purpose is to try to find new material, new talent," Kashiba said. "There are quite a few projects that are worth consideration that aren't being seen. We're giving everybody the chance to break into the business."


We know, we know. You're an excellent screenwriter with an original voice and an idea for a movie far more innovative than THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Unfortunately, you can't even get an agent's assistant to read past your cover letter. Enter Roy Lee. The Los Angeles-based non-practicing lawyer has teamed up with nearly every agency and production company in Hollywood (including the studios behind such films as FACE OFF, THE MUMMY, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, AND TEACHING MRS. TINGLE) to launch ScriptShark.com. For a fee, a budding writer can submit a script, and within two weeks, one of 30 ScriptShark readers will return a critical analysis to the writer. If the script is deemed good enough, ScriptShark will forward it to various studios…. - Jessica Shaw


"Although Bender and Spink haven't created their own website yet, their production chief, Roy Lee, and Ed Kashiba, a former story editor for Scott Free Productions, have. The two founded ScriptShark.com last year to identify talented, un-represented writers. With a steering committee made up of producers and studio executives, ScriptShark charges a fee per submission and promises that each script will be analyzed by its network of professional readers. The writers receive a "coverage" report, which means that their script is assessed and placed in one of three categories: recommend, consider, or pass. (a recommend rating means that ScriptShark will try to put the writer together with a manger or an agent.)…" - Chris Petrikin


"Best Movie Websites"
Given up all hope of Hollywood discovering your screenplay? Look no further. Developed by "people in the industry", the site also offers a professional analysis service to help your chances of hitting the big time. ScriptShark is easy to navigate and very business like (read: dull) - but you can't beat the service on offer.


"…Lee has since developed a script-reading site, ScriptShark.com, with Scott Free Productions executive, Ed Kashiba, which they sold to IFILM where Kashiba is a vice president. IFILM then hired Lee's employer Bender-Spink in a consulting role to jointly develop IFILMpro, IFILM's site targeted at entertainment industry workers" - Laura Rich
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You've probably left at least one movie thinking, "I could have written a better film than that." Thanks to the Web, you now have that chance. ScriptShark is a new site that hopes to pry open movie execs' closed doors to turn no-names into Hollywood heavyweights… ScriptShark awards scripts with a "pass," "consider" or "recommend." Writers who score well are connected with agents, studios and production companies. But don't expect any special effects: You have to use snail mail to send the site your scripts. Make sure to register them first with the Writers Guild of America.


Forget the casting couch - dot comers have rolled out the red carpet for promising young filmmakers and thesps worldwide. Hollywood hopefuls sing the praises of the Internet while posting their headshots, shopping their scripts, screening their films, and even seeking legal assistance online. And why shouldn't they? With industry vets and top-dog producers only a mouse click away, fledgling stars can amplify their exposure and launch their budding careers in no time flat. We've compiled a bevy of sites offering services for filmmakers trying to break into the biz…ScriptShark.com, comprised of studio and development executives on the prowl for new screenwriting talent and material, aspiring writers pay a fee to have their masterpieces dissected by professional readers. If the story receives a "consider", the script is posted for members to read. If it gets a "recommend," ScriptShark will try to secure the writer a manager or agent.


Quick hits - Get your screenplay read by Hollywood execs at ScriptShark.com…


In addition to launching an upgraded search function, iFilmpro.com on Friday bowed the Spec Market, a new service from iFilm's script coverage venture, www.ScriptShark.com. SpecMarket offers access to a listing of scripts that have received "consider" or "recommend" coverage. ScriptShark is also expanding beyond coverage and offering screenwriters script story notes and treatment analysis. - Marc Graser


Stories of frustrated screenwriters being discovered via the internet may soon become a reality, thanks to a web site aiming to do just that. ScriptShark invites wannabe scribes to send their scripts to them for analysis, for a relatively small fee. And if they think yours has what it takes, ScriptShark will send the screenplay out to studios and production companies on your behalf.

The brainchild of Bender-Spink Production head, Roy Lee and Ed Kashiba, a development executive at Tony and Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions, ScriptShark developed from a site that Lee had already worked on. "Roy was already doing a tracking website for the Hollywood community, a site which tracked screenplays that were going out from the agencies," explains Kashiba. "We established ScriptShark to find material outside of the usual agency channels."

"Submissions have increased every week," Kashiba reveals. "And we've been receiving calls from so many people wanting a shot at the materials and writers that we find."

Of course, the site won't guarantee a glittering screenwriting career - 95% of all submissions are not forwarded. However, you're free to send as many scripts as you like, and if the script analysis inspires you to do a marvelous re-draft, the site will happily look at your work for a second time. So any advice for would-be submitters?

"Well, we can't stress enough the importance of professional formatting (details of which are on the site). But since we cover so many companies, any genre is game - commercial or art house, the quality of writing is the most important…" - Caroline Westbrook


Websites where writers can get coverage, converse with Hollywood veterans, or post their loglines and synopsis are also showing some early signs of success.

"The Internet is empowering every screenwriter with the chance to get his script read," says Roy Lee, one of the founders of ScriptShark, a website where writers can get professional coverage for a fee.

The producers, who work for some of the most recognized production companies in Hollywood, are looking for something that they can, well, produce. In fact, Lee is also a production executive at Bender-Spink Management, which is responsible for one of the first-time sales of a script found over the Internet, GOOD GOD, written by Yoni Berkovit and sold to Fox 2000 for a six-figure sum.

"ScriptShark gets a chance to see a script before anyone else can," Lee explains. "If you're outside the Hollywood loop, it's the cheapest way to get your script read by potential buyers." Craig Doyle, a media buyer, posted a logline on ScriptShark, and it caught the attention of producer Greg Silverman. He contacted Doyle, asked to see his script, and decided it was one of the best things he had ever read. Not only did Silverman want to make the script into a movie, he helped Doyle get representation at CAA, and the new scribe has a television deal in the works at one of the major studios.