WSF

WSF Announces Lucky 13 “From Concept to Script” Semi-Finalists!

posted by KenWSFPresident on May 4, 2011

The WSF is proud to announce the “From Concept to Script” Competition’s Lucky 13 semi-finalists !

This unique screenplay competition focuses on developing high concepts for the film industry,  with the goal of producing five high concept spec scripts that will be put into the hands of major studio affiliates, production companies, that have partnered with the WSF to offer newcomers what they covet most… a chance.

Beyond that, we tried to give participants a taste of the expectations of the film industry.   Concept sells.  There’s a market for everything to be sure, but a high concept only increases a writer’s odds of breaking through, and members know that this is exactly what the WSF is about, doing all it can to help writers break through and have a shot at their dream.

We received over 400 loglines.  Working with our development contact (A request was made for the company to remain anonymous in any press.  It is a major production company signed with a major studio), we chose the loglines with the most potential and now we’re asking them to take it to the next level and offer the first ten pages of those scripts.

The writers were given development notes on where our development contact would like to see each concept go, mirroring the development process often found in the film industry today.  Writers will be working under a deadline of June 1st, where we will then review the 10-page submissions and pick the Final Five.  Those five will then be given until November 14th to hand in a final draft, which will be submitted to our development contacts for studio consideration.

In December, the WSF will hold mock industry meetings with each of the writers of the Final Five in Madison, WI, mirroring the development meetings a writer can expect to take part in during a career as a screenwriter.  We will then pick the official “WSF Pick” of the bunch and forward it to additional contacts.

So without further ado, here are the Lucky 13 loglines* that have advanced to the next round…

• MY OWN TIME MACHINE

Mourning the death of his grandfather, an eight-year-old enlists his parents’ help to build a time machine.

Brooke Miller Hall and Amy Gangl

• A SHOT TO THE HEART

A hit man’s life is changed as he becomes the sole guardian to three little kids.

Randy Clark

• DEATH SLEEP
  

To rescue his dying wife, a sleep disorders researcher unearths a technique to rescue people from fatal comas by entering their dreams – a dark world governed by even darker gods.

Ren Patterson

• THE HUNTING SHACK

Hunters become the hunted when friends take their annual hunting trip to Northern Wisconsin and learn one of their number is hunting them.

Rob Dippel

• WISCONSIN

Instead of a trip to Italy with their frat brothers, a joke lands the new pledges in Rome, Wisconsin for the time of their lives.

Paul Eisenbacher

• WHAT GOD HATH WROUGHT
  

Creatures produced by outlawed genetic experiments terrorize university researchers trapped with them in the campuses underground tunnel system.

Tom Dunn

• PERSONA
  

A secret agent programmed with multiple personalities must stop her organization from killing the one man who can restore her original personality.

Jeff Burns

• YOU’VE BEEN SERVED

After two office workers fall in love against all company rules, the romance goes sour and they turn to making each other’s lives miserable. And they can do it better than any other spurned lovers – they’re IRS agents.

Neil Graves

• BLACK FRIDAY

A workaholic father bonds with his estranged family on a hectic shopping holiday –- Black Friday.

Daniel Crisp

• PRINCIPAL OCTAVEC LOVES TO PARTY

After a near death experience with the gymnasium bleachers, a repentant principal struggles to become popular with the kids he has terrorized for years.

Craig Moorhead

• DADDY ROCKS

A rock band drummer has a stoned blast on tour, until his ex-wife deposits their five kids backstage during a show.

Pat Fitzgerald

• LONG TIME COMING

The Devil gives a supremely confident playboy immortality contingent upon his having consensual sex with a new partner every 24 hours.

Philip Heckman

• MASTERS OF THE GAME

Four teens go undercover for a cop and discover they’re actually targets in his deadly game to train sharpshooters.

Christine DeSmet and Peggy Williams

Congrats to the Lucky 13 and best of luck!

*Details of loglines and concepts may change slightly during the developing and writing process.