Ed Gray says:
Another place to follow this discussion is here:
http://studios.amazon.com/discussions/Tx3EH2PIIXGYIMZ
Thanks
http://studios.amazon.com/discussions/Tx3EH2PIIXGYIMZ
Thanks
Ed Gray says:
Right now DANCASTER’S PARDON is very well positioned here at AS: The screenplay is a two-time finalist for a Best Script award and Phil Boast and his team just used it to win a $5,000 Best Dialogue Track award. It’s a project that could very well win one of the remaining monthly $100K Best Test Movie awards, or even the million dollar annual award.
But so far there is no test movie for DANCASTER’S PARDON. No one has yet made one. I’m a writer, not a filmmaker or visual artist.
If you’ve got the skill set to make a test movie, I think you should seriously consider making one for DANCASTER’S PARDON. Here are the advantages:
1. You’ll be making a test movie that AS wants made. They’ve recognized DANCASTER’S PARDON from the start. The script has been in the semis or finals every month since I uploaded it in January. After they placed the script in the finals the first time in February, AS gave me substantial feedback. Here’s how it started:
“DANCASTER’S PARDON is a well-written, fun action-romance set in medieval times, in the tradition of such adventure-romances as ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES and the ZORRO films. Dancaster is a likeable rogue, an English womanizer who takes heroic action to storm and hold ransom a walled city in France in order to save the French woman he loves. With vivid characters, sexy scenes between two leads, and a number of dynamic battle sequences, this script has the potential to appeal to a wide audience.”
2. You won’t have to hire actors. You’ll be making a movie that already has an award-winning dialogue track available for your use.
(Caveat: Phil’s winning dialogue track was based on the original version of the script, which was a February finalist. The current version, which I wrote based on the AS feedback I received, is the one that made the June finals. Phil has told me that he is more than willing to record the needed changes. And yes, if you use his track and win money, he’ll win some more, too.)
3. It will be your movie, not mine. If you win money from Amazon, what you get will be yours, not mine.
(Another caveat: The AS rules call for a small portion of any test film prize money to go to the writer. For his recent $5K win, Phil Boast will get $4,500 and I’ll get $500. If your test movie wins one of the monthly $100K awards, I’ll get $20K; if you use all or some of Phil’s winning dialogue track, he’ll get up to $12K. All the rest will be yours. If your test movie wins the million, multiply those numbers by 10.)
4. I’ve been researching this story for years. I can provide or steer you to as much visual reference as you need -- there’s a lot and it’s good. And it goes without saying that if you hit a rough patch making a part of your movie work, I can help with script tweaks and revisions.
5. The rest you already know: Music and sound effects are already available to you, free, from AS’s digital library here on the site. Storyboards and animatics are not only acceptable for test movies, but are encouraged. In short, if you can produce the visuals, you can make a winning test movie. The other parts are already here. So is the prize money, waiting to be won.
If you are at all interested, even if you possess just one of the skills needed, but aren’t sure where to start or are looking for collaborators, this forum is the place to start. Read, post, and connect. Or, if you’d like to discuss anything privately, just send me or anyone posting here a StudioMail.
Or -- and this would work, too -- just go ahead and make the test movie. Though I’d love to be helpful to you, you don’t even have to let me know you’re doing it. That’s how it works here.
Thanks to all.
Ed Gray
But so far there is no test movie for DANCASTER’S PARDON. No one has yet made one. I’m a writer, not a filmmaker or visual artist.
If you’ve got the skill set to make a test movie, I think you should seriously consider making one for DANCASTER’S PARDON. Here are the advantages:
1. You’ll be making a test movie that AS wants made. They’ve recognized DANCASTER’S PARDON from the start. The script has been in the semis or finals every month since I uploaded it in January. After they placed the script in the finals the first time in February, AS gave me substantial feedback. Here’s how it started:
“DANCASTER’S PARDON is a well-written, fun action-romance set in medieval times, in the tradition of such adventure-romances as ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES and the ZORRO films. Dancaster is a likeable rogue, an English womanizer who takes heroic action to storm and hold ransom a walled city in France in order to save the French woman he loves. With vivid characters, sexy scenes between two leads, and a number of dynamic battle sequences, this script has the potential to appeal to a wide audience.”
2. You won’t have to hire actors. You’ll be making a movie that already has an award-winning dialogue track available for your use.
(Caveat: Phil’s winning dialogue track was based on the original version of the script, which was a February finalist. The current version, which I wrote based on the AS feedback I received, is the one that made the June finals. Phil has told me that he is more than willing to record the needed changes. And yes, if you use his track and win money, he’ll win some more, too.)
3. It will be your movie, not mine. If you win money from Amazon, what you get will be yours, not mine.
(Another caveat: The AS rules call for a small portion of any test film prize money to go to the writer. For his recent $5K win, Phil Boast will get $4,500 and I’ll get $500. If your test movie wins one of the monthly $100K awards, I’ll get $20K; if you use all or some of Phil’s winning dialogue track, he’ll get up to $12K. All the rest will be yours. If your test movie wins the million, multiply those numbers by 10.)
4. I’ve been researching this story for years. I can provide or steer you to as much visual reference as you need -- there’s a lot and it’s good. And it goes without saying that if you hit a rough patch making a part of your movie work, I can help with script tweaks and revisions.
5. The rest you already know: Music and sound effects are already available to you, free, from AS’s digital library here on the site. Storyboards and animatics are not only acceptable for test movies, but are encouraged. In short, if you can produce the visuals, you can make a winning test movie. The other parts are already here. So is the prize money, waiting to be won.
If you are at all interested, even if you possess just one of the skills needed, but aren’t sure where to start or are looking for collaborators, this forum is the place to start. Read, post, and connect. Or, if you’d like to discuss anything privately, just send me or anyone posting here a StudioMail.
Or -- and this would work, too -- just go ahead and make the test movie. Though I’d love to be helpful to you, you don’t even have to let me know you’re doing it. That’s how it works here.
Thanks to all.
Ed Gray
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