Amazon.com is hoping to break into the filmmaking business, by offering up a website that allows people to submit their screenplays. The screenplays will be reviewed by a panel of "experts", who will take any promising screenplays to Warner Brothers. If the screenplay is accepted by Warner Brothers,and turned into a film for release, the writer will earn $250,000. If the film takes in more than 60 million dollars, the writer will receive an additional $400,000 as a bonus. An 18 month exlusitivity contract will be drawn up during this time to prevent the writer from bringing their ideas to competing studios.
The panel of experts includes directors, producers and screenwriters who will make their decisions based on which screenplays will be the most commercially sucessful. This means, save your intelligent, thought provoking piece for when you've established your name--and whip out that screenplay about Tom Cruise fighting gigantic dinosaurs on Mars. Participants will be encouraged to submit either screen plays or rough cuts of the film. Rumored to be on the panel is Jack Epps Jr the producer of Top Gun and the esteemed writing talents of Mike Werb who wrote The Mask (Note: I'm being sarcastic when I say esteemed, The Mask is pretty shitty).
With this new project, Amazon hopes to spend a total of 2.7 million dollars on the chosen projects from now until 2011.
Personally I think this is great news. We all constantly bitch about there not being enough original ideas, or the fact that sons of directors can get their crappy movies made with a snap of the fingers, while the lesser, more intelligent and creative people are left with nothing. Here is the opportunity to shine people. Granted, the odds of having your stuff picked will most likely be pretty slim and I'm willing to bet that this panel of experts is really the 10th step on the path to greatness. By that I mean, first stop is the quick glance from interns making 15 bucks an hour, then the interns making 16 bucks an hour, THEN the higher paid interns, then the assistants and so on and so on. Imagine how many submissions they will receive? I'd like to see a photo of that.
Regardless, this is exciting news for anyone who dreams of breaking into Hollywood. Keep checking back with Amazon for more updates, and start getting those screenplays ready. This could be the big break you've been waiting for.
