Zoetrope

Just in case anyone is interested, I found this site (founded by Francis Ford Coppola) that purports to offer guidance/assistance for budding writers, and also offers the chance for would-be screen writers to have a chance at having their submissions viewed by Hollywood muckety-mucks. So far I haven't seen any fees for their contests, so that's a good sign.

Every writer hopes to have an audience for their work, and this site could be just the ticket. If you've been keeping up with the "new" stuff coming out of Tinseltown, you know that they must be dying for something original. Advertisements for the new movie "The Covenant" look suspiciously like an updated "Lost Boys", and "The Black Dahlia" is a remake. Now, there's nothing wrong with retelling a good story. The trick is, of course, to tell the story in such a way as to make it relevant and interesting, so much so that the reader doesn't realize that he/she has read it before.

So good luck to those who decide to submit. They have a contest for short stories (easily made into screenplays) going on with a deadline of 2 October for submissions. I have one I want to submit, but like a doting parent, am afraid to let it go out on its own. Hopefully I'll conquer that fear.