The Book is Always Better, but What About the Screenplay?

The IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards, held in november, don’t quite work like the Oscars. First, non-white people are allowed to attend. Secondly, they use a jury system.

It’s easy to criticize the Academy Awards, but their method of picking winners at least makes sense: actors pick best action, directors vote on best director, etc. What the two have in common is they afford the voters a chance to preview films and their screenplays before hand. If you’ve ever downloaded a film before it was released in theaters and saw the words “screening purposes only” scroll on the bottom the screen, then you’ve seen one of these previews. Some naughty academy member uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Rarer, someone will leak the screenplay.

Well, not so rarely anymore. Several screenplays are now available for download. These include many of the nominees for last years best independent film, including “The End of the Tour,” “Trumbo,” and the Best Feature winner “Spotlight.”   It’s a tantalizing peek into how contemporary screenplays are written and an opportunity to see how much makes it from the page to the screen.

It could also save you like, ten bucks on a movie ticket. Use your imagination you robots!