SeanPaulMurphyVille: INKTIP

InkTip is an online site where screenwriters can upload their scripts and producers, managers and agents can look at them. It costs $65 to list your script on InkTip for six months. During those six months, producers have the option of viewing your logline, synposis, resume or the script itself. Is it worth it?

I first became aware of InkTip about three years ago. A fellow filmmaker, Steven Gillilan, turned me onto the website. I didn't list any scripts at first, but I signed up for the free weekly newsletter. The newsletter lists a few scripts being sought by producers. Here is an example of a listing:

1) Contribution films - Seeking Family Friendly Scripts

We are looking for completed, feature-length, family-friendly scripts. Stories must either be set in the greater Los Angeles area or in non-specific locations so they can be shot in L.A. We also prefer family-friendly material that involves a pet, so if yours does, please state as much when pitching. Ideally we'd like to find two scripts for this mandate.

Budget for the first one will be between $300K to $700K. Budget for the second will be around $1 million. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

Our Credits include "Solitary" among others.

To submit to this lead, please go to:

http://www.inktippro.com/leads/

Enter your email address.

Copy/Paste this code: s5j8xmh83q

NOTE: Please only submit your work if it fits what the lead is looking for exactly. If you aren't sure if your script fits, please ask InkTip first.

The free newsletter lists two requests and hints at other scripts sought by other producers. If you subscribe to the preferred newsletter, you get about eight full requests a week. The price of preferred newsletter is regularly $60 for 4 months, but $40 for 4 months, if you have a script listed on the website.

Intrigued by newsletters, I considered putting one of my older scripts, which I was no longer marketing myself, on the website. I did a little research on writer groups about whether the website was worthwhile. Someone wrote somewhere that he was willing to make a fifty dollar investment in his career. I decided that I would, too.

Did I sell the script? No.* A number of production companies expressed interest in my Kairos Prize winning screenplay "I, John," but negotiations always seemed to fall apart when it came time to talk about money. Interestingly, one day I pitched a script to a manager who turned me down, only to have him approach me about the same script on InkTip a week later. (He backed off when I pointed out that he had just rejected me.) That said, I did get a nice, paid writing assignment through InkTip as a direct result of their matchmaking. That more than compensated me for the expense of signing up.

What's my final impression? It's a good site. Should you get on? That probably depends on your script. It seems like most of the production companies that use it are somewhat smallish. So you might not have find a buyer for your script about the Battle of Stalingrad. The most sought after scripts tend to be genre films with few characters and only a handful of locations. If you have a script like that, this is might be the place for you.

If your writing career is worth a $65 investment....

(Mine is.)

Be sure to check out my book The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God. It is available in paperback and on Kindle courtesy of TouchPoint Press.

*I have subsequently sold my script "I, John" via InkTip. Another InkTip success story.

General Filmmaking Blogs:

WGAW Foreign Levies Program

Confessions of a Screenwriting Contest Judge

Will Hollywood Steal From You? (Part 2)

Hollywood Hubris

The Black List: Evaluating The Evaluators

INKTIP

On Critics, in General

Gaming The IMDB

Winning The Kairos Prize

Will Netflix Kill The Indie Film Market?

Money, Money, Money, Money... MONEY!