Hello all. Sheridan here. It’s been a while since I last posted an update of this sort. It’s something I hope to do more of in the future to help keep you a little more up to date on the changes and upgrades that are happening around here on a fairly regular basis.
How’s the pulse?
For those of you that don’t know, this site officially launched on August 1st and I’m pleased to announce that it appears that we’ve finally curbed the bandwith and traffic problem. Granted, the scripts are hosted through SendSpace and that’s not a choice I made lightly because I know it can be an annoyance, but it’s proved a stable enough resolution to allow the site to continue breathing and stay online.
Want more?
If you’d like to know a little more about the site beyond checking out our About and FAQ pages, you can check out the interview I did with Scott Myers for his site Go Into the Story here: Blog spotlight: MyPDFscripts.
I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to posting that link. Sheesh, I’m a little behind. Scott has also agreed to undergo a polygraph for one of our CUT TO: interviews. So, be sure to look for that in the coming weeks.
And while you’re over at Go Into the Story, I highly recommend that you check out Scott’s 14 Days of Screenplays: Version 3.0 challenge that we supplied the scripts for. It’s a great idea, as Scott states:
Per the previous 14 Days of Screenplays challenges, the idea is simple: Read 1 script per day for 14 days. Reading scripts is one of the single best ways you can increase your understanding of the craft of screenwriting. And reading 14 scripts in 14 days multiplies the benefit as you begin to intuit things, I guess you could say. You pick up pacing and tone, style and scene transitions, and on and on and on.
Maintenance Mode?
Some of you may have noticed that the site drifts in and out of Maintenance Mode. Usually, if you see that, it means I’m tinkering with code or some such. I’m always trying to improve the overall functionality of this site, so it will continue to happen randomly and sporadically. I try not to hinder your browsing with it for too long and I do apologize for any inconvenience it may cause.
Again, it’s all in an attempt to make functionality, browsing, and categorization better.
Seven Scripts
Similar in idea to Scott’s 14 Days of Screenplays, I’ve created a feature called Seven Scripts, which most of you are probably familiar with by now. The idea came to me while interviewing David Lemon by simply wondering what scripts he would recommend to an aspiring screenwriter. Between his list and Mystery Man’s, it’s proven to be a popular addition to the site with just over 12,000 combined views between their lists. 12,000 views! That’s incredible considering I didn’t realize this site was getting that much traffic to begin with, which brings me to…
Advertisement, Banners, and Donations
I had someone ask about how much revenue this site generates. Ha. Hehe. Hahahaha. HehehehAHAHAHA. Sorry. Got the giggles there. Ha. It actually doesn’t generate any. I’m not a fan of advertisements and banners. And I never have been, really. Some sites plaster their sites with ads and that’s okay. It’s their site. I understand it’s a revenue stream, helps pay bills associated with the site, and in some rare cases is the only source of income for regular bloggers, but I don’t ever intend to clutter your browsing experience with banners and ads. Why? Because when I go to a site, I want the content. Content, content, content. If there is something cool I should check out or something cool I should purchase, then that respective site should feature an article about it.
That said, this site is now incurring a monthly hosting fee that I could use some help with and if you’d like to donate to this site I’ve placed a non-intrusive PayPal Donation Button in the sidebar to the right. Scroll to the bottom, it’s there.
Do you have to donate? Of course not. It’s strictly voluntary. Many, many thanks in advance to those of you who do, though. Every little bit helps.
The Indexes
I’ve just created some indexes to help with your script browsing needs. You’ll find the link in the top menu, clear to the right. There you’ll find: the Top 250 Script Downloads, the Script Index, and the Writer Index.
The Script Index collects every script available from every category on the site and lists them in alphabetical order. It’s a very quick way to see what’s on the site and what isn’t.
The Writer Index lists writers by Last Name, First Name. And, for now, it only indexes the first credited writer of each script, so whomever is listed first on the title page is who’s listed there. It’s not perfect yet, as I just created it, but it should help out significantly if you’re searching by writer. Again, it’s something I’m working on and, hopefully, I’ll be able to list all credited writers in the future.
I’m also working on an Academy Award Winning Screenplays Index that will also link to the respective scripts on this site. And if I have time, I may also try to get all of the Black Lists and Brit Lists up as Indexes, too.
Note: all of the scripts from these lists may not be available on the site due to their production status, which reminds me–
Script Reviews
You should see an increase in script reviews in the coming weeks. Six gracious script readers have agreed to contribute their services to that department routinely. Two of which have already posted reviews, so if you get the chance, hop on over and check out Rob Grant’s review of Akira Part One and Mike Breiburg’s review of Hack/Slash.
Again, some of the scripts that will be reviewed may not be available on the site due to their production status.
Final Thoughts…
Hope everyone is enjoying the site. It’s always great to see some of the comments when people find a script that they’ve been looking for. Makes the painfully tedious task of adding scripts to the database worthwhile.
Speaking of… if you’d like to share in that painfully tedious task, I could definitely use some help adding scripts to the site. I now have around 575 scripts listed on the site. And about 3,500 more to be added. If you’re interested in helping out (I’ll warn you again: it’s painfully tedious) just contact me.
Finally, keep up to date with all the latest scripts and additions to the site by following us on Twitter: twitter.com/mypdfscripts. Like my sister likes to say, “Tweet, tweet, motherclucker.” Hey, it makes me laugh.