Amazon Studios chief Roy Price is thrilled with the first phase of his radical online movie studio experiment. So many submissions came in the first month, more than 2500, that he opened up a December script contest and his panel of judges has picked the first two winners: Richard Stern for action comedy Villain, about a bad guy who decides to switch sides, which also earned the most responses online, and Marty Weiss of the rollicking international mystery adventure The Alchemist Agenda. “It’s Fool’s Gold meets the Da Vinci Code,” says Price. “Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt should definitely check this one out.” Both winners will collect a $20,000 prize and can move on to the next phase of the Amazon Studios competition: test shorts and table reads.
Price says that 3,000 scripts have been entered on the site, and the January contest is heading toward its end-of-month close. At year’s end a panel of judges will pick the winning script for the big $100,000 prize.
One key change has been made in the most controversial aspect of the Amazon Studios format: as of January 27, screenwriters can choose whether or not they want site visitors to make revisions of their scripts online. They can continue to accept reviews, feedback and commentary in any case. Neither of the winning scripts were revised online. The key to Amazon is listening to feedback and making changes, says Price, who has made a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and hopes to get some of these scripts produced, either at the studio or elsewhere.
SEE: http://blogs.indiewire.com/
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