Be an Eco-Friendly Screenwriter with Greenwriter.org

By sarajean on 8/15/09 8:01am
2 Comments

If you’re a screenwriter, you probably know how many pages it takes to make a movie. Though your script is likely to be only a fraction of those, it’s still a hefty print job that takes a toll on the planet’s tree population. In fact, every year America’s screenwriters print 180 million sheets of paper! If you’re looking for more eco-friendly ways of doing your job, Greenwriter.org may be for you.

Greenwriter.org is a website that allows writers to create their own personal accounts to use in order to feature their screenplays in a searchable database. As long as your script is WGA registered, it can be featured in the Greenwriter catalog. The best part is that the entire service is free of charge!

It’s really simple to use. All you have to do is upload a PDF of your screenplay, as well as its five-page treatment and some other details—a log line and a two-paragraph synopsis. Tag your work with appropriate plot and theme tags that describe it accurately so that it can be searched for, and then you’re done!

This will enable your writing to be fully searchable by producers who will want to buy your script! It will also help the website to attract new producers on an ongoing basis. Your writing will be like eco-friendly Hollywood bait.

Don’t worry about not having enough viewers; Greenwriter already has partnerships with some major producers and studios. By using their site, you will be able to get their attention without even trying! According to the site, “Say a producer is looking for something specific, like dramas starring Eddie Murphy, or coming-of-age comedies featuring a male protagonist — Greenwriter will promote the right work to them.”

These producers also tell Greenwriter specifics on what kinds of movies they’re looking for, and in doing so get recommendations to download. They can download as many as they like until they find the perfect one they’re looking for, and then they connect with the writer whose work they want. So if you think about it, Greenwriter also takes out the costs of wining, dining, traveling and other minutiae involved with pitching your work.

A company by writers for writers, Greenwriter is out of L.A. and is made up of only a nine-person team. Their goal is to reduce the amount of paper generated by screenwriters by at least half in the next six months. Care to give it a try?

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Comments

meh

Submitted by lisala on 8/15/09 2:55pm.

This strikes me as at best a well-intentioned but naive concept. It's essentially another display site--and those really don't work. The fact that they don't charge writers is good, but they seem to think producers will subscribe at 50.00 month for the privilege of reading.

That's not how the industry works. It really isn't. Writers would do better to simply ask about electronic submission of .pdf files; some production companies do accept them.

Good Idea

Submitted by sarajean on 8/15/09 4:49pm.

Maybe this is something that can happen in the future, though. They do have a few companies on board. We'll have to see if it takes off or flails, I guess! :)