Swipe Right on Your Next Script with James Dutcher
December 7, 2021
It’s time to find your perfect match…
With its name inspired by the dating website eHarmony, Script Harmony is an online database of completed IP, AP, and Thesis screenplays. Scripts are categorized by both genre and length, making it easy for Film Production and Producing students to browse for their next project.
“The idea behind Script Harmony is to make the scripts as accessible as possible for the students,” said Screenwriting Program Coordinator James Dutcher, who created the website in 2018.
Production students who are interested in a script will be able to pitch the screenwriter on their vision for the story to get them on board, before getting script approval from their production mentor.
In addition to finding ready-to-go scripts, the website also gives production students an opportunity to find a screenwriter who they are interested in collaborating with on an idea.
“Don’t just click on the first script and stop there. You can learn who the writers are by browsing through the website and reading what they are doing,” said Dutcher.
For Dutcher, the quality of the scripts has always been a priority.
Each available script has been pre-screened by a film professor at Dodge. Over the past few years, the website has been fed by classes such as SW 127 and SW 297, where short scripts are workshopped over the course of a semester and undergo several drafts.
Students who have written a script outside of class that they are interested in submitting to Script Harmony can also get their work approved by a Dodge professor, who can then send it along to Dutcher for posting.
With Script Harmony, screenwriting students have the opportunity to get their work out there and start collaborating with students in other majors.
And for screenwriters looking to get their scripts made, producibility is key.
“Write scripts that are possible to do within the parameters. You can write a great story, but if it can’t be produced on an AP budget, you’re stuck,” said Dutcher.
And having a script ready can make all the difference. If someone needs an AP, and you have something ready to go, it makes the process that much easier.
“Having the solution to their problem in your back pocket is a useful thing,” said Dutcher.
Log in to Script Harmony with your Chapman username and let the collaboration begin.