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Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

screenplays.io

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Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#101

Post by lumenwrites »

PenguinRevolver wrote: post #100

Getting error "402: PAYMENT_REQUIRED" when trying to access your site.

Oh, thanks a lot for letting me know! The website got to the front page of HN, and I ran out of my free tier limits on Vercel, had to upgrade to the pro account.

Already fixed.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#102

Post by Rant423 »

You have some minor errors:

* Mulholland Dr. comes up twice (and different files)

* Same for The Fellowship of the Ring (but the file seems the same)

* Again for Se7en

* In general, most of the movie with a ":" in their title are duplicated ("2001: A Space Odyssey", "Kill Bill: Vol.1", "Star Wars: The Force Awakens")

Also, kudos for having some screenplays I've never found around

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#103

Post by hombre_fatal »

grimgrin wrote: post #54
ekianjo wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not: > No portion of this script may be performed, or reproduced by any means, or quoted, or published in any medium without prior written consent of SONY PICTURES TELEVISION INC. * 10202 West Washington Boulevard * Culver City, CA 90232 Cease & Desist Notice coming in 3...2...1

Though the collection will live on in infamy, on archive.org, or a tracker near you

archive.org isn’t an illegal operation. You can even get other people’s websites scrubbed from it by pressuring them.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#104

Post by antasvara »

slim wrote: post #82
VanTheBrand wrote: post #78

One of the things that sucks about this is that the publishing rights for all of the original, non-ip based scripts and TV scripts are actually controlled by the writers and show creators. So it’s individual writers, not big corporations that you are actually distributing the work of without compensation. You might say but this is fair use / you aren’t charging or profiting… it’s not fair use and I think actually you…

In the same vein I would argue that authors need to pay for the hard work of this gentleman distributing their work. they are profiting from the publicity for free

What "value" is there in this publicity that the author hasn't already received? I have to imagine that it's exceedingly easy to find the screenwriter for a published script, and as such this additional publicity gets them little to no additional benefits.

The downside of having this published for free is that the author now has a more difficult time profiting from the sale of the script. This is the same for any author that profits from the sale of their writing. This conversation would have a much different tone if the site was publishing novels, wouldn't it?

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#106

Post by lumenwrites »

ceoatpiedpiper wrote: post #105

I love the UI - it is simple and beautiful . Can you please let me know how did you build it ? What is the tech stack to build an application like this ?

Thanks!

It is built with Next.js and hosted on Vercel.

That's all there is to it, there's no database, just a big json file that contains all the courses.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#107

Post by themadturk »

VanTheBrand wrote: post #78

One of the things that sucks about this is that the publishing rights for all of the original, non-ip based scripts and TV scripts are actually controlled by the writers and show creators. So it’s individual writers, not big corporations that you are actually distributing the work of without compensation. You might say but this is fair use / you aren’t charging or profiting… it’s not fair use and I think actually you…

I'm not sure that screenwriters or studios care to much about this kind of distribution on the web. Screenplays for Oscar-contending movies are usually distributed widely and freely prior to voting, including via widely-known, industry-friendly blogs, and I don't know that anyone has any problem with this (unlike copies of the actual films distributed to voting members of the Academy). The scripts listed here are often available at a variety of long-established sites on the Internet. Yes, some screenplays available in book form, usually with added value content, such as production or behind-the-scenes photographs, commentary and analysis, etc. Hard copies of screenplays have been sold at comic and pop-culture shops, though I'm not sure how these are distributed or who benefits from them (beyond the shop).

Screenwriters advise other screenwriters to read existing screenplays, and the best source for someone wanting to read a lot of screenplays is the Internet. As someone who is trying to learn about screenwriting, availability of produced screenplays is a critical resource...and I simply am not aware of screenwriters or filmmakers demanding these already-produced screenplays to be taken down.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#108

Post by themadturk »

wackget wrote: post #13

I just want to know why they're all written in the most horrible typewriter-style font. They're written on computers now, right? So why not use a font that's easier on the eyes?

The film/television industry is very conservative in some ways. Productions methods have stayed the same for nearly a century, often for very practical reasons. 12-point or 10-pitch Courier, the basic typewriter font, along with certain formatting rules, was found to produce a page of screenplay that equaled about a minute of screen time. Nothing has happened over the past 100 years to change that, so no one wants (or needs) to mess with an industry standard, which in this case might as well be a universal language understood by actors, producers, directors, etc. at least in the English-speaking entertainment industry. Thanks for the formatting, including the font used, everyone reading the script has the same idea about running time, scene lengths, character names, etc.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#109

Post by squintychino »

TekMol wrote: post #83
VanTheBrand wrote: post #78

One of the things that sucks about this is that the publishing rights for all of the original, non-ip based scripts and TV scripts are actually controlled by the writers and show creators. So it’s individual writers, not big corporations that you are actually distributing the work of without compensation. You might say but this is fair use / you aren’t charging or profiting… it’s not fair use and I think actually you…

Humans are mostly driven by feelings. Even their thoughts are driven by feelings. That's why there is such a broad support for copyright violations. "Oh wow, free stuff! This feels good! This is good!".

Emotions aside - copyright law is decades overdue for a revision. It is laughably out of date and unfair.

Not every law is right just because it's a law.

Re: Show HN: I have built a library of screenplays for movies and TV shows

#110

Post by y42 »

I really like this and I adore the work you put into it, but as a couple of people already wrote you should beware of the water you are shipping here. E.g. this is a quote of a script that I picked randomly:

"NO PORTION OF THIS SCRIPT MAY BE PERFORMED, PUBLISHED, REPRODUCED, EXHIBITED, SOLD OR DISTRIBUTED BY ANY MEANS, OR QUOTED OR PUBLISHED IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING ON ANY WEBSITE, WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF HOME BOX OFFICE"

Nevertheless, fingers crossed.

Nota Bene: And as a data guy, I'd would love to get the whole archive to parse it and do some text and sentiment analysis or something like that.

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