Scripped.com Lets Screenwriters Use Free Software, Buy Groceries

by Nora Murphy | Published March 10, 2009

Screenwriting software can easily cost more than $200. In these hard economic times, that money could be better spent elsewhere on “necessities” like credit card bills or groceries. Screenwriters tend to have different priorities though, and won’t let a recession get in the way of storytelling. Thankfully, the Internet has come to the rescue again.

Scripped.com offers Web-based screenwriting software that is completely free. Members just need to create an account, log in and continue working on their project that is saved to the Website itself. Carefully created by three college students, Scripped could very well change the screenwriting world and movie industry entirely.

With new developments on the horizon, such as producers being able to buy the rights to member’s work directly from the writer, Scripped is on the verge of really taking off since its launch last year.

MovieMaker spoke with co-founders Sunil Rajaraman and Ryan Buckley to take a closer look at Scripped.

Nora Murphy (MM): How did you come up with this innovative idea?

Sunil Rajaraman (SR): It started off actually as an idea for a screenwriting magazine between Zak Freer, our third co-founder, and I. In parallel, Ryan had already been developing some software which kind of facilitated the collaborative writing process. The three of us eventually got together and came up with what is now Scripped.

Ryan Buckley (RB): We noticed that there was no good online screenplay text editing software available and that, in combination with the interest in the screenwriting magazine, became a community built around a Web application.

MM: Did you study film in school or was this more of a business project?

SR: Well Zak is actually a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program for USC and he’s a very talented young filmmaker. He won the Hollywood DV Short Film Festival in 2008 for Best Horror Short, so he’s our resident expert. Ryan writes quite a bit and I’ve written quite a few screenplays myself; nothing I’ve tried to sell. We’re all pretty passionate about the industry.

MM: When members seek creative support, what types of industry professionals will be giving feedback?

SR: We’re going to actually overhaul our creative support offerings and offer much more. We’re in partnership with a company called Coverage, Ink. to be able to offer writers feedback at any stage of their screenplay, whether it’s script notes or coverage, etc.

RB: We have two resident experts and possibly a third. Those are Aaron Lubin, Edward Burns’ producing partner; Dolly Gordon, a private script consultant who has worked with several Academy Award nominated screenwriters; and Richard Walter, who is chair of the UCLA Screenwriting department. We’re also really excited to be working with Coverage, Ink. because they are designing a new product specifically for Scripped members who are writing short form screenplays.

SR: That’s the high level of what’s really exciting about Scripped. We think that the idea in general is that short video is going to take off—it’s just a question of when. A lot of our writers are student writers or young writers who might not dream of someday writing the next Casablanca; they may dream of someday writing the next viral video hit. That’s our demographic. So because of that we’re going to see a lot of growth in our user base and a lot of opportunities to help our writers.

MM: You mentioned how Aaron Lubin is helping you out with the site. How has Edward Burns contributed to the site’s success since joining the Board of Advisors?

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