This short screenplay is my first entry into the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Challenge. Like the 48 Hour Film Project challenges, (which I’ve also participated in!) this is a timed competition. You get the weekend to create a short film script based upon a genre, location, and object. Not going to lie, the 48 is a really fun competition. It’s probably the best way for new filmmakers to figure out whether or not they actually like the realities of the artform. You have to commit to an idea, write a script, film, then edit a film in 48 hours. It’s an intense gauntlet of filmmaking challenges.
On the other hand, for the NYC Midnight challenge, “all” you have to do is write a short screenplay in 48 hours. It’s almost relaxing after the experience of the 48.
For my first NYC Midnight challenge, I wrote this screenplay, called Ferndale Manor. My genre was horror, my object was a contract, and my location was a house. I personally think the screenplay is pretty good as the product of 48 hours to write, revise, and edit. I think there’s a lot of potential here for a whole Victorian-esque horror universe. Perhaps I could have it be within the Bells & Whispers cinematic universe, just at a different era in time.
Please feel free to comment on this post and let me know if you like the screenplay! I’ll be posting the feedback I received on this work as my next blog post.
