A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio.

Interest in originals[link]

Spec scripts have not always held as much cachet in the business as they do now. Ernest Lehman describes how his original script for North by Northwest was unusual at that point in his career:

Originals were not smiled upon in those days, believe it or not. There was very little interest in originals in those days. [...] Studios, distributors wanted the assurance of someone else having thought a property worth publishing[...] In those days, if you went to a party in the Hollywood community and somebody would ask, "What are you working on, Ernie?" and you replied, "I'm doing an original now," the response would be "Oh." [...] Like they were a little embarrassed [...] If you were working on something that you were going to create all by yourself, they'd secretly think, "He's in bad shape. Working on an original." That definitely was the climate at one time in this town.^[1]

Attracting producers[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

If the writer of a spec script has an agent, the agent will identify a number of prospective buyers who may range from small independent producers to executives working in the major studios, and attempt to build up 'heat' under the script. The script is sent out simultaneously to all the prospective buyers in the hope of attracting a bidding war.

If the script sells, the writer may receive a payment of anything from a few tens of thousands of dollars to several million. If not, the script is sometimes dead in the water because it is now in the databases of the studios and development executives, and has been marked as having been 'passed' on.

Most of the tens of thousands of spec scripts penned each year are written by unknown or amateur screenwriters. (See the screenwriting documentary Dreams on Spec.)

Most often if they are unique in content and concept, they are purchased based on the speculated end result of entertainment (and assuming rewrites by studio-hired screenwriters, if needed).

If a spec script is not picked up, but the script is good, the screenwriter is usually offered another writing assignment. Spec scripts are often written by unknown professional screenwriters looking to prove their storytelling ability and make a name for themselves in the film industry.

Sample script[link]

Sample scripts are not intended for production but are used for showcase purposes only. Unsold or unproduced screenplays often go on to be sample scripts.

See also[link]

• Screenwriter's salary
• Storyboard
• WGA script registration service

References[link]

1. ^ John Brady, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 204

Chuck Lorre
Lorre in September 2011
Born	Charles Michael Levine (1952-10-18) October 18, 1952 (age 59) Bethpage, Long Island, New York
Occupation	Writer, television producer, composer, television director, production manager
Years active	1984–present
Notable work(s)	Grace Under Fire Cybill Dharma & Greg Two and a Half Men The Big Bang Theory
Salary	$35 million (2011)[1]
Spouse	Karen Witter (2001–2010)
Children	2
Awards	BMI Television Music Awards 2004, 2005, 2008
Website
ChuckLorre.com

Chuck Lorre (born Charles Michael Levine October 18, 1952)^[2] is an American writer, director, producer and composer. Lorre has created many American sitcoms including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory. Lorre also served as an executive producer of the sitcom Roseanne, and currently serves as an executive producer for CBS's Mike & Molly.

Early life[link]

Lorre attended State University of New York at Potsdam, dropping out after two years to pursue a career as a songwriter.^[2]

Career[link]

After leaving school, Lorre toured the United States as a guitarist and songwriter.^[3] He wrote Deborah Harry's radio hit single "French Kissin' in the USA" for the 1986 Rockbird album.^[3] Lorre also composed the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown.^[4][5][6]

Lorre shifted into writing, being a writer on the show Roseanne. Lorre's first show as creator was the ABC sitcom Grace Under Fire, starring comedienne Brett Butler.^[3] It premiered on ABC in 1993, and was nominated at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

Lorre's next project was the sitcom Cybill, starring Cybill Shepherd. The show aired for four seasons on CBS and received critical acclaim, winning an Emmy in 1995: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy series for co-star Christine Baranski and 2 Golden Globe Awards in 1996: Best TV series (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress in a TV series (Musical or Comedy) for Shepherd's performance as Cybill Sheridan. Lorre's next project, Dharma & Greg, was conceived in 1997, one year before the end of Cybill.^[2] The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as the title characters, whose characters were felt by loyal watchers to smolder with warmth and tension as they grappled with challenges of conventional couple-dom for the show's duration.

In 2003, Lorre co-created Two and a Half Men with Lee Aronsohn. The show focuses on two brothers, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer). Charlie is a rich, successful Hollywood composer/producer and womanizer who owns a beach house in Malibu. When Alan gets a divorce, he is forced to move into Charlie's house. Alan also has a son, Jake (Angus T. Jones) the "half" who comes to visit the brothers on weekends. The series premiered on CBS in September 2003 and has become the most popular sitcom in America.^[2] As of the 2010–11 season, Two and a Half Men would have completed eight seasons. In February 2011, however, CBS canceled the production of the rest of the eighth season, following several incidents of production shutdowns allegedly due to Sheen's problems with substance abuse, the last of which culminated in Sheen's verbal attacks directed at Lorre in a radio interview.^[7][8] Sheen ended up being fired from Two and a Half Men,^[9] and because of this, he later filed a $100 million lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros. Television.^[10] In May 2011 it was announced that Ashton Kutcher would replace Sheen as the lead of the show. His character's name is Walden Schmidt. Kutcher made his debut in the season 9 premiere on September 19, 2011.

In 2007, Lorre co-created The Big Bang Theory with Bill Prady. The show follows two nerdy physicists living next door to an attractive young woman. Each episode usually focuses on the daily lives of the men and two of their equally nerdy friends, with a dose of absurdity from the relationship with their normal neighbor. The two main protagonists, Sheldon and Leonard, are named after the actor and television producer Sheldon Leonard.^[11] The show is the second highest rated comedy series in America.^[3]

Lorre's most recent production Mike & Molly premiered on CBS in September 2010.^[12]

Vanity cards[link]

Lorre in 2007

On the vanity card for Chuck Lorre Productions at the end of every episode of Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly, Lorre includes a message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. A typical card might include a range of topics as diverse as what the Bee Gees never learned, the cancellation of Dharma & Greg, the competence of AOL Time Warner management, and the genesis of Two and a Half Men.

The card is shown for only a few seconds at most, so longer messages cannot be read unless recorded and paused, although Lorre now posts the cards on his website. CBS has censored Lorre's vanity cards on several occasions;^[13] Lorre posts both the censored and uncensored versions of the cards.

Several of the cards became prominent elements of the Charlie Sheen incident.^[14]

The vanity card used on Grace under Fire and Cybill featured a wooden desk with an Apple Macintosh SE.

The vanity cards often are unapologetic in support of President Obama.

Selected credits[link]

Lorre in September 2008

• Roseanne, 1990–1992, (writer, co-executive producer / supervising producer)
• Grace Under Fire, 1993–1998 (creator, writer, co-executive producer / supervising producer)
• Cybill, 1995–1998 (creator, writer and executive producer)
• Dharma & Greg, 1997–2002 (creator, writer, executive producer)
• Two and a Half Men, 2003–present (creator, writer, executive producer)
• The Big Bang Theory, 2007–present (creator, writer, executive producer)
• Mike & Molly, 2010–present (executive producer, writer)

Show crossovers[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory are both taped at the Warner Brothers lot, in adjacent stages; the shows share several writers and technical crews.^[15] The Big Bang Theory has cast several actors from Lorre's past, starting with Johnny Galecki from Roseanne (he was Darlene's boyfriend and later husband).^[16] Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene on Roseanne, was Leslie Winkle on Big Bang. Laurie Metcalf, who played Jackie in Roseanne, plays Sheldon's mother Mary. Christine Baranski, Emmy Award winner on Cybill, was cast as Leonard's mother.

Also on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, Leonard and Penny are seen watching Oshikuru: Demon Samurai. Oshikuru was the show for which the character Charlie Harper wrote the theme song on Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen's character also makes a cameo appearance in the Big Bang episode "The Griffin Equivalency".

Jon Cryer of Two and a Half Men appeared in one episode of Dharma & Greg. Jenna Elfman, Susan Sullivan, and Joel Murray of Dharma & Greg also appeared in various episodes of Two and a Half Men. In the eighth episode of the fifth season of Two and a Half Men ("Is There a Mrs. Waffles?") Charlie watches Dharma & Greg after watching the first commercial for his CD. In the first episode of the ninth season after Charlie Sheen got fired from the show, Dharma & Greg were one of the couples looking over Charlie's house, which is on sale.

Awards and recognition[link]

Lorre won BMI Television Music Awards in 2004, 2005, and 2008 for Two and a Half Men.

On March 12, 2009, Lorre received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[17] Three months later, Lorre received an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gave a keynote address at the graduation.^[18]

Lorre was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in March 2012.

Personal life[link]

Lorre is Jewish. He was married to actress and former Playboy Playmate Karen Witter for 10 years but divorced in July 2010^[19][20]. He has two children.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chuck Lorre

• Chuck Lorre Productions
• Chuck Lorre at the Internet Movie Database
• The New Yorker profile of Chuck Lorre (December 2010)

Jonathan Bertman (born December 29, 1963) is a family physician in Rhode Island and the founder of Amazing Charts, AfraidToAsk.com, and HealthAccessRI. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Brown University and the president of South County Family Medicine, Inc., in Hope Valley, Rhode Island.

Bertman was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and was educated at the Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, Massachusetts. His sister is the illustrator Louisa Bertman.

He attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before earning his medical degree at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts. Following medical school, Bertman did his internship and residency in Family Medicine at Brown University's Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.

In 1996 he founded AfraidToAsk.com, a health Web site addressing personal medical topics. In 2001, Bertman founded Amazing Charts, a software company that developed an electronic health record.^[1]

In 2010 he was named Physician Entrepreneur of the Year by Modern Physician magazine.^[2][3]

Bertman is the Physician Editor-in-Chief of MD Net Guide, a technology magazine.

References[link]

Timothy "Tim" P. Minear (born October 29, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He was born in New York, grew up in Whittier, California, and studied film at California State University, Long Beach.

Minear was an assistant director on the film Platoon, and wrote episodes for several television series including The X-Files, Zorro, and Lois and Clark. He later wrote, executive-produced, and directed episodes of Strange World, Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and The Inside (which he also created, with Howard Gordon).

Minear had another series, Drive, airing on Fox in April 2007, however it was cancelled by the network after only four episodes.^[1] Drive was set to return with two additional episodes on July 4, 2007, but these were rescheduled to July 13 and then cancelled.^[2] This continued his tradition of short-lived work on Fox.

Minear often works with Joss Whedon, and his work is typically characterized by a sharp, black humour and an ability to portray characters who are sympathetic and understandable, but morally ambiguous. An example of this is Angel Season Two, where Minear wrote all of the key episodes in the "beige Angel" arc.

In 2004 Tim Minear stated that he was hired to write a screenplay of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.^[3] In 2006 Minear had finished the script, which was being shopped around to various directors.^[4]

In 2007 Minear received a pilot commitment from ABC for Miracle Man, a drama series for which the company engaged in a bidding war with Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is being produced by 20th Century Fox Television,^[5] with which Minear is signed in an overall deal.^[6]

Credits[link]

• Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
  • 4x05 "Brutal Youth" (writer)
  • 4x11 "'Twas the Night Before Mxymas" (writer)
  • 4x14 "Meet John Doe" (writer)
  • 4x20 "I've Got You Under My Skin" (writer)
• The X-Files
  • 5x08 "Kitsunegari" (co-writer)
  • 5x16 "Mind's Eye" (writer)
• Strange World
  • 1x02 "Lullaby" (writer)
  • 1x04 "Spirit Falls" (co-writer)
• Angel
  • 1x05 "Sense & Sensitivity" (writer)
  • 1x09 "Hero" (co-writer)
  • 1x11 "Somnambulist" (writer)
  • 1x15 "The Prodigal" (writer)
  • 1x19 "Sanctuary" (co-writer)
  • 2x02 "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" (writer)
  • 2x07 "Darla" (writer/director)
  • 2x09 "The Trial" (co-writer)
  • 2x10 "Reunion" (co-writer)
  • 2x15 "Reprise" (writer)
  • 2x16 "Epiphany" (writer)
  • 2x21 "Through The Looking Glass" (writer/director)
  • 3x03 "That Old Gang of Mine" (writer)
  • 3x06 "Billy" (co-writer)
  • 3x09 "Lullaby" (writer/director)
  • 3x14 "Couplet" (co-writer/director)
  • 3x20 "A New World" (director)
  • 3x21 "Benediction" (writer/director)
  • 4x22 "Home" (writer/director)
• Firefly
  • 1x02 "The Train Job" (co-writer)
  • 1x03 "Bushwhacked" (writer/director)
  • 1x07 "Out of Gas" (writer)
  • 1x12 "The Message" (co-writer/director)
• Wonderfalls
  • 1x02 "Karma Chameleon" (writer)
  • 1x07 "Barrel Bear" (unaired) (co-writer)
• The Inside
  • 1x01 "New Girl In Town" (teleplay & story/director)
  • 1x06 "Thief of Hearts" (co-writer)
  • 1x10 "Little Girl Lost" (unaired in US, UK Airdate 03/17/2006) (co-writer)
  • 1x13 "Skin and Bone" (unaired) (story)
• Drive
  • 1x00 "Unaired Pilot" (co-writer)
  • 1x01 "The Starting Line" (co-writer)
  • 1x02 "Partners" (co-writer)
• Dollhouse
  • 1x05 "True Believer" (writer)
  • 1x12 "Omega" (writer/director)
  • 2x03 "Belle Chose" (writer)
  • 2x11 "Getting Closer" (writer/director)
• Terriers
  • 1x11 "Sins of the Past" (writer)
• The Chicago Code
  • 1x04 "Cabrini-Green" (co-writer)
• American Horror Story
  • 1x05 "Halloween (Part 2)" (writer)
  • 1x11 "Birth" (writer)

See also[link]

• Mutant Enemy Productions

References[link]

External links[link]

• TimMinear.net
• Tim Minear at the Internet Movie Database
• Getting THE INSIDE Out... on DVD!
• PopGurls Quickie with Tim Minear
• The Drive News Blog
• Tim Minear on The Glenn & Helen Show