Looking for a place to interact with other artists? Maybe a place for a writer to workshop a short story, screenplay, novella, short script, poem, or flash fiction? Perhaps workshop photographs, storyboards, costumes, scenic designs, or graphics? How about songwriting, film scoring, and sound design? Actors and directors also have available workshopping opportunities.
One of the best sites I’ve found is Zoetrope.com, online home of American Zoetrope and The Virtual Studio.
This is how the site describes itself: “The Virtual Studio is a submission destination and collaboration tool for filmmakers-a community where artists can submit and workshop original work. It’s also the best e-resource for information about the Coppola family and American Zoetrope.”
American Zoetrope is the studio that produced such recent hit films as The Good Shepherd, Marie Antoinette, Kinsey, Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Sleepy Hollow, and many others.
Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola began the site in 1998 as a site for writers to submit short stories to his journal Zoetrope: All Story. It’s been expanding ever since.
Features of the site include Zmail, an internal e-mail system for keeping in touch with other members, Private Offices, gathering places for like-minded artists to post about shared interests and issues, and, of course, the buildings, designated areas for finding information and other creative people in each of the particular fields mentioned above (writing, graphic arts, audio, acting, and filmmaking).
There is also an annual screenplay contest with a $5000 first prize.
I’ve been a member of the site for a couple of years now and have found it quite valuable, visiting nearly every day, even if just for a moment to check for any posts that might interest me.
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