As you all know, the LA Screenwriter Logline Competition offers amazing prizes from the Writers Store, Virtual Pitchfest, WeScreenplay, Script Pipeline, and Talentville. For the May competition, we’re adding to that prize package:

Everyone who enters the May Logline Competition will be entered into a drawing to win one of 5 FREE ENTRIES to the Big Break Screenwriting Competition AND one of 5 FREE COPIES of Final Draft 9!

Big Break is one of the most respected screenwriting contests out there — the regular deadline is June 30, so get your scripts ready to enter! And Final Draft, of course, is an absolute essential for any screenwriter. Every entry in May is another chance to win! So get crackin’!

But on to the main event: The April Logline Competition results are in! Check out these great examples of how to write a logline:

THE WINNER

Our winner is John “Shirley” Miller with his logline for CATALYST, an hour-long sci-fi pilot:

“Exiled on the Martian frontier, a hotheaded mercenary sparks a war with Earth when he kills his wife’s murderer, but he must fight his way back home when he learns his wife is still alive.”

We love this idea because it’s high concept, full of irony, and easy to imagine as a hit TV show. Love, murder, and interstellar warfare — what could be better!

About John ([email protected])

John “Shirley” Miller has worked in locations for television and film since 2009. During this time, he also attended UCLA’s Professional Program in Screenwriting, after which he sold two features for a pittance. Just this year, John was admitted into both USC’s and UCLA’s Screenwriting MFA programs. He now leads a writing team composed of published short-story writer Justin Gold and practicing psychologist Elias Barghash to develop Catalyst for a television (streaming or otherwise) audience.

THE FINALISTS

First, we have Mario Kersey with his logline for THE MAD MAIDEN, a sci-fi:

“When the prophesied savior of an alternate Earth is assassinated, his warrior daughter must track down his doppelganger on our Earth in order to keep the two worlds from colliding.”

This logline manages to take a very big idea and express it clearly and creatively in just one sentence. Beautifully done!

About Mario ([email protected])

Mario Kersey is a legendary swashbuckler in his daydreams. In the “real world” he writes various things that attempt to convey his experience. He’s also working on a couple of screenplays that have been bugging him for a while.

Next, we have Shane Giles with his logline for WHERE I ONCE BELONGED, a musical comedy:

“When stealing the music of The Beatles prevents the birth of his future wife, an opportunistic time traveler stuck in 1985 recruits a now homeless John Lennon to help him set things right.”

Beatles movies are notoriously hard to get made, but this idea is so fun and creative that it’s sure to make an awesome writing sample. And if it ever DID get made, we’d definitely go see it!

About Shane ([email protected])

Shane Giles is a law graduate from Waterford, Ireland, currently living in Vancouver and working in procurement. He is interested in amateur astronomy and writing.
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The May Logline Competition is now open! Get those loglines in for detailed feedback and a chance at great prizes.