LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Break Media, a leading creator and publisher of digital video content, and Scripped.com, the largest online community of screenwriters, today announced “Break’s Big Break,” a contest that will give one up-and-coming screenwriter the opportunity to have his or her script produced in partnership with the Break Media Creative Lab as a Break Original. The video will be distributed and promoted on Break.com, the number-one comedy site on the web, according to comScore.
The contest opens today and will run for six weeks; screenwriters can submit their script through the Scripped.com contest page. Winning entries will be selected by a panel of judges including actor and director, Ed Burns (Saving Private Ryan); writer Steven De Souza (Die Hard) and top executives from the Break Media development team, Jonathan Small, SVP Editorial and Programming; Greg Siegel, SVP Entertainment Development; Danila Koverman, VP Production, and Andy Signore, Lead Creative of Original Content.
Five finalists will receive a cash prize of $500, and the grand-prize winner will be given the opportunity to have his or her script realized as an original video produced by the Break Media Creative Lab, the company’s in-house digital production studio. The winner will be invited to collaborate on the final video project and work in partnership with Break’s team of over 30 industry experts, actors, writers, directors, and producers at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles.
“Break has always been a breeding ground for aspiring writers, directors, and actors, and is increasingly becoming an outlet for established Hollywood talent to experiment with new ideas,” said Jonathan Small, SVP Editorial and Programming for Break. “With our extensive in-house video production capabilities and experience, we have the ability to take an idea from inception to casting to filming to distribution quickly and efficiently; we’re really excited to use our resources and share our expertise with a talented newcomer who may be waiting for their big break.”
“We’re excited to partner with Break Media to offer our online community of writers real-world experience as a creative executive, with full access to the benefits and tools a professional digital studio can provide,” said Sunil Rajaraman, Founder and CEO of Scripped.com. “Additionally, the chance to work alongside top industry talent is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that could really take one lucky screenwriter’s career to the next level.”
Break is placing a strong emphasis on original content in 2011, with plans to produce more than 1,000 original videos this year, and is actively seeking out new and innovative ways to produce original videos and find fresh talent. Break has been an incubator of talent in Hollywood; the in-house Creative Lab has fostered the careers of many successful writers, on-screen talent, and behind-the-scenes talent; for example, Justin Halpern, who went on to create “Sh*t My Dad Says.” Entertainment industry veteran and former Endeavor talent agent Greg Siegel recently joined the Break executive team as SVP Entertainment Development and will be an instrumental force as the company continues to work with top industry talent to produce more original content for digital video platforms.
The winning scripts and writers will be unveiled on Scripped.com on June 1st, followed by the launch of the winning video on Break.com later that month. For complete contest guidelines visit: http://scripped.com/contests/breakmedia.
About Scripped.com:
Founded in 2008, Scripped’s goal is to make screenwriting accessible to writers of all levels and provide the tools and community writers need to bring their ideas from inception to completion. Scripped aims to encourage and support the needs of all scripted content writers. Scripped Inc. promotes the art of screenwriting by providing Scripped Writer, the first completely free web-based screenwriting software for writers. Scripped Writer is an innovative text editor that functions like a standard word processor but automatically formats and catalogs each screenplay element according to industry standards. Since its launch in January 2008, Scripped Writer has amassed a user-base of nearly 100,000 writers from all 50 states and more than 50 countries and adds a new screenwriter to its userbase every 20 minutes. In March of 2010, Scripped merged with Massachusetts-based Zhura.com. To try Scripped Writer visit www.scripped.com. For additional corporate info and biographical information on the management team, please email us directly at contact@scripped.com.
About Break Media:
Break Media is a leading creator, publisher, and distributor of digital entertainment content including video, editorial, and games. The company's properties include the largest humor site online—Break.com—as well as MadeMan, GameFront, HolyTaco, ScreenJunkies, CagePotato, AllLeftTurns, Chickipedia, and TuVez. The Break Media Creative Lab is an in-house production studio creating original videos that range from award-winning branded entertainment to celebrity-driven web shorts to viral one-offs. The Break Media Network represents hundreds of publishers as one of the largest video advertising networks online, reaching more than 125 million visitors each month. For more information, visit www.breakmedia.com.
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