Screenplays and Scripts

Scripts and screenplays can be located in Orbis in two ways:

Method 1: Do a title search for the name of the film. Look for entries that are not marked as videorecording or visual.

For example, a search for the title Almost Famous results in:

Items 1 and 2 are videorecordings. Item 3 is the filmscript. The last entry is an earlier novel with the same title but (in this case) unrelated. (The apparent links in the example are not active.)

Method 2: Do a keyword search for the name of the film encloded in quotation marks, followed by not videorecording. For example, "Almost Famous" not videorecording. This results in the following:

General search

For a list of screenplays and books about screenplays in the Yale Library, including guides to writing screenplays, use these subject headings:

• Motion picture plays
• Film adaptations
• Motion picture plays--Technique
• Motion picture authorship
• Storyboards

Also, there are a number of bibliographies available that list published scripts and screenplays. Try a Keyword search in Orbis using "Motion picture plays" and Bibliography.

Selected Databases, Bibliographies and Web Resources

From the Crawford Collection, Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives.

American Film Scripts Online

AFSO contains scripts by writers together with detailed, fielded information on the scenes, characters and people related to the scripts. When complete, the collection will include more than 1,000 scripts and over 100,000 scenes of life as portrayed in the movies. The collection current has nearly 800 scripts.

L'Avant-scène - Cinéma. Paris : L'Avant-scène, 1961-.
SML, Stacks, Yale Classification Hae60 Av15

This journal occasionally publishes full scripts. It is indexed by both Film Literature Index, Film Index International and the Film and Television Literature Index (see Articles).

Beinecke Western Americana Filmscript Collection Database

The database of Western movie scripts in the Yale Collection of Western Americana contains information about more than 430 scripts. The records include information about script titles, authors, the directors, producers, production companies, actors and distributors associated with the films, dates and settings as well as shelf locations.

 

Drew's Script-O-Rama

The most comprehensive index of movie and television scripts available on the Internet.

 

E-script: the Internet's scriptwriting workshop

E-script brings writers from around the world together with top film, theatre and TV professionals in unique online courses and workshops.

 

Motion Picture Scripts Collection

The New York State Archives preserves the largest collection of film scripts in the world. It is also valuable for research on the history of censorship in New York State and shifting of American attitudes toward sex, religion and morality over the period.

 

Scenario: the Magazine of Screenwriting Art. New York, N.Y.: RC Publications, c1995-.

SML, Stacks, LC Classification PN1997 A1 +S32 (LC)

 

Published radio, television, and film scripts : a bibliography. Poteet, G. Howard. Troy, N.Y.: Whitston Pub. Co., 1975.

SML, Stacks, LC Classification Z7223 S3 P68 (LC)

 

Published screenplays; a checklist. McCarty, Clifford. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1971.

SML, Starr Main Reference Rm Z5784 M9 M33 (LC)

 

Union List of Motion Picture Scripts: A Union List. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Margaret Herrick Library [and] Academy Foundation, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, c1995-.

SML, Stacks, LC Classification Z5784.M9 +U55 (LC)

 

Yahoo Screenplay Websites

Screenplay websites categorized by Yahoo.