Film Studies

Tips for finding scripts and screenplays within VCU Libraries Search:

1. Browse the general subject term motion picture plays.
2. Search by film title, screenwriter or author.  Do NOT search for the director.
3. Many scripts have no subject headings.  Try keyword searches: "script," film script," "film adaptation", "story boards", or "screenplay"
4. The following are subject terms relating to the process of screen writing:  "Motion Picture Plays -- Technique", Motion Picture Plays -- History and Criticism", "Motion Picture Authorship", and storyboards.

Browse call numbers PN1997 or PN1997.2 on the 4th floor of Cabell Library. 

Some magazines or anthologies publish scripts.  Search for them within databases and indexes:

• International Index to the Performing Arts Full Text (IIPA).  Search Articles, then limit Document Type to "Screenplay".
• The Drama Scholars’ Index to Plays and Filmscripts : A Guide to Plays and Filmscripts by Gordon Samples. (1974) Cabell Library Reference PN1655.A1 S17 
• Published Radio, Television, and Film Scripts : A Bibliography by G. Howard Poteet.  (1975) Cabell Library Storage PN1991.77 .A1 P68

Collections of Film and Televison Scripts in Libraries and Archives:​

The following sites offer free scripts, screenplays, scenes and treatments: