Research Guides: Film Studies: Screenwriting

Film Scripts / Screenplays

Tips for finding scripts and screenplays in VCU Libraries Search:

1. Do an Advanced Search for books with the subject "motion picture plays"*

2. Search by film title, screenwriter, or author. Do NOT search for the director.

3. Try keyword searches: "script," film script," "film adaptation", "story boards", or "screenplay"

+ Browse call numbers PN1997 or PN1997.2 on the 3rd floor of Cabell Library.

Featured Resource: Newmarket Shooting Script Series
A curated set of published screenplays, including titles like Black Hawk Down, Big Fish, Erin Brochovich, Spanglish and more.

Collections of Film and Televison Scripts in Libraries and Archives:

Motion Picture Scripts Database
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, AFI, Frances Howard Goldwyn Hollywood Regional Library, UVLA, USC, and the Writers Guild Foundation. Most must be used on the premises.
Motion Picture Scripts Collection
Includes the Film Script Index (1921 - 1965) from the New York State Archives. See the 'Request' link to request script copies.

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

The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb)
Search by film title or genre. Read or download movie scripts for free.
The Daily Script
'A collection of movie scripts and screenplays to serve as a resource for writers and actors and those who simply enjoy reading movie scripts.'
Simply Scripts
'A database of hundreds of downloadable scripts, movie scripts, screenplays, and transcripts of current, classic and maybe a few soon-to-be-released movies, television, anime, un-produced and radio shows. '
BBC Script LIbrary
Free downloadable scripts of BBC films, television shows, and radio shows.