Motion Picture News (May-Jul 1916)

June 3, 1916 MOTION PICTURE NEWS 3367 I will give $5,000 in prizes for good stories to use in meiking scenarios for World Pictures. ik£sku^,;HBA*.^ I invite the co-operation of the writers of the country — amateur and professional — in the work of producing better scenarios for picture plays. As Director-General of World Pictures, it is my ambition to heighten the standards of the silent drama. Frankly, I am convinced that one of the first needs is much better scenarios. There has been too much trash! So I have deposited $5000 at the Mutual Bank, New York City, to be awarded to those who present interesting stories, ideas or scenarios that I select for making photo plays. Contest closes at 6 P.M. Sept. 1 5th, and the prizes will be awarded Jan. 1 st, 1917. Of course, 1 am now receiving most of the choicest scenarios on the market, and they are being made into World Pictures. Included in them, 1 -believe, are some of the greatest film dramas so far. But I want to continue buying better-than-usual stories for every new World Picture. I cannot stand mediocrity. Surely there are hundreds of people — yes, thousands — who have ideas which could be worked up into first-class photo plays, to meet the new standards set for World Pictures. $1000 for the Best Story Por the best story, idea or scenario, I offer $1000; for the second best, $750; for the third best, $650. The stories taking fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place, each will receive $500, $400, $300 and $200 respectively. The next twelve successful stories will be paid for at the rate of $100 each. We will therefore accept nineteen stories. You need not submit a technically perfect scenario, such as are prepared by experts. You may submit merely the story in narrative form. Of course finished scenarios by professional writers will be welcomed. To give you an idea of the kind of material we are seeking, I have prepared a chart showing what will please and what to avoid. If you wish a copy, write to me for it. Let me suggest here, however, that the World Film Corporation is interested in unusual plays of present-day life, full of human interest and realism, with plenty of action and with tense, dramatic situations. People seem to like the love element and some comedy in each play. Please avoid stories of the underworld and of war. Nor do I care to handle anything that is sordid or gruesome. I want clean, wholesome stories for the entire family to see and enjoy. Each story should make a five-reel picture. What I Seek Probably you have seen either House Peters in "The Closed Road" or Clara Kimball Young in "The Feast of Life" or Kitty Gordon in " Her Maternal Right." If not, see these pictures and you will get an idea of what we like. At present, thousands of people everywhere are enjoying and applauding the first of our new-day pictures. Not long ago 1 stopped loaning my name to screen productions and entered personally into the supervision of World Pictures from start to finish. And now I am surrounded by the combined artistic and financial resources of two great organizations — World and Equitable. These double resources, together with a reduced schedule of productions, permit me to carry out my most cherished ambitions. For thirty years I have been presenting stage plays to the people of eleven nations. Now I hope to win new friends in Filmland through greater triumphs. See World Pictures To further study what appeals to us, see some of the coming World Pictures which will be shown at first-class theatres everywhere. They include: Robt. Warwick in "Sudden Riches," Alice Brady in "Tangled Fates," Carlyle Bfaclcwell and Ethel Clayton in " His Brother's Wife," Kitty Gordon in "The Crucial Test," Holbrook Blinn in "The Weakness of Man," Edna Wallace Hopper and Frank Sheridan in "The Perils of Divorce," Mollie King in " Fate's Boomerang" and Gail Kane in "The Other Sister." Send your stones or scenarios to me personally. If you wish them returned, include postage. Your name and address should be plainly marked WM. A. BRADY. Director-General. World Film Corporation 130 West Ibth Street. New York City THESE ARE OUR STARS See Them at Your Favorite Theatre Then Write for Them