The Ghost's Writers' Workshop by Philip Sedgwick | Script Revolution

The Ghost's Writers' Workshop

The ghost of a screenwriter murdered in a historic Arizona hotel resurrects hope for the afterlife when a group of wannabe screenwriters arrive for a workshop coinciding with Dia de Los Muertos.

Type:

Status:

Page Count: 
99pp

Genre:

Budget:

Age Rating:

Synopsis/Details: 

While attending a movie premiere in the border town of Douglas, Arizona, we very much enjoyed the hospitality of the historic Gadsden Hotel. That's the infamously haunted hotel in which Pancho Villa allegedly rode his horse up the marble staircase in the lobby, chipping the marble.

Standing on that staircase and talking the hotel's owner, I promised that I would write a screenplay that could be filmed 95% in the hotel.

After returning home and thinking about the great adventure (and private tour of the haunted floor), it occurred to me that the hotel would be a great place for a screenwriting retreat. Now we're cooking... how about a movie about screenwriting that is a ghost story where the ghost is a screenwriter?

When the awards took place during the Burbank Film Festival in 2020, the script was one of handful of finalists... and had its title read by Shane Black... not that such a thing makes the script special... but it is a special script. Could easily be done under $2M in one of the most beautiful old hotels in the American southwest.

All Accolades & Coverage: 

Finalist, Burbank International Film Festival, 2020
Finalist, Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2020

Submitted: July 15, 2021
Last Updated: July 15, 2021

Want to read this script? You must join the revolution first. Don't worry, it's free, easy, everyone's welcome, and you can start reading right away.

This Script Is Loved By 1 Readers

Lesley Lillywhite's picture
Philip Sedgwick's picture

The Writer: Philip Sedgwick

Philip wrote his first script at the prompting of a writer friend. He entered his second script, Neon Cactus, into the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship, which placed as a Quarter-Finalist in the prestigious competition. Since that time, more than thirty of his screenplays & films have received acclaim from film festivals, fellowships and competitions. Philip served as a juror for the Prescott Film Festival for the past several years, where he also presents screenwriting workshops. His produced short films have screened and won at many film festivals. A handful of feature scripts can be read on ScriptHop (links provided). It is my practice not to post short screenplays online. However, any... Go to bio

More Scripts From Philip

On the Verge
When a talented Indian woman is placed in a mental facility, she pulls out her creativity to inspire other inmates to create a video that goes viral.
Short Drama, Musical For sale 21pp
4 readers love this script
Christmas at Cascabel Gulch
A retired, grieving professor heads west to discover a predicted comet and while stuck in Cascabel Gulch, discovers the Christmas spirit.
Feature Family, Western For sale 101pp
3 readers love this script
An Undocumented Rumor
A journalist for a TV network heads to Arizona to sleuth out a rumor regarding a terrorist attack. Rumor true, she enlists a team to thwart the attack and the forces behind it.
Feature Action, Drama, Thriller For sale 98pp
3 readers love this script
The Filmmaking Territory
An actress in Arizona during the silent film heyday, woos investors, competing directors, desperados and one very handsome cowboy as she aspires to stardom.
Feature Adventure, Drama, History, Western For sale 93pp
2 readers love this script
Neon Cactus
A successful businessman uncovers a secret from his wartime past with the aid of a mysterious woman and a cactus in the sweltering Arizona desert.
Feature Action, Drama For sale 98pp
Nicholl Fellowship - Quarter-Finalist
2 readers love this script
Cactus Junction
When an African-American woman arrives in the Arizona west, she enlists the help of a local madam, inept lawmen and a preacher’s wife to take on mining interests to protect the town’s water supply.
Feature Drama, Western For sale 94pp
2 readers love this script
Creep Factor
After a mother rescues a boy from drowning, mysterious forces compel the family to adopt him, without realizing the psychic mayhem he will introduce into their Rockwell-esque New England household.
Feature Drama, Horror For sale 104pp
2 readers love this script
Three Nights Only
A comedienne has a chance encounter with a recently unemployed man rumored to be devoid of a funny bone.
Short Comedy In development 15pp
1 reader loves this script
An Unfinished Agenda
Two journalists, previously separated in a war zone, reunite in the Arizona desert to document vigilante activities and catch up with their incomplete personal agenda.
Short Action, Romance For sale 8pp
1 reader loves this script
Frost on the Pumpkin
A centuries old ghost, previously exorcised, is resurrected by a gathering of unwitting cheerleaders, and now seeks to fulfill its ancient yearning for revenge, no matter what.
Feature Horror For sale 113pp
1 reader loves this script
Fate Date
When two millennials on a first date receive news of a sibling's accidental death, their relationship requires otherworldly assistance to continue past their grief.
Short Drama, Romance For sale 15pp
1 reader loves this script
Meteoric
When two couples come upon a meteor landing site at the same time, the claim to the celestial object becomes a battle of wits and gender, and a declaration of love.
Short Action, Drama For sale 16pp
1 reader loves this script
Condomnation
An overpopulation activist finds herself seeking legal counsel after her proposal to a school board about free condoms handouts goes awry.
Short Drama For sale 14pp
1 reader loves this script
Belle's Bones
In the 1890's Arizona, a clairvoyant prostitute wrestles with information received from the other side about a murder committed in the brothel where she works.
Short Crime, Romance, Western For sale 12pp
Scarier Times
During the Cuban Missile Crisis two spies, whose personal relationship was found out, confront each other on the motives of their affiliation, and what can be done to cope with the perilous times.
Short Drama For sale 8pp
Superior Conjunction
After a communications blackout caused by a superior conjunction of Earth and Mars, two astronauts realize they are the only humans alive and an abandoned space colony on Mars remains their only hope for life.
Feature Sci-Fi For sale 100pp
A Piece of Heaven
An unemployed funeral planner and a documentary filmmaker are stalked by aliens who stress their newly minted relationship to find if they have the right stuff to deliver the alien’s message to the world.
Feature Comedy For sale 99pp
Cavalier Club
When a gentleman's club owner replaces his dancers with robots, one of the displaced dancers leads a labor rebellion.
Short Drama For sale 16pp
Virtually Christmas
As a young couple celebrates Christmas on Magi Day (Jan 6) they confront the unorthodox timing of the celebration, and more to the point, the why.
Short Drama For sale 13pp
Body of Work
An organ-trafficking coroner and his fiance have a life-changing confrontation on the anniversary of their engagement.
Short Crime, Drama Sold 6pp