One Heck of a Scam
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 11:50AM Merrel Davis over on his Uncompleted Works blog (@UncompletedWork on Twitter if you're so inclined), stumbled across a pretty devious scam on Craigslist directed squarely at would-be screenwriters that's worth reading (and watching out for, if you actually feel like turning to Craigslist to sell your writing, which is foolhardy to say the least).
The basic plot, so to speak, is that they want to setup this "ghostwriting team" who will take their treatment "and transform it into an industry-recognized screenplay." Each team member gets $100 a week, for 10 weeks, based on assignments handed out by a "project leader" at a weekly meeting mysteriously at "a location near the Financial District" (in New York I assume). An alley? Pizza parlour? On the street at the back of a truck?
If you haven't already started running ten miles away from this thing, here's the kicker: Merrel contacted them, and they responded that they would require a 3 page writing sample, preferably based on the specs they provide (i.e., a scene for their script) which they would own (the instructions are very clear on that). So, basically, they get some poor sap to write three original pages for them for free!
I imagine, with every response they send out, they attach a different scene (in Merrel's case, it was: "tell the story of two college students meeting at a location. One student attempts to get something from the other student"). It's pretty devious, and I can imagine, quite easily, a lot of people just starting out, desperate for work, actually falling for it.
Read Merrel Davis' original piece here.
This sounds tailor-made for Harmon Leon. Maybe he should sign up and investigate this in more detail...
Reader Comments (5)
Thats devious.
Craigslist has really turned into a haven of scammers.
Indeed.
Doug, thanks for getting the word out. It's amazing how unscrupulous some people can be. I've called craigslist a "non-stop parade of delusion" before, especially when it comes to screenwriting, producers, production and post. There is legitimate work in craigslist, but it is tough to find, and the service is inundated with ridiculousness.
Never let your eagerness get in the way of sense. If it's too good to be true - it ain't!
The funny thing is, the wording of the ad and subsequent emails is very "corporate-ese" seems almost designed to make office workers and other would be writers think this is 'normal.'
Merrel Davis
Doug. BTW, your first comment here is actually a spam bot. I got several of these on my blog when I put up my original post. They search for keywords about craiglists and scams, but they all lead to the same set a pictures. If you click on them, it re-directs to an adult dating website. I'd remove the comment
-Merrel Davis
Yup, I caught that spambot thing. Hence my leery "indeed" reply (I guess the single raised eyebrow didn't come across in text). Nice pics tho, so I'll leave it for anyone who wants a quick thrill, and I know from the number of people hitting this site hoping to see Janet Leigh's breasts (bizarre, yet true) that a lot of my visitors want a quick thrill.
Important to get the word out about these scams though, and thanks for your original legwork. I e-mailed Harmon Leon (if you're not familiar with his work, you should check out his site at freedomhaters.org) about possibly scamming these scammers, but it sounds like he's had his fill of craigslist scum at this point.