Film Studies

This guide provides information about viewing, studying, and producing films at K-State.

Library Research Guide

Screenplays

Screenplays and scripts are difficult to obtain. Libraries and archives with screenplay collections tend to treat them like archival materials, meaning you can read them onsite, but they do not often loan them out via interlibrary loan.

It is not impossible to get a screenplay, but it is pragmatic to set your expectations.

Screenplays versus transcripts

There are many sites that offer screenplays for sale. Some do not distinguish between a screenplay (the text used by the directors and performers to plan, rehearse and shoot the film) and the transcript, which is simply writing down everything the actors say in the film.

Screenplays & Scripts -- UCLA Library
UCLA's library provides excellent guidance on obtaining screenplays, either those in their collections or available through websites and other collections.

Screenplay Collections

Physical/On-Site Use

These archives and libraries collect screenplays and make them available for researchers, primarily for on-site use.

Scripts: Margaret Herrick Library
The Margaret Herrick Library is the library for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
" Most screenplays are unpublished versions in variant forms, from step outlines and treatments to first drafts, revised and final drafts, and cutting continuities. Published scripts are also actively collected.
Some scripts are available in paper format while others are available in digital form. All scripts are accessible only on-site in the Library Reading Room."
Motion Picture Scripts Database
"This database details the film script holdings of eight Los Angeles area collections: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the American Film Institute; the Frances Howard Goldwyn Hollywood Regional Library; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Southern California; the Writers Guild of America, West; the Warner Bros. Archives at University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts; and the California Institute of the Arts Library. This database is limited almost exclusively to the screenplays of produced films; that is, films which were actually made. The only exception is the inclusion of a few published scripts of unproduced films."
Yale Film Archive Screenplay Collection
Over 150 published screenplays are available in this circulating collection.

Digital/Online

BBC Script Library
The BBC makes available select scripts from their radio, television, and film productions.