ATM by Chris Sparling

After reading and enjoying “Buried”, which recently premiered at Sundance this year, I jumped at the chance to read “ATM”, another script written by Chris Sparling.

It is clear why this script was acquired so quickly. It is a page turner to be sure, and not surprisingly it follows the same formula as “Buried”. “ATM” tells a story of three young people trapped in an ATM alcove in bitterly cold temperatures, terrorized by a killer blocking their escape.

These two scripts are the perfect definition of “give me the same, but different”.

  • Both scripts have minimal locations
  • Both focus on impending death in a confined space
  • Both have time constraints (running out of air, freezing to death)
  • Both scripts are bleak and do not end in a good way

In “ATM”, everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. The result is 104 pages of unrelenting misery. It never lets up. I was hoping for one or two scenes where the victims prevail over their captor, if even for just a short while, so I could catch my breath. I felt it took too long to get to the meat of the story. But even with these minor points, it’s a good read and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen, should it successfully make it through all the hoops it takes to get a film made these days.

Find the script here.

Posted by Lee Gabel - Feb 22, 03:42 PM post this at del.icio.uspost this at Diggpost this at Yahoo! my webpost this at Google Bookmarkspost this on Facebook
Posted in • Permalink •

Comment

Commenting is closed for this article.

Journal Archives
 

All archived journal entries can be found below.

July 2010 [-]

22-07-10 2010 Nicholl Fellowships

May 2010 [-]

21-05-10 My script "Vermin" passed the test!

21-05-10 Forget Dramatica

20-05-10 Masters of Screenwriting Interview: Tom Mankiewicz

April 2010 [-]

27-04-10 A screenwriter's income

26-04-10 Finished rewrite #3

21-04-10 Rewrite #3 heading into home stretch

20-04-10 Avoid clichés like the plague

16-04-10 Subconscious writing

15-04-10 So you finish that brilliant script...

15-04-10 Rewrite #3...

14-04-10 Rewrite #3 update

14-04-10 Yes, it's expository but...

13-04-10 Rewrite #3 continues

12-04-10 Rewrite #3 begins

01-04-10 The tradeoff

March 2010 [-]

30-03-10 Francis-Ford Coppola's Notebook

23-03-10 Sage advice from David Mamet

23-03-10 Screenplay analysis

17-03-10 What's in a one sheet?

16-03-10 New Vermin draft done

15-03-10 To outline or not to outline...

15-03-10 Spec Script Sales 2009

12-03-10 Breath of fresh air

11-03-10 2010 Super Catalyst Emerging Screenwriter Award winners

11-03-10 Vermin page count from 120 to 104

04-03-10 Merging two characters into one

03-03-10 The Grey by Joe Carnahan and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers

03-03-10 Killing all my darlings

02-03-10 John Hughes scripts

02-03-10 Great notes from a pro writer/producer

February 2010 [-]

23-02-10 Abduction by Shawn Christensen

22-02-10 ATM by Chris Sparling

18-02-10 2009 demo reel

16-02-10 Hollywood Anonymous

12-02-10 Interview with Terry Rossio

11-02-10 27 golden rules of writing

03-02-10 Do you use index cards?

January 2010 [-]

31-01-10 Joe Eszterhas

28-01-10 To Write a Screenplay On Spec or Not?

28-01-10 The research continues

28-01-10 Superchannel Super Catalyst Update

25-01-10 Buried (the script)

25-01-10 The Darjeeling Limited

24-01-10 Buried (starring Ryan Reynolds)

18-01-10 Golden Globes 2010

18-01-10 Tales from the Script

15-01-10 Superchannel Super Catalyst

11-01-10 Synopsis Completed

08-01-10 New giant rat species discovered

04-01-10 Scriptapalooza 2010

03-01-10 First screenplay's the charm for Single Man writer

December 2009 [-]

31-12-09 Secrets for Creative Professionals

13-12-09 Air Buddies shot

11-12-09 US Copyright registered

11-12-09 WGA West registered

10-12-09 Back into the research

02-12-09 Black Hole Remake

November 2009 [-]

30-11-09 How to get a development deal

05-11-09 Windows XP - Low on Registry Space

August 2009 [-]

31-08-09 Just when I thought I was out...

20-08-09 Second draft is done

20-08-09 Righteous Kill

June 2009 [-]

30-06-09 Been a long lonely, lonely time.

15-06-09 Some great screenwriting books to read

May 2009 [-]

10-05-09 The perils of success

March 2009 [-]

28-03-09 Heading into the rewrite

26-03-09 More possible work. Speak of the devil...

26-03-09 I'm finally done... the reading that is

February 2009 [-]

13-02-09 Contests contested

January 2009 [-]

28-01-09 Going to read a few books

16-01-09 Time off for good behaviour

16-01-09 Good intentions be damned

December 2008 [-]

23-12-08 I'm done the first draft

20-12-08 I'm going long

16-12-08 Page 62

07-12-08 The Number 23

03-12-08 Se7en

02-12-08 The actual writing

November 2008 [-]

27-11-08 The outline, err... treatment is complete

26-11-08 The outline is getting close

05-11-08 Way to go, America!

October 2008 [-]

23-10-08 It's a sad day

01-10-08 Convert Adobe Illustrator CS3 to generic EPS

September 2008 [-]

30-09-08 Slamdance and the outline

24-09-08 Work on the outline continues

16-09-08 Progress on the outline

15-09-08 Slam Dance 2008 Screenplay Competition, part 2

14-09-08 The outline is taking form

09-09-08 Simple straightforward advice

06-09-08 The 2008 Page International Screenwriting Awards Finals

06-09-08 Sheldon Turner, Scott Rosenberg on Screenwriting

05-09-08 Slam Dance 2008 Screenplay Competition

04-09-08 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition

03-09-08 Heading home

August 2008 [-]

30-08-08 The index card outline is done!

29-08-08 Making progress

28-08-08 Day two on the wet west coast

27-08-08 Time for a getaway...

12-08-08 A good day

12-08-08 William Goldman on Structure

09-08-08 Damn, what a week

04-08-08 Scriptapalooza Semifinals

01-08-08 2008 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Semifinalists

July 2008 [-]

31-07-08 Screenplay #2, update

31-07-08 Nicholl Fellowships 2008, Part 2

30-07-08 Nicholl Fellowships 2008 Update

30-07-08 Scriptapalooza 2008 Quarterfinalist

29-07-08 And so I begin...