Zhura

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Zhura
Developer(s) Zhura Corp.
Initial release2007-12-10
Operating system Any (Web-based application)
Type screenwriting
Website http://www.scripped.com
Script elements as described on the Zhura help pages. Zhura-elements.png
Script elements as described on the Zhura help pages.

Zhura ( /ˈzɜːrə/ ZUR) is a free, web-based screenwriting software application for writing and formatting screenplays to the film industry standard, as well as other formats. Zhura allows users to collaborate on scripts in public or private groups and uses Creative Commons Licensing for all work in the public workspace. [1]

Contents

On March 29, 2010, Zhura announced its merger with Scripped. Scripped's CEO, Sunil Rajaraman, remains the company's Chief Executive Officer as of 2022. [2] The Zhura CEO was Eric MacDonald, a former Cascade Communications engineer. [3] Scripped later closed on April 1, 2015 after a catastrophic, irrecoverable data loss. [4]

Script editor

Screenplay Template – The script editor provides a built-in screenplay template which formats the document to a standard for scripts as recommended by the AMPAS. [5] The screenplay document is composed of seven elements: scene, action, character, dialogue, parenthetical, transition and shot (see image). Each element has a specific style to which the script editor conforms as you type.
Script Formats – Other major script formats for stage play, sitcom, audio drama and comic book are also supported as well as the ability to switch between them.
Auto-Complete – Characters, scene headings and custom transitions are “remembered” as they are written and “recalled” with tab-completion when a writer starts a new character, scene heading or transition, respectively.
Multiple Editors – With a collaborative editing model comparable to Google Docs, two or more users can edit the same script simultaneously, regardless of having a different operating system or web browser.
Import/Export – A screenplay written in another program can be imported into the script editor and automatically conformed to the screenplay template. The closer the original script has adhered to the standard format, the better it will appear when imported. Supported import/export formats include Text (.txt) Word (.doc) Rich Text (.rtf) and OpenDocument (.odt). Scripts can also be exported as a PDF file with additional options.
Tracking Changes – Similar to the “tracking” feature in Microsoft Word, a user can review all changes made to a script in the revision history as well as highlight the contributions of each writer.
Offline Mode The Google Gears-based offline functionality is in the process of being updated and is not available for new subscribers, according to the company founders.

Community

Scripped supports typical social networking features such as discussion boards, comments, user profiles, public and private writing groups, internal web mail and instant messaging within the script editor. There is also the option to share scripts with others outside of Scripped by making scripts externally viewable. Scripped is made up entirely of user-generated scripts that other users can share, critique and edit, offering creative support to a community of writers. [6]

Licensing of user-created work

There are three types of work-spaces on Scripped (personal, group and public) [7] with unique copyright and licensing management for the work created in each area. Any work a user originates may be moved from the personal area to a public or group area at any time. Once another user edits a script, however, it cannot be moved into the originator’s personal area.

Personal Workspace – Any script created or video uploaded in the user’s personal workspace remains copyrighted to that user. Until the user moves that script or video from their personal area into a group or public area, no other user shares a copyright or license to that work.

Private Group Workspace – The copyright to any script created or video uploaded in a private group workspace is allocated by the individual members of the group, however they see fit.

Public Workspace – Any script created or video uploaded in the public workspace is assigned a Creative Commons license by the originator of that work. The originator of a script may select one of four Creative Commons licenses before introducing that script to the public. The selection of the license is determined by what the author wants to allow others to do with the work. Below is a list of Creative Commons licenses available for all scripts and videos in the public workspace.

This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit the original user and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on the original user's will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to the original user.
This license is the most restrictive of the four licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the "free advertising" license because it allows others to download the original user work and share them with others as long as they mention the original user and link back to them, but they can't change them in any way or use them commercially.
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the original user's work non-commercially, as long as they credit the original user and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute the original user's work just like the BY-NC-ND license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on the original user's work. All new work based on the original user's work will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.

Events

In April 2008, Zhura partnered with Improv Asylum, a comedy troupe in Boston, Massachusetts to produce a live sketch comedy show called "You Wrote It, Live" entirely written by the public on Zhura. [8] Another show was produced in June.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open-source license</span> Software license allowing source code to be used, modified, and shared

Open-source licenses facilitate free and open-source software (FOSS) development. Intellectual property (IP) laws restrict the modification and sharing of creative works. Free and open-source software licenses use these existing legal structures for the inverse purpose of granting freedoms that promote sharing and collaboration. They grant the recipient the rights to use the software, examine the source code, modify it, and distribute the modifications. These licenses target computer software where source code can be necessary to create modifications. They also cover situations where there is no difference between the source code and the executable program distributed to end users. Open-source licenses can cover hardware, infrastructure, drinks, books, and music.

A screenplay, or script, is a written work by screenwriters for a film, television show, or video game. A screenplay written for television is also known as a teleplay. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A screenplay is a form of narration in which the movements, actions, expressions and dialogue of the characters are described in a certain format. Visual or cinematographic cues may be given, as well as scene descriptions and scene changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creative Commons license</span> Copyright license for free use of a work

A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and build upon a work that the author has created. CC provides an author flexibility and protects the people who use or redistribute an author's work from concerns of copyright infringement as long as they abide by the conditions that are specified in the license by which the author distributes the work.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clip art</span> Graphic illustrations created for reuse by others

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Share-alike</span> Condition in some free copyright licenses

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screenwriting</span> Art and craft of writing screenplays

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Screenwriting software are word processors specialized to the task of writing screenplays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free content</span> Creative work with few or no restrictions on how it may be used

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scripped</span>

Scripped was an online screenplay services company offering three services: script writing, script registration, and script coverage. Scripped did not facilitate collaboration among screenwriters. It combined with Zhura in 2010. According to Techcrunch, Scripped had more than 60,000 writers as of March 2010.

Movie Outline is a word processing program developed by Nuvotech Limited. It is used to step outline a cinematic story and format a screenplay. It was created by Dan Bronzite, an English screenwriter. It was released in 2004 as an outliner with more features added in later releases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copyleft</span> Practice of mandating free use in all derivatives of a work

Copyleft is the legal technique of granting certain freedoms over copies of copyrighted works with the requirement that the same rights be preserved in derivative works. In this sense, freedoms refers to the use of the work for any purpose, and the ability to modify, copy, share, and redistribute the work, with or without a fee. Licenses which implement copyleft can be used to maintain copyright conditions for works ranging from computer software, to documents, art, scientific discoveries and even certain patents.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNU Free Documentation License</span> Copyleft license primarily for free software documentation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">FiveSprockets</span>

FiveSprockets was a web-based software company based in San Diego, California, United States focused on developing resources, social networking, and web-based collaborative software for scriptwriting, filmmaking and digital-video production. The name FiveSprockets came from the five phases, or sprockets, of media production: (1) Story Development & Scriptwriting; (2) Pre-production; (3) Production; (4) Post-production; and (5) Marketing & Distribution. Founded in 2007 by CEO Randy Ullrich, FiveSprockets launched its Beta Release in September 2008 with an initial focus on social networking, educational content, and web-based software for screenwriting and production management.

A public license or public copyright licenses is a license by which a copyright holder as licensor can grant additional copyright permissions to any and all persons in the general public as licensees. By applying a public license to a work, provided that the licensees obey the terms and conditions of the license, copyright holders give permission for others to copy or change their work in ways that would otherwise infringe copyright law.

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References

  1. Parkins, Cameron (2008-02-29). "Zhura". Creative Commons . Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  2. Wauters, Robin. "Screenwriting Software Company Scripped Merges With Zhura, Raises Funding". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  3. Calnan, Christopher (2008-03-14). "Zhura Starts Screenwriter Software". Mass High Tech. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
  4. "Scripped". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-01-02.
  5. Beal, Greg. "A Few Notes on Formatting". AMPAS . Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  6. St. Martin, Greg (2008-03-03). "New Web site caters to undiscovered writers". Metro Boston. Archived from the original on 2008-03-15. Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  7. Zhura.com. "Copyright & Licensing" . Retrieved 2008-03-20.
  8. Zaino III, Nick A. (2008-04-11). "Sketches go from the Web to the stage". Boston Globe . Retrieved 2008-04-11.