Online sellers of scripts; drafts/versions available may vary.
UCLA Library Special Collections houses unpublished copies and versions of scripts for both film and television. Most of these scripts are not listed in the Library Catalog by title, so it works best to use Special Collections scripts finding aids to identify them. Additional unpublished scripts may be available as part of specific archival collections. These scripts must be used in Library Special Collections. Please contact them directly for duplication requests.
The UCLA Arts Library collects published scripts only and shelves them together on the entry level floor. These scripts are available for regular loan.
The UCLA Library collects commercially published scripts, most of which are final shooting scripts. Many of these are housed in the Arts Library as part of the Selected Film and Television Scripts collection, which is circulating. Some scripts and screenplays will also be available at other UCLA libraries or SRLF, particularly foreign language scripts. Due to historical inconsistencies in cataloging practice, not every script will have a uniform subject heading or any heading at all. For scripts in Library Special Collections, please see finding aids in the box above.
Some hints on using the UC Library Search to find titles:
Free internet sources for scripts and transcripts. Some of these sites aren't "official" repositories by screenwriters or studios, and may contain early drafts rather than the final shooting script.
Though some screenplays and TV scripts have been published, this is often not the case. Additionally, earlier drafts and revisions are typically not available in published form. Such materials are typically held in special collections and archives.
Searches finding aids for historical documents, personal papers, and family histories held in libraries, museums, and archives around the world. Researchers searching ArchiveGrid can learn about the items in each of these collections, contact archives to arrange a visit to examine materials, and order copies.
Sometimes, scripts are not published separately as a stand alone book. However, some screenwriting magazines or anthologies do publish scripts in their entirety. The UCLA Library subscribes to a number of these magazines, including Scenario, Creative Screenwriting, Hollywood Scriptwriter, and Scr(i)pt. One way to access scripts in these, other than browsing, is to search in a database or print resource that indexes screenplays.