Leave it to Shane Black to turn the lonely act of screenwriting into a contact sport. The Lethal Weapon and Iron Man scribe has launched TheGauntlet, a competition that puts aspiring writers through a rigorous series of critiques and rewrites sort of American Gladiators for the Final Draft set.

Its a competition, he says, but I like to think of it as more friendly than that. Its about a community of writers. Developed with the script-consultancy ScriptHop, the contest puts entrants work through a detailed review by readers and advisers drawn from Blacks own circle of industry veterans including longtime friends like The Woman King scribe Dana Stevens and Meet the Parents Jim Herzfeld. Theyre people Ive known for 40 years, he adds, people I trust to really roll up their sleeves and give usable notes. If its not good, youll be told in diplomatic terms exactly why by people who know.

Nine scripts made it through the inaugural Gauntlet the first hurdle was the $380 entry fee which aims to connect its winners with agents, managers and even studios. A golden ticket its not though, yes, there is an actual silver-tinted, ticket-shaped metal card sent to Hollywood insiders, complete with a QR code linking to those nine scripts.

As for Black, who has spent decades toggling between writing (The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout) and directing (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys), he insists hes not trading filmmaking for mentorship just rooting for a return to strong, original storytelling. Theres a lot of success right now for movies that arent based on IP, he says. The idea is to make your script too good to ignore.

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Also in Rambling Reporter: Why Hollywood is Flocking to The Hamptons of Europe. Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johansson, Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender theyve all scooped up property in Portugal, land of cinematic sunsets, low property taxes, and no Trump.

Plus: Piano Prodigy Lang Lang Gets a Biopic With Fight Scenes!

This story appeared in the Oct. 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.