Collaborator 3 Introduced at Show Biz Expo: New Version of Premiere Story and Character Software Now Supports Both Novelists and Screenwriters
For Immediate Release
Monday, June 05, 1995 Calabasas, CA. -- June 6, 1995 -- Collaborator Systems, Inc., publishers of the interactive writing software Collaborator, the first and continuing best-selling story and character development tool for writers, announced today it is introducing Collaborator 3, an upgrade of the DOS version of the popular program, at the 12 annual ShowBiz Expo West, at the Los Angeles Conventions Center, June 10, 11, 12, 1995.
Collaborator 3 offers added features, including extended memory support, the addition of a novel paradigm, an improved QuickCheck, Plot and Character Banks, as well as new word processor and improved online Help.
Newly priced at only $199, Collaborator interactive writing software is available at Writer's Computer Store, Birns & Sawyer, J & R Music World, MacUniverse, Compucal and other software outlets throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
"By introducing these new features, Collaborator users and new customers can more easily produce tight, compelling stories and well-wrought characters in all of their stories, whether novels, short stories, feature films, TV movies and episodic," said Collaborator Systems president Cary Brown.
Among the new features are:
- a Conflict Arena for instant entry and viewing of the story's major elements.
Move and easily echange Data may be moved and easily exchanged in one mouse click. Conflicts may be organized, viewed and analyised in one area.
- word processor with extended memory capabilities for access to increased RAM and faster data access.
- Collaborator 3 operates in the protected mode.
- Character Bank for building libraries of new or frequently used characters.
- Plot Bank for building libraries of story ideas.
- 3-Act Outliner which allows the entry, movement, and editing of beats, story and plot points at will.
- New novel paradigm making Collaborator more accessible to novelists. Included in this version, an analysis of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn."
- Index Card printing capabilities. Now print out any or all of Collaborators questions and responses, as well as plot points, act by act.
- Perpetual Calendar with dates from 1,000 AD to 9999 AD
- Single character Box for all the stories characters, protagonist, antagonists, love interest and additional characters.
- Improved interactive QuickCheck now automatically imports your story's plot and characters giving a graphic representation of the story's dramatic elements and market potential within five minutes.
- New HELP engine for quicker and more detailed online context-sensitive help, including examples from for Academy Award nominated screenplays, at the click of the mouse.
- New and improved Control Panel for quicker access to Collaborator's features.
- Reveals, Reverse Engineered Annotated Literature. Collaborator editors, analysis of popular films and novels for comparison and study. Included in this release, "Pulp Fiction," "Forrest Gump," "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Quiz Show."
- Characters can be imported
Collaborator is the only interactive software that transforms the writers ideas into novels or screenplays based on the classical elements of dramatic structure, without imposing a new or untested theory, or using an artificial multiple-choice Q & A approach, or providing databank of clichés. Collaborator is a simple tool which interactively requires and prods, the writer to consider and address the basic story elements necessary to produce stories with dramatic integrity.
"Collaborator does no work. The writer does the work. Collaborator is as intelligent as the average lead pencil. What it does do is remind the writer of the necessary dramatic and character elements required to provide the audience or reader with a compelling story and engaging characters."
After seven years on the market, Collaborator is used by writers worldwide for novels, short stories, screenplays. Nonfiction writers, including journalists as well as attorneys, as reported in California Lawyer, and national and local law enforcement.
As writers use Collaborator, many maintain a constant dialogue with the publishers and each Collaborator upgrade has reflected the needs of writers as presented in those dialogues.
"Collaborator Systems has always been dependent on the feedback of the programs users, and the new features represent suggestions and responses to the needs of our thousands of users throughout the world," said Cary Brown.
Current users of Collaborator for DOS may upgrade for $79 by calling their dealer or Collaborator Systems in Calabasas. An upgrade of the MAC version is forthcoming in late 1995.
New customers can order the Collaborator 3 by calling or visiting dealers or contacting Collaborator Systems by phone, 818-222-2170, 800-405-8344, by FAX 818 222 1495 or online, American OnLine {Collab] CompuServe (76640,521) Prodigy {CCBK22A} or the Internet Collab@aol.com.
System requirements for Collaborator 3: IBM or compatible computer, 386 or greater, DOS 5.0, (6.0 or later strongly recommended), 2MB memory, hard disk with 3MB of available space, a 3 1/2 inch, 1.4 MB micro disk drive, optional Microsoft compatible mouse, optional printer.
The annual ShowBiz Expo West, now produced by Advanstar, has traditionally been the site for Collaborator product introductions. At the 1989 ShowBiz Expo, Collaborator Systems, Inc. introduced the first version of Collaborator for DOS to thousands of motion picture and television professionals. Again, in 1990, ShowBiz Expo was the location for the introduction of Collaborator for the MAC. Collaborator 2, which became the industry standard for story and character development software, for both DOS and MAC, was introduced two years later, at 1992's ShowBiz Expo. Although the suggested retail price for Collaborator 3 is $199, it will be available at ShowBiz Expo for the special show price of $99.
Founded in 1987 by writers Cary Brown, Francis X. Feighan and Louis Garfinkle, Collaborator Systems, Inc. publishes the leading story and character development software for writers. Collaborator has been named Best Screenwriting Tool, two years in a row, by the readers of Screenwrite NOW!, the official publication of Freelance Screenwriters Forum. Given rave reviews by The New York Times, Writer's Digest, Hollywood Scriptwriter (the reviewer called it 'amazing,'), New York Screenwriter, and dozens of other publications, Collaborator is the most used story software in the motion picture and television industries.
"I wouldn't have sold my screenplay without it, " said Sy Richardson, one of thousands of working writers using Collaborator, in reference to his POSSE screenplay.
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COLLABORATOR SYSTEMS, INC. 23501 Park Sorrento, Suite 120 Calabasas CA 91302 818 222 - 2170 (Office & Support) 800 405 8344 (Order Line) 818 222 - 1495 (Fax) COLLABORATORr is a registered trademark of Collaborator Systems, Inc. The Collaborator logo, Reveals, QuickCheck , Conflict Arena, and Conflict Thesaurus are trademarks of Collaborator Systems, Inc. (American OnLine {Collab] CompuServe (76640,521) Prodigy {CCBK22A} Internet Collab@aol.com)
