Screenwriter Hired to Write TV Pilot via Networking on Stage 32!

About 12 years ago my stepdaughter Nastassia Haroshka (IMDB) (age 7 at the time) came to the US from Belarus with her mother, Iryna Haroshka, my future wife. Nastassia and her mother spoke no English, but I had learned Russian to be able to speak with them.

The daughter had done some modeling in Belarus, and was soon contracted for actress roles in the excellent films DIVERGE  and RAIN. She studied acting with Gerard Moses at Studio 24. She learned English rapidly; she is a perfect bilingual speaker in both Russian and English.

She was sent many scripts for projects, both filmed and finalized as a completed project, like SETESH that she participated in, and some that were filmed but never released. I read all of the scripts, and was generally not impressed with the writing. I said to myself, “I can write better scripts than this!” And so, I started to do exactly that.

I decided to seek out partners/co-writers, such as Robert Arce, who had expertise in the subject matter of the proposed scripts (crime, human trafficking, drug cartels, kidnapping). That resulted in a miniseries set of scripts of about 10 hours duration set in Iraq, Haiti, Mexico and Arizona.

I worked with a former US Customs agent on a script about FBI/DOJ corruption in Florida.

I co-wrote a series of scripts about WW2 Japanese pilots, the Yemeni civil war, one for a Stage 32 requester set in WW2 Poland that sadly never went anywhere, one about the Bosnian/Croatian civil war, and many more.

Many are in various stages of development, and we know how long that takes! Thanks to Pierre Guillet (who I met via Stage 32), one of my co-writers on these projects!

I also wrote a horror/mystery script called SETESH that I directed, cast, secured locations and crew for, wrote and performed much of the music for, and secured a brand new streamer to show it. It was in post-production for a LONG time.

Many thanks to Shane Mehigan, Candace Rich IMDB, GW Weitknecht, Kevin Wall, and Stan Lozowski, among many, many others; without them SETESH wouldn’t have been possible!

In my early filmmaking journey, I met a producer who recommended Stage 32 as a way to network. I am very impressed with the platform and the people I have met on here. Kudos especially to Jason Mirch!

After joining Stage 32, I read Peter Ford’s ad for a screenwriter in the job board, acquired his brilliant and unique novel, Tarquin Jenkins and the Book Of Dreams, read the 450-some pages in one day, and contacted him to discuss his proposed pilot.

He told me he was advertising for a writer that would understand the book’s humor and its audience. I applied for the job, and sent him comments about the strengths and problematic issues the book had, due to the romantic interest appearing later in the story, and also a need for an immediate appearance of a “bad guy/bad guys” at the start, instead of later. And how to write the open ending so that the pilot audience would want more.

He picked me from a large number of applicants after I sent those comments, and more, and after he read a number of my scripts. I worked with him many times over skype, and it was a pleasant and lovely collaboration. Peter is a genius; his book took 12 years to write.

It is reminiscent of DR. WHO, HARRY POTTER, H.G. Wells, Chaucer, and much more, and sprinkled with laugh-out-loud puns, historical figures (yes, even Nostradamus!) and striking visual images. This author has an encyclopedic knowledge of history, literature, comedy, and plot. And it’s FUN!

Peter is working on his pitch deck, the cover art, tax credits for filming, his pitch, getting actors, and all the rest that goes with pre-production. A big thanks to Dave Szymusiak, a producer/director/screenwriter that offered Peter advice on marketing! I had done some writing for Dave; he is an all-facets film expert-behind the camera and in preparation, as well as in scriptwriting!

Advice for My Fellow Screenwriters

If you ask other people to read what you write, you will get many reactions, some good, some bad. But if the script requester likes what you write, and pays you, and that keeps happening, you are on the right track.

Script doctors, like surgeons, get paid when they find “problems and issues” that they think need to be fixed. Even when there aren’t any... And each one will contradict what the previous one just said.

Learn to pitch. I think I am a good writer, but I am not a natural salesperson. So I can’t pitch, and that is a major issue. But just this week I was offered another novel/screenplay conversion job, and the requester LOVED my script samples.

Get a good agent/manager.

Thanks to fellow Stage 32er, Lisa Simpson, of Simpsonliteraryagency.com, my brilliant agent!

About Jon Shallit

Screenwriter, director, musician, composer, violinist, Professor of Music.
Director, co-writer of SETESH feature film now in post.
Co-writer with Cem Aydogan (IMDB), Shane Mehigan (IMDB), and other NY producer/directors.
Worked with Dave Szymusiak (IMDB) on a full feature in pre-production.

Have written paid screenplays from novels on request.

Have numerous short and full feature scripts available in many genres.
Looking for collaborators who can bring projects to fruition-who have financing. Have reliable crew, AD, director of photography, and good actors who I have worked with.

Have written full features set in Iraq, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Poland, Yemen, Japan, Turkey, Myanmar, etc. in various genres and some were sold and in pre-production.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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