Screenwriting : Location, location, location! by G.R. Barnett

Well, personally, I never plan on moving out to LA. Because I think it would be way too much trouble to uproot my life and I don't particularly want a roommate situation. I was simply asking if living in that location was a requirement to get a screenwriting job. Thanks for the prompt reply though. :) -G.R.B.

The only people that say you have to live in LA if you are those people that moved there a hundred years ago. It isn't where you live it is who you know that counts. You can get to know people by sending out query letters and calling them from anywhere. Only about one in 5,000 screenwriters will ever make any money writing screenplays so moving to LA would be a huge gamble.

Yeah. See that's kind of what I thought too. its easy to tell someone to move to LA when you already have all the connections and you're past all the lean years. But to tell someone who's a complete newbie to move to LA who obviously isn't LA material is just kind of, well, mean l, in my opinion. :/ I've been told by several people I needed to and its kind of discouraging. I don't like the thought of getting to a place and being stuck in a bad situation. I know that's the reason you line up jobs ahead of time but what if you get there and the job falls through? That's my nagging feeling. Oy.

Personally I didn't want a job writing I just wanted to write screenplays and try to sell them which you can do from anywhere. If a producer is interested in producing your screenplay they don't really care where you live. The two biggest things that really keeps people from breaking in is the fact that they don't have a track record and they don't know anyone in the business that can help them open the doors locked to newer screenwriters. How I got around that was I attached two directors to several screenplays and used their credits and contacts to help get my foot in the door. If you don't want to move to LA and I don't blame you then you might want to give something like this a try. However keep in mind an attachment only works if the director is successful and is someone that a producer would love to have direct your movie.

I'm from Cleveland and moved to LA three years ago at the urging of one of my mentors who had been in LA for years in the business. I didn't want to move here, but I did, and I can tell you, that there is something to being here and having face time with people. Producers and directors really do want to know who you are, not just a stack of three-hold punched paper. And unless you're winning screenwriting contests, no one is going to knock down your door for your scripts. To that point, in Cleveland, there's a monthly indie film group that gets together and a quarterly mixer put on the by the film commission. All good, but that kind of thing goes on in LA EVERY SINGLE DAY with people actually making movies and TV. I've sat in workshops with writers of the hit TV series and spoke face-to-face with the writers of blockbuster films. I've made some good connections - and some bad ones sure - but I've learned a ton that I would never had staying in Cleveland. It's not an easy city. I miss Cleveland a lot, but I do think you're kidding yourself that you can "phone it in."

@ Tom. If you say people are fooling themselves if they don't move to LA then how many feature film scripts have you sold or have written for hire since you moved there?

I moved to LA last year, but not because I would have a better chance of getting a writing job. I moved for the plethora of networking groups, educational opportunities with seminars and lectures, and to hopefully have the opportunity to meet the "right" people. Ended up with a neighbor who is a close personal friend of Fred Silverman (I saw pics) and a neighbor who plays a regular role on Code Black. Invaluable connections that may or may not be a help to my career, but I wouldn't have met these people back in TN. Oh, and I stand in line for coffee with Larry King on a regular basis to the point that we have a nodding and hello relationship, lol.

Dan, your comment is completely valid. I have not sold any scripts, but I had one optioned and I've made contacts and gotten closer to a sale than I ever would have in Cleveland. I also am producing some shorts I wrote with people I met here (and yes, you can do that anywhere).

Based on my limited experience, I've found that executives are less interested in you living in LA than they are interested in knowing you can BE in LA when they need you to take meetings, etc. My boyfriend (also a screenwriter) and I live in Alaska, he is originally from LA and we spend a lot of time there. But I've only been told by one executive that I needed to move there. No one else seems to care where you live. They just want you to be available.

I agree with Jody. When I first started out I was not in a position where I could just pick up and movie. I did send out a lot of query letters and I used the phone to make contacts. I haven't exactly set the world on fire but I have managed to option three screenplays and was hired to write four of them. I am currently producing four movies with some other producers.

See I have nothing. against being able to be in LA but the thought of living there isn't appealing to me at all. I'd willingly visit, frequently even, but as for living there, I'd rather be in a place where I know people. -G.R.B.

A friend of mine, who has also been a mentor and champion of my work for years (he connected me with my agent) is a working screenwriter who makes a real living at it. He does keep a house in LA but only goes there about 3-4 times a year for meetings. I see that as a perfect world, lol. I love LA but I don't think I'd ever want to live there.

What Jody said. And know that after one of your scripts goes out, you will have non-stop meetings all over town for the next 2 months. One of those meetings will be your next gig. You won't know which one. So be prepared to spend a lot of time in Los Angeles.

William. What do you mean if your script goes out?

In my Breaking In book we look at the 2 main ways a screenplay goes out to producers: Targeted (sent to one producer at a time) and Wide (sent to multiple producers simultaneously). The preferred method has been Wide, because if one producer's Devo thinks a script stinks word may get out on tracking boards and other producers may avoid that screenplay. So Targeting risks having a script die after only a couple of people have read it. Going Wide forces everyone to read the screenplay at the same time and make a decision before they know what the other guys and gals thought of the script. What's interesting is that often a screenplay is like Cinderella's glass slipper, and what may not work for 80% of the producers is exactly what 20% are looking for. But with Targeting, sometimes it's tough to get that 20% to read the script. The larger issue here is that screenplays seldom sell, they are mostly job applications for assignments. So when a script goes out it is not to generate a sale, but to generate meetings where you are offered OWAs (Open Writing Assignments) or just Generals (general meetings) where they size you up now so that they can consider you for an assignment later. Job interviews where there are hundreds of applicants, so they are interviewing a whole bunch of people and later will trim it down to a handful they call back, and out of that handful one gets the assignment. Which is a bunch of meetings! My record is 48 meetings off 50 reads, and each of those meetings lead to more and more meetings. Often a meeting would lead to reading a piece of material and then coming back to pitch my take on it. Okay - that's 48 meetings that leads to reading 48 books and articles and whatever that leads to 48 more meetings where I pitch my take which leads to 48 follow up meetings which leads to 48 more meetings which leads to... you end up with a couple of months of doing nothing but meetings, 2 or 3 a day. It's like a day job, and you have to find time to write in your spare time again. Oh, and if you get the assignment? Lots more meetings on writing the script! (And you will try to set up as many assignments as you can handle, because you may never get another job.) So - lots of meetings.

Now I get what you mean. I never marketed my screenplays that way which is why I didn't know what you meant by going out. In fact I don't send any scripts out anymore.

Great info William, thanks. Dan, do you have a different method for your scripts?

I never sent 50 out at a time. I am not trying to sell any screenplays right now but when I was I would attach well-known directors to the scripts I wanted to sell and contact producers they know.

Okay that's another thing, how on earth do you 'attach' a director to a screenplay? Do you just put their name somewhere in the treatment and let the chips fall where they may or what? I've heard this term but no one ever told me how attaching a director actually works. I'd like for someone to explain that for me. If it's too long for this discussion please feel free to private message me. -G.R.B.

Thanks Dan

Thank you, Patricia, I've always wondered how that worked. Now its just a matter of getting in contact with people.

I was a playwright in New York for many years and then decided to move to L.A. to focus more on screenwriting. I was born here. I was two when my family moved to Canada, but my dad was a Hollywood reporter for a number of years, so I had the family background. I love living here, and I do think it has helped me stay focused on film because it's a company town and no one much cares about theater (they're impressed by it on your resume but they consider it culturally irrelevant). That said, I've gotten a lot of interest in my screenplays from outside Los Angeles (New York, London, Toronto, Germany, Australia) and I just optioned a script to a producer in Austin, Texas. So I'd say that in this day and age it probably doesn't matter as much (I now Skype into play auditions and rehearsals in NYC), but it can still stimulate you because people here eat, breathe, and live movies and you will meet a lot of them face to face. And the weather, people. The weather!

Attachments are contracts, money is paid or promised. Basically you work as producer to get your script made.

Hi William M. Quick question. Do you have a rough idea of the percentage of meetings that are rescheduled? The last thing I'm sure any out-of-towner wants is to fly down to LA for a meeting only to be told at the last minute that the meeting's going to have to be rescheduled.

Be grateful that we have Stage 32. That's the whole point of our fellowship. You can live anywhere on the planet, With the latest technology it no longer matters where you live, it matters what you create. Period. End of Story. P.S. I am staying in Manhattan. Thank you.

LOL I am, Steven, I totally am. :) Having the industry at my fingertips is great. -G.R.B.

Let your fingers to the walking. Yeah!! Go Stage 32!! We are here. We are now. We are the Future.

I have no idea what the % is - but that's an issue. Best thing to do is tell them that you are coming in just for these meetings. I know people who come in for a week or two of wall-to-wall meetings, and people seem to go out of their way to make the schedules work for them. So explain the situation ahead of time and they'll work to accommodate you. Then, if they cancel and want to reschedule, say "Cool!" and act all amazed and then say something like, "I can't believe you're going to fly to Chicago (or wherever) to meet with me!"

William anyone can attach a director to a project as long as both parties agree to the terms.

Wait a second, G.R., I would like to know to which job offers you refer? Your profile says you are a screenwriter and as such you can work from everywhere and even pitch your stories from everywhere. Hence, I don't see your problem and don't understand what you mean that you have to move to L.A. for a screenwriting job. I live on the other side of the globe and had no problem with the distance so far. On the contrary as I apply to jobs everywhere which most people in L.A. don't do and won't do. Hence, cheer up and follow your inner voice. It always takes a while before you get the first answers at all and then you have to find the persons who like your way of story telling, your writing style etc. Nobody promised you that it will be easy and it definitely won't become easier in L.A.

G.R.-- Listen to Elisabeth she knows. You can live anywhere on the planet today and write. That is the whole reason for Stage 32. It is a paradigm shift. The main point is to have a great story with compelling characters. As I have said many times to fellow "Happy Writers" that I have grown to respect I am staying in Manhattan. I wish you the best.

The only writing job I can think of that would require an actual move to LA would be getting a tv writing gig. And even then, such a job doesn't necessarily mean a permanent move as those gigs tend to run about 20 weeks. My boyfriend is looking at this possibility and if he gets the job, he'll fly back and forth for the duration. Luckily he and I both have day jobs that offer generous time off to include leave of absence without pay for long term issues.

People that say you have to live in LA to be a screenwriter are living in the past. Most screenwriters I know that moved there are still hoping to make it someday and they probably won't.

Not expensive if you're a native and know where to find the DEALS. Brooklyn native. Manhattan resident. Why would I move to LA where the only cultural advantage is to be able to turn right on a red light. I don't even own a car. I do have a bicycle though. And with my front lawn Central Park why would I leave? Nah. LA ? Nope. Not happening.

Cholent Boy- Do you still admire me? Even though all I had to do was cross the Brooklyn Bridge and move to Manhattan? And by the way where were you last night. We were ready to give you this beautiful challah with a perfect file baked right in. Tony and I were waiting with the Truck what happened? There you got the premise now lets see where you go with it. A Coen Brothers type flick where the jail break is just the start like in "O Brother Where Art Thou".? Or do you want to go more Burt Lancaster and the "Birdman of Alcatraz"? . And please no "Shawkshank Redemption" clones. C'mon write. Let's see if I can keep your grey matter in the pink. Cash and prizes? Well if I like what you write I'll add one more deli sandwhich to the menu which brings the total to (3) + the Cel-Ray soda and the onion rings Okay On your mark, get set, write!

Yes, Steven. I admire everyone who takes the chance of spending a great amount of time in their lives pursuing anything that has nothing to do with what puts food on the table and a roof over their heads. And I admire those who take that same chance and do end up putting food on the table and a roof over their heads. And I admire the foodmakers and the roofers, too. And I already got out. You guys were late, and luckily I had a backup plan that I can't publicly divulge. Always gotta have those backup plans, you know. They don't call me "Cool Hand Bill" for nothing. Heh-heh.

Don't you need a work visa to get a job in the UK?

That would be bollocks

Cool (lol)

Cholent Boy- Touche!