Screenwriting : Lesson Learned by Christian Conte

Yep...started working on material for a script on the Iliad...even thought of Brad Pitt for Achilles...few months later, Troy comes out. Thrown all in the garbage bin...bummer for real...

My man! There are endless ways to build a story. What if you have the better story? Did you see the other movie?

Christian:

It happens. I wrote a script about JD Salinger a few years back. A couple of movies came about since then. But I knew going in that could happen and tried to write my screenplay from a very different angle. But it's always good to research true story topics that you're looking to write about. And bear in mind, there have been cases where similar movies came out in close proximity. Some examples I can think of are

1. Tombstone and Wyatt Earp about 6 months apart.

2. Capote and Infamous came out about 9 months apart.

In August, I hooked up with a director who wanted a true crime story script on a subject that's already had one bad TV movie made. He's not at all concerned as he wants to direct a really good feature film.

So you might still find an interested party for your work. Good writing trumps many obstacles.

Happens quite often - just do your own thing and not worry about what others are writing. How many Cinderella or Romeo & Juliet films have you seen?

Hey Shawn. I haven't seen the movie. Just the trailer. Much of the dynamics, characters and relationships, and the plot are different, but a big part of the subject matter, the "logline" so to speak might sound similar. It's based on a true story; mine obviously is not so they are different in many elements. Dunno. Thanks for reaching out. If you got the time, I might message you with the specifics......ugh....

It's not the end of the world. Use your spec scripts as writing samples.

Thanks Martina! Got to just plug on. I always google, and I'm not sure how I missed it....

Thanks all. This helps.

I think I have watched a movie before about asteroid hitting the earth, and it didn't come out this year. Do you know to me I don't think it really matter, since the story lines are completely different. And if you are very vast in creativity you can turn it around to mean something else as dangerous or more dangerous than asteroid hit the earth or happened in space which took the earth by storm.

Is it too crazy to consider contacting those who made the other movie and combining your thoughts to make a more successful version together? Stranger shit has happened.

If it a small movie and it is just a similar premise is all what's the big deal?

Shawn Speake Beth Fox Heisinger Is solicitation permitted on these threads -- such as Mr. Todd's private money lender advertisements?

Hi Linda - Simpson Todd has spammed virtually EVERY message posted within the last 24 hours. I believe it's a fake account, created just today, to replace the one - Simpson Charles - that was removed yesterday when people reported it. Hopefully Shawn and/or Beth can take action to stop this spammer.

Christian - they call it "Steam Engine Syndrome". When Stevenson's Rocket took the world by storm as the first train, it was just ahead of several other similar inventions created at exactly the same time. I wouldn't lose heart just because your script is based on a true story - there's often several ways of telling the same story (didn't someone once say there were in fact only seven "stories"?).

Trolls are getting lazy...cannot even copy and paste correctly anymore...

Hi, LindaAnn Loschiavo. No, it is not permitted, and, yup, it's being handled. ;) "Todd's" messages are being deleted and his account will be suspended. So please, carry on everyone! It's all good. ;)

Hey thanks everyone. I appreciate the input!

In 2013 I finished a comedy action short film called Accountant Assassin. In 2016 Hollywood released The Accountant about an accountant who's an assassin. Same premise.

I feel your pain!!!

A sincere thank you for also showing everyone why we "pros" are so afraid to accept unsolicited submissions. "You stole my idea." No, we didn't. There are just a lot of similar ideas out there. Why increase the chances of getting into a potential frivolous lawsuit by accepting unsolicited scripts? That is a key reason why most "pros" have to be very selective about which unrepresented scripts we read. We want to limit our exposure to unwanted trouble.

In my case, I didn't care at all. It was more funny than anything, and a bit strange. My short is about filmmakers having a script development meeting for a script with essentially a bad premise about an accountant who's an assassin, while the finished film plays alongside the meeting. Then years later Hollywood released a film with the same premise. I haven't actually seen The Accountant. If anyone wants to see my short here's the link below. Made for under $200 with personal friends and friends I worked with in the industry, self financed,

https://vimeo.com/79074130

Hey, Christian. Really like your post and title. So I wrote a similar post about a lesson I've learned. Jus wanted to let you know I was thinking about you in your journey. My man

Thanks Shawn!

I know exactly how you feel. I wrote this treatment for a post-apocalyptic adventure script I had an idea for, and a couple weeks later, Logan was announced. Then a few months later, it came out... turned out my script was almost identical to the film, down to the characters and its execution. I had to scrap it.

Sad times.

Really? Your "Logan" story was a comic book super Hero on the run from govt Killers, on the road with daughter & an old wise mentor . Same theme, same father/daughter message, same climax with abandoned super hero children?

Write the script and show people. There are lots of similar stories. So what? Showcase your storytelling talent.

Exactly Dan, that's what I'd do. I will refine the script and add details not seen on those other movies. Yours might even end up better than theirs. Don't just let it go.

Dan -- it was a story about a "mentor" and a "daughter" (both around Logan and X-23's age, actually) trekking across the desert, on the run from government killers and bandits, with the exact same theme/message, plot progression and execution, with a slightly different but still similar ending. The "daughter" character never spoke for most of Act I and II, and ends up speaking for the first time in a scene similar to the one in "Logan." There was also a "friend" like Caliban who ends up sacrificing himself while the other two are on the run from the gov. killers who try to ambush them (like how Caliban died in the film).

The only major difference is the lack of superpowers. I definitely could (and probably will) end up going back to the treatment and rewrite it into a different script, but that version is a no-go.

And I did have a climax with children -- except in my case, it was a bunch of children with a couple adults thrown in. But it's crazy how similar my treatment was to the movie.

Dunno, there is a huge difference with your story and Logan story in the comic book world. Huge. And to do it with a script full of symbolism, metaphors, and please comic nerd fanbase & genre with lots of XMen action.

Maybe I misread your post but you have a treatment, not a full script. there is no evidence of your execution and storytelling skill. You just have a similar idea. Show people you can write in that space (space meaning franchise gigs) and genre. Use spec script as your collateral.

Yes, I only have a treatment -- so you're right on that spot. I'll try that.