Screenwriting : Forum behaviour - particular types of people by Craig D Griffiths

Craig,

You are describing the human condition.

I both took and taught IT classes for the Power industry.

There were three sets of students:

1) In the class simply because the company sent them.

2) The ‘I know more than the instructor’ type

3) Those willing to listen and learn.

It will be the same in every industry. Humans are remarkably consistent.

I will not let this die for it is accurate and thought-provoking! LOL No, seriously, I get it and I think those who are self-aware enough will appreciate keeping their tone in check, and anyone who isn't... will just create posts to scroll past. ;-) Thanks for the reminder, Craig D Griffiths!

5) Hides their background. Implies they are a big-shot. Uses that status to bash other people over the head while reaping admiration from those who either don't know any better or creep up to anyone they believe might be an industry member.

6) Thinks Hollywood is full of hacks. Only wants to work with the top people. Doesn't understand a thing about filmmaking. Wants the entire community to carry them over the finish line and then applaud them for their hard work.

On point Craig D Griffiths

Always appreciate your no-nonsense approach CJ Walley

CJ, OMG 5 and 6 are so obvious. I was on Reddit and someone asked me why I use my real name everywhere. They said “I am [name protected] over at stage32”, which wasn’t their reddit name. 5 is so so common. It drives we mad.

6, I completely forgot the garden variety loon. These people also flirt with “misery loves company” crowd. The “It’s who you know, so give up now”.

Thanks bearded bro.

Craig D Griffiths thanks for posting this, I feel lucky my experience here has been incredibly welcoming, creative and full of surprises!

There's a member on here who attacks everyone behind their backs on Reddit under an anonymous username but doesn't seem to have realised they've filled in their bio with the same information to cross reference them.

CJ, my mum would say “beauty is skin deep, dumb goes all the way to the bone”. I have such contempt for these people I don’t dig as thoroughly as you must. I will stand up to people that are (in my opinion) spreading words that in the wrong hands can be dangerous, damaging or belittling of others - that is my kryptonite. Sometime I make an ass of myself. But that is worth the risk.

I try so so hard to play the ball and not the player (football/soccer reference). But I know some people will take offence at somethings I say. I just hope I am not being an ass in the process - I know I can be.

Daniel, this place is predominantly helpful, supportive and constantly evolving. Years ago, if you said “coverage” was a scam, people would have disagreed with all their heart. But as the scam percentage in the coverage area has increased, this community calls it out to protect newer writers. That is this communities strength, it cares more about open conversation, truth and protection. It can also leap tall builds in a single bound.

I think one could pass through all of those forum behaviors. Kinda like a looping flowchart. So you start off new to Stage 32, ask questions you have no clue about like how to write a script or find execs to read your work, etc. Then you've written a new script or have an idea, you promote it, you ask for opinions or feedback, you get all the attention... You live on the praises for a fleeting moment and sometimes people do get caught up in the moment when all eyes are on them... Then from there it's either you go to the third behavior or the fourth... I see the third as those who have not mastered yet their emotions and become too sensitive or defensive about their ideas but that's human nature... and the fourth is the ever-evolving learner, the one who takes both the worthy and sometimes scathing advice from others and incorporate it in their work to make their craft better.

I had an experience the other day. I asked a question in a group post (not here) and after I posted it, I thought, "You know I could probably google this." I did and I got the answer to my questions in the first article that came up.

I have to agree with what you say. I've watched over years as the garden has been become overgrown with obnoxious weeds. I no longer participate as I used to.

Craig D Griffiths, it isn't something I'd usually put my time and energy into but this person was spreading harmful lies about me, Script Revolution, Stage 32, and various other platforms/individuals.

The irony is, they happily use this forum for free to drum up business as a consultant and were hosting their scripts on my site for free too. People have no shame.

This lounge is still, by far, one of the better communities out there simply because most people are transparent about who they are and what they've achieved.

I would have to say though that the majority of writers will support other writers. Sometimes, it's just a few that stir up trouble in a group. I'm sure you could name them, but then there are the encouragers. I posted a small victory I had in one group. About 400 people either liked the post or gave me positive comments. I was overwhelmed when I had not a single disparaging remark.

I've been involved in various capacities within various screenwriting communities for nearly ten years now regularly posting content and having content shared. It varies. There are some outright toxic screenwriting/filmmaking communities out there but, generally, most are indeed pretty positive. Creatives tend to make nice individuals.

I always find there's a type of problem member in most of them and the profile is almost always the same. Sadly, they tend to be problematic enough to put a lot of industry members off engaging. I've got producer/director friends who want to give back by sharing advice but absolutely cannot hack Facebook groups because, for all their goodwill, someone will dislike what they have to say and try to put them and their career down.

The content being posted makes a big difference too. People want stuff that supports their views rather than challenges them and certainly not stuff that brings down their fantasies. My blogs about targeting the global film world outside of LA and screenwriters being lucky to earn a living wage tend to stir up some ugly emotions in certain types of people who are dreaming of riches and glamour.

I wish they were just hurting themselves. I know a few writers who have given up on their dreams due to forum trolls and that's before even getting into the valuable members they drive away in the process. They often walk away clean too because their whole post history gets wiped. I have a zero tolerance policy over on Script Revolution; you impact the community negatively and you're out. The wellbeing of my members is just too precious to me.

Everybody is some type of person. You just must learn to recognize them and behave accordingly.

You’re right in life Doug. But leaving some stuff uncorrected in a public forum can give people the impression that the statement is correct or acceptable. I do believe in the saying “Evil only wins when good people do nothing”.

There was a human skid mark on here that commented about a fellowship for African American Youth (I could be wrong about the details), he said “why do minorities get all the help”. Well you couldn’t keep me away from him with a machine gun and killer wasps. That sort of stuff I call “bull shit” on till the day I die.

PS: I should have thanked everyone that has engaged in respectful, supportive and insightful comments. This is what a community is and should be. I can offend (I hope not much), I can be arrogant, I can even be wrong (that was hard to type). I but am always corrected, educated and informed by intelligent and good people. Thank you all for be that.

Extending the conversation about trolls and damage a little, and just strange forum behaviour in general, I want to add the following.

A certain person who was a member here who's name rhymes with "Sally Regretti", who was a genuine fugitive on the run and once argued she wasn't crazy because she'd "been tested" was organising table reads here with a bunch of voice actors for an animation film she claimed Pixar was funding. She also claimed to be close friends with George Clooney (but couldn't spell his name right) and her claims of being featured at Cannes transpired to be a screening she had organised on a campsite about an hour away from the festival. When she wasn't in this lounge posting novel length chapters about how wonderful she was, she was in the actors lounge telling everyone how much their showreels sucked.

Another person who's name rhymes with "Spray Puke", who finally crossed the line when he fabricated a story that another member was sexually harassing him via private message, had managed to attach at least one Stage 32 member as lead actor in some project he claimed to be making. He also torpedoed a post I made finally being able to share my first ever feature film trailer with a load of false claims and spread a load of lies about what had been said during an American Film Market talk right while Stage 32 where there in partnership.

I had to go up against both of these two hard to show just how fake and toxic they were while they had a group of supporters constantly backing them up and making excuses on their behalf before they were finally banned. The latter, in fact, had a moderator defending them at every opportunity right up to the end where, when a member exclaimed how good it was to have gotten rid of the troll, she then went on to argue was not a "troll" in the true sense of the word.

One of the strangest and scariest I've seen though was a screenwriter completely rebranding themselves overnight. The guy was a strange dude to start with who posted some really weird opinions about critically acclaimed films - often claiming they were some of the worst ever made. He had no credentials but considered himself a "pro" based on time spent trying to break in alone. He fancied becoming a reviewer on a website but was turned down on the basis he could barely string a sentence together. I know this because it was me that made the call to turn him down. Less than a week later, he was calling himself a consultant and offering professional coverage to anyone who would listen. He mentioned this in pretty much every post he made. He also made some really dumb comments, like claiming all writers should get paid a hefty sum for short scripts. Having gotten ridiculed for that, he made a random post the next day saying he'd just sold another short for $10,000 but it was "no biggie" and couldn't give details due to signing an NDA. The thing is, much like the above, people bought into it without question. It was almost scary to watch. Dude now touts himself as a talent scout and script analyst while offering a $600 screenwriting mentorship course.

This is why I'm always busting my ass fighting back against these people. You give them an inch and they take a yard.

I believe there is a another type of person. 5)I'm so important I have to comment on everything and continuously tell people how wrong they are.

They're the negatives and the reason I completely stopped coming here for several months.

Ninety-nine percent plus of the people that post here have taught me a lot, I enjoy learning from and seem like truly wonderful people. However, it is that less than one percent of individuals so eloquently described by Craig, CJ, Bill, and others that often make myself and would venture to say others somewhat reluctant to post or participate at times.

Thank you for this insightful and interesting discussion. I've come across the types you describe in my corporate life and can usually pick them a mile off. Online is a different beast and I appreciate the advice given here.