Hey all, I'm just checking in as my latest film, Night Train, has gone to #1 on Hulu this week. With these things comes almost as much negativity as positivity, as some critics sure do like to make sure they voice their opinion on our creative wares. I went through it with my last film Double Threat when it went to #4 on Amazon Prime last autumn, and it's just as tough mentally the second time around.
Don't get me wrong though; it's wonderful to get this kind of ranking, know that you're getting through to an audience that appreciates you, and provoking strong responses from those who don't. I feel incredibly blessed.
It takes me back to how I felt when I was trying to break in, and how polarised feedback would lift me up and knock me down over and over, leaving me more and more confused, insulted, and hopeless. I know many of you will be in a similar place.
I want to share with you a blog of mine published on Stage 32 five years ago, which talks about what I came to realise after optioning my first feature script. Sometimes I have to go back and read it myself, to remind me what really matters and keep a light shining at the end of the tunnel - How This Rejected Writer Optioned a Goddamned Feature Script
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Congratulations to your success! It‘s always inspring to hear how other writers made it!
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CJ, Congratulations!
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Congratulations!!!
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CJ, congratulations to you on all your success!
And thanks so doggone much for sharing your blog from five years ago.
I like where you said that your first draft is often your final draft...and I strongly relate to knowing what to write and knowing how you want to write it.
Thanks for being the inspiration you are...and here's wishing you more of the VERY BEST!
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Congratulations! I don't think the criticism ever gets easier but just remember you have a movie on Hulu, all they can do is criticize it ;)
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CJ Walley Congrats and keep up the good work you are doing.
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Congratulations on getting your film done and distributed and achieving that ranking CJ Walley - these are all successes that you should be proud of. To paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt - you are the one in the arena. Critics are just people in the stands. Cheers!!
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Whitney Moore, three movies on Hulu, and yeah, they go after all of them LOL
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Nice job CJ.
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Don't cancel Hulu subscriptions until you see this movie :)
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Congratulations CJ hard work pays off!
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Big congrats!!
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Best news I've heard all day, CJ. Congrats to you!!
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Well done. That is so exciting.
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Congrats! That's wonderful. It's on my list to watch!
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Congratulations CJ! Look forward to watching Night Train!
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Congrats, CJ Walley. And thx for re-sharing your blog. Love the line, "Ignore the Haters, Cherish the Believers." The problem with Haters is that they often hate out of spite or emotional pettiness.
Keep on being you and thx for being on this platform and sharing your trials and tribulations.
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Every time I see this I am compelled to say “well done”. I promise I’ll stop now.
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Hell yeah CJ! Congrats my friend!
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Not bad for a boy from Stoke. Don't let them get you down. You make a living from this, that is already a win. Your book, another win, your website, yet another win. Keep up the good work. PS I like your book, it's very enlightening and grounded. I'm making notes from it to help my writing.
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Congratulations! I'll be watching it today.
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Congratulations!!!!! Much deserved!!
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Absolutely phenomenal
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Nice CJ.
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Congratulations!!!
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Congratulations CJ!
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CJ Walley That's wonderful. Congrats, CJ!
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Congrats man! Regardless of what anyone says, you had the balls to get out there and make something. Let the critics talk, you just create, that's what you were put on this earth to do.
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Inspiring and well deserved CJ!
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Thanks for all the lovely comments. Now going into week two at #1. Love sharing this kind of news with my Stage 32 family.
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CJ Walley It's inspiring.
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this is so cool! Congrats!
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Week three and still #1. Keep doing what you do, and screw what the haters think.
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Hahah! I love the title! Congratulations!! Thank you for sharing! And yes, I just got different feedback that was either, this is funny and engaging and just needs some honing for pitching or this has no place in the industry. I have found I have to kind of send out my stuff to a few reviewers and give myself a minute before I read their feedback so I don't take just one reader's opinion for gospel and go changing everything. Learning to weed through the notes within the notes while still believing in the project's potential is an art in and of itself. I am finding the more I do this the less emotionally attached I am getting to the feedback, because I know I am going to be at it everyday anyway. Hitting the target is just a matter of practice. Probably the thing I need to figure out is when to stop listening to feedback and start pitching. So far my goal is when most feedback reaches a certain threshold, either a number above a 6 or 7 or a would recommend.
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CJ Walley Thank you for writing that article I just finished reading it and have a question, what is the difference between screenplay feedback and craft feedback?
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Congrats CJ Walley
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Had the pleasure of doing a breakdown on this very script and film with Shane and Kay and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not surprised to see it rise to the top. "Haters gonna hate."
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@maria script feedback is on the screenplay itself while craft feedback is more about how a writer is going about their work. The former tends to be focused on if someone likes or dislikes something in a script, while the latter tends to be focused on actual script writing ability. Addressing craft helps a writer improve across the board.
Telling someone their scenes are too long and boring doesn't really help them, while teaching them about things like dramatic scene structure, interlacing theme, and writing dialogue with more subtext might.
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@dustin from what I saw, you may not have been provided with the actual production draft, but instead the draft used to generate subtitles and translations. When I looked in the folder of materials, the script was absolutely not the draft I submitted and was shot from.
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CJ Walley I enjoyed reading your blog post - I especially liked the section titled 'Write for the Love of Writing Alone". You're right - we should be proud of what we create rather than only focus on whatever ends we are trying to reach; writing isn't just a tool - it is something we (should) hold dear to us.
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CJ Walley may have been the wrong folder. I literally read it while I watch the first time (on Amazon) and it was almost line for line. Still, really enjoyed it.
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Congrats CJ Walley!!!
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CJ Walley Thanks! That clarifies things, yes that would certainly be more helpful. Only it's hard to know if one is applying the specific element of the craft well unless you get feedback on the specific screenplay. I dunno I guess trial and error and reading other scripts does it.
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@maria someone who knows their craft should be able to see the underlining issues and help someone address them. That said, writers themselves should be studying as much theory on craft as possible and applying it across the board, rather than trying to improve through screenplay feedback. That's a far more efficient way of doing things.
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@dustin yeah, that definitely wasn't the shooting script then. The typo in the first paragraph isn't mine LOL!