I noticed a lot of people making the same fatal mistake I was making when it comes to screenplay writing. And that is how to get your screenplay in the hands of industry professionals. I'll admit that I am "green" in this industry, but am learning like a sponge how this industry works. It's not much...
Expand postI noticed a lot of people making the same fatal mistake I was making when it comes to screenplay writing. And that is how to get your screenplay in the hands of industry professionals. I'll admit that I am "green" in this industry, but am learning like a sponge how this industry works. It's not much different than other businesses. For starters, like any business, there is always going to be established people in the business who feel threatened by new coming people. And they will try and stomp you out before you get a chance to take their place. Don't worry, if its meant to be, it will be. Que Sera, Sera! Secondly, remember the old saying, "Work smarter, not harder". Have you ever thought about the back door option to getting into the industry, so you don't ever have to worry about established people attempting to stomp you out before you even get a chance to get in? Professional script analysis services! These are people who you hire to review your script and offer one of two options, "pass" or "recommend" When a script analyst reviews your script, and they give you a "pass" that means that your screenplay still needs some work and they are going to pass on recommending your screenplay to a pool of Producers, Directors, and other industry professionals they are in contact with.. The good analysts are very talented at softening the blow of a pass rating, with detailed comments on how to make your script better. And if you get a "recommend" rating, that means they are going to recommend your screenplay to their pool of Producers, Directors, and other industry professionals they are in contact with. The experienced analysts are the ones who ask for your permission first! Why do they want your permission? Maybe you want to register it with the Writer's Guild, or the Copyright Office to protect it better. Believe me, there are thieves in this business who are looking for screenplays that aren't protected. So protect your screenplay first. Do your homework on analysts! Just like any other scams or cons, there are scam artists and con artists in this industry as well. Some of the cons you can see are the people who will take your money and never give you a report. That's an obvious one. But the more subtle con artists are the ones who "dangle the carrot in front of the mule". Simply put, they bump your screenplay analysis report by one notch every time you submit, giving you a "pass" rating until eventually they ran out of options in bumping your screenplay up. They can make a lot of money on any "green" writer who doesn't know any better. You think you're getting better and better each time you submit, but in reality, they are only skimming through your script picking out key points in your screenplay and making comments that seem convincing. How to do your homework on analysts! First, like any professional you hire, ask for references. Would you hire a contractor to build your house, give him thousands of your hard earned dollars without asking for references? Neither would I! You don't have to worry about the price of a good analyst. They are competitive and stay in the price range of $90 for a full report of your screenplay. Anyone else charging more, be weary! Anyone charging significantly less, run away! Another important aspect to doing your homework on analysts is ask for the contacts of the Producers, Directors, and other industry professionals. You won't get their immediate contact, but you will get a representing agent or manager who takes their calls. And you can ask that agent or manager if they would recommend the analyst. Now if the analyst refuses to give you the names of the producers, directors, and other industry professionals, run away fast! These are the scam artists. They will try and make every convincing excuse not to give you these contacts, because either a) they don';t have any, b) they're producers, directors, and other industry "professionals" aren't good enough to have agents and/or managers to take their calls, or c) they were caught with the pants down. These scam artists will try every trick in the book to get you to trust them. Don't fall for it, they're only scamming you more. A rule of thumb I use when I call their scam, is that the scammers will 99% of the time use "justified responses". The longer the justified response, the more they're trying to scam you. I got an email back from one analyst, when I called their bluff, that was 3 pages of email justifying why they couldn't give up their producers, directors, and other "professionals" contacts because they were justifying how I wouldn't want my personal information given out. Blah blah blah blah. If they had "real" connection, their connections would've had agents and/or managers to take their calls and give me a good or bad recommendation on the analyst. So anyway, I hope this is helpful and wish all of you fellow screenwriters the best of luck. Sorry for the novel version of this advice. Sometimes I get carried away. :)
@Dan. Thanks bro. My grandfather is going to have to sit in on this conversation and interview, as I do not know this Producer at all. My grandfather knows him very well, so I'm going to let him do all the talking, and I'll just fill in the gaps.
Also, while this all goes down, I put up a fundraising campaign on indiegogo. Check it out here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/319945/x/552487...
Expand commentAlso, while this all goes down, I put up a fundraising campaign on indiegogo. Check it out here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/319945/x/552487
@Jacqueline Look at the difference between the 2 nuances though and how they change the story completely. One suggests that a man cannot get a hold of his tormented past (he wants out desperately to t...
Expand comment@Jacqueline Look at the difference between the 2 nuances though and how they change the story completely. One suggests that a man cannot get a hold of his tormented past (he wants out desperately to the point of selling his soul), while the other sounds like he is accepting of his tormented past (learned to deal with it and isn't desperate enough to sell his soul).
By the tail. By the head. By any one of the four paws... i think the question is how do I swing a cat without getting scratched either while doing it or when I stop, and when I do stop how do I get praised for my swinging rather that indicted for the action?
Maybe someone have said this before, but Ryan, if you really want to sell your script or get it funded, the best way to go about it is to make a good short, then approach investor and make a low budge...
Expand commentMaybe someone have said this before, but Ryan, if you really want to sell your script or get it funded, the best way to go about it is to make a good short, then approach investor and make a low budget feature. How would I know. Because I took 2 hours to right a 15 minutes short, shoot it in two days and a half on a Cannon T2i but looks as if I rented the RED (I know it sounds crazy) but after showing it to only three investors, I already have my funding to be cashed in a couple of weeks. Good Luck my man