JJ's Lounge Discussions

Thanks!

Screenwriters are like Muskateers. All for one and one for all in most situations. We all need every advantage we can get. My pleasure to share.

Thanks for sharing! I posted on the AZ Filmmaker fb page

very thoughtful--thanks David!

Thank you, David, for helping us seek our hazardous adventures.

Some contests have a lot of value in that a good placement can differentiate your script from the hundreds of thousands out there at any given time. If you are a quarter finalist in Nichols, or Page (which has its final deadline today), or Happy Writers, then you can use that to meet someone. Since the front door is always closed, a contest placement can help open a side door.

One of my contacts placed in Nicholl a few years back. His script was not produced but he did receive a couple of paid writing assignments as a result.

Snyder sold over a dozen screenplay for top dollar in bidding wars between studios, with at least two of them selling for a million or more. Though neither of the 2 scripts of his that were produced broke any box office records, Snyder was a very successful screenwriter. A very very small percentage of people who write scripts ever make a dime, and even among pro writers about half earn $0 in any given year... so Synder rated as one of the more successful ones. Contests: there are a handful of good ones and a lot of rip offs. The good contests can open doors for you... but then it's up to you what happens when those doors are open. The weird issue with contests is that they frequently reward art over commerce, and once that door is open for you it's a world that rewards commerce over art. You may win or place with a serious drama and then be offered a comic book movie... can you write that comic book movie? Some people can adapt and some can not.

Is it worth it, meaning the $40-60 bucks to enter. What if your script doesn't advance? What does that mean? The payoff for getting any attention in a local or international competition is "the endorsement." If you're a contest winner, sure, you'll get agents, managers, and production companies calling you. That's sweet. It saves time and energy. It's instant networking. It's a real chance to sell your script and skills as a screenwriter. Having some experience with the Nicholl Fellowship, even a quarter-finalist script can get you a few calls. And what about query letters to agents and development execs? It certainly helps if your script placed somewhere in competition. It's a seal of a approval that lets people know that they're not going to read a weak script. It gets them interested and it helps sell your pitch. I think that alone is worth $40-60 bucks. And what if your script doesn't advance? Does that mean it's a dud? No, not necessarily. It just might mean it was entered in the wrong competition. The same script can advance in one completion but not in another. It's all subjective to the pool of judges who may read it. There is some luck involved but I think it's worth a shot.

Thanks, W.M. for answering Phil's question. Looks like we've got another spirited discussion going on here.

You should learn how the rules work before attempting to break them. It is difficult to break the rules without knowing the how and why the rules work in the first place.

Richard, I concur. Heartily. One cannot think outside the box until one knows what the box is.

@Lisa Thanks. @Dan Good to know.

Robert - maybe I'm misinterpreting your comment about seeing the script as a "guideline to the rest of the production process". Too early for you to play into the game and downgrade the importance of the writer. It all starts with the word. Don't sell yourself short. Granted - your "final draft" is not the shooting script (if you're lucky enough to reach that plateau), but no one comes on board until you commit your story/words to paper. It begins (and ends) with the screenplay. If it ain't on the page - ain't no stage...

Celebrate all victories. Getting from fade in to fade out is a victory!!

Congrats!

To me, its just like when I was a designer for 15 years and drafted construction documents for buildings, we all worked like crazy drawing and writing specs, up until the date bids are open. Then during construction, there are changes and revisions and additional drawings are made and sent to the general contractor. It's never done until the client moves in - and sometimes even then.

If you can find well written "thin" scripts it opens your eyes to just how brilliant one has to be to write and write well economically.

So here I am sitting reading all this stuff. Let me give you an example. The following is from one of my scripts which I'm refining again right now and cutting down the Black Space, via using short scenes with "no" dialogue." Comments? INT. TRAIN TO YORK DAY Annie sits sadly on the train watching the countryside go by. The porter offers soft drinks and she waves him off. INT. TRAIN TO YORK DAY She starts to read a book. Close up of the book title “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” The countryside rolls by. EXT. TRAIN TO YORK DAY The train moves across the countryside with an aerial shot. EXT. APARTMENT OF KATHERINE AMES IN YORK DAY Katherine is walking down the front steps of her apartment. She walks to her car, parked at the curb. She gets in. INT. KATHERINE’S CAR DAY Katherine pulls the train schedule out of her purse. A big red circle is drawn around her mother’s arrival time. EXT. YORK DAY Katherine’s car drives through the city. INT. KATHERINE’S CAR DAY Katherine sees flower shop. pulls over and stops in front of the shop. She gets out while leaving the motor running. EXT. KATHERINE’S CAR DAY Katherine runs into the flower shop. EXT. KATHERINE’S CAR DAY Katherine exits the flower shop holding a nice plant in a pot. She gets back into the car. INT. KATHERINE’S CAR DAY Katherine sets the plant on seat next to her and drives off.

This is a montage. It's hard to really help when we don't know anything about the story. Just by looking at it, everything can be cut and you just have. INT. KATHERINE'S CAR - DAY Parked outside of a train station, Katherine reads a book titled "Chicken Soup For The Soul" A dozen flowers rest in the passenger's seat. Done. Then you have her mother come up. You never showed Katherine go in her house, so so there's no reason to show her taking the train there. Read the scene in your script that proceeds the scene that you've posted here. Then put my scene in. If it doesn't take anything away from the story, use it.

I like a lean script. Reduce V Distil Rewriting lets you clarify content into its most potent and concise. Diamond in the rough Story is like a diamond. When you first pluck it out it’s a boring, muddy pebble. Only those with craft can see its potential. But cut and polish it expertly, give it structure , then hold it up to the light in just the right way… the results can be spectacular. Re classic screenplays Sure they’re chunky and clunky and they still got made. Back then writers had manual typewriters, we have Final Draft. Plus, they only got a few hundred bucks per week and had to be finished in 2 weeks. Want to only ever get a maximum of $600 for writing a feature screenplay? I don’t. WGA registers 700,000 scripts every year Not to mention the other million plus which people don’t bother to register. Only a few thousand of those get optioned or sold. And of those only 350 get made each year. How does a studio reader decide which script to pluck from the slush pile and read? The Flip Test Flip though a hardcopy or a PFD of your screenplay asking two questions 1. Does it have lots of white space? 2. Is there variation? (If you have exactly the same type and amount of text on each page, you have a problem with pacing, mix it up or it’s a boring read) Your screenplay still won't get optioned if they don't like it, but it has a much, much better chance of being read. Role Model Sophia Cappola is rich, talented and super connected. If anyone could get away with writing sloppy screenplays… but check out 'Bling Ring'. I’m not interested in the themes she is, nor would I explore the issues the way she does, but she sure can craft a beautiful, useful document that reads well.

Great discussion posted here. Give me loads to go on. Thank you.

Hi Eva, The only scary ones has pointed teeth. Hope you have a wonderful successful time networking.

Wow. Thanks. I feel comforable already. I also found all the webinars. Good stuff.

Welcome Eva!

Very good stuff Eva! Welcome!

Thank you. It might take me many days to navigate through all of the information on this site, so it's nice to see some friendly faces.

Congratulations Phil! Well done!

Congratulations, Phil!

Well done, Phil!!

Congrats!

Thanks everybody! Fingers crossed they like what they see !

C'mon, who doesn't love Bambi?! Thumper was always my favorite. ...But, yes, let's move on, please. Back on topic. :)

Oh, shnap! When did those little "mod" things appear? Good thing they're next to the names of two of the very best human beings, on this message board or, let's be frank, anywhere. [Hands folded politely in lap.]

Oh...I though that meant they were in a MOOD...hmmm

Watch it, Stacy! Kerry! We're onto you two guys! ...Just kidding. LOL! But, shucks, Kerry, very kind of you. :)

"If they like it, they are capable of bring heat on the script" What you get with BL is not coverage. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt that any script consultant can bring heat to a script. They may be able to pass it along, but heat? No.

lol, anyone that would seriously consider this is a buffoon. I went to twitter to see what they were saying but can't find anything. What's the hashtag under? Even if I had 10 million dollars I wouldn't consider it. I swear the prices for these "services" for screenwriters are a joke. I'm talking about the other ones too that try and get hundreds of dollars out of you just to talk about a script. And I think it's odd that we have taken it as the norm to pay that much. "$199 for feedback and a conversation with so and so" -- No thank you, unless I know your name without having to IMDB it. Lol, who do they think they are? Who do they think WE are to dish out that kind of cash? If we don't sell our script, do we get a refund?

Check the twitter feed for @screencrafting

Initially, it just doesn't seem necessary to me to shell out $$$ to do what can be self-taught. Are they really doing something for you or telling you anything that you don't already know or can't learn on your own?

I'm sure they can give you some useful insights that we probably don't know since we're not in the business, but I think the advise would be worth a "thanks for that, let me buy you dinner sometime" or a thank you card with a fruit basket. Not $200 of my money...

As a development executive, I have done this type of work for screenwriters many times. If you can find someone who knows what they are doing (and is willing to read your screenplay), the service can help you take your work to the next level. Reading a screenplay and crafting thoughtful development notes takes a great deal of time and energy and experience...and for that the person providing the service should be compensated.