Roberta Griffin's Lounge Discussions

How are you doing, Roberta Griffin? You're right: "With each passing day, we all get another step closer to our goals."

Roberta, we already have a connection... JF Davis a.k.a. Cordell Pierce. I wrote 'Restitution'. Congratulations on going into production on 'Demons Within'.

You're welcome, Louris Lee-Sing. How are you? What are you working on?

I have a show at the Toronto Fringe Festival right now. It's great to be in it and I feel a little lost among 60 other shows. It's called Play Mas With Shakespeare: A Carnival Rebellion. It's a style called Carnival Theatre.

Yep! Been there and done that. It's so hard to hold back from getting your script out there before it is polished and ready for market. I guess we just have to remember to learn from our mistakes. Best of luck to you and your work!

That sounds like an interesting show, Louris Lee-Sing.

Roberta Griffin, are there times when you wait to pitch a project and realize there's something wrong with it, so you're glad you waited?

Hey, Arnaud Van Rietschoten! Welcome to the community! Congrats on finishing your first novel! Are you thinking to write another novel, or are you open to whatever inspiration comes to you?

I think you'd enjoy meeting like-minded creatives in the Authoring Lounge at least: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/playwriting

Also, I just met a Stage 32 member who does magic with his son. Their short documentary is quite good: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/introduce_yourself/Dan-Chan-Master-Magician

NICE WORK! Congratulations on finishing a novel!

That's awesome, congratulations! Best of luck with it moving forward :)

That's a lot of work to do and finish. Congratulations!

Thank you all!

Now something else about reaching out to people about your work, whether it’s an agent or producer who likes to read your writing, is to get noticed. Ms Baker, I found it best to get noticed and reached out to rather than reaching out yourself. Because when they come to you about your work that’s when the opportunity knocks.

Thanks Mr. Patino for your motivational reply!

And that’s amazing Ms. Ross. I’ll be sure to check out lounges more often. Sometimes I just forget that I even have a profile in here. Thank you for your suggestions!

Your enthusiasm is contagious! Thank you for sharing your journey.

Great attitude, Allen R. Nelson! The lesson here is to believe in yourself. Don't look for validation from others.

Wow! That's a lot of rejection emails!

There's a quote I saw online somewhere that read "You're never a loser until you quit trying." Your perseverance is nothing short of inspirational!

Wow! And thank you for sharing your story. Your attitude is refreshing, to say the least. Thank you very much for sharing! :)

Charlotte Talley WELL SAID!

Thank you so much, you guys. I'm still waiting for another producer to give me a yes or no and in the meantime, I'm marketing away.

You're welcome, Roberta Griffin.

Hey, Roberta Griffin! Great to meet you! Oh, man - yeah, I can see how that would eat at you. Was the $1k for an option or a purchase? That seems more like an option price.

For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing. If you feel like they are not paying you what you're worth or aren't offering enough on the back end to make up for the low-ball upfront purchase, then stick to your guns. Sometimes the only way for others to value what you do is to say "no".

Keep at it, and keep us posted!

Karen "Kay" Ross Thank you. It was a one-time payment of 1k. They would take over all rights and I would get a written by credit. No negotiation for backend payment, nothing. Even if this were my first option or sale, I wouldn't go for that after all of the work, rewrite after rewrite, I put into it. I know I was freaking out earlier but the more I thought about it the more it bugged me. So many writers will go along with this in the name of getting an option, sale, and getting your script made into a movie. It's sad to me.

Congratulations!

Congrats!

Congratulations man!

Congratulations!!! :D

cool! Best of luck!

Roberta:

I am responsible for building the New Voice Short Film Festival and would like to speak with you regarding a question or two. I don't believe that this is the proper forum to do so however. Would you be kind enough to send me an email so that I might speak to you in that manner?

Thanks,

Randall

acnlosangeles@gmail.com

Hi Randall

A pleasure to meet you. Thank you for reaching out to me.

Wayne

Hi Katelyn, welcome to the community! Your pilot sounds interesting, I'd to hear more about The Dojo.

Hey Katelyn, great to meet you!

Sounds interesting, Congratulations! Did sent an invitation. Maybe we talk?

Nice to meet you Katelyn. Hope all went well.

Welcome, Katelyn. I do need to get out to NYC again. It's been too long.

Hi Roberta Griffin glad to have you here! I'm actually putting together a really cool opportunity for Rom writers with Amy Baer's company that I'll be announcing soon. Would be great to see you more involved in the lounge outside of Introduce Yourself Weekend so we could stay up to date on what you're working on: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting.

Hello Roberta!

Roberta! Wonderful to see you! Congrats on the book!

Welcome!

Always terrific to see you, Roberta! Hope all is well!

As an actor, I used to worry about every audition trying to guess what casting directors and directors are looking for.. But then I just LET IT GO and that's when I started getting more callbacks, booked a role in an upcoming comedy with Zac Efron, and just co-produced and acted in a short film which looks very promisisng. So from now on, after every audition, or any rejection, I sing along to LET IT GO! haha :))) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MK7qz13bU

@Michael Eddy - a great breakdown of your experiences for us all to learn from. Thank you.

@Michael Eddy Thanks for sharing. Lots of useful info there.

Thanks @michael I appreciate your explanation!

Phil, Jeff & Jody - my pleasure. Olga makes a good point - hanging out here with a bunch of screenwriters. A writer can hide behind their words. Literally (get it?). They're judged (and accepted or rejected) based on their story-telling. On what's on the page. That's why oftentimes, even when a producer reads a script that intrigues them - but they don't buy - they still ask for a meeting (from the agent) to "put a face with the name". Easier to remember the next go round when an assignment might be generated or a script optioned. For Olga - and all actors - they're judged not only on their talents - and "rightness" for a given role - but also on how they look - and can be rejected on that basis alone. Too tall. Too short. Looks too young. They don't want freckles. It can be arbitrary and that alone makes it a tougher kind of a "no" to deal with. It can feel like being rejected personally. "They don't like ME", whereas for us - they didn't like a piece of writing, but it's not a personal rejection. I have 2 kids who aspire to being actors - my daughter is about to embark on "real life" in musical theater (maybe she can audition for Disney's "FROZEN" on Broadway - set for 2018...). I've told them all my war stories - as enumerated here on the threads of Stage 32 - their whole lives - as a writer - to try to steel them for what life will be like as actors. But like me, they're both passionate about what they want to do - and that's what you need at your core - the passion, the belief in yourself - as either a writer or an actor. There will be plenty of naysayers and trust me - rejections that can run in the 90th percentile - but it only takes that one "yes" to put you on the road to your dreams. So - believe in yourself - persevere - and be great at what you do. And hope you're lucky as well - because trust me - that plays a part too. Sometimes - right place and timing can have as much to do with success as anything else. And like Olga said, "let it go" - relax (as much as possible), try not to "guess" what the casting directors are looking for - just let your talent shine and come to the forefront. Same with writers - don't try to anticipate the market - movies take too long to get made - and by the time you've "guessed" - the market has changed. Write a story that YOU want to tell. A movie that YOU'D pay to see. And let the rest happen. Olga - congrats on the Efron comedy. Noticed that you live in Honolulu - have you ever booked a job on "Hawaii Five O"? Fun show. I know they hire a lot of local actors and actresses on the islands. And that theme music still gets me going every time I hear it.

It's been interesting to hear John August and Craig Mazin discuss the topic on the SCRIPTNOTES podcast in recent years. It seems that most screenwriters in their circle are moving away from Final Draft and into apps like Highland/Fountain (John August) or Fade In (Craig Mazin). I prefer Slugline, also built on the Fountain Markdown language Highland uses. The truth is that the script format is fairly simple and highly standardized, so you can write in just about any app you like, and that file can easily be converted if/as needed with Highland.

I use Movie Magic Screenwriter. It's super user friendly. I also have Final Draft but always find myself using MMS :)

I love Celtx mostly because of the IPad app and how it works with the web. Plus the CARDS app which instantly links to the web as well.

I think it really boils down to your comfort level. If all you are doing is writing spec scripts, then any one of the several script writing software programs work just fine but each has its own idiosyncrasies. Final Draft seems to be the most prevalent program used industry wide.

I use Adobe Story. Haven't had any problems with it.

Congrats Walter!! Enjoy!! I wind up doing 7 days as an Extra on the movie; "Creed"!! Loved it!! & Met some awesome people!!

Thanx Celeste. Started that BOOM series pilot today. Met great people as well. Don't you just LOVE IT!!??

Leathur Roks!!! I've been on 100 sets and still learned something new today on the set of the series pilot for "BOOM"

If you're acting for your love of acting and not the pay, then extra work is the best work. You get to converse with other actors, not as much pressure for lines, and you get to have fun with your characters back story. Main cast, have to follow the script, you as an extra can do things that the leads cannot. If your in a market scene you can interact with others, maybe plan to start a tussle, haggle over an item. Your job is meant to not distract from the main action, but enhance it. I did some extra work as a soldier in a student military movie. I actually planned a brawl with another soldier, we ran it by our director and he thought it would add to the scene. You can't always get away with that on large films, but you might be able to slip something in.

Never turn down the opportunity for work... they have often times added speaking roles to a very FEW extras just because they had the look they were looking for. Also its the people you meet doing this that may know someone that knows someone that could use you in their next project

doing great, nice to meet you.

Hey Benjamin. I'm doing great too. Very good to meet you.

What's good, Benjamin!

im good, ready for the apocalypse of winter

Happy writing, Roberta!

Take advantage of the good writing mood Roberta! Hope you crank out some great pages!

Welcome Samantha, I am from South Africa.

Greetings from Southern California!

Funny heading. Sense of humor, good.

please follow me Sam NYRockstv.com Linkedin/ Phil Fiumano Twitter/NYRockstv Facebook/NYRockstv or Phil Fiumano Youtube.com/NYRockstv Viemo/NYRockstv Pinterest.com/NewYorkRocksTV

Hi Samantha!