I honestly don't get it. I write my female characters the same way I always have: as good as I can make them - which is the same way I write my male characters. I don't know if it's because of all the praise heaped upon Joss Whedon, but I've seen a lot of people almost obsess over how to write women, with others claiming "I write strong female leads" as their calling card, as if it's a unique trait that only they can bring to the table. My approach is to consider who the character is as a person, what the character's function is in the plot/scene, factor in the tone of the script and go from there. It's not an exact science, but we've all interacted with both men and women our entire lives, so should know that everyone - in some way or another - is different; therefore, with a bit of imagination, we can make our characters out to be whoever we want them to be. I just watched the latest Terminator instalment: Sarah Conner is no longer a "weak woman waiting for the man to save her" but is now kick-arse. Totally. Personally, I found it a nice spin, but does it mean that the original Sarah Conner character was poorly crafted and not up the standard writers should be aiming for today? Let's look at her character in the 1984 film: a 20-something year old waitress, rightfully clueless as to her role in the future of mankind. No, she isn't a ninja, she doesn't pull rank on the time-setting and start ordering Kyle Reese around and she certainly doesn't go toe-to-toe with the mericless cyborg programmed solely to kill her, but does this make her "weak"? Personally, I always found that the fact she's a completely normal woman suddenly thrown into a ridiculously deadly situation all the more thrilling. She has to dig deep, use all her instincts to survive, and come the end, she's as much trying to keep Kyle Reese alive as he is her. My point is that it all comes back to what I stated above: realistic character + role in plot + story tone. Your woman can be fiercely independent or subservient, deadly or timid, sexy or plain; writing strong female characters shouldn't be about using a set of key ingredients to form the perfect character for a Hollywood starlet, but about her bringing drama/humour/tension/entertainment to the script. But then, I could be wrong, and all Hollywood's interested in at the moment is independent, resourceful, smart-talking, arse-kicking clones of women and you're free to continue to obsess. Just don't forget to give her that past trauma to overcome [insert wink smiley here].
E mail Joey to get a staus report on your script.
I don't get the pitch process, what do I have to do a verb pitch or what?
Tony, I'm not sure what you mean by semaphore. Could you elaborate?