Wallace Carranza: Actor, screenwriter and comedian in Houston, Texas.

Hi!

Hello Micaela, I'm glad to connect !

Hi Micaela, I also work in tech in the uk :) I'm about to start a vlog about the impact of the internet on people's daily lifes. God bless you, Ela

Nightmare: So someone may like my concept, change the circumstances; use it with different characters and plots and they do well while I struggle. Its bs. Copyright don't cover that (though you still need it). I read that can happen and there is nothing you can do. All you can do is protect yourself the best you can.

This is a very long thread, but if you have time, check out: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/pre_production/How-do-I-protect-my-screen...

For what it's worth, I'm teaching a S32 Next Level Class right now. So far, a little less than 15 class participants have turned in their 1st "homework assignments," which includes a logline. Out of approx ONLY 12-13 people, 2 have the same "problem" in their logline, which is solving THE EXACT SAME environmental crisis on Earth and BOTH are going into SPACE to solve it. I must be vague to protect their privacy. So 20% of my class have a similar story. Having the same story idea happens all the time! Grounds to think someone stole your idea? Typically not.

I could give you so many good answers, but too much is too much. A good aide is to buy the program called "Contour," which will teach you the basics of what makes stories work, and fill in your story in its step outliner before you actually write it, because once you know your story through and through, the writing becomes a pleasure. Another strong way to get started in the right way as a screenwriter would be to buy a copy of Vicki King's book, "How to Write a Movie in 21 Days" and follow her regimen as laid out there. Another inexpensive program that's great for studying/ applying dialogue techniques is called "Great Dialogue." And a very accessible book on mulling over and constructing marketable stories Hollywood might possibly buy is called "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder. If you "just dive in," you'll probably flounder in indecision by mid-script and take years to finish, if you ever do, while pros need to be able to turn around an idea into a completed draft in just a few weeks. Make notes all the time as things occur to you about your story or stories, but if you just start writing in a script-formatting program, thinking you'll write a salable script, the already bad odds against you (against us all, nothing personal intended) become much worse.

I totally agree on reading Stephen King's book on writing. It's a classic. I tend to spend way more time reading books on writing than I ought to. A good friend who is a skilled writer told me, "Pick your favorite and keep it handy. Reread it when you need to. Write daily. Put the rest of the books away." In my heart, I know he's right. Reading too much about writing is one of the ways our inner critic sabotages us, paralyzing us before we begin.

@Virginia... excellent post! That's one reason I switched from writing screenplays to publishing books... now with 32 books out there on Amazon. I stopped worrying about script structure, script readers, and coverage... and just wrote about what I wanted to write. The hard part now is when people ask "What kind of books do you write?" since I've written what I've lived (and tried to share my lessons learned), my best response is "Good ones." Then they kind of look at me funny (like, "OK, Mr. Smartass...")... but it's true, I don't really have a genre. For instance, my last book I published is my first fictional piece titled Attack of the Electronic Dust Bunnies... so amongst the 32 I've written, all the rest have either been screenplays or non-fiction... with no consistent genre. Yet, I haven't let the inner critic detour me from what I feel most passionate about writing at that particular stage of my life... and that, I feel, is Crucial.

There are such communities such as Talentville or Triggerstreet where you get free screenplay feed-back, if you, in turn, review someone else's script...I'm just saying this so you could think differently and do something yet unseen...:) Sorry if I upset you by bringing up these similar sites...PS: If you make that website, could you please let me know so I could check it out? Thank you! And best of luck to you!

waited this long... i guess the site is running now... what is the link add?

Thanks Victor. I couldn't find this type of site. If you search coverage in Google all you get is paid consultants. Nearly all state that they are readers for studios or producers (but can't say who). They also can't write otherwise they would, but they can tell writers what to do to make a million dollar sale. I trust my peers over people that tell me they are great.

Dig the approach and the attitude, Wallace.

Welcome Chandler! I'm a cinematographer here in L.A., so let me know if you ever need help shooting something.

Very cool. Welcome to LA and S32!

What's up Chandler, welcome

You're welcome Wallace & thanks for connecting as well. I would like to share with you a music video I recently directed. There's also some of my previous work available on the vimeo account http://vimeo.com/100553631

pretty dope bro.. twisted and crazy, lol.. I like it

The last agent I had was actually in NC. Janine Jannicelli, she was awesome and covered Texas, Cali and Most of the East Coast.

Sounds like you did the right thing! Weird situation.

very weird

Good to meet you Shondra

Julie, Nice to meet you.. I look forward to networking with you!