Screenwriting

"write something that is undeniable." I'm on it, Jon Hersh. Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks Jon

Jon Hersh Jon, nice to meet you. What would you say to a guy who has written four screenplays: two horror shorts, two feature films—one drama, one action... but three are sitting in a drawer. Last week, I pulled an incomplete horror short film I just wrote out of the drawer. Which of these genres could be a hit and quickly get me an agent?

How do I contact reps? Phone vs. email? What information should I provide them? Are ask about them?

Hey Jon - Outside of the scope here, but you've looked at 1000+ writings. The things I've watched, the notes I've received - how much leeway is there to not nail exact beats, at exact page counts, and not resolve every single question a reader/viewer might have. So as to leave a bit of mystery.

Happy Thanksgiving, Yan Ju Zeng! I say pick the project that excites you the most/the project that's most marketable instead of paying attention to what the market is looking for since things change so fast in the industry.

Hi, John Branagan. I’m a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. I wanted to let you know I moved your post from the Acting Lounge to the Screenwriting Lounge since it's about pitching. Let me know if you have any questions.

Congratulations on the great review! Reps, companies, producers, etc. pass on projects for different reasons, like budget.

It could be that their current talent is too close to your type or have similar projects, so they personally cannot take you on? Or it could be that they’re pursuing a different genre or tone at the moment. They may love the overall story, but they may not be sure if it’s something THEY’RE the right fit for.

You're welcome, John January Noble.

Cecile George Yes, it would be categorized as a synopsis too, thanks for the info! I thought that you had to find a manager who could help you develop it further by working with someone else turn it into a screenplay.

Jon Hersh is having a free AMA about "How to Utilize Agents, Managers, and Dev. Execs. In Your Screenwriting Career" all day Friday, Aradia Paquette. You can post questions now. www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Ask-Me-Anything-AMA-11-21-to-11-22-...

Maurice Vaughan Thank you for your answer by the way! I will make sure to upload a proper profile picture, just wasn't sure how many people have a proper profile, but I see everyone does! And thanks for the all the links, I will check them out

You're welcome, Aradia Paquette. Ok, great. And I'm a Stage 32 Lounge Moderator. If you ever have any questions about Stage 32, let me or another Lounge Moderator know. We have badges on our pictures. Or you could email support@stage32.com.

Great to meet you, Davide Ludovisi. Congratulations on getting the script request! I can see the story working as a fiction TV series. I'd watch it!

Here's some free TV writing webinars: www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Stage-32-and-Netflix-Partnered-Up-o...

Stage 32 has a TV written pitch example and a verbal TV pitch beat sheet. You can get them by emailing success@stage32.com.

Stage 32 has a free webinar called "How to Write a 2 Page Pitch for Your Television Series" (www.stage32.com/education/products/free-stage-32-webinar-how-to-write-at...).

Stage 32 also has a free pitch webinar: www.stage32.com/education/products/pitching-tips-from-the-pros-your-blue...

I'm rooting for you to reach your November Write Club goal!

That's awesome! Thanks Maurice

You're welcome, Davide Ludovisi. Stage 32 has feedback services too (www.stage32.com/scriptservices).

And you could post your script on your profile. Producers search profiles for projects. That and networking are how I sold four short scripts to a producer. Click the gear symbol in the top right-hand corner and select “Edit profile” in the drop-down menu. Scroll down to “Loglines” and click “Add/edit loglines” to the right of “Loglines.” You can also post your script on your profile this way: www.stage32.com/loglines (near the top where it says “Add a Logline”)

Decide Ludovisi-That was Ashley Rene Smith's in OPEN HOUSE -response live yesterday, about being attentive here on the platform, interacting, writing. It didn't work out yesterday, maybe today, but tomorrow someone will show up to schedule a meeting and talk about your project. By the way, yesterday's questions and answers were very good. Congratulation

Davide, my mother worked in a nursing home in Laurieton, Australia and a lot of WW2 Veterans used to lend her their war diaries. I woke up one morning and went onto the kitchen, Mum was sitting there crying and then she told me the story of one of these diaries.

The man initially didn't want to share his story, but get really comfortable with my mother as his nurse. When she told me the story all I could think was this is a film script. I think I was only 17 at the time (1998).

I have written down the outline and stuck it in a draw. Reading your post, I might get it out and have a look.

Thank you and good luck with your project.

Thanks Maurice Vaughan

Wow thanks so much Michael Thorn .

Thanks Robin Gregory but I need to rewrite it first .

You're welcome, Marie Hatten.

Thank you very much Aparna Pasalkar it’s absolutely a global emergency.

Haha You could make broccoli a villain in a script, Abram Christian. Maybe an Animation script.

Maurice Vaughan broccoli is definitely the villain lol

Happy Thanksgiving without broccoli, Abram Christian!

I love writing a blend of action and sci-fi

I love writing a blend of Action and Sci-Fi too, P. J Oken. What's one of your favorite Action Sci-Fi scenes you've written or one of your favorite Action Sci-Fi movies?

Happy Thanksgiving, Evelyn Von Warnitz!

Happy Thanksgiving Maurice Vaughan and all of Stage32! I am thankful for the incredible amount of services and support you provide for us screenwriters. From education to access, it's phenomenal. One thing I want to get done by end of year is another rewrite of my Fantasy-Horror script, Shambhala, about a treasure hunt in a lost kingdom that becomes a fight for survival against man, monsters and wrathful Tibetan Buddhist gods.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ramon Zapata! You're right. The services and support on here is phenomenal! Shambhala sounds interesting! I'm rooting for you to finish the rewrite by end of year!

Maurice Vaughan Thanks so much!

You're welcome, Ramon Zapata.

It's a unique idea, DJ Gautam. I haven't read a script or watched a movie/show like it. It deals with important topics. I can see a producer buying and making your script.

Sounds like it would be an intriguing story/movie.

It absolutely has the makings of an important, brave story that's sadly still relevant today. I say go for it.

The idea is excellent and would make a great movie. Your idea is different and touches a topic no one would talk about

Your story does touch on very key issues in the community that often go ignored. Predation on the LGBT Community has always been an easy out for serial killers and other criminals. It’s one of the reasons Dahmer was able to get away with so much. Mix that with the existence of downlow conservative men, and you have an interesting story!

You’re welcome, Sandra Isabel Correia, and thank you as well :D my brain hasn’t been this energized since working on Petal (which incidentally is a heptalogy of novels, among other things) and getting burnt out on Seed lol (itself the fifth novel entry). Finding Elpis is definitely an extended metaphor of my writing journey and no doubt what my future as a creator might look like, so all those twists and turns are very much to be expected (and also why I ignore everyone who suggests a more contained plotline/climax for part 1). It’s also about what happens after you succeed which I don’t feel is explored as much as what happens before. Also also, it’s a meditation on something I’d wager the vast majority of people wouldn’t believe is actually a thing; the fear of success. Ever since one of my college friends told me about it, it’s stuck in my mind and in recent years I realised I was guilty of it myself. So that makes this project even more personal lol

The characters have so much room to grow in a heptalogy, and I’m excited for the adventures I get to go on with them, hopefully everyone else will be too when the series goes out into the wild (and boy am I fighting for that to happen lol). And yes, the “ten” part is real exciting indeed, particularly because it’s commonly a kind of narrative curveball that looks completely divorced from the first two stages but will make the ending even more impactful when you tie it all together in “ketsu.” And SiR and CC are gearing up to be REAL big curveballs so I’m super excited to tackle them :D

I wrote a "one sheet" ,more like five sheet, that I was really proud of. I think I finally realized how vital a one sheet is before going to draft. I used to treat it like a vague synopsis and figure I'll get to the details when I start writing. Now I think of it more as visualizing the scenes and really aiming to work out the character development and every nitty gritty turn so that I don't get lost or change the story midway once I start writing. I feel like a one sheet should take a few weeks to really distill and get feedback on. Once it's down, then that first draft is going to go so smoothly. My goals this week are to finish Act one mid-week and then go back and do an edit of it before I turn it in for my animation class.

Banafsheh Esmailzadeh, I love how deeply personal Finding Elpis is for you turning the fear of success into a creative meditation is such a powerful choice. It’s true that we often focus on the struggle before achievement, but exploring what happens after is such a fresh and necessary perspective.

A heptalogy gives your characters so much room to grow, and it’s exciting to hear how you’re embracing those curveballs in the “ten” arc of kishōtenketsu. That narrative detour will make the “ketsu” ending even more impactful, and I can feel your passion for the journey ahead. Cheering you on as you tackle SiR and CC. Your energy is contagious!

Maria Restivo Glassner, that’s fantastic! I love how you’ve reframed the one sheet as a deep dive into character and story rather than just a vague synopsis. Treating it as a blueprint for the emotional beats and scene flow will make your drafting process so much smoother, and it’s clear you’ve already unlocked that insight.

I’m cheering you on as you finish Act One and polish it for your animation class ; sounds like you’re building a strong foundation that will carry the whole project forward. I am cheering for you.

Thank you Sandra Isabel Correia, yes, it's also an ode to dreaming big which I've been praised for not being afraid to do, so the adventure is appropriately grand. And arguably the story is only really possible because it focuses on post-success, on top of achievements in ignorance. It also wouldn't be half as fun if the band got what they wanted, world fame.

Indeed, especially since now I have the room to explore all the adventures I had in mind that wouldn't have been possible in a shorter series (the plot necessitated the band being out of commission for two entries lol, both times it brought great conflict). Thanks so much, with any luck the writing gods will see me make great progress before my vacation lol~ hope you get good and fired up, too!

I find that writing books or articles is a very different skill from screenwriting.

I get your point about the 'Construct', but it mostly works. AND... when you get very familiar with using screenplay format, it enormously reduces the time it takes to write stories, especially complex ones. Like Maurice says, write it however you want, then 'transcribe' it. Eventually, using the format will come naturally and will be your friend.

In a book you could spend fifty or a hundred pages setting up your world and charm your reader into it slowly, like slipping into a warm bath. In a screenplay its probably fifteen pages max of As-Is and even then, you should already have a major hook/inciting incident/trigger.

I think I should go into writing books rather than Screenplays because I prefer the creative freedom to roam and create a world to the T with no restriction of word count.

If its not too much I posted the first Screenplay I wrote on my profile, its a quick read and I'd love to hear criticism on it

With screenwriting, you need to second-guess the supporting story the visualization provides.

Take Lord of the Rings. The visualization had to be done before a word could be written.

So I am not totally sold on the fortunes of selling scripts. Selling film rights to a book feels to have more gravitas.

“ She's the lead singer in the Stage 32 Moderator band” love this Maurice Vaughan :)) I play drums ahahaha

Happy Thanksgiving, Ramon Zapata! That counts. Andrew Kersey did an AMA and wrote a blog a few years ago (www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting/Writing-for-film-and-tv-Ask-Me-Anyt...).

I'll play the guitar, Sandra Isabel Correia.

Yeahhhhh :))) Someday, we will be doing gigs :)))

I can't play the guitar, Sandra Isabel Correia, but it's a fictional band, so I can play the guitar. :D