Ok... so in order to get your name out there and get your writing in front of people you need to master the art of Cold Calling. I... am not a master. But I do know the importance of the activity.
I get butterflies in my stomach as I'm dialing the phone. I sit and re-read and re-read and re-read email queries over and over until I'm satisfied that they are 100% perfect... Inevitably I go back to them a day later and BAM! Spelling mistake, or I've accidentally repeated a word a dozen times. I think even veterans have this issue. BUT! Its an exercise that needs to be done.
Most of my cold calls are for interviews for the Website. Contacted people I don't know or haven't spoken to in years is difficult and uncomfortable. So here's a couple of tricks I use to make it a little less like a job interview.
1) Know your stuff. If they ask a question of you, you need an answer. So if you're pitching a show, know your world. So when they ask you... Why do the Purple dragons eat only vegetables and the Green dragons only marshmallows you can easily answer with something that sound splausible.
2) Know who you're calling. Find out about them people, the company, their prod. history and make sure that what you're ptiching is something they'd be interested in. If you're pitching a Sci-Fi Epic to a Documentary company you'll look like an ass.
3) Remember the worste thing that can happen is they tell you they are not interested. You have nothing to lose.
4) Remember your stuff is GOOD! I mean really good... BE confident, and self assured... but don't be a jerk about it. People LOVE to offer opinions... and yes, I'm sure you put everything you have into your script or show, but remember. You going to them. Show them that you know your stuff. That you are confident that you can do the job and get results... but that you're open to their ideas and expertise.
5) MAKE SURE ITS READY... Don't make a single call until you have something polished to show them. It's really hard to rattle off a completely polished script in 24hrs. So be prepared for them to say... Can you send us a sample? Make sure its polished. Get some expert Coverage done. Make sure you've dotted you I's and crossed your T's. A sloppy script won't sell... an unfinished script... unless you're Paul Haggis or Quentin Tarantino won't sell either... They can sell concepts... We're not so lucky...
6) If its a phone cold call... Rehearse with a friend. Have them pretend to be the producer and go through your pitch. It sounds stupid, but at the end of the day the more you go over it the more you know what will work and what won't. You don't want to run at the mouth and sound like an idiot on the phone. You want your conversation to be as polished as your script.
7) FOR GOD SAKES keep it short. Don't linger. A query letter is a page. Be breif. Answer questions, be informative, but don't ramble. Again... you'll sound like a Noob!
I have rehearsed cold calls in front of a mirror before. Just to get an idea of what I would sound like. I've also recorded myself answering questions to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the foot.
At the end of the day, the best advice I can offer that has helped me is... be prepared.
Anyway... Time for a few more calls...
Cheers!
- G
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
Holiday season
Hello...
Ok... so I'm an awful blogger... I haven't had time to write anything here 'cause I've been super busy on other projects. So here's the update....
The-GreenLight.com 1st Annual Script Contest was a success. Our winner T.L. Lewis wrote a masterful piece entitled "REBIRTH" set in the days of the Huguenots. It's brilliant.
Also we're now running a monthly contest that is doing very well... We'll be announcing our 3rd winner at the end of the month! The quality of script submissions is amazing. There are a lot of really talented and creative people out there... Sooooooooooooo... I'm reading and reading and that's an awesome thing.
Now for me... I am on the 3rd draft of the outline for my Pilot. That doesn't really sound all that impressive (3rd draft of an outline)... But if the outline sucks so will the script... Everything should be worked out ahead of time so you don't end up doing what I did with Ghost Hunter (we'll get to that in a minute). Also... when you have a good outline the finished piece practically writes itself. By the end of the outlining stage you should know everything you need to know so that all you have to do is drop in some of your witty dialog and BAM! 1st draft is ready for polishing.
Now... Ghost Hunter... It's my 3rd feature script. Post-apocalyptic Earth... A world shrouded in darkness... Well... Let me just say... don't start the first RE-Write if you haven't finished the 1st draft. I found myself re-writing the script before I had even finished the 1st draft. This lead to a number of problems not the least of which was the fact that some of the things I re-wrote in the early stages didn't line up with anything on the back end... So you have these things that seem like major plot points that vanish into thin air... Needless to say I have a Major overhaul to do on it before its ready to be sent off for its first round of coverage... If I sent it now... I would get a two word report back "EPIC FAIL!" - It's all good... I know its a hot mess... But its done! and the foundation is solid... Soooooo writing is re-writing... and I will do a re-write.
So... between polishing off the 3rd feature, getting 3 drafts of the outline for my TV Pilot and all the fun stuff we're doing on The-GreenLight.com I've been a little busy... Too busy to blog... BUT once my vacation starts in about 5 hours and 57 min... I have nothing but time...
My goals for this vacation... Write an episode of Hotwheels: Battle Force 5, an American Dad, and outline an episode of Trauma... Also... finish the outline for the Pilot, and get the 1st draft of the script written! I only have 2 weeks... So I'll be happy with just getting the 1st draft of my pilot done... BUT you have to set goals! and the higher they are, the more you'll prove to yourself what you can actually accomplish if you set your mind to it.
Cheers! and have a safe and happy holiday season!
- G
Ok... so I'm an awful blogger... I haven't had time to write anything here 'cause I've been super busy on other projects. So here's the update....
The-GreenLight.com 1st Annual Script Contest was a success. Our winner T.L. Lewis wrote a masterful piece entitled "REBIRTH" set in the days of the Huguenots. It's brilliant.
Also we're now running a monthly contest that is doing very well... We'll be announcing our 3rd winner at the end of the month! The quality of script submissions is amazing. There are a lot of really talented and creative people out there... Sooooooooooooo... I'm reading and reading and that's an awesome thing.
Now for me... I am on the 3rd draft of the outline for my Pilot. That doesn't really sound all that impressive (3rd draft of an outline)... But if the outline sucks so will the script... Everything should be worked out ahead of time so you don't end up doing what I did with Ghost Hunter (we'll get to that in a minute). Also... when you have a good outline the finished piece practically writes itself. By the end of the outlining stage you should know everything you need to know so that all you have to do is drop in some of your witty dialog and BAM! 1st draft is ready for polishing.
Now... Ghost Hunter... It's my 3rd feature script. Post-apocalyptic Earth... A world shrouded in darkness... Well... Let me just say... don't start the first RE-Write if you haven't finished the 1st draft. I found myself re-writing the script before I had even finished the 1st draft. This lead to a number of problems not the least of which was the fact that some of the things I re-wrote in the early stages didn't line up with anything on the back end... So you have these things that seem like major plot points that vanish into thin air... Needless to say I have a Major overhaul to do on it before its ready to be sent off for its first round of coverage... If I sent it now... I would get a two word report back "EPIC FAIL!" - It's all good... I know its a hot mess... But its done! and the foundation is solid... Soooooo writing is re-writing... and I will do a re-write.
So... between polishing off the 3rd feature, getting 3 drafts of the outline for my TV Pilot and all the fun stuff we're doing on The-GreenLight.com I've been a little busy... Too busy to blog... BUT once my vacation starts in about 5 hours and 57 min... I have nothing but time...
My goals for this vacation... Write an episode of Hotwheels: Battle Force 5, an American Dad, and outline an episode of Trauma... Also... finish the outline for the Pilot, and get the 1st draft of the script written! I only have 2 weeks... So I'll be happy with just getting the 1st draft of my pilot done... BUT you have to set goals! and the higher they are, the more you'll prove to yourself what you can actually accomplish if you set your mind to it.
Cheers! and have a safe and happy holiday season!
- G
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
An Interview with Director\Producer Michal Page
Today we're doing a Q&A with Michal Page, Director\Producer. Michal has worked in the Film industry for 14 yrs, and has an IMDB entry as long as my arm.
TGL - Hi Michal, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us, please tell us a little about yourself.
MP - My name is Michal Page. I've worked my way on set through the ranks of an Assistant Director to a Director/Producer & Production Manager. I've also dabbled in Acting but HATE IT. I've been in the 'biz' for over 14 years and known on set as 'Scoops', 'Dinky' or 'Dinkster'...and can be found in the credits usually with my name spelled wrong. I like long walks on the beach, surf n' turf, the REDWINGS and today I woke up completely hungover with little elves hammering away at the inside of my head and my stomach churning from some sort of cheap hooch and I truly feel like the most pathetic being on the planet. I get in the shower which has lost virtually all water pressure for some reason. I think back upon the previous evening's poor decision-making in which I ignored the voices in my head telling me to go home at a respectable hour, preferring instead to stay until the bitter end....huhhhhhhhh and as I stand under this little trickle of a lukewarm shower, a dark sense of gloom settles over me. some sort of regretful shadowy feeling. I think what the HELL did I do last night? Did I make out with a handsome and/or geek total stranger in some dark booth or in the ladies room? No. (dang) did I dance on the bar? No, no that's not it. (dang dang) Did I drunk dial an ex? Oh shit, no it's worse. I drunk POSTED a zillion strange men on Craigslist's Women Seeking Men. Shit. Shit. Now I will have an inbox full of dick pics and notes from lascivious stalkers...and what if I didn't spell check?? the spelling and grammar perfectionists will have at me next. and wait.. what exactly did I write? Oh god, I didn't reveal my long and agonizing stint of celibacy did I? How will I get to work in time to destroy all of the computers because I know my coworkers read CL all day. Surely they will know it was me. I'm packing my bags because now I need to change my identity and move out of the country but I will still remain hilariously awesome - just somewhere else.
TGL - Bahahahahaha *roflmao*... But seriously "Dinkster" How did you get into the Movie Making Business and what has kept you working in the industry over the years?
MP - Honestly, there was no magical wish I made nor did I know anyone in the biz....I was going to Ryerson University and just happened to walk into a lab at school and came across a flyer from a Production Company that needed PA's (production assistant) for the up coming Feature Film being shot in Toronto. I went for an interview and the interview I felt went okay - but as I was walking out to my car - this guy came running up to me in the parking lot and said, 'I'm sorry to run up to you like this, but I heard your interview...My name is blahblah blah, I'm the 1st AD (assistant director). I was wondering if you would like to be my TAD (trainee ass't director - in charge of getting the cast processed (hair/makeup/wardrobe/signing cast in&out etc etc, basically a glorified gopher) on set for the duration of the film?' I was like, 'HELL YA!' Well, I guessed I did something right, I did the entire film and they asked me back to do the next and then the next....Back then you only needed to finish 3 films as a trainee and 3 reference letters from 3 differ Guild members to get into the DGC Union (Director's Guild of Canada). I entered the union as an Associate Member and shortly after became a full member...Now, over 14 years later - I still the love rush of shooting and I am still plug'n away as an Assistant Director but now also have been a Production Manager, Producer and have even Directed. What keeps me in the biz? Passion, cool people, free food and travel on someones dime other than myself...Could anything be better? :p
TGL - Writing is a very personal experience for most writers. They put pieces of themselves into each scene, and character. When you have a script in front of you and you are thinking about how it should play out on screen, how do you interpret the Writers vision? What are some good tips for writers to keep in mind when they are creating a scene...
MP - Tips? For me, when I write things and want to bring it to life...I make sure to surround myself with a Production team that shares the same vision. It's So important to have a DOP (director of photography) and a Director that know how to not only bring the story out through actors, but also through all the other lil' effects you need to bring to life without words and scenery.
TGL - How much creative license is taken with a script once it leaves a writers hands? Is there an effort to stay true to the concepts and vision, or do you find that Directors take creative license with a script in order to bring their vision to life?
MP - Well if you have a great team that shares the same vision you'd stay pretty close to the story and vision on how you want to tell it - but unfortunately, budget always plays a HUGE roll in making that happen.
TGL - Creating well defined characters that stand on their own is sometimes difficult in writing. Separating one character from others is challenging in that you almost need to have multiple personalities yourself to develop a unique voice. As a Director\Producer how much is in the script? How much is Direction? And how much is Acting? Is it a chorus of all three, or a solo act?
MP - Again, the casting process is a complicated one. But all Producers, Director's and Casting have a huge part in who is cast and who can bring the 'vision' to life as how you'd want it portrayed... (so 100% pre production prod.dir.cast) but once cast, the actors, I think, are over 80% responsible for how the character comes to life. That's why it's SO important that it's made clear before hand who you want - nothing worse then not goin' to these meetings on who you want and what you want in pre-production - then, gettin' to set for Day 1 of shooting, and the actor can't act their way out of a trash can.
TGL - If 100 new scripts were handed to you, and you had to pick only one to develop and produce, what would you look for? What script characteristics make a project jump out at you?
MP - Huummmm - well the 100 scripts would have to be dropped off to me in person so I could see who I'm dealing with...Then, I'd pick the most good looking dude in the lot...you know, cause we'd be spending A LOT of time together...so I better have some eye candy... Bah hahahaha!
TGL - There’s a big difference between what the US calls a Big Budget Movie and what Canada calls Big Budget. I heard that an average feature budget in Canada is around $2 Million vs. $25 Million in the US. How much attention to the financial side of things should a Writer pay when trying to market a film? Can a $25 Million dollar movie be made for $2 Million in Canada? Or are we just not putting as much production value into our home grown box office?
MP - Well you can't shoot a film like X-Men, Hulk or Superman on a 2 mil budget...Be realistic. I mean, you can put a plastic model Superman dangling on some fishing line but would you really want to? I mean, unless the Director or Lead Actor is George Clooney. Eye candy is SO important. :p
TGL - Are there many differences in working on a Canadian project vs. a US project?
MP - Yeah, the food...and a pay cheque. Oh, did I also mention George Clooney possibly shirtless?
TGL - Do you ever have the writer on set for last minute re-writes or consultations? Is that the standard or the exception?
MP - It's rare. If the production office happens to be close by, yes....but usually if re-writes are needed they will be faxed to the 2nd AD on set in the mobile AD/production office...or if minimal - the Director/Producer/Writer will conference call on set.
TGL - What advice do you have for writers who are looking to make it big? Got any secrets you wanna share? ;) Is there anything you’d like to say to the people who are reading this interview?
MP - Advice? Yep, don't expect to make it big. Having dreams and thinking positive of making it big is one thing, just don't expect it. Huummm - what would I like to say about anyone reading this interview...? Well, you just got a taste of how awesome I am and should we meet on set one day, I like my Starbucks '1/2 decaf venti, sugar-free vanilla, skim milk, 180 degree latte - in a double cup w/ a sleeve' and served with a smile...
TGL - Michal, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. As always it has been a pleasure.
MP - NO WORRIES DUDE! ANY TIME!
TGL - Hi Michal, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us, please tell us a little about yourself.
MP - My name is Michal Page. I've worked my way on set through the ranks of an Assistant Director to a Director/Producer & Production Manager. I've also dabbled in Acting but HATE IT. I've been in the 'biz' for over 14 years and known on set as 'Scoops', 'Dinky' or 'Dinkster'...and can be found in the credits usually with my name spelled wrong. I like long walks on the beach, surf n' turf, the REDWINGS and today I woke up completely hungover with little elves hammering away at the inside of my head and my stomach churning from some sort of cheap hooch and I truly feel like the most pathetic being on the planet. I get in the shower which has lost virtually all water pressure for some reason. I think back upon the previous evening's poor decision-making in which I ignored the voices in my head telling me to go home at a respectable hour, preferring instead to stay until the bitter end....huhhhhhhhh and as I stand under this little trickle of a lukewarm shower, a dark sense of gloom settles over me. some sort of regretful shadowy feeling. I think what the HELL did I do last night? Did I make out with a handsome and/or geek total stranger in some dark booth or in the ladies room? No. (dang) did I dance on the bar? No, no that's not it. (dang dang) Did I drunk dial an ex? Oh shit, no it's worse. I drunk POSTED a zillion strange men on Craigslist's Women Seeking Men. Shit. Shit. Now I will have an inbox full of dick pics and notes from lascivious stalkers...and what if I didn't spell check?? the spelling and grammar perfectionists will have at me next. and wait.. what exactly did I write? Oh god, I didn't reveal my long and agonizing stint of celibacy did I? How will I get to work in time to destroy all of the computers because I know my coworkers read CL all day. Surely they will know it was me. I'm packing my bags because now I need to change my identity and move out of the country but I will still remain hilariously awesome - just somewhere else.
TGL - Bahahahahaha *roflmao*... But seriously "Dinkster" How did you get into the Movie Making Business and what has kept you working in the industry over the years?
MP - Honestly, there was no magical wish I made nor did I know anyone in the biz....I was going to Ryerson University and just happened to walk into a lab at school and came across a flyer from a Production Company that needed PA's (production assistant) for the up coming Feature Film being shot in Toronto. I went for an interview and the interview I felt went okay - but as I was walking out to my car - this guy came running up to me in the parking lot and said, 'I'm sorry to run up to you like this, but I heard your interview...My name is blahblah blah, I'm the 1st AD (assistant director). I was wondering if you would like to be my TAD (trainee ass't director - in charge of getting the cast processed (hair/makeup/wardrobe/signing cast in&out etc etc, basically a glorified gopher) on set for the duration of the film?' I was like, 'HELL YA!' Well, I guessed I did something right, I did the entire film and they asked me back to do the next and then the next....Back then you only needed to finish 3 films as a trainee and 3 reference letters from 3 differ Guild members to get into the DGC Union (Director's Guild of Canada). I entered the union as an Associate Member and shortly after became a full member...Now, over 14 years later - I still the love rush of shooting and I am still plug'n away as an Assistant Director but now also have been a Production Manager, Producer and have even Directed. What keeps me in the biz? Passion, cool people, free food and travel on someones dime other than myself...Could anything be better? :p
TGL - Writing is a very personal experience for most writers. They put pieces of themselves into each scene, and character. When you have a script in front of you and you are thinking about how it should play out on screen, how do you interpret the Writers vision? What are some good tips for writers to keep in mind when they are creating a scene...
MP - Tips? For me, when I write things and want to bring it to life...I make sure to surround myself with a Production team that shares the same vision. It's So important to have a DOP (director of photography) and a Director that know how to not only bring the story out through actors, but also through all the other lil' effects you need to bring to life without words and scenery.
TGL - How much creative license is taken with a script once it leaves a writers hands? Is there an effort to stay true to the concepts and vision, or do you find that Directors take creative license with a script in order to bring their vision to life?
MP - Well if you have a great team that shares the same vision you'd stay pretty close to the story and vision on how you want to tell it - but unfortunately, budget always plays a HUGE roll in making that happen.
TGL - Creating well defined characters that stand on their own is sometimes difficult in writing. Separating one character from others is challenging in that you almost need to have multiple personalities yourself to develop a unique voice. As a Director\Producer how much is in the script? How much is Direction? And how much is Acting? Is it a chorus of all three, or a solo act?
MP - Again, the casting process is a complicated one. But all Producers, Director's and Casting have a huge part in who is cast and who can bring the 'vision' to life as how you'd want it portrayed... (so 100% pre production prod.dir.cast) but once cast, the actors, I think, are over 80% responsible for how the character comes to life. That's why it's SO important that it's made clear before hand who you want - nothing worse then not goin' to these meetings on who you want and what you want in pre-production - then, gettin' to set for Day 1 of shooting, and the actor can't act their way out of a trash can.
TGL - If 100 new scripts were handed to you, and you had to pick only one to develop and produce, what would you look for? What script characteristics make a project jump out at you?
MP - Huummmm - well the 100 scripts would have to be dropped off to me in person so I could see who I'm dealing with...Then, I'd pick the most good looking dude in the lot...you know, cause we'd be spending A LOT of time together...so I better have some eye candy... Bah hahahaha!
TGL - There’s a big difference between what the US calls a Big Budget Movie and what Canada calls Big Budget. I heard that an average feature budget in Canada is around $2 Million vs. $25 Million in the US. How much attention to the financial side of things should a Writer pay when trying to market a film? Can a $25 Million dollar movie be made for $2 Million in Canada? Or are we just not putting as much production value into our home grown box office?
MP - Well you can't shoot a film like X-Men, Hulk or Superman on a 2 mil budget...Be realistic. I mean, you can put a plastic model Superman dangling on some fishing line but would you really want to? I mean, unless the Director or Lead Actor is George Clooney. Eye candy is SO important. :p
TGL - Are there many differences in working on a Canadian project vs. a US project?
MP - Yeah, the food...and a pay cheque. Oh, did I also mention George Clooney possibly shirtless?
TGL - Do you ever have the writer on set for last minute re-writes or consultations? Is that the standard or the exception?
MP - It's rare. If the production office happens to be close by, yes....but usually if re-writes are needed they will be faxed to the 2nd AD on set in the mobile AD/production office...or if minimal - the Director/Producer/Writer will conference call on set.
TGL - What advice do you have for writers who are looking to make it big? Got any secrets you wanna share? ;) Is there anything you’d like to say to the people who are reading this interview?
MP - Advice? Yep, don't expect to make it big. Having dreams and thinking positive of making it big is one thing, just don't expect it. Huummm - what would I like to say about anyone reading this interview...? Well, you just got a taste of how awesome I am and should we meet on set one day, I like my Starbucks '1/2 decaf venti, sugar-free vanilla, skim milk, 180 degree latte - in a double cup w/ a sleeve' and served with a smile...
TGL - Michal, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. As always it has been a pleasure.
MP - NO WORRIES DUDE! ANY TIME!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
I don't have a life 'cause I'm creating the lives of others...
Ok... So, I spent the better part of my weekend and most of the last few nights writing and I have the foundation of what could be a really fun series. The Town of Gillies Hill Lives!
This is a Sci-Fi\Fantasy show. That being said, I think that most Sci-Fi fails to reach a mass audience because its just a little too out there. Alex Epstein said during our conversation (which I keep quoting) that the TV audience is a more mature audience than the movie audience which is comprised more of younger guys "who want to see things go boomie!". I agree... I like a good BOOMIE! :) And as he also pointed out with HBO programming it really opened things up and you can do more (and by do more I mean the Holy Trinity... coarse language, nudity and, violence...). Just look at one of my new favourite show True Blood... I don't think I've seen an episode in the last month without Anna Paquin's naked body flailing about... Anyway... the point I'm trying to make is that even the most Fantastical story has to be rooted in reality and a good way to do that is to create characters who are knowable, likable and familiar.
One of my proudest moments was when a contest judge told me that the characters in my screenplay felt like friends, like she had known them for a good long time. SUCCESS!!! If you don't have a protagonist that the people like the script isn't going to do well. If they don't care about the main character, why should they care about what they are doing... End of show...
My friends can attest to this... the characters I create all have a bit of me in them, and they certainly have a bit of my friends in them, and EVERYBODY I have ever met... For example, I went to high school with a girl who literally started ever sentence with "Well, if you think that's bad\good\sad\fun\- insert emotion, I....." she turned EVERY conversation into a competition. I once saw her try and top a girl who was talking about her Grandma dying! She actually said... "Well, if you think your sad, I had a dog when I was young and..." I think she went on to weave a tale of woe about how it got hit by a car and died in her arms at the bottom of their driveway... but OMFG! Really... You think losing a dog trumps a Grandma? Anyway, I 'm straying off course here a little... The point is that we all know people who are characters. We all know a public nose picker, we all know a sweaty girl, and a shy beauty... They live in our lives and the lives of everyone around us. Those are the characters you need to bring to the script. Flesh them out. Bring them to life. Once I finish the pilot and register it with the WGA and WGC I will post the character desc., etc. on The-GreenLight.com along with the script for the pilot episode.
So I guess my tip for creating characters for the week is look to yourself, and write WHO you know. Another good step to take is to write out a little paragraph about the character. Here's a short one about the main character in my TV Pilot.
"Esprit Sparks grew up in a large home surrounded by several generations of her family in an almost communal existence. Privacy was and is a luxury. Esprit, named for her free “spirit”, longs for a normal life. Good luck! First, her pot smoking, tie dye wearing parents, David and Angela, gallivant around town in a Volkswagen Van that is older than they are. She’s their only child, and she shares a room with her Great Grandmother. Try to be a teenager in a house that smells of patchouli oil, Bengay Arthritis Cream and Weed. Normal isn’t a word that gets tossed around much over the bean curd and lentils at their vegan dinner table. Since attending a Birthday BBQ at Taylor Bowen’s house when she was 8 yrs old, Esprit has taken every opportunity to eat as much meat as she can, frequently ordering the double bacon burger at Gill’s for lunch."
Without going into detail and spoiling the plot and background info of the pilot you get a bit of a feel for Esprit's (Esspree) background and her rebelious nature. Accompanied by a character development sheet that describes her physical attributes, favourite things, close friends, biggest fears, etc. and you have a pretty idea of who she is and what she's about. Do this for your characters and they will suddenly come to life in your head and on your page. For me to be successful at finishing a script, I really have to be comfortabel with the people I'm writing about. I need to understand why the bad guy is a bad guy, and is he really a bad guy or are his motives just different than the main character. Why does the good guy or protagonist (not always a "good" guy\gal) want what they want? I don't think you can write good dialog and help the audience get to know the character and have them invest in them if YOU, the writer, don't know them. You know what I mean? But hey... I haven't sold a script yet and I'm certainly not a qualified Story Analyst (see my interview with Xandy Sussan). I'm just a guy who loves writing so take what you want from my advice, and go forth and write... and enjoy writing!!!
Peace
- G
This is a Sci-Fi\Fantasy show. That being said, I think that most Sci-Fi fails to reach a mass audience because its just a little too out there. Alex Epstein said during our conversation (which I keep quoting) that the TV audience is a more mature audience than the movie audience which is comprised more of younger guys "who want to see things go boomie!". I agree... I like a good BOOMIE! :) And as he also pointed out with HBO programming it really opened things up and you can do more (and by do more I mean the Holy Trinity... coarse language, nudity and, violence...). Just look at one of my new favourite show True Blood... I don't think I've seen an episode in the last month without Anna Paquin's naked body flailing about... Anyway... the point I'm trying to make is that even the most Fantastical story has to be rooted in reality and a good way to do that is to create characters who are knowable, likable and familiar.
One of my proudest moments was when a contest judge told me that the characters in my screenplay felt like friends, like she had known them for a good long time. SUCCESS!!! If you don't have a protagonist that the people like the script isn't going to do well. If they don't care about the main character, why should they care about what they are doing... End of show...
My friends can attest to this... the characters I create all have a bit of me in them, and they certainly have a bit of my friends in them, and EVERYBODY I have ever met... For example, I went to high school with a girl who literally started ever sentence with "Well, if you think that's bad\good\sad\fun\- insert emotion, I....." she turned EVERY conversation into a competition. I once saw her try and top a girl who was talking about her Grandma dying! She actually said... "Well, if you think your sad, I had a dog when I was young and..." I think she went on to weave a tale of woe about how it got hit by a car and died in her arms at the bottom of their driveway... but OMFG! Really... You think losing a dog trumps a Grandma? Anyway, I 'm straying off course here a little... The point is that we all know people who are characters. We all know a public nose picker, we all know a sweaty girl, and a shy beauty... They live in our lives and the lives of everyone around us. Those are the characters you need to bring to the script. Flesh them out. Bring them to life. Once I finish the pilot and register it with the WGA and WGC I will post the character desc., etc. on The-GreenLight.com along with the script for the pilot episode.
So I guess my tip for creating characters for the week is look to yourself, and write WHO you know. Another good step to take is to write out a little paragraph about the character. Here's a short one about the main character in my TV Pilot.
"Esprit Sparks grew up in a large home surrounded by several generations of her family in an almost communal existence. Privacy was and is a luxury. Esprit, named for her free “spirit”, longs for a normal life. Good luck! First, her pot smoking, tie dye wearing parents, David and Angela, gallivant around town in a Volkswagen Van that is older than they are. She’s their only child, and she shares a room with her Great Grandmother. Try to be a teenager in a house that smells of patchouli oil, Bengay Arthritis Cream and Weed. Normal isn’t a word that gets tossed around much over the bean curd and lentils at their vegan dinner table. Since attending a Birthday BBQ at Taylor Bowen’s house when she was 8 yrs old, Esprit has taken every opportunity to eat as much meat as she can, frequently ordering the double bacon burger at Gill’s for lunch."
Without going into detail and spoiling the plot and background info of the pilot you get a bit of a feel for Esprit's (Esspree) background and her rebelious nature. Accompanied by a character development sheet that describes her physical attributes, favourite things, close friends, biggest fears, etc. and you have a pretty idea of who she is and what she's about. Do this for your characters and they will suddenly come to life in your head and on your page. For me to be successful at finishing a script, I really have to be comfortabel with the people I'm writing about. I need to understand why the bad guy is a bad guy, and is he really a bad guy or are his motives just different than the main character. Why does the good guy or protagonist (not always a "good" guy\gal) want what they want? I don't think you can write good dialog and help the audience get to know the character and have them invest in them if YOU, the writer, don't know them. You know what I mean? But hey... I haven't sold a script yet and I'm certainly not a qualified Story Analyst (see my interview with Xandy Sussan). I'm just a guy who loves writing so take what you want from my advice, and go forth and write... and enjoy writing!!!
Peace
- G
Monday, July 13, 2009
Q&A with Alex Epstein - Award winning Writer of Bon Cop / Bad Cop and the Book Crafty TV Writing
I'd like to welcome Alex Epstein and thank him for taking the time to speak with us. Alex Epstein is a writer for television and movies, and author of the books Crafty Screenwriting and Crafty TV Writing. He co-created the comic drama television series Naked Josh for the Oxygen Network (U.S.A.) and Showcase (in Canada); it ran for three seasons. He's been nominated twice for a Canadian Screenwriting Award for his work on the show and, he was Head Writer for a science fiction TV series, Charlie Jade. His insightful blog Complications Ensue: The Crafty TV and Screenwriting Blog can be found here.
TGL: Tell me a little about yourself? What is your background?
Alex: I started my career in L.A. as an assistant to an independent producer, co-dependent producer might be a better term, then moved up to vice-president of development, which meant that I read scripts and recommended which ones we should to try to option, and worked with agents, and tried to figure out how we could put together a pretty good script with an actor that would give us good foreign sales. We would then take the foreign sales to the bank and get the money for the movie that way. I did that for awhile for a series of producers and pretty much all of them were trying to make movies in Quebec. We were trying to take advantage of some pretty strong cultural support that the Canadian government gives to movies shot in Canada with Canadian scripts. I became aware of the warm fuzzy feeling you get writing in Canada opposed to the hostility you experience writing in L.A. So I moved up here and that turned out to be the best decision I have made, because I had been writing all along but it really took off at that point.
TGL: You went to school at UCLA?
Alex: Well oddly enough I was a Computer Science major at Yale, but have an MFA from UCLA.
TGL: What made you make the switch from Computer Science at Yale to UCLA?
Alex: Well, first of all, dating myself a bit, at the time computer games were nearly as much fun. I’m not saying Pong, but games did not have the AI’s that they have today, and the other things that you can do with computers were even less fun. So I won’t say I was bored, but it was not ringing my bell.
TGL: So you were more interested in Tron the movie than the game?
Alex: Well I always wrote. I wrote back in high school and just kept writing. Everyone always told me that I was a very visual writer so it seemed like a good thing to do. Also a pretty girl in Paris told me that I should go into film and when pretty girls tell you that you should do things, you should listen.
TGL: So writing and being a visual writer just kind of lent itself to writing for T.V. and movies?
Alex: I think so. It took quite a long time to turn that into reality. I would say the first 10 years of my career was less than spectacularly successful. I got paid to write some things, but I certainly wasn’t supporting myself.
TGL: Which medium do you prefer writing for? Do you enjoy writing for television or movies?
Alex: I prefer television. The comparison I like to make is writing a movie is like a one night stand. You put all of this work into it and then when it’s over, it’s done. Then you don’t see those characters again and you don’t revisit that world again. Maybe there’s a sequel, if you are very lucky, but very often you write the script and it doesn’t get made. With T.V., if you can get a T.V. show going, you get to play with those characters much more. If you get picked up for one season, say for an hour drama show, so that’s 40 minutes a show, for say 20 episodes, that’s 800 minutes instead of 120 minutes. So you are spending a lot more time with your characters, you’re learning a lot more about them, just a lot more time. So it’s like a marriage compared to a one night stand. It also doesn’t hurt that you get a whack more money.
TGL: So there is that difference as well?
Alex: When I was coming up, there was still this thing that T.V. writers all wanted to be movie writers, but they couldn’t afford it, because they couldn’t take the salary cut. T.V. writers no longer want to be movie writers because most of the interesting work is being done in TV these days.
TGL: Is that a global shift across the industry?
Alex: Yes. HBO really opened up story telling possibilities. So you can do a lot more things in T.V. now. Another thing about T.V. is the audience is older and more sophisticated. The movie audience, by large, are boys that want to see things go boomie. The pay cable audience is really quite sophisticated, and even the prime time audience is older and more demanding. So you can do much more interesting things with characters, and you can tell more interesting and rich, than you can with movies. It’s a bigger palate.
TGL: To go along with that, coming up with fresh ideas every week, and I have struggled with this, and I’m sure the people reading my blog have struggled with, writers block. I was watching an interview with Bob Moresco, who wrote Crash. He said that was absolute baloney, writers block is just an inability to sit down at a desk and write. What do you think about writer’s block?
Alex: I don’t believe in it. I don’t have it; I don’t know any professional writers that have it. If you’re a professional writer, you can always write. The writing may be crap, but you just don’t allow yourself to go “oh this is crap, I’m not going to write.” you just go “oh, this is crap, oh well, I’ll fix it later.” You know, a bricklayer can have a day when the bricks aren’t coming out right. But he doesn’t get to go, “oh, I’m just not going to work today because the bricks are coming out a little bit bad”. You know, show up for work, it’s a job. So you take that as seriously as any other job, you know, every other worker goes into the office, and you feel like crap and you feel like you’re not getting anything done, but you do the work and let other people decide if you are doing crappy work. They may even decide that, in fact, you are not doing crappy work. It is possible to be too critical of yourself. You may even write yourself out of your slump.
TGL: So you’re saying just sit down and get to work?
Alex: Yeah, you know, ass in chair, fingers on keyboard. ... But also, you develop tools for writing. You develop tools for looking at what you are writing and why does this suck? Or, how do I get an idea? Or, you have friends that you can bounce ideas off of. Because you have tools you can be a craftsman and you can respond if you are having a bad day, you’re not waiting for inspiration to strike. So a bricklayer isn’t just going into work hoping for inspiration, he has his level, and his trowel, and he knows the consistency that the mortar is supposed to be.
TGL: So if you have a good solid foundation and you know your plot outline and you know your characters, environment and things like that, and you invest time in those that the writing will just come?
Alex: Yeah. You develop ways to break down each problem until it’s small enough that you are not overwhelmed. What is the theme of this scene, what is the character working towards in this scene, why can’t he get it? If you answer those questions, you will be able to write the scene. So you don’t just go and write a movie, you write a 2-page pitch and then you write a 5-page pitch, then you write a beat sheet, then you turn that into a step outline, and then once it’s a step outline you only have to worry about the scene you are writing. You don’t have to worry about “what will I write.” You just have to worry about how do I get into this scene, how do I get out of this scene? Where do I want this scene to end up? You can start by figuring out where you want the scene to end up and then work back from there. Or you can place the scene that will get you into it. In my book, CRAFTY SCREENWRITING, I have a bunch of different things that you can do to start off to get into a scene.
TGL: CRAFTY SCREENWRITING that you wrote in 2002?
Alex: Yes. And also CRAFTY TV WRITING in 2006. So there are tools. So you develop your tools and they help you and you are not relying on talent to get you through the day. You’re relying on craft.
TGL: You offer a screenplay consultation service through your website craftyscreenwriting.com?
Alex: Why yes I do, thank you for mentioning it. It’s not cheap, but I think I get down to what’s really not working in a script, rather than just the symptoms of what’s not working, and I can often offer a way to fix what’s not working.
TGL: What are the most common problems that you see with a script?
Alex: Almost all the scripts that fail, fail with the elements of the story. The elements of story are, #1, you have the character that we care about. #2, that character has an opportunity, problem, or goal. #3, he or she faces obstacles and/or an antagonist. #4, he or she stands to win something they didn’t have before, which is what we call stakes. #5, stands to lose something they cherish, which is what we call jeopardy.
Almost all scripts that fail, fail because those elements are not strong enough. If I asked you what does the character want and you say you don’t know, then you don’t have a story. Or if you don’t know what the character is risking, or what he stands to gain, then you don’t have a story. A story is these five elements, and it fails if they’re not strong. I’m not saying that nothing is going on, I’m saying that there could be a whole screenplay full of things happening, but it still doesn’t have a story.
TGL: So what you are saying is the foundation of any real screenplay is going to be the story? If it doesn’t have those elements, then it won’t involve the reader or an audience?
Alex: You can have bad dialog, sure. But if you have a strong story, we can fix the dialog. And in fact, if the story is good, it almost forces you to have at least competent dialog. Whereas if you don’t have a story, it’s going to look like your dialog doesn’t work. And then you can spend a year working on the dialog and the dialog still won’t seem to work.
TGL: One of the other things that I have been told is also very important is that once you have a your screenplay, you’ve spent the money and got the coverage, worked with a story analyst and polished and, polished and, polished until you just don’t want to look at it anymore, you have to have a good query letter?
Alex: Now I go back and forth on this. I don’t know how many scripts have been picked up by querying something out of the blue. It’s a very high hurdle if you’re sending in a query letter from Kansas City. If you possibly can, try to find a friend in showbiz who can tell an agent or a producer, “Hey, this guy doesn’t suck, read him”. With this, I think, you’re going to have much better results then send out a whole bunch of queries. So when someone says you have to have a great query letter, I don’t know, does having a great query letter make it happen? I got my first few agents by querying them, and you may actually be in Kansas City, so you’re sort of stuck with sending query letters.
And by letters, these days, I really mean emails.
Certainly, though, a bad query letter dooms your query. And more importantly, if you’re having trouble coming up with a good query letter, then dollars to donuts your story isn’t working, either. Part of my evaluation service is a query letter evaluation service. I almost always wind up making more comments on what the hook actually is than how it’s phrased.
A great query should really spell out all the five elements of story. This kind of guy has this kind of opportunity, problem or goal, but he faces these obstacles or this antagonist. And if he succeeds he’ll win these stakes but he faces this jeopardy. Sometimes the stakes or jeopardy are implicit, but all the elements should be clear from the query.
TGL: So if a good query letter isn’t going to land you a job...
Alex: Now are you talking about T.V. or film now?
TGL: That’s a good question.
Alex: Because you don’t really get a job in features. You sell a script. If you can sell a pretty high profile script you might get on “the list” for rewriting other people’s features, but short of knowing a lot of people in the biz, you’re not going to just get a writing job in features.
TGL: Ok, let me rephrase it. If it’s not going to get you a job writing for a T.V. show...
Alex: What’s going to get you a job on a T.V. show is really awesome spec scripts and maybe a spec pilot. You get those to an agent, when they’re not too busy, they read you, they like you, and they start sending you out for staff jobs.
TGL: How important is an agent in this business?
Alex: You can’t do anything without an agent. Theoretically around the edges you can get a non-union gig, but only if you have a lot of contacts. And this would be a low-budget feature, maybe, but really not without an agent. It is extremely difficult to do anything without an agent. Why would a producer have anything to do with someone without an agent when they can get someone that has an agent? An agent means that someone is vouching for you, someone is depending on you to make money. There are plenty of people that are just as starving as everybody else who have agents, so why not start with them? Why hire people who can’t get an agent?
That’s why you don’t really query a TV spec in the way you query a feature spec. I mean a feature starts with a hook, to get someone to read your feature. With a T.V. spec it’s not going to be about the hook, it’s going to be about the...”I have a “HOUSE” spec in which House has a brain transplant, and a “CRIMINAL MINDS” about an evil clown, wanna read them?” If an agent is looking for clients, and the episodes sound reasonable at all, they want to read them. Because they aren’t looking for a great hook, they are looking for great writing.
With TV, they want to see great writing because they’re trying to sell you as a writer. With features, they want a great hook, because they’re trying to sell your script.
TGL: If you could travel back in time to the beginning of your career what would you tell yourself?
Alex: Don’t waste your time on features Alex, you’re a T.V. writer.
TGL: Is that because you have tried features? You co-wrote BON COP / BAD COP, which broke Canadian Box Office records.
Alex: I got the BON COP / BAD COP gig because the director and I had worked together on a TV show. I met Erik Canuel while we were both working on CHARLIE JADE down in Cape Town. So when he was looking for a quick re-write on BON COP / BAD COP, he told the producer, I want that guy from Charlie Jade, he can write fast and well.
TGL: So is that the key to T.V. writing, is writing really fast?
Alex: If you can’t write really fast you’re not a T.V. writer. You also want to be, you know, good. But if you’re good but slow, then you’re a feature writer.
TGL: What’s the turnaround on a T.V. script?
Alex: You have, at most, a week per draft. Say a week for the beat sheet, a week for the first draft, a week to rewrite it. There will be a writing staff, so you may have three weeks for the whole script, that’s multiple drafts that you’re dealing with. The fastest I’ve ever written a production script, from conception to FADE OUT, was 24 hours. There were three of us banging it out. I’m not saying it’s the best thing I ever wrote on, but they shot it.
TGL: Is there any advice you could give someone that is starting out?
Alex: I don’t think people need to go to film school, I think people need to work in the business. I think you learn more from working in the business than film school. I don’t think that you need to work on a set; I don’t think that is necessarily helpful. Working for a producer, working for an agent, that will get you the experience you need. The thing that I really recommend is working for an agency. Nothing makes you aware of what people are looking for and what they aren’t looking for. How precious they’re not being. How little time they take to look at the material. People who put all these precious things into their script, they’re just going to throw your stuff away. I don’t think people realize how little time they have to impress people or how much competition there is. Back when I was reading scripts, you had about five pages to convince me that I should read the rest of it. And I wasn’t being sloppy: in my experience scripts that failed to convince me in the first 5 pages never got good enough to pass along.
TGL: I heard ten pages.
Alex: Honestly, if it didn’t rock in five, it wouldn’t rock in ten, or twenty. I mean, why shouldn’t it grab you in three pages, or two pages. Or look at it this way: if the writer doesn’t know to create exciting drama, tension, mood, mystery, something, in three pages, then they don’t really know their craft.
TGL: Looking back over your career, are you excited where you have come from and where you are headed?
Alex: I have a lot of very good things in the works. Will they get picked up or not? I don’t know. So I am somewhere between excited and terrified.
TGL: Would you suggest screenwriting to anyone as a career?
Alex: No, because what I would say is, if you need to do it, you’ll do it. If I tell you not to do it, and you need to do it, then you’ll do it. If you need me to tell you to do it, you shouldn’t do it.
I mean, I have no idea what I would do if I couldn’t get paid to write. Every now and then my friends and I will play “What Else Could You Do for a Living?”, and the answer for most of us is, frakked if I know. It’s like acting, if you have to be an actor, if it’s as important to you as breathing, then you will find a way to be an actor. You may not be a rich actor, but you’ll work. If you don’t have to be an actor, for God’s sakes don’t be an actor, because it’s a really crappy life if you don’t absolutely need it. I mean it took me ten years to get to a point that I could support myself writing and that’s not at all uncommon.
Also, if you don’t have to do it, why not save room for the rest of us that do? If you need to do it, you’ll find a way to make it work. And if you don’t need to do it, that’s going to come across, and you’re not going to get the job. And if you do get the job, sooner or later someone who needs it more will kill you and eat you.
TGL: So it’s the passion and drive that makes it work.
Alex: Yeah, whatever I have to write, I’ll write. Whatever I have to do I’ll do. That’s what gets you through. When people reject you, if you don’t have to do it, you’re going to think, frak them, who needs the stress? But if you need to do it, you’ll think, oh my God I have to fix this, how how how?
TGL: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
Alex: You’re welcome.
TGL: Tell me a little about yourself? What is your background?
Alex: I started my career in L.A. as an assistant to an independent producer, co-dependent producer might be a better term, then moved up to vice-president of development, which meant that I read scripts and recommended which ones we should to try to option, and worked with agents, and tried to figure out how we could put together a pretty good script with an actor that would give us good foreign sales. We would then take the foreign sales to the bank and get the money for the movie that way. I did that for awhile for a series of producers and pretty much all of them were trying to make movies in Quebec. We were trying to take advantage of some pretty strong cultural support that the Canadian government gives to movies shot in Canada with Canadian scripts. I became aware of the warm fuzzy feeling you get writing in Canada opposed to the hostility you experience writing in L.A. So I moved up here and that turned out to be the best decision I have made, because I had been writing all along but it really took off at that point.
TGL: You went to school at UCLA?
Alex: Well oddly enough I was a Computer Science major at Yale, but have an MFA from UCLA.
TGL: What made you make the switch from Computer Science at Yale to UCLA?
Alex: Well, first of all, dating myself a bit, at the time computer games were nearly as much fun. I’m not saying Pong, but games did not have the AI’s that they have today, and the other things that you can do with computers were even less fun. So I won’t say I was bored, but it was not ringing my bell.
TGL: So you were more interested in Tron the movie than the game?
Alex: Well I always wrote. I wrote back in high school and just kept writing. Everyone always told me that I was a very visual writer so it seemed like a good thing to do. Also a pretty girl in Paris told me that I should go into film and when pretty girls tell you that you should do things, you should listen.
TGL: So writing and being a visual writer just kind of lent itself to writing for T.V. and movies?
Alex: I think so. It took quite a long time to turn that into reality. I would say the first 10 years of my career was less than spectacularly successful. I got paid to write some things, but I certainly wasn’t supporting myself.
TGL: Which medium do you prefer writing for? Do you enjoy writing for television or movies?
Alex: I prefer television. The comparison I like to make is writing a movie is like a one night stand. You put all of this work into it and then when it’s over, it’s done. Then you don’t see those characters again and you don’t revisit that world again. Maybe there’s a sequel, if you are very lucky, but very often you write the script and it doesn’t get made. With T.V., if you can get a T.V. show going, you get to play with those characters much more. If you get picked up for one season, say for an hour drama show, so that’s 40 minutes a show, for say 20 episodes, that’s 800 minutes instead of 120 minutes. So you are spending a lot more time with your characters, you’re learning a lot more about them, just a lot more time. So it’s like a marriage compared to a one night stand. It also doesn’t hurt that you get a whack more money.
TGL: So there is that difference as well?
Alex: When I was coming up, there was still this thing that T.V. writers all wanted to be movie writers, but they couldn’t afford it, because they couldn’t take the salary cut. T.V. writers no longer want to be movie writers because most of the interesting work is being done in TV these days.
TGL: Is that a global shift across the industry?
Alex: Yes. HBO really opened up story telling possibilities. So you can do a lot more things in T.V. now. Another thing about T.V. is the audience is older and more sophisticated. The movie audience, by large, are boys that want to see things go boomie. The pay cable audience is really quite sophisticated, and even the prime time audience is older and more demanding. So you can do much more interesting things with characters, and you can tell more interesting and rich, than you can with movies. It’s a bigger palate.
TGL: To go along with that, coming up with fresh ideas every week, and I have struggled with this, and I’m sure the people reading my blog have struggled with, writers block. I was watching an interview with Bob Moresco, who wrote Crash. He said that was absolute baloney, writers block is just an inability to sit down at a desk and write. What do you think about writer’s block?
Alex: I don’t believe in it. I don’t have it; I don’t know any professional writers that have it. If you’re a professional writer, you can always write. The writing may be crap, but you just don’t allow yourself to go “oh this is crap, I’m not going to write.” you just go “oh, this is crap, oh well, I’ll fix it later.” You know, a bricklayer can have a day when the bricks aren’t coming out right. But he doesn’t get to go, “oh, I’m just not going to work today because the bricks are coming out a little bit bad”. You know, show up for work, it’s a job. So you take that as seriously as any other job, you know, every other worker goes into the office, and you feel like crap and you feel like you’re not getting anything done, but you do the work and let other people decide if you are doing crappy work. They may even decide that, in fact, you are not doing crappy work. It is possible to be too critical of yourself. You may even write yourself out of your slump.
TGL: So you’re saying just sit down and get to work?
Alex: Yeah, you know, ass in chair, fingers on keyboard. ... But also, you develop tools for writing. You develop tools for looking at what you are writing and why does this suck? Or, how do I get an idea? Or, you have friends that you can bounce ideas off of. Because you have tools you can be a craftsman and you can respond if you are having a bad day, you’re not waiting for inspiration to strike. So a bricklayer isn’t just going into work hoping for inspiration, he has his level, and his trowel, and he knows the consistency that the mortar is supposed to be.
TGL: So if you have a good solid foundation and you know your plot outline and you know your characters, environment and things like that, and you invest time in those that the writing will just come?
Alex: Yeah. You develop ways to break down each problem until it’s small enough that you are not overwhelmed. What is the theme of this scene, what is the character working towards in this scene, why can’t he get it? If you answer those questions, you will be able to write the scene. So you don’t just go and write a movie, you write a 2-page pitch and then you write a 5-page pitch, then you write a beat sheet, then you turn that into a step outline, and then once it’s a step outline you only have to worry about the scene you are writing. You don’t have to worry about “what will I write.” You just have to worry about how do I get into this scene, how do I get out of this scene? Where do I want this scene to end up? You can start by figuring out where you want the scene to end up and then work back from there. Or you can place the scene that will get you into it. In my book, CRAFTY SCREENWRITING, I have a bunch of different things that you can do to start off to get into a scene.
TGL: CRAFTY SCREENWRITING that you wrote in 2002?
Alex: Yes. And also CRAFTY TV WRITING in 2006. So there are tools. So you develop your tools and they help you and you are not relying on talent to get you through the day. You’re relying on craft.
TGL: You offer a screenplay consultation service through your website craftyscreenwriting.com?
Alex: Why yes I do, thank you for mentioning it. It’s not cheap, but I think I get down to what’s really not working in a script, rather than just the symptoms of what’s not working, and I can often offer a way to fix what’s not working.
TGL: What are the most common problems that you see with a script?
Alex: Almost all the scripts that fail, fail with the elements of the story. The elements of story are, #1, you have the character that we care about. #2, that character has an opportunity, problem, or goal. #3, he or she faces obstacles and/or an antagonist. #4, he or she stands to win something they didn’t have before, which is what we call stakes. #5, stands to lose something they cherish, which is what we call jeopardy.
Almost all scripts that fail, fail because those elements are not strong enough. If I asked you what does the character want and you say you don’t know, then you don’t have a story. Or if you don’t know what the character is risking, or what he stands to gain, then you don’t have a story. A story is these five elements, and it fails if they’re not strong. I’m not saying that nothing is going on, I’m saying that there could be a whole screenplay full of things happening, but it still doesn’t have a story.
TGL: So what you are saying is the foundation of any real screenplay is going to be the story? If it doesn’t have those elements, then it won’t involve the reader or an audience?
Alex: You can have bad dialog, sure. But if you have a strong story, we can fix the dialog. And in fact, if the story is good, it almost forces you to have at least competent dialog. Whereas if you don’t have a story, it’s going to look like your dialog doesn’t work. And then you can spend a year working on the dialog and the dialog still won’t seem to work.
TGL: One of the other things that I have been told is also very important is that once you have a your screenplay, you’ve spent the money and got the coverage, worked with a story analyst and polished and, polished and, polished until you just don’t want to look at it anymore, you have to have a good query letter?
Alex: Now I go back and forth on this. I don’t know how many scripts have been picked up by querying something out of the blue. It’s a very high hurdle if you’re sending in a query letter from Kansas City. If you possibly can, try to find a friend in showbiz who can tell an agent or a producer, “Hey, this guy doesn’t suck, read him”. With this, I think, you’re going to have much better results then send out a whole bunch of queries. So when someone says you have to have a great query letter, I don’t know, does having a great query letter make it happen? I got my first few agents by querying them, and you may actually be in Kansas City, so you’re sort of stuck with sending query letters.
And by letters, these days, I really mean emails.
Certainly, though, a bad query letter dooms your query. And more importantly, if you’re having trouble coming up with a good query letter, then dollars to donuts your story isn’t working, either. Part of my evaluation service is a query letter evaluation service. I almost always wind up making more comments on what the hook actually is than how it’s phrased.
A great query should really spell out all the five elements of story. This kind of guy has this kind of opportunity, problem or goal, but he faces these obstacles or this antagonist. And if he succeeds he’ll win these stakes but he faces this jeopardy. Sometimes the stakes or jeopardy are implicit, but all the elements should be clear from the query.
TGL: So if a good query letter isn’t going to land you a job...
Alex: Now are you talking about T.V. or film now?
TGL: That’s a good question.
Alex: Because you don’t really get a job in features. You sell a script. If you can sell a pretty high profile script you might get on “the list” for rewriting other people’s features, but short of knowing a lot of people in the biz, you’re not going to just get a writing job in features.
TGL: Ok, let me rephrase it. If it’s not going to get you a job writing for a T.V. show...
Alex: What’s going to get you a job on a T.V. show is really awesome spec scripts and maybe a spec pilot. You get those to an agent, when they’re not too busy, they read you, they like you, and they start sending you out for staff jobs.
TGL: How important is an agent in this business?
Alex: You can’t do anything without an agent. Theoretically around the edges you can get a non-union gig, but only if you have a lot of contacts. And this would be a low-budget feature, maybe, but really not without an agent. It is extremely difficult to do anything without an agent. Why would a producer have anything to do with someone without an agent when they can get someone that has an agent? An agent means that someone is vouching for you, someone is depending on you to make money. There are plenty of people that are just as starving as everybody else who have agents, so why not start with them? Why hire people who can’t get an agent?
That’s why you don’t really query a TV spec in the way you query a feature spec. I mean a feature starts with a hook, to get someone to read your feature. With a T.V. spec it’s not going to be about the hook, it’s going to be about the...”I have a “HOUSE” spec in which House has a brain transplant, and a “CRIMINAL MINDS” about an evil clown, wanna read them?” If an agent is looking for clients, and the episodes sound reasonable at all, they want to read them. Because they aren’t looking for a great hook, they are looking for great writing.
With TV, they want to see great writing because they’re trying to sell you as a writer. With features, they want a great hook, because they’re trying to sell your script.
TGL: If you could travel back in time to the beginning of your career what would you tell yourself?
Alex: Don’t waste your time on features Alex, you’re a T.V. writer.
TGL: Is that because you have tried features? You co-wrote BON COP / BAD COP, which broke Canadian Box Office records.
Alex: I got the BON COP / BAD COP gig because the director and I had worked together on a TV show. I met Erik Canuel while we were both working on CHARLIE JADE down in Cape Town. So when he was looking for a quick re-write on BON COP / BAD COP, he told the producer, I want that guy from Charlie Jade, he can write fast and well.
TGL: So is that the key to T.V. writing, is writing really fast?
Alex: If you can’t write really fast you’re not a T.V. writer. You also want to be, you know, good. But if you’re good but slow, then you’re a feature writer.
TGL: What’s the turnaround on a T.V. script?
Alex: You have, at most, a week per draft. Say a week for the beat sheet, a week for the first draft, a week to rewrite it. There will be a writing staff, so you may have three weeks for the whole script, that’s multiple drafts that you’re dealing with. The fastest I’ve ever written a production script, from conception to FADE OUT, was 24 hours. There were three of us banging it out. I’m not saying it’s the best thing I ever wrote on, but they shot it.
TGL: Is there any advice you could give someone that is starting out?
Alex: I don’t think people need to go to film school, I think people need to work in the business. I think you learn more from working in the business than film school. I don’t think that you need to work on a set; I don’t think that is necessarily helpful. Working for a producer, working for an agent, that will get you the experience you need. The thing that I really recommend is working for an agency. Nothing makes you aware of what people are looking for and what they aren’t looking for. How precious they’re not being. How little time they take to look at the material. People who put all these precious things into their script, they’re just going to throw your stuff away. I don’t think people realize how little time they have to impress people or how much competition there is. Back when I was reading scripts, you had about five pages to convince me that I should read the rest of it. And I wasn’t being sloppy: in my experience scripts that failed to convince me in the first 5 pages never got good enough to pass along.
TGL: I heard ten pages.
Alex: Honestly, if it didn’t rock in five, it wouldn’t rock in ten, or twenty. I mean, why shouldn’t it grab you in three pages, or two pages. Or look at it this way: if the writer doesn’t know to create exciting drama, tension, mood, mystery, something, in three pages, then they don’t really know their craft.
TGL: Looking back over your career, are you excited where you have come from and where you are headed?
Alex: I have a lot of very good things in the works. Will they get picked up or not? I don’t know. So I am somewhere between excited and terrified.
TGL: Would you suggest screenwriting to anyone as a career?
Alex: No, because what I would say is, if you need to do it, you’ll do it. If I tell you not to do it, and you need to do it, then you’ll do it. If you need me to tell you to do it, you shouldn’t do it.
I mean, I have no idea what I would do if I couldn’t get paid to write. Every now and then my friends and I will play “What Else Could You Do for a Living?”, and the answer for most of us is, frakked if I know. It’s like acting, if you have to be an actor, if it’s as important to you as breathing, then you will find a way to be an actor. You may not be a rich actor, but you’ll work. If you don’t have to be an actor, for God’s sakes don’t be an actor, because it’s a really crappy life if you don’t absolutely need it. I mean it took me ten years to get to a point that I could support myself writing and that’s not at all uncommon.
Also, if you don’t have to do it, why not save room for the rest of us that do? If you need to do it, you’ll find a way to make it work. And if you don’t need to do it, that’s going to come across, and you’re not going to get the job. And if you do get the job, sooner or later someone who needs it more will kill you and eat you.
TGL: So it’s the passion and drive that makes it work.
Alex: Yeah, whatever I have to write, I’ll write. Whatever I have to do I’ll do. That’s what gets you through. When people reject you, if you don’t have to do it, you’re going to think, frak them, who needs the stress? But if you need to do it, you’ll think, oh my God I have to fix this, how how how?
TGL: Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
Alex: You’re welcome.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Understanding Script Coverage - Why do I need it?
Ok, so you keep hearing this word being tossed around and you have no idea what it is or why it has everybody losing their minds. Well, to be honest I haven’t quite understood why the industry puts such a heavy weight to Script Coverage because it’s a subjective process to some extent and depending on the weather, how your reader slept the night before or if they had the time to, you may get differing results.
Coverage is a written report, kind of like Cole’s Notes, design to give agents, producers, and execs a feel for your script without having to read the entire manuscript. Most of the honchos don’t have time to sit and read all day. They are busy making things happen (which is where you want them to be). A coverage report breaks your script down for them and presents it in a concise and skilful way that they can, at a glance, decide if they’ll have someone else read it for them... ;)
Seriously, a good coverage is what opens doors and gets everything moving for you.
In a coverage report you’ll have a few basic sections. First they will summary the script particulars, title, genre, # pages, the writer, who is doing the coverage etc. This is fairly standard.
Next, some give a logline for the script. It’s a good one liner that gets the point of the story across and creates some interest. (Writing a good one is a masterful skill that takes time to develop!).
Now Coverage Reports vary from one reader to the next and each company has their own specifics and order they want the info presented in, but at the end of the day they all have the same stuff in ‘em.
You will have a grading section. In this section you will be given a “Pass”, “Consider”, or “Recommend” rating in several categories.
Pass means that the work is not up to par or not desirable now (there are many reasons why this can be so, not all of them related to the quality of the source material). Usually, the work doesn’t receive further attention within the industry.
Consider means that the work as written has merit or shows promise and should be further assessed. A Consider evaluation can lead to the source material itself actually being read by a producer, executive or agent (between incessant parties, galas and exciting film opening events, of course), and/or more of the writer’s work being solicited for review by those in the industry.
Recommend is the highest acclaim, and not often conferred. The script, story, etc. is good enough in its current manifestation to warrant a read, and usually it will be read, often by a producer or someone in an industry decision-maker’s chain of command.
Some categories you may be graded on are, Premise, Plot\Storyline, Structure, Dialogue, Production Value, Project (as a whole) and, You the Writer. They may use a different rating system for these finer point of the analysis and give poor, fair, good and excellent ratings, but you will almost always get a Pass, Consider or Recommend for the Project and you as a Writer.
There is always a synopsis of the script. Some are a page but not usually more than three. This is a good tool for you because it will highlight the areas that caught the readers attention, and if you feel they missed important parts of the script. That likely means you missed too… Re-write them and punch them up and bring the reader’s attention to them!
The next common section is the Reader’s comments and opinions. Here you have 1 -3 pages of notes the reader feels are important. If you are paying someone for Coverage, this section is extremely important to you because this is where they will offer their ideas on missed opportunities and where you can make improvements. This is the section you are actually paying for! If you have a good reader (And I do – Thank god!), they will be to the point. They will not sugar coat their comments and they will offer suggestions and constructive criticism on how you can improve your project and make it Silver Screen worthy. Don’t argue! Fix it! They are right. Think of it like this. You are paying them to review your work. You are paying them for their opinion. So don’t call ‘em out ‘cause you don’t like what they have to say. My reader once told me she was going to spank me because she had to read a 105 page Romantic Comedy that didn’t have a kiss at the end. Even after I argued the “Sleepless in Seattle” point, I was put back into my place. She also told me that she told all her writing friends and they all had a good laugh at my expense. She is the best thing that has ever happened to my writing!
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to blindly obey your Reader's every whim. YOU are the writer! And YOU know your story! Or at least you should!!! So take what you’re given and put your spin on the ideas. Think of the comments as a recipe. It may call for Chocolate chips, but caramel or peanut butter chips might be just as good… So play around with the THEME of the suggestions. AND… RE-WRITE!!!! RE-WRITE, RE-WRITE!
I keep stressing this point, but its true… Writing and story development is an ever evolving process. You will never have a perfect script, and you’ll never be done with it. You WILL however get to the point when you are DONE with a script! That’s the point when you can’t look at it or read it without your jaw tightening and your mouth filling with that tangy pre-vom juice. Set it aside and work on something else… ANYWAY! Back on Topic!
After the summary or somewhere within the report there may be budget suggestions. I have no idea how accurate these estimates are… Usually they are vague enough to fall within your own idea of the Blockbuster production you’ve submitted.
WHY IS COVERAGE IMPORTANT?
Coverage is a tool! It is a great tool for you to gauge the preparedness of your script for Contest Submission, Queries to Agents, Prod Cos, and Producers. Unless you are getting a consider or recommend, forget it. Each year millions of scripts are sent to Hollywood for the Industry to peruse. Of those Millions, 98% of them end up in shredders and recycle bins. Of the remaining 2% you find such masterful creations as Waterworld, Eight Legged Freaks, and the Hills have Eyes 2. You also find the brilliance of Get Shorty, The Matrix trilogy, and Letters from Iwo Jima. I know, you’ve probably done the same thing I’ve done which is sit down in front of a movie for the night and spent 2 hours saying… How does shit like this get made when I’m not even getting optioned? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
One of the benefits of having your script read professionally is the spell checking! Don’t give the industry a easy out as far as your script is concerned. Spelling is just as important as the plot. If a Studio Reader finds a typo in the first 10 pages, you’re done. Next, if you’re lucky, your service will send you a copy of your script with the notes the reader was making in the margins as they read. GREAT TOOL! You can see what they thought of scenes, page by page, sequence by sequence. They will frequently write rhetorical questions which is a clue that you need to answer them!
At the end of the day, Coverage is simply a tool in your arsenal that you can use to make your script a polished, presentable product ready to be marketed to Contests, Agents, and Producers alike.
Now get writing!!!
- G
Coverage is a written report, kind of like Cole’s Notes, design to give agents, producers, and execs a feel for your script without having to read the entire manuscript. Most of the honchos don’t have time to sit and read all day. They are busy making things happen (which is where you want them to be). A coverage report breaks your script down for them and presents it in a concise and skilful way that they can, at a glance, decide if they’ll have someone else read it for them... ;)
Seriously, a good coverage is what opens doors and gets everything moving for you.
In a coverage report you’ll have a few basic sections. First they will summary the script particulars, title, genre, # pages, the writer, who is doing the coverage etc. This is fairly standard.
Next, some give a logline for the script. It’s a good one liner that gets the point of the story across and creates some interest. (Writing a good one is a masterful skill that takes time to develop!).
Now Coverage Reports vary from one reader to the next and each company has their own specifics and order they want the info presented in, but at the end of the day they all have the same stuff in ‘em.
You will have a grading section. In this section you will be given a “Pass”, “Consider”, or “Recommend” rating in several categories.
Pass means that the work is not up to par or not desirable now (there are many reasons why this can be so, not all of them related to the quality of the source material). Usually, the work doesn’t receive further attention within the industry.
Consider means that the work as written has merit or shows promise and should be further assessed. A Consider evaluation can lead to the source material itself actually being read by a producer, executive or agent (between incessant parties, galas and exciting film opening events, of course), and/or more of the writer’s work being solicited for review by those in the industry.
Recommend is the highest acclaim, and not often conferred. The script, story, etc. is good enough in its current manifestation to warrant a read, and usually it will be read, often by a producer or someone in an industry decision-maker’s chain of command.
Some categories you may be graded on are, Premise, Plot\Storyline, Structure, Dialogue, Production Value, Project (as a whole) and, You the Writer. They may use a different rating system for these finer point of the analysis and give poor, fair, good and excellent ratings, but you will almost always get a Pass, Consider or Recommend for the Project and you as a Writer.
There is always a synopsis of the script. Some are a page but not usually more than three. This is a good tool for you because it will highlight the areas that caught the readers attention, and if you feel they missed important parts of the script. That likely means you missed too… Re-write them and punch them up and bring the reader’s attention to them!
The next common section is the Reader’s comments and opinions. Here you have 1 -3 pages of notes the reader feels are important. If you are paying someone for Coverage, this section is extremely important to you because this is where they will offer their ideas on missed opportunities and where you can make improvements. This is the section you are actually paying for! If you have a good reader (And I do – Thank god!), they will be to the point. They will not sugar coat their comments and they will offer suggestions and constructive criticism on how you can improve your project and make it Silver Screen worthy. Don’t argue! Fix it! They are right. Think of it like this. You are paying them to review your work. You are paying them for their opinion. So don’t call ‘em out ‘cause you don’t like what they have to say. My reader once told me she was going to spank me because she had to read a 105 page Romantic Comedy that didn’t have a kiss at the end. Even after I argued the “Sleepless in Seattle” point, I was put back into my place. She also told me that she told all her writing friends and they all had a good laugh at my expense. She is the best thing that has ever happened to my writing!
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to blindly obey your Reader's every whim. YOU are the writer! And YOU know your story! Or at least you should!!! So take what you’re given and put your spin on the ideas. Think of the comments as a recipe. It may call for Chocolate chips, but caramel or peanut butter chips might be just as good… So play around with the THEME of the suggestions. AND… RE-WRITE!!!! RE-WRITE, RE-WRITE!
I keep stressing this point, but its true… Writing and story development is an ever evolving process. You will never have a perfect script, and you’ll never be done with it. You WILL however get to the point when you are DONE with a script! That’s the point when you can’t look at it or read it without your jaw tightening and your mouth filling with that tangy pre-vom juice. Set it aside and work on something else… ANYWAY! Back on Topic!
After the summary or somewhere within the report there may be budget suggestions. I have no idea how accurate these estimates are… Usually they are vague enough to fall within your own idea of the Blockbuster production you’ve submitted.
WHY IS COVERAGE IMPORTANT?
Coverage is a tool! It is a great tool for you to gauge the preparedness of your script for Contest Submission, Queries to Agents, Prod Cos, and Producers. Unless you are getting a consider or recommend, forget it. Each year millions of scripts are sent to Hollywood for the Industry to peruse. Of those Millions, 98% of them end up in shredders and recycle bins. Of the remaining 2% you find such masterful creations as Waterworld, Eight Legged Freaks, and the Hills have Eyes 2. You also find the brilliance of Get Shorty, The Matrix trilogy, and Letters from Iwo Jima. I know, you’ve probably done the same thing I’ve done which is sit down in front of a movie for the night and spent 2 hours saying… How does shit like this get made when I’m not even getting optioned? I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
One of the benefits of having your script read professionally is the spell checking! Don’t give the industry a easy out as far as your script is concerned. Spelling is just as important as the plot. If a Studio Reader finds a typo in the first 10 pages, you’re done. Next, if you’re lucky, your service will send you a copy of your script with the notes the reader was making in the margins as they read. GREAT TOOL! You can see what they thought of scenes, page by page, sequence by sequence. They will frequently write rhetorical questions which is a clue that you need to answer them!
At the end of the day, Coverage is simply a tool in your arsenal that you can use to make your script a polished, presentable product ready to be marketed to Contests, Agents, and Producers alike.
Now get writing!!!
- G
Monday, April 6, 2009
Writing Contests
Hey...
So today (now that my rant about skinny jeans is done), I wanted to talk a bit about writing contests.
Some people say that writing contests are just a way for some people to make money. And I guess for some of the sponsors that is true, BUT I think even those contests can offer you a little insight into your writing.
I never enter a contest unless it offers feedback. Feedback is the most important thing you can get your hands on as a writer. If you let your family and friends read what you write, GREAT! but don't expect impartial feedback from them. They will either be overly hard on you, or far too easy on you. Feedback is what will help you develop your story in subsequent re-writes... and there will be many re-writes. I joke on the main the-greenlight.com webpage that I have re-written my script Losing Faith 150 times. Well, I'm currently working through 151. Why? Well because of some feedback I received and some new ideas to punch up the humour. As you grow as a writer go back to your previous work and take a look at it with fresher more experienced eyes. You'll see holes and rough patches that you hadn't noticed before.
My suggestion is that you find yourself a pro. Before I start shipping my scripts off to contests I like to feel that they are as close to perfect as I can get them at the time. (I know I just said I've re-written them 150 times). Find someone who will work with you, and offer you ways out of problem areas. A good reader will point out the weak parts but show you what you've done well because it can act as an example of how you have been clear in your writing and created some strong scenes. They will help you learn from your own success and their experience. Once the two of you have reached the point of exhaustion with a certain project and you both agree that material you have in your hand is really good... Send it out into the world of contests. See what other people, who aren't intimately involved in the creative process have to say. Chances are they will come back with some useful tips and ideas for improvement.
Writing contests are good tools, but they can be quite costly. AND THE WAITING WILL DRIVE YOU MAD!!!!
A few good ideas to make sure you are working with a reputable contest are:
Waiting for the deadlines to arrive is grueling. I always try to make the early submission deadline because there is usually a break in the cost of the entry fee. But it makes waiting for results (sometimes up to 8 months) a living nightmare! Because, if you are like me, you are constantly re-writing your work and making it better so by the time the contest roles around you've found 20 funnier jokes, 3 typos, and taken out 2 scenes that made the script lag in the 2nd act. The way I have overcome my writers anxiety for situations like this is to simply forget about them. I put an entry in my calendar that reminds me that I have a deadline coming up and I check the website or keep a more vigilant eye on my email for about a week before the announcement date. AND you do have to watch! I read a review of a contest by its winner who said he had no idea he had won until he received his prize pack in the mail. The contest people had not otherwise contacted him, but when he went to the homepage there was his name in lights! Sooooo... don't completely forget, but put them out of your mind. You know?
Writing Contests are good tools. Look for contests with feedback, and low entry costs. If you go for the high end contests with big entry fees, make sure the return on your investment is good. Feedback, and interview with a few agents, a live reading of your script... You know... Make sure to do your homework, both in researching the contest, and in evaluating your work. Rarely do contests accept corrected pages so if you send them a script with 100 typos, you'll likely be kicked out in the first round.
Good luck!
- G
So today (now that my rant about skinny jeans is done), I wanted to talk a bit about writing contests.
Some people say that writing contests are just a way for some people to make money. And I guess for some of the sponsors that is true, BUT I think even those contests can offer you a little insight into your writing.
I never enter a contest unless it offers feedback. Feedback is the most important thing you can get your hands on as a writer. If you let your family and friends read what you write, GREAT! but don't expect impartial feedback from them. They will either be overly hard on you, or far too easy on you. Feedback is what will help you develop your story in subsequent re-writes... and there will be many re-writes. I joke on the main the-greenlight.com webpage that I have re-written my script Losing Faith 150 times. Well, I'm currently working through 151. Why? Well because of some feedback I received and some new ideas to punch up the humour. As you grow as a writer go back to your previous work and take a look at it with fresher more experienced eyes. You'll see holes and rough patches that you hadn't noticed before.
My suggestion is that you find yourself a pro. Before I start shipping my scripts off to contests I like to feel that they are as close to perfect as I can get them at the time. (I know I just said I've re-written them 150 times). Find someone who will work with you, and offer you ways out of problem areas. A good reader will point out the weak parts but show you what you've done well because it can act as an example of how you have been clear in your writing and created some strong scenes. They will help you learn from your own success and their experience. Once the two of you have reached the point of exhaustion with a certain project and you both agree that material you have in your hand is really good... Send it out into the world of contests. See what other people, who aren't intimately involved in the creative process have to say. Chances are they will come back with some useful tips and ideas for improvement.
Writing contests are good tools, but they can be quite costly. AND THE WAITING WILL DRIVE YOU MAD!!!!
A few good ideas to make sure you are working with a reputable contest are:
- Submit only to contests that are recommeneded by other people in the industry. I like to use a website called Movie Bytes to find and research contests. But the WGC has posts occasionally for these types of events.
- Follow the submission guidelines to the letter. It sucks to have your script disqualified for a minor issue.
- Try using a service like Without a Box when possible. They will qualify your project and make sure its not missing anything and track your submission for you to make sure it has been received by the contest officials.
- Look for the annoucement in the periodicals they say they will be announcing in or have announced in previously. Some\Most contest say they will annouce the winners in a magazine, or post the results on their website for 6 months etc. Check! See if the previous winners are listed.
- Make sure the cost justifies the return. If they are asking for $75 and all you get is email notification that you've made it to the finals... No good. There are plenty of economy contests that offer feedback, software and publicity to their winners.
Waiting for the deadlines to arrive is grueling. I always try to make the early submission deadline because there is usually a break in the cost of the entry fee. But it makes waiting for results (sometimes up to 8 months) a living nightmare! Because, if you are like me, you are constantly re-writing your work and making it better so by the time the contest roles around you've found 20 funnier jokes, 3 typos, and taken out 2 scenes that made the script lag in the 2nd act. The way I have overcome my writers anxiety for situations like this is to simply forget about them. I put an entry in my calendar that reminds me that I have a deadline coming up and I check the website or keep a more vigilant eye on my email for about a week before the announcement date. AND you do have to watch! I read a review of a contest by its winner who said he had no idea he had won until he received his prize pack in the mail. The contest people had not otherwise contacted him, but when he went to the homepage there was his name in lights! Sooooo... don't completely forget, but put them out of your mind. You know?
Writing Contests are good tools. Look for contests with feedback, and low entry costs. If you go for the high end contests with big entry fees, make sure the return on your investment is good. Feedback, and interview with a few agents, a live reading of your script... You know... Make sure to do your homework, both in researching the contest, and in evaluating your work. Rarely do contests accept corrected pages so if you send them a script with 100 typos, you'll likely be kicked out in the first round.
Good luck!
- G
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Writers Block - Setting the stage
Ok...
So I've been sitting on my hands for the past month. My excuse... HUGE PROJECT at work that is sucking the life out of me, and draining me of any urge to sit in front of my laptop for another second at the end of the day... Good excuse? Yep... A famous poet once said "If poetry comes not as naturally as leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all". Now some of the big writing books will SCREAM from the mountain tops - Writers write... so write something everyday. OK! I have written 36 emails, 3 sets of descriptive instructions on how to open a particular file type, and a grocery list... I'm done.
BUT at the same time, I haven't won any Oscars yet... and I'm dragging my ass through my 3rd script in 7 years...
Bob Moresco on Writers Block
Soooo where's the middle ground? Is there any? Can you write something you wouldn't send to school with your 6 year old and re-write it later? Absolutely. Can you write something you would be embarassed to show your mother it's so bad... Yup! Is that the answer... Write something shitty and clean it up later... Maybe...
I would suggest sticking to the plan. Lay out your script. Plan it from FADE IN: to FADE OUT:. Use the sheets on the-greenlight.com downloads section. Blake Snyder also has some good tools on his page. Including a software program called Save The Cat! Blake Snyder - Homepage
Ok... so you've got the story outlined... you're at your desk (as Mr. Moresco encourages) Now what?
Well, write something...
INT. OFFICE - DAY
A young man in his thirties sits at his keyboard. Time seems to be moving in slow motion and every glance at the clock causes his eye to twitch.
Just as the digital number flips to 5:00pm on the wall clock he launches himself to his feet. PENS and PAPER fly into the air as he dashes from the room.
Maybe not... But here's a thought. If you're really stuck. Your brain is far away from the world you've created. Take a few minutes to think about what type of music you see playing in the background of your movie. Build a playlist in your favourite media player and just listen. Set the stage for yourself, and as the music relaxes you, and brings you back into the environment and mood of your script, I'm sure something will start stirring. Words will magicaly flow from your finger tips and out over the keyboard and soon you'll discover that those 5 pages you wanted to write today were written 20 pages ago and you're on a roll. Just give yourself the tools you need to get it done. My thing is music. Yours might be something else, but the key to beating writers block is to find a way to submerge yourself back into the world you're creating. Find your key to that door and you are set.
Anyway, the clocks a ticking and I am out of here...
Peace & good writing...
- G
So I've been sitting on my hands for the past month. My excuse... HUGE PROJECT at work that is sucking the life out of me, and draining me of any urge to sit in front of my laptop for another second at the end of the day... Good excuse? Yep... A famous poet once said "If poetry comes not as naturally as leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all". Now some of the big writing books will SCREAM from the mountain tops - Writers write... so write something everyday. OK! I have written 36 emails, 3 sets of descriptive instructions on how to open a particular file type, and a grocery list... I'm done.
BUT at the same time, I haven't won any Oscars yet... and I'm dragging my ass through my 3rd script in 7 years...
Bob Moresco on Writers Block
Soooo where's the middle ground? Is there any? Can you write something you wouldn't send to school with your 6 year old and re-write it later? Absolutely. Can you write something you would be embarassed to show your mother it's so bad... Yup! Is that the answer... Write something shitty and clean it up later... Maybe...
I would suggest sticking to the plan. Lay out your script. Plan it from FADE IN: to FADE OUT:. Use the sheets on the-greenlight.com downloads section. Blake Snyder also has some good tools on his page. Including a software program called Save The Cat! Blake Snyder - Homepage
Ok... so you've got the story outlined... you're at your desk (as Mr. Moresco encourages) Now what?
Well, write something...
INT. OFFICE - DAY
A young man in his thirties sits at his keyboard. Time seems to be moving in slow motion and every glance at the clock causes his eye to twitch.
Just as the digital number flips to 5:00pm on the wall clock he launches himself to his feet. PENS and PAPER fly into the air as he dashes from the room.
GORDON
Oh, thank God. It's over! I
can go home and get away from
my laptop!
Oh, thank God. It's over! I
can go home and get away from
my laptop!
Maybe not... But here's a thought. If you're really stuck. Your brain is far away from the world you've created. Take a few minutes to think about what type of music you see playing in the background of your movie. Build a playlist in your favourite media player and just listen. Set the stage for yourself, and as the music relaxes you, and brings you back into the environment and mood of your script, I'm sure something will start stirring. Words will magicaly flow from your finger tips and out over the keyboard and soon you'll discover that those 5 pages you wanted to write today were written 20 pages ago and you're on a roll. Just give yourself the tools you need to get it done. My thing is music. Yours might be something else, but the key to beating writers block is to find a way to submerge yourself back into the world you're creating. Find your key to that door and you are set.
Anyway, the clocks a ticking and I am out of here...
Peace & good writing...
- G
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