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How do you go about getting your meetings?
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Jun 2, 2014 22:03
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hotsoupdinner posted:I have two pilot scripts that I've been polishing lately until they shine. And I have a couple "elevator pitches" for other series. Would you suggest I crack a third pilot or just cultivate more concepts? I am not qualified to give advice on anything ever but the answer to this question is almost certainly "both."
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Jun 2, 2014 22:47
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hotsoupdinner posted:I have two pilot scripts that I've been polishing lately until they shine. And I have a couple "elevator pitches" for other series. Would you suggest I crack a third pilot or just cultivate more concepts? Depends. How similar are your pilots? Are you writing half hour comedies or hour long dramas? With dramas it helps to diversify. For example, it might be nice to have a straight drama, a fantasy/genre, and a procedural so that you can go up for a multitude of shows. If you're writing half hour comedies, two might be enough if you're confident in them. Your time might be better spent cultivating ideas, or differentiating yourself in another way. It's tough getting staffed on comedies -- your competition is John Lutz from 30 Rock. He got hired as an entry level staff writer on a new show this fall. How stale are your scripts? Has your entire network read them? Finishing a new script is a great excuse to reach out to your contacts (within a reasonable timeframe). Slim Killington posted:How do you go about getting your meetings? Mostly through your agent/manager. They'll get information straight from the studios during staffing and pitching season that will help influence where you might meet. They'll also hear which production companies are looking to setup generals (first dates where nothing is really pitched other than yourself as a likeable person). You might scrounge up a general through your own network, but your agent/manager will have to reach out on your behalf to set it up anyway. As for getting an agent or manager in the first place, that's the
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Jun 2, 2014 23:17
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Has anyone submitted to the BBC Script Room open calls before? I sent in my children's comedy yesterday. It's the first live-action script I've written, although I have done comic scripts and a children's novel before, as well as a bunch of unpublished fiction. I'm not expecting much, but making it past the first cull (10 pages read) would be pretty great! It was a really interesting change of format, and a lot of the advice in this thread was invaluable, so thanks!
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Jul 8, 2014 08:36
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SuBeCo posted:Has anyone submitted to the BBC Script Room open calls before? I sent in my children's comedy yesterday. It's the first live-action script I've written, although I have done comic scripts and a children's novel before, as well as a bunch of unpublished fiction. I'm not expecting much, but making it past the first cull (10 pages read) would be pretty great! Yes. I submitted a Children's Drama script. I also submitted to the previous Script Room (Comedy) as a co-writer. I'm aiming to hit as many of them as come by because why not? I guess thinking episodically is a bit different to what I'm used to, and it's surprisingly more draining to do that and write the script to the first episode than to just write the first episode cold. I've written scripts before, but only in the past few months have I been writing for briefs really. Before I was writing sketches or short student films. I believe the next one is Radio/Stage. I'm not quite sure what to do with it but I really like writing for radio so I'm sure I'll come up with something. I would be up for discussing Script Rooms as a regular thing in this thread if there are many people who submit to them in this thread.
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Jul 10, 2014 02:59
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I submitted a screenplay last year but I don't realy see much point in the Writer's Room these days. The most you're going to get out of it is a couple of writing classes and as I already use a realy good script consultant I'm not sure they would be a lot of use.
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Jul 10, 2014 17:55
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I figure, if you do well enough it might be enough to get that coveted recommendation that all the agents ask for. Or if not a recommendation, at least something you can mention in a cover letter to try and skate by the referral requirement. Or am I begin really naive here? I also thought they had picked up some shows from writers room submission in the past - Wolfblood, Worst Day of My Life Again - is that completely off the cards with the new genre window system? PoshAlligator - have you heard back yet from the comedy window? Twisted Perspective - How long did responses take when you did it?
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Jul 11, 2014 00:21
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Zypher posted:Sure. The working screenwriters I know all have portfolios that are almost exclusively originals. And the agents, managers, and showrunners I know prefer reading originals because they're busy, have a lot of reading to do, and would rather be entertained by something new and original than read about the same characters over and over again. Thanks immensely for this. I'm working on a portfolio of screenwriting stuff to pitch around myself (I entered a screenwriting contest a few months ago and decided to put my Bachelor's for screenwriting to good use -- or try to).
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Aug 10, 2014 02:30
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I'm curious to see if anyone wants to read a beat sheet that I just finished. It's the third draft of it, I've been working on it for about a month now on and off, when the inspiration strikes me. I'm really happy with this one and I think I'm eventually going to keep writing it until one day, it hits the big screen.
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Aug 12, 2014 02:57
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screenwritersblues posted:I'm curious to see if anyone wants to read a beat sheet that I just finished. Yes.
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Aug 15, 2014 21:23
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screenwritersblues posted:I'm curious to see if anyone wants to read a beat sheet that I just finished. It's the third draft of it, I've been working on it for about a month now on and off, when the inspiration strikes me. I'm really happy with this one and I think I'm eventually going to keep writing it until one day, it hits the big screen. I wouldn't mind giving it a read and giving some feedback. Need to keep my story structure skills sharp.
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Aug 15, 2014 22:03
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I'm transitioning from screenwriting to production, and it's starting to inform the way I write. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing; I'm hoping for good.
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Aug 18, 2014 02:18
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Max22 posted:Yes. hotsoupdinner posted:I wouldn't mind giving it a read and giving some feedback. Need to keep my story structure skills sharp. Drop me a line at missed it and I'll send you the link. I don't really want to post it here out in the open. screenwritersblues fucked around with this message at 21:07 on Aug 18, 2014 |
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Aug 18, 2014 04:28
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screenwritersblues posted:Drop me a line and I'll send you the link. I don't really want to post it here out in the open. Sent. Looking forward to it.
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Aug 18, 2014 04:51
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I'm trying to work on my logline for a piece. So far I have; 'A young woman must pull herself through PTSD to investigate the disappearance of the policeman who failed her,' 'A young woman must push through her PTSD to investigate the disappearance of the policeman who failed her,' or maybe; 'A young woman must face her recent trauma to investigate the policeman who failed her, and determine if he is a murderer, or a victim'. Clunk clunk clunk. I'm awful at these. I'm going for a character driven thriller. 'Unwilling to forgive him and unable to forget what he caused, a young woman is dragged into investigating the disappearance of a disgraced policeman, hoping it is her chance to gain peace'. Edit: 'A young woman beats her head against her keyboard trying to create a logline that is concise but not crap. Half the keys destroyed by her forehead, how will she finish?' Lethemonster fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Aug 19, 2014 |
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Aug 19, 2014 00:18
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Lethemonster posted:I'm trying to work on my logline for a piece. So far I have; Maybe something to do with what caused the PTSD? "A young woman must overcome PTSD to investigate the disappearance of the police officer who failed to protect her from ___."
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Aug 19, 2014 00:53
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Lethemonster posted:I'm trying to work on my logline for a piece. So far I have; Your idea sounds really interesting but I'm always wary when people throw PTSD about as it's a very serious condition and should not be treated lightly. If you are serious about tackling the subject I hope you've researched it first. As for the log line I think you've pretty much got it as good as it's going to get. How about "A young woman must overcome her trauma to investigate the disappearance of the policeman who failed her." ?
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Aug 19, 2014 01:46
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Lethemonster posted:I'm trying to work on my logline for a piece. So far I have; I always try to fit a logline into this airtight format to make sure it works before I start jazzing it up and making it original: "When [inciting incident happens], a [protagonist descriptors] must [action of the script], or else [stakes]." For you, it sounds like it would be something like "When a disgraced policeman disappears, a young woman must face her past traumas to track him down, or else she may never know the truth about what happened to her." I'm sort of guessing on the stakes since your other loglines don't have it... But they should!
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Aug 19, 2014 01:57
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I suck at taglines but my gut is saying you should focus less on what the young woman is dealing with and more with what happened. I'm having trouble coming up with an example that doesn't sound sexist or nonsensical. 'A young woman struggles to find out what happened to the man who was sworn to protect her' 'To heal, a young woman must find out what happened to the cop who failed to protect her' How did the cop fail her and why would she search for him after he disappeared? Is it because the cops are looking at her as a murder suspect? Is there some type of preexisting relationship?
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Aug 19, 2014 02:06
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I'm planning it as a mini series. She was instrumental in catching a serial killer (arsonist) before the current story opens, but during those events the policeman decided she was involved instead of trying to help (Knew things she shouldn't, etc). He stopped doing his job properly, determined to catch her doing something, and in doing so more let people people die, culminating in the killer catching and trying to burn alive the heroine. I've done a lot of research on PTSD, before I began writing this, for various personal reasons. It's also an important factor in the plot, as a lot of it is actually about she responds to the people she meets when she visits the place he disappeared from. She also has a fair few things on her conscience from the arsonist case. I was actually having a hard time writing the log line and not making it sound like the policeman had done something physical or sexual to the main character and that was her traumatic event. I don't know if some early ones actually came across that way, or if it's just me being overly wary of making her sound like a 2-D victim. Thanks for responses. I get stupidly nervous trying to show anyone anything; even loglines to strangers on the internet.
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Aug 19, 2014 11:46
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Lethemonster posted:I'm planning it as a mini series. I'm going to guess that not many of us have experience with miniseries or writing miniseries since they generally don't sell unless there are big names attached. But something that might be helpful on the TV front is to write a "premise" for your show in addition to a logline. A premise is basically a longer logline that explains what is going to happen every week on your show. List the show's format, genre, and what happens every week. Formats are half-hour comedy, or hour-long drama. Also include whether the story is procedural, serialized, or a hybrid. A quick and dirty example is, "My show is an hour-long, serialized, suspense thriller about..." Then flesh that line to a paragraph, "Every week the main character [active verbs] in order to..." Then start writing a series proposal. Add some paragraphs about setting, tone, characters, pilot plot, themes, episode loglines, and possible season arcs. Series proposals are how a lot of shows are sold these days. If an exec likes the proposal, you get to pitch it. The thing about TV loglines is that you're not writing a logline for a pilot, you're writing a logline for a series. It needs to be sustainable as a story told over several hours. Try to look up examples of series proposals online. The one for True Detective is amazing in addition to being the closest thing to a miniseries. It describes the first season of the show perfectly and the effort and level of work that went into it is very evident. It's easy to see why it was sold even as a format that is a hard sell. By all means start with a good logline, but if you're really series about writing it as a TV series, then making a good proposal really focuses your writing
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Aug 22, 2014 03:23
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I'm not in a good place with scriptwriting right now. Is "Doctors" still the go-to UK show for trying to get something commissioned as a new writer?
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Aug 22, 2014 03:39
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I'm reading through 'Save the Cat' at the moment and I don't know if I should persevere with it. On the one hand I am interested in reading how people get their work done, tips they've learnt, etc. But on the other he frequently references scripts of his, and there isn't a single one so far that doesn't sound like the shittiest idea put to paper. He describes them all as hilarious and brilliant but good god they sounds like the predecessors to 'Vampires Suck' et al. The book would be fine if he never mentioned his own stuff but I'm beginning to resent taking advice from someone who's work sounds awful. Is it worth continuing to read for the extra perspective on writing or should I move onto better books?
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Aug 26, 2014 22:11
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Lethemonster posted:I'm reading through 'Save the Cat' at the moment and I don't know if I should persevere with it. On the one hand I am interested in reading how people get their work done, tips they've learnt, etc. But on the other he frequently references scripts of his, and there isn't a single one so far that doesn't sound like the shittiest idea put to paper. He describes them all as hilarious and brilliant but good god they sounds like the predecessors to 'Vampires Suck' et al. Sure, Blake Snyder's ideas sound awful on paper, but they look like sheer anti-comedy in motion.
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Aug 26, 2014 22:22
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Lethemonster posted:Is it worth continuing to read for the extra perspective on writing or should I move onto better books? You'd be better off reading actual scripts and trying to learn that way but if you had to read a book, I'd recommend Writing in Pictures by Joseph McBride. He avoids the whole 'this is the only way to write' authoritarian style voice that most screenwriting books have.
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Aug 26, 2014 23:11
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Lethemonster posted:Is it worth continuing to read for the extra perspective on writing or should I move onto better books? It's a short book, you might as well finish it, since you're already in it. It might not help the actual quality of your writing at all, but the beat-sheet structure is well-understood by every development person in Hollywood, whether they think it's good or bad. If you're trying to write marketable material to sell to a studio or even an independent company, it can't hurt to understand the frame in which your potential buyers will view it. For the record, I loved Blank Check as a kid. Sumo suits are at the top of my Get Rich, Buy This list.
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Aug 26, 2014 23:24
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Call Me Charlie posted:You'd be better off reading actual scripts and trying to learn that way but if you had to read a book, I'd recommend Writing in Pictures by Joseph McBride. He avoids the whole 'this is the only way to write' authoritarian style voice that most screenwriting books have. I've read every script I can get my hands on, I just like reading books too. Easier to carry about. I will check that one out too, thank you.
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Aug 27, 2014 00:40
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Writing Movies for Fun and Profit is the best. It tells you how to get a movie made [KEEP YOUR EXECUTIVE FROM BEING FIRED!]
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Aug 27, 2014 02:07
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Golden Bee posted:Writing Movies for Fun and Profit is the best. It tells you how to get a movie made [KEEP YOUR EXECUTIVE FROM BEING FIRED!] Will that book help me to write movies for both fun and profit?
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Aug 27, 2014 02:36
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PoshAlligator posted:Will that book help me to write movies for both fun and profit? He mistyped the title. Writing Movies For It's actually a funny book about the Reno 911 guys journey in screenwriting including them getting kicked off Herbie: Fully Loaded (a picture they pitched to be rebooted) because the junior executive who was assigned to the project wanted Herbie to smile and how the remake of Taxi (which they only took to meet Luc Besson) was one of the highest rated movies ever in test screenings and how everybody in Hollywood thought they had a mega hit on their hands (until it tanked at release)
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Aug 27, 2014 03:01
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Call Me Charlie posted:He mistyped the title. Writing Movies For It also has a list of ALL the In-And-Outs in Southern Cal, which is a very good way to add an extra chapter to a book.
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Aug 27, 2014 05:48
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Any tips on how to FIND writers? I work at a video game company and we're having a hard time finding experienced writers who play video games and can produce the kind of writing we want. Some of our best writers come from a TV background but we grabbed them from our personal networks and now that well is dry  .
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Aug 28, 2014 07:54
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Lucubrations posted:Any tips on how to FIND writers? I work at a video game company and we're having a hard time finding experienced writers who play video games and can produce the kind of writing we want. Some of our best writers come from a TV background but we grabbed them from our personal networks and now that well is dry Twitter? Writers who network with other writers on there, and just follow the chains while boosting your own social network signal. Alternatively just PM/email me and I'll do it.
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Aug 28, 2014 13:32
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Lucubrations posted:Any tips on how to FIND writers? I work at a video game company and we're having a hard time finding experienced writers who play video games and can produce the kind of writing we want. Some of our best writers come from a TV background but we grabbed them from our personal networks and now that well is dry What kindof writing do you want? Gimme a games references for the type of story or characters you're looking for, I am intrigued.
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Aug 28, 2014 14:19
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Lucubrations posted:Any tips on how to FIND writers? I work at a video game company and we're having a hard time finding experienced writers who play video games and can produce the kind of writing we want. Some of our best writers come from a TV background but we grabbed them from our personal networks and now that well is dry Yeah, if I wasn't a little certain that it would just annoy you (I've got maybe one screenplay in my portfolio) I'd ask where I could apply.
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Aug 28, 2014 14:38
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Lucubrations posted:Any tips on how to FIND writers? I work at a video game company and we're having a hard time finding experienced writers who play video games and can produce the kind of writing we want. Some of our best writers come from a TV background but we grabbed them from our personal networks and now that well is dry Send me a PM or email me at username @gmail.com edit: I should clarify that I'm not advertising for myself, but rather can steer you towards professional writers that might be a good fit. If you reach out, it'd help to have some details about the project and its scope. Zypher fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 15:12
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The answer for how to find writers is to post about it here.
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Aug 28, 2014 15:12
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Agreed. As a represented writer but non-WGA member (as of this time), I'd love to hear what you need. AdamUltraberg @ gmail
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Aug 28, 2014 18:30
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Lucubrations you are such a tease! What did you expect to happen? I think it's only fair you post a job spec here now.
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Aug 28, 2014 22:16
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Does it count for anything that I interned at a video game company as a writer? PM me or signpostchicago @ gmail[dot]com as well and I can send you my résumé. As "resume" is something you do to unpause your video game. See, I already know the lingo going in. Also, I am looking for structural advice on short 15-20 minute films. Short films always seem so kitchy or almost like a joke: quick set-up, punchline. My work is more character based, which lends itself to longer pieces. Anyone have any advice or even great short films to point me towards that exemplify character based short works?
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Aug 29, 2014 15:08
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