Posts Tagged ‘screenwriting’

Golden Age of Television

Opportunity, access and acclaim.

We’re looking to find the next generation of tv writers, get them a polished range of samples and get the repped. Our prizes are focused on professional development, and include close, personal help getting onto the first step of the ladder.

Grand Prize

For both Spec Scripts & Pilots/Movie of the Week:

• Winner of each category receives $1000.
• All winners and finalists may receive consideration by established production companies and agencies.
• Telephone consult and full script development with Just Effing’s Julie Gray.
• A free studio coverage from Just Effing.com.

Short Script Grand Prize

For any script of 20 pages or fewer:

• Winner receives $500.
• All winners and finalists may receive consideration by established production companies and agencies.
• Telephone consult and full script development with Just Effing’s Julie Gray.
• Free studio coverage from Just Effing.com.

Silver Screenwriting

It’s About Winning. SRSLY.

We’ve put together everything you need to succeed in Hollywood. From flights & accomodation, to meetings with A Listers and producers to a nice fat wad of cash – our prizes are the opportunity of a lifetime to live a real writer’s life in Los Angeles in the heart of the movie industry.

Enter your feature script by June 1st, 2010 and you’ll have a chance to win:

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GRAND PRIZE

• MacBook Air
• Round trip flight to Los Angeles
• Lunch with SHANE BLACK
• A one-on-one conversation via Skype with Chris Sparling, writer of red hot Sundance feature BURIED, starring Ryan Reynolds
• 3 nights accommodations
• A meeting with Kristen Campo, CE, Fuse Entertainment
• A day of meetings with 2 managers
• $3,000  in cash
• Pilar Alessandra’s online workbook
• A free 30 minute phone consult with Karl Iglesias
• A copy of Save the Cat Goes to the Movies PLUS the Save the Cat software package

PLUS: one-on-one script consult with Julie Gray, Founder of The Script Department!

SECOND PRIZE

• TSD Story Notes with Julie Gray
• $500 gift certificate to The Writer’s Store
• Two manager reads of your work
• Two production company reads.
• $1,000 in cash
• A copy of Save the Cat Goes to the Movies

PLUS: one-on-one script consult with Julie Gray, Founder of The Script Department!

THIRD PRIZE

• Free 3 Reader Service from the Script Department
• $250 gift certificate from the Writer’s Store
• “What comes next” phone consultation with Julie Gray
• Two manager reads of your work
• Two production company reads.
• $750 in cash
• A copy of Save the Cat Goes to the Movies

PLUS: one-on-one script consult with Julie Gray, Founder of The Script Department!

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In addition, the Top Ten Finalists will all receive an invaluable, free one year subscription to It’s On the Grid, a cash value of over $3,000!

No pressure or anything! But the final deadline for the Silver Screenwriting Competition is nigh. Like, super NIGH. It’s in one week.*

Give that script one more once over and scan it briefly for typos, dense action lines, etc. As the Psychedelic Furs once said, you can never win or lose if you don’t run the race. So give it a shot and see how you do. There is tremendous validation in placing on any level and let’s not forget the real possibility of actually winning. Somebody is going to win. Might as well be you pocketing cash prizes, setting up your new MacBook Air and enjoying lunch in Hollywood with Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

Toward that end, today between 3pm and 4pm PST I will be available for brief phone chats to answer any questions you may have about your script, the competition or the prizes.

Email me HERE to set up an appointment for today, May 25th, between 3pm and 4pm Pacific.

*Without a Box members have until June 11th

The regular deadline for the Silver Screenwriting Competition looms; in fact, it’s this Saturday, May 15th. Suddenly scripts are pouring in at an alarming rate. Did writers wait til the last minute? Yes, of course. Did the competition deadline spur meeting deadlines and goals? Yes, absolutely. Which is one of the benefits to entering a competition – you feel compelled to finish your script and turn it in on time.

Years ago, I stayed at home and wrote from there. I got a few things published but overall I worked very, very slowly. The days were so wide open and so available to me – as was TV, folding laundry and checking my email – but ironically, I didn’t get that much writing done.

Now, because my time is so crunched, boy howdy, when I DO write? I power write. I get right down to business. Because my template is tighter; I don’t have the hours and days to fritter away because there’s too much else to do.

Writers need some kind of structure. Whether it’s writing at the same time of day or in the same space. We need to set goals and stick to them. If our writing is a moving target, then the achieving of a finished product becomes impossible and ultimately a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Don’t tweak too much and don’t be too attached to the outcome. Send in your best work and then let it go and get back to work on the NEXT project.

Always
Be
Writing!

So you’ve written several scripts, gotten feedback, done your homework, paid your dues and got into three fights with somebody on a message board.  Now I’ll give you the keys to the kingdom. Drum roll, please….

In order of efficacy, here are the best methods for seeking representation:

1) Friend of a friend.
2) Be a competition winner or finalist
3) Query selectively using the HCD
4) The Schwab’s Drugstore Fantasy

FRIEND OF A FRIEND
The friend of a friend is obviously something very few people can take advantage of. But you can cultivate relationships in the business that could lead to a hand-off at some point in the future. You never know. That’s how I got my first manager. But as I look back, it was a long time coming until the stars were aligned and I just so happened to have a good script and it just so happened to be right up that manager’s alley. Luck = timing + opportunity. How can you tip the odds? Network, network, network.

COMPETITIONS
A much more realistic approach is to enter your scripts into competitions. There are many to choose from and by and large, they really are a terrific way to get noticed. I would avoid those contests that run competitions frequently and that don’t seem to have much in the way of industry credibility. In my opinion, some competitions which can really pay off for you are:

The Nicholls Fellowship
The Austin Film Festival
Final Draft Big Break
The Blue Cat Screenwriting Competition
Slamdance
The Silver Screenwriting Competition
Creative Screenwriting Expo Competition

Competition winners will have their work exposed to industry professionals. Some competitions are more illustrious than others – Nicholls comes to mind – but all of these competitions are designed to help launch writers. I urge all my clients to enter as many of these competitions as they can.

QUERYING
This is not the most effective method but hey, if you aren’t a neighbor of Jason Reitman or a friend of a friend of Josh Olsen, you gotta make like the regular people and  buy yourself the latest edition of the Hollywood Creative Directory for agents and managers (it is updated quarterly) or get an online subscription of same. As you flip through the book, have your IMDB at the ready. Read the company descriptions carefully, look up execs and their resumes.

If you are a newer writer, the smaller boutique management shingles are the best place to look. The HCD will include absolutely everybody but there are two things to be very aware of: The long shots and the shysters. A short list of the long shot agencies and management firms would include:

CAA
ICM
WME (William Morris/Endeavor)
UTA
Benderspink

We know that these agencies represent the crème de la crème in both the literary and acting realms. Not the best place for a newbie to come a’ knockin’. Which is not to say you can’t try – just be aware that it would be quite an accomplishment to even get a response to your query through these venues.  Just keeping it real, folks.

The shysters are usually the one-man outfits, usually. With addresses outside of Los Angeles or New York. Yes there are managers and agents in Chicago, Atlanta and Minneapolis; but that’s not where the business is. How effective and connected is a manager who can’t do lunch easily and regularly with potential buyers? As you peruse the HCD, IMDB the principal and see if anything comes up. If you do call or query, absolutely do NOT pay a fee for anything. Some of these unethical charlatans prey on new writers by charging fees to send your work out. These types of people are tempting for new writers because they will pick up the phone more or less immediately, they will talk to you and they will agree readily (most often) to read your material. That’s because they aren’t in the business of making deals – they are in the business of bilking writers. If it’s too good to be true – it probably is.

Do not pay any fees – ever. Believe more highly in your work than to be lured into the grasp of these bottom feeders.

The steps to get representation through querying are quite simple:

1) write a great script
2) then write another one
3) stick with the same genre
4) have a dossier of several great ideas in the form of loglines
5) write a brief, powerful, polite, effective query letter
6) get hold of a Hollywood Creative Directory
7) focus on 10 to 15 agents or managers that seem like a good fit
8) query
9) wait
10) wait more
11) follow up with an email or phone call if you haven’t heard back in six weeks

Pretty simple, right? It actually is. But here is what writers often do – they jump the gun. They query when they only have ONE good script. They don’t get feedback on what they think is a good script and so really have no idea where they stand. They query managers or agents all over town, indiscriminately, without doing any research. They send poorly worded queries with dull loglines and wonder what’s up with the silence.

If a manager or agent likes your query, you should hear back pretty quickly. If they like the read, you’ll hear back quite quickly. They’ll ask you what else you have. They’ll ask you about you – your writing experience, where you live, what competitions you may have placed in.

THE SCHWABS DRUGSTORE FANTASY

Legend has it that Lana Turner was discovered while sipping a soda at Schwab’s Drugstore in Hollywood. And hell, that’s not even true. It was the Top Hat café. See, you just cain’t never believe what you hear. The point being that we’ve all heard stories of an actor or writer being discovered at odd moments or locations. And yes, it can indeed happen. Which is why you should always be prepared to talk about your work. However. The instances of a writer making a profitable connection with a representative or producer while shopping for shampoo are – well – miniscule. If you are doing everything in this list to find representation and then you run into Tom Hanks while you are checking out with your Clairol Herbal Essence – terrific. But don’t count on it.

If your script does well in a competition this season, first of all, congratulations. That means your script was more original and better executed than the majority of other scripts in the same competition. This puts you in the top percentages. And that’s something to be very proud of. And maybe you even meet Shane Black and fly out to Hollywood for some meetings.

But what happens next? Is your phone going to start to ring? And if it does – what can you expect? Does this mean success is knocking at your door? It might. But proceed with caution.

Two things to think about:

One: Please be measured and thoughtful in your response to those who may contact you asking to see the script. Don’t freak out with joy and promise them exclusive rights to your script, all future scripts or your first born child. Don’t make a $1 option agreement with the first person who calls. Don’t be overly flattered; be cool and do a little research. Look up the person on IMDB Pro. What are his or her credits and professional credentials? Where is their office located? This may be a new company which has no credits, but click on the names of the principals; at a different company they probably do have credits of some kind. Or maybe this is a manager or producer who is starting off and is hungry and ambitious. That can work very much in your favor. But take a moment and look people up.

Two: You do have an arsenal, right? More than the one or two scripts you entered this year? Are you writing within the same genre? I hope so. You want to establish yourself as an expert in one genre. Many writers feel that they should write in many genres to prove that they have flexible chops. Don’t do this. It won’t prove anything, it just makes you less marketable. Line up your arsenal and have a look. Do you have another sample ready to send out if requested? Is it in great shape? Now is the time to get some feedback and assurance on your other scripts. A rep who calls and asks for more samples will be greatly turned off if it turns out the competition winning (or placing) script was your best work and that, in other words, you do not have “legs” as a writer.

So as you ready to turn in your script to competitions this year, make sure that while you wait for the results, you are hard at work on the next script. And the next one.

You know you do it. You compulsively tweak your script. A little here a little there, you can’t leave it alone. You go back through the pages and change dialogue. And change it back. And fix an action line. And fix it back. But then the real trouble begins. You tweak something on page thirty-two which necessitates changing something on page seventeen. And page forty-nine. Now you’re done. Time to send that script off to a competition, consultant, friend – whoever. But wait – one more tweak r-i-g-h-t here…

When does a writer know when to leave well enough alone? Make sure that every time you open your script you have an actual goal in mind. Maybe you are in the midst of adding new scenes, aka actually completing your script. Maybe you just got some notes and you’re addressing the pertinent sequences. Maybe you’re just rereading it one last time and OH LOOK there’s something to tweak.

The problem with tweaking ad infinitum is that you can’t see the forest for the trees. Yes, tweaking can improve your pages, but if you do it compulsively, sort of like chewing a fingernail, you can actually damage your script and/or just be wasting your valuable time. Because your time is very valuable, as a screenwriter. Anyone can go back through and rearrange punctuation, but what actually improved and shifted in your last session with your script?

So before you open your script for the day, ask yourself: what is the goal of this writing session? Am I tweaking here and there but ultimately getting the work done? Or am I stalled out in tweak-mode? In many ways, tweaking is the way screenwriters justify to themselves that they are working on the script so lay off! But – it’s a little lie they tell themselves because they aren’t actually being productive at all.

Getting notes for free (or cheap) from message board types can be heaven and it can be hell. Some who offer free notes really are quite good at it – and others – well, they aren’t very experienced.

Bad note givers are totally SUBJECTIVE. They give their opinion based on what they like and how they would write this story. But it’s not their story. They make overt suggestions ala what THEY would do if the story were theirs. Sometimes they’ll change or suggest dialogue to the way they would like to see it written. Cardinal no-no.

Bad note givers have an unearned sense that they KNOW what is good and what is bad. And usually this vibe comes across in the notes. Ergo, bad note givers put the writer on the defensive.

Because some free note giver on a message board offers to give you notes doesn’t mean that they’ll be bad – or good. The stumbling block is that you’ll be on the defensive very quickly because the free note giver has very little experience doing this. So the jumping off point is dysfunctional; they aren’t experienced, so they have no authority in your view, and you’ll get defensive and they might be too subjective…and the whole experience can be a mess.

Free notes are hit or miss. The problem is that if they are a miss, the writer is left with a feeling of having been judged by someone not qualified to judge them…and even if there were salient points, they will not hear those points. It’s like I said about the spoonful of sugar.

Giving good notes is like being a therapist – oh, sure, the therapist sits there in their cashmere scarf sipping tea, all curled up in their chair and they seem very ordinary – they don’t discuss your issues with you from a technical standpoint – they get you comfortable but while you’re talking, they’re running your issues through their Psychology Degree Learning Background and searching for and addressing issues that have distinct jumping off points from an academic point of view. But when they talk to you, they put it in such a way that makes you feel comfortable. Something good is happening in this interaction but it’s beneath the surface. If they asked you questions more directly, you’d shut down and now the session is useless. It’s about how to get people to open up and hear you.

Free (and bad) note givers don’t have enough experience working with writers to use this methodology. They may (or may not) have some good points to make on the script but they don’t know how to deliver that information in such a way that the writer feels empowered. And though they’d never admit it in a million years, they get ego-gratification about pointing out what’s wrong with your script because somewhere deep inside there’s a little voice saying I could do this better than you.

A professional reader doesn’t have that voice because they just don’t care enough. They don’t know you, they have nothing invested in who’s a better writer. It’s a job. On a message board, there’s sometimes a weird, gossipy thing that goes on where someone offers to give you notes, and then they can sort of say on the board, in hushed tones – Oh, I read that script – it really isn’t that great. It’s one-upmanship. Professional readers aren’t into that. They aren’t going to go to CURLYGIRL3 and say Hey, did you know that FOXYCHICK isn’t a very good writer? Did you know that? She posts so much about her accomplishments but she’s really not that great!

A lot of writers can fall into one-upmanship. It happens. A writer is getting traction on a script and suddenly everyone wants to read it. Know why this happens? Not because they are truly curious as to what makes a script gain traction but because they secretly want to say – Oh. It’s not really that great. I have NO idea why that script is at William Morris. Hmmph.

Free notes can be a nice thing to receive but please, please consider the source. And if you OFFER to give free notes, ask yourself this – what is your agenda? Can you set aside your ego and just be honest? Are you really qualified to do this? I mean, sometimes a person will say hey, I just want your knee-jerk opinion. Did you laugh? Did you like it? Well, just about anybody is qualified to do that and that’s a nice thing. But do check in with your motivation on giving or receiving free notes. If you are getting the notes, are you secretly looking for praise or respect? If you are giving them are you secretly hoping to establish that YOU are the better writer?

Seven signs that your super cool free read was a very bad idea:

1) You feel defensive and upset.

2) The notes contain snarky comments and put-downs.

3) The person who offered is a blowhard on your local message board.

4) The notes are specific, not global and the reader offered advice that you dislike.

5) The person uses the word “I” a lot. (I liked this. I didn’t like that. I would do this. I wouldn’t do that.)

6) The person actually rewrote or suggested dialogue.

7) The person made plot suggestions that do not fit and spin the script in a totally new direction.

So (non) buyer beware. Free notes are a blessing and a curse. You need to vet who’s offering. And you need to check in with yourself – can you set your ego aside? Can you take what makes sense and dump the rest? Do you respect this person? Do they know a lot about screenwriting or do they just claim to give totally honest feedback? I will be totally honest with you is often a code for: I’ll rake you over the coals to make myself feel better. Believe it. I’ve been on the receiving end of that and I do think that experience in some ways led me to my current philosophy that giving notes must be done in such a way that it is respectful and palatable. Because if I’m going to take the time to read your script I want you to get something out of it.

Screenwriters! Our scriptwriting competition is a contest like no other. In our neverending quest to make you a better writer, The Script Department and Julie Gray created the most effective  screenwriting competition for writers. Even with over $13,000 in prizes, we reward our entrants with something even more precious than silver or gold — a chance to kick-start a career. 

In this, our third year of existence, The Silver Screenwriting Competition has so far welcomed a record-breaking number of scripts and we love it! So much so that we had to extend our deadline to June 1st!

We’ve also raised the bar because this year, the top ten finalists will be judged both by Julie Gray AND by Kristen Campo, CE at Fuse Entertainment. Kristen will also be taking a meeting with the Grand Prize Winner.

See what last year’s winner, Kodjo Akeseh Tsakpo had to say about his amazing week in Los Angeles, meeting Steve Faber (WEDDING CRASHERS) Josh Zetumer (THE BOURNE IDENTITY) and Jeff Bushell (BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA) to name only a few!

Check out the grand prize for 2010!

GRAND PRIZE

• MacBook Air
• Round trip flight to Los Angeles
• Lunch with SHANE BLACK
• A one-on-one conversation via Skype with Chris Sparling, writer of red hot Sundance feature BURIED, starring Ryan Reynolds
• 3 nights accommodations
• A meeting with Kristen Campo, CE, Fuse Entertainment
• A day of meetings with 2 managers
• $3,000 in cash

Submit today for the chance to come to LA, kick-start your career by building relationships, and experience what it feels like in the day of a life of a writer in Hollywood.

For questions you may have about how to enter or more descriptions of our awesome prizes, please email us HERE. Be patient, you guys are going nuts this year!

Bet on Blood (horror) by Patrick Barb
Endowment (drama) by Ian Samplin
Everlasting (drama) by Brent Spencer and Jonis Agee
Horror Comic (thriller) by Stephen Hoover
Inugami (thriller) by Rich Figel
Life Among the Ruins (heist thriller) by Anthony Fisher
Shift (thriller) by Kodjo Akeseh Tsakpo
The Great American Loser (dramedy) by Jess DiGiacinto
The Happiness Experiment (dramedy) by Alex Darrow
Way to the Cage (drama) by Richard Michael Lucas