Screenwriting

Woo-hoo! Congratulations, writers!

This is excellent news! Congratulations everyone who has script requests and meeting requests. I recognize many names on that list and the thing they all have in common is that they work their butts off and keep pushing their scripts forward. Keep it up everyone and please keep us posted!

Congratulations to all writers!

Sam, thanks for the heads-up...and congratulations to all the writers who earned those requests!

Congrats everyone!

It's important but not a deal breaker. Salary Readers dont care. Wow them with unique execution story & voice.

When I was reading a long time ago, I'd get submissions from CAA, WME, Manager-Producers, and I'd say 40-50% of scripts had weird formatting & typos. But i never said anything about formatting in coverage reports. No reason. The ppl who submitted scripts knew more about making movies than us company Readers.

"It's important but not a deal breaker" and "Wow them with unique execution story & voice." Definitely, Dan MaxXx. Story execution and voice above everything else. I've seen weird script formatting but overlooked it because of the story execution and writer's voice. And sometimes writers (me included) use weird script formatting to enhance action lines and make scripts more attractive/more exciting to read.

Formatting is only an issue if it's a bad script.

Thanks for the update, Matthew Kelcourse.

Three months for human feedback is way too long, especially when you are paying for a service.

I'm in no hurry, Dan MaxXx. There's plenty of others who offer 24 hour feedback for anyone looking for more rapid turnarounds - otherwise The Gauntlet is on cost level with other services with greater exposure potential. So I'm a fan ;-)

GL Matthew, i havent looked in The Gauntlet but what exposure potential are they selling?

$380 to submit: Level 1: script assigned to 7 professional readers for first 20 pages. To compare, S32 has reader/reviews for first 10 pages for $50 (similar costs). Any Gauntlet reader can opt to bring your script to their house/agency if they like it enough. Score 80+ (of 100) in 4/7 and move on to 5 readers in level 2, then 5 in level 3. Up to 17 read/reviews for the one fee. Truckload of feedback with ample exposure. A unique take on opening doors, to be sure; but maybe not what everyone is looking for.

What do you mean with a swap? If you mean "I send comments on your screenplay if you do the same for me", then contact me. English is not my native language so I need help with proofreading. It typically takes me a few days to send my comments on other people's scripts.

Göran Johansson Tonight we're going to look at your pages on my YouTube channel at 7PM Central.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D_P-0TZxok

Will be most interesting.

Dear Preston, Many thanks.

I see. English translation awkward. Dialogue heavy. Dialogue on the nose. Not clear from the first 10 pages who is the main character.

I guess the best thing is if I give other members an offer. "I read your screenplay if you read mine, and I typically send my comments within a few days." Most of those who have sent me network requests are screenwriters with English as their native language. And largely I need help with the English translation, so it should be trivial for others to help me.

You reminded me about one thing. It is popular to only read the first 10 pages. The important scene which I hope will look great in the trailer is in the middle of act 1. So I should put it a few pages earlier.

But you also found it fun to read. Great.

And good luck with your work.

"The important scene which I hope will look great in the trailer is in the middle of act 1. So I should put it a few pages earlier."

... you can do that, nothing wring with it. But.The trailer is mostly about the money scenes, those don,'t have to be scenes that are mainly there to explain the plot and/or main theme. They can play out in the middle of the movie, or whatever part. Not too long ago the main theme should be stated within the first 12 to 15 pages, now it seems Stage32 and most producers want us to believe it should be in the first 10, hey, if it's possible the seccond word that's written should state the theme. That's why films like "The boy in the striped pyjamas" and "Minority Report," were incredibly unsuccessful.

Thanks, will do!

You're welcome, Jane Shebroe. Hope you hear great news!

Hey Jane, I agree with Maurice and just to follow up on that - this also gives your story new momentum. If Dateline is interested that may spark other docuseries and even fiction or true crime producers to take interest. Use this to tease others. It will help.

Watching the Youtube video brought me close to tears, a very depressing story, couldn't end it. It probably should be a movie for so many reasons. I would start writing the screenplay yesterday! Sounds like it should become an Indy movie. I would start looking for a powerhouse director who made a few successful movies in a certain genre, and now is looking for something completely different, challenging, trying to make this tragic story a story of hope.

Thank you so much Rutger! Your feedback and advice in very valuable to me. Everyone says my true story is so engaging; imagine if a professional told the story... (I'm just an amatuer telling this story) it would probably be a blockbuster hit! I will take your advice :)

Are you sure you got that right? It's never taken more than a few weeks for a response from a pitch. If they request a reading and you send them a script that can take months.

It never takes more than a few weeks for a response from a pitch.

Hey Daniel Goudreau - feel free to drop the Success Team a note and let us know which pitches you're waiting on feedback from. Email us at success@stage32.com

Congrats to Tyler!

Fantastic! Bravo Tyler, Harry, and @stage32 !!

Well done Tyler. One key takeaway for me is your ability and willingness to pivot from your original idea to one that checks off all the blocks! Sometimes we fail to pivot, creating unnecessary roadblocks Great job!

Little known fact. No Country was originally a screenplay, which Cormac McCarthy later converted into a novel.

I didnt know that, Eric Christopherson! It just goes to show that you should never give up on an idea that you're passionate about, you may just need to find the right path to move it forward towards your ultimate goal.

Eric Christopherson yea i didn't no that either !! i always thought it was a novel first

Maurice Vaughan right !! and has his own way of rationalizing his own beliefs and philosophies to be right lol

Alicia Vaughan awww come on !! HES TO COOL TO DIE ! (:

If you have a TV Pilot to pitch, don't forget to join this Pitch Tank in the Writers' Room!

Well done, Brian. Looking forward to the remaining sessions.

Loved the class...looking forward to the next sessions.

Hi everyone. Unfortunately due to scheduling conflicts I'm unable to attend the classes live. After watching the replay today and listening to all your amazing projects (I love the variety) I thought I should introduce myself. I'm currently working on a romance/drama/comedy feature script: An untethered stagehand and a world-weary comedian, both in the grips of midlife, spontaneously drive together through outback Australia, falling in love along the way. I'd describe it as the banter of Before Sunrise meets the vibes of Lost in Translation in the Australian outback.

Which brings me to a question for Brian which I thought I would ask here in case someone else if facing a similar problem. For the homework you asked us to write bios for 3 characters, including the antagonist. I'm having problems identifying the antagonist. There is no villain in my story and rather I think the antagonistic force is intrinsic to each character. Neither of them want to let themselves develop feelings for the other because there is a clock on their time together (although this obstacle disappears at the end) and because neither of them think they are deserving of love from their pasts. Does this seem correct? And how would you handle this in the character bios?

Hi Belinda,

Not having a clear antagonist can make the script difficult because everyone in life has goals and without an antagonist it's more difficult to create organic obstacles.

I am not saying it cannot be done, but it is more difficult.

As far as the bios, as they relate to this course, in any story you want as much conflict as possible. You story sounds like one of interpersonal struggles, in some ways that makes the bios more important because there are less external sources acting upon the characters.

Belinda,

Since this is a class on dialogue I would encourage you to consider any and all things that may affect your character's voice.

Where were they born, raised, lived the longest. Do they travel or never left home. Are the educated, intelligent, well read? what was their childhood like? Are they shy? Honest? A narcissist?

What do they do for a living? Are they good at their job?

What is their psychological makeup? Do they have any major flaws? Any special skills? All of these things and many more can affect the voice. The cadence, rhythm, word choice , syntax, verbosity.

I am of the opinion that you cannot know too much about the people who populate your story.

This makes my day to hear!!! Anna is the best

This is great Maurice Vaughan, thanks for sharing!!

Anna is a phenomenal teacher, Sydney Summers. I've learned so much from her on here.

You're welcome, Sam Rivera.

Congrats Matthew! what are you currently writing?

Excellent news, Matthew! Keep it up and feel free to hit me up at success@stage32.com if you need anything!

Amanda Toney - Hi Amanda. Always rewriting (I love getting down to reading dialogue only to nibble away at the expository and unnecessary with action (IMO) that's colorful, descriptive, and tight) while beating out a new grounded sci-fi/sci-fi. I seem to be harping on the dangers of AI recently ;-).

How about you?

Cheers,

Matt

Jason Mirch - Thanks, Jason. So much more writing to do - that's where the fun is :-)

Fantastic, Matthew Kelcourse!! Congratulations!