Screenwriting

Hi Roberta M Roy - Ewan, who commented above, teaches a Stage 32 course on pitch deck fundamentals and execution that I highly recommend (and today is Cyber Monday so it's on sale :)

Here's a link so you can check it out: https://www.stage32.com/classes/Stage-32-4-Part-Class-Pitch-Deck-Foundat...

As the guy(s) below once said, "That is the sound of inevitability." Will attempt to create a pitch deck for one of my scripts, happy to muddle through the process myself (learning curve, self-development etc.). It's handy being able to search for topics on here, and sourcing the helpful links from Maurice and CJ.

What a great thread. Thank you for those links, Maurice Vaughan . Looks like I need to get started on a pitch deck!!

You're welcome, Ben Henning. Glad the links help.

I'll also be running my 8 part Pitch Deck writing lab again starting in July.

Not everyone but I believe most new screenwriters believe their first screenplays are good enough. After they have several under their belt they have to go back and rewrite them. At least that was how it was for me.

Thank you all for your comments. Dan Guardino my first screenplay I was sure would win an Oscar, it was crap.

What I desire now when I ask people to read my work is their emotions, not technically advice. Things like “Why does Harry do that?” or “Judd is a shit, I didn’t like him”. Or good feedback “It fks with your head” why niece gave me that on a thriller I wrote.

That sort of feedback is as close to a test screening as I can get.

You're welcome, Craig D Griffiths.

Dear friends, my situation is similar. If you are willing to read my latest screenplay, you can send me the latest you have written yourself. For mutual reviews. I will try to find your worst error.

In 2014, I directed my first movie. 104 minutes long. A no-budget comedy based on a play I had written. Afterwards, two persons reviewed the film. Both reviews "smelled sulfur and brimstone". I sure thanked both reviewers.

Taika Waititi sometimes writes a script, leaves it for a year, reads it again, throws it away and writes what he remembers (as it'll be the good bits worth remembering). Re-writing is an essential tool for any writer.

Hi James Sutherland. If we’re talking about features, I absolutely think you can pitch and sell to N. American markets from Tokyo (I’m in Prague).

The key is to get a rep (manager) in the market you hope to sell in.

That said, as you noted, if your hope was to sell a series, you’d most likely have to eventually be in LA or NY.

Thanks for the answer and thanks for having the pop-up AMA, Shaun O'Banion.

Is there a market for Fact-based drama (which correct me if I’m wrong, sounds like biographical) at the moment. The huge issue that I’ve been running into lately myself, is putting a lot of work into a project (getting it packaged with talent) just to be told “this is great but nobody is buying this kind of project at the moment”.

Hey Cameron Tendaji - Thanks for the question.

Hollywood is cyclical. Anything that isn’t popular at the moment will come back around. Example… in very recent history, you’d hear, “no WWII projects.” Then we just got Masters of the Air and a film set around Nuremberg is about to roll.

Rom-coms, as you may recall, were considered strictly Netflix-only. Then the movie with Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell opened big, following on the success of the Jennifer Lawrence comedy. Now Rom-coms are back!

We’re out now with a biopic and getting great feedback - BUT we have a film that can be made for a price. Think a $30-$50 million dollar movie for grown-up’s can’t be made? Tell that to Yorgos Lanthimos.

Point is, the old adage “nobody in Hollywood knows anything” is as true now as it ever has been. Studios never know what they want until someone else makes it and it hits. Then they all want to emulate that success until a couple flop and they all get scared again.. Keep developing and packaging the movies YOU want to see. Eventually you’ll find the right time and the right people.

And, by the way, Netflix just announced they are interested in making smaller films for a good price with a greater chance of upside.

Fantastic Shaun O'Banion thank you for your time and the advice!

Sydney Summers am I able to email that email with any questions with anything related to the website?

Way to go, Justin Groats - hopefully you get good feedback but you've already won the game by submitting and believing in your work..

When you say you submitted it, are you saying you submitted it for like staffing opportunities/writing assignments or just feedback in general?

Cameron Tendaji just feedback in general, I am confident in my whole idea, but I want to direct my pitch in the right direction

Hey, Justin! Yes, you can email edu@stage32 with your questions :) I hope you're having a nice day!

I would pitch executives here at Stage 32. It's amazing access and the meeting starts with both parties in sync on why you are meeting. Shoot an email to success at Stage32.com and they can help you navigate to the best exec to pitch. Just my 2 cents.

I think Sam nailed it with that one. Good luck Justin.

Sam Sokolow I got my answer, I can just submit it to anyone, who at least can fit in the criteria of what my material is

Justin Groats i highly recommend doing research on the exec that you’re pitching to. If you’re under the impression that you’re pitching to a person that works for that particular company, sometimes they won’t (or they worked for them in the past and they’re in a completely different company or currently out of work).

Great idea, Frank Van Der Meijden! And your project sounds really intriguing!

You passed close to me.

Göran Johansson Fantastic area where you live.

Jonas Vesterberg I can imagine! My sister in law lives in Lund and I love that town as well now. ;)

It is very kind of you to say that you love the city where I live.

That's a great idea, Rachel Troche! Thanks for sharing, and thanks to your screenwriting mentor for the technique.

Sometimes I'll open Final Draft, write for a few minutes/write a scene, do something else, repeat.

That sounds like a really good suggestion for a schedule, Rachel Troche. That way you're always thinking about the script and don't miss a beat. I do something close to that. Instead, I write out a scene and then get up and do whatever else I need to do. As I'm doing that thing, I'm thinking about the interactions or dialogue for the next scene. By the time I'm done, I've got the next scene fully visualized. This also helps with not sitting for long periods of time.

If you are in production & need something for a DAY soon, and have a writer that can validate script, & working with cast like Leonardo Ramirez suggested play what you are getting over & stay focused. Let's say you're under the gun and writing it yourself contact people in your cast and crew the LEAD and the writer (when it's out their hands)... Set your dialogue in beats Sarah .... Eric ... Sarah ... (that's 1) spend time on page count verses time of shooting & don't rest until it's done, granted the exercise might be a headcase if you must put it down set ALARMS!!

I write using WriterDuet because it has a great interface for iPad and phone. I now write nearly exclusively on an iPad. So where I am I can leverage a few minutes. I am writing this while waiting for my dogs to go to the toilet at 6am Sydney time.

I also believe people make time for important things,

I like your mentor's style, Rachel. Thanks for sharing it. Similar, but without pages, I'll walk through a scene or sequence in my head when away from a screen. At least until I can sit down with it later. Evernote saves me. Nothing worse than cracking a scene, not writing it down and trying to effin' remember what the hell that cool twist was. ;-)

“The golden age of mod TV”- agree. I think we’re seeing some “safe” TV alternatives coming out of the strike but I have talked with some streamer buyers who are still willing to invest in unique stories, it has just pulled back in mass like how it was a couple of years ago.

I don't think we've entered the golden age of Mid TV, Pat Alexander. There are incredible shows out, like "Shōgun." And some people think mid shows are fantastic. It's really about opinion. As for the safe part of Mid TV, some shows do feel like the companies behind them played it safe, but I don’t think it's that way for a majority of the shows.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of great concepts coming out on streamers, with big actors and flashy marketing, but I kind of agree with the author of the article. It's a lot of lukewarm shows and few that really inspire. Guess that's always been the case, but it does feel like the volume of mid (safe) shows is high as its ever been. And there's less truly experimental stuff being put out there. It's that mind-numbingly annoying corporate C-suite way of thinking. Execs would rather fail with something they can easily sell to their CEOs -- "it's like Band of Brothers and The Pacific, with Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan!" -- rather than fail with surreal crime mysteries made by auteurs with visually interesting ideas and something to actually say. To use a baseball metaphor, they're playing small ball and going for walks or singles, instead of bringing in home run hitters and swinging for the fences.

Really enjoyed the article, and tend to agree with the author. Thanks Pat Alexander A sliver of optimism remains every season for me, and I also echo Maurice's comment. This season, Tokyo Vice keeps me confident its not all mid (i will have to watch Shogun!). Yet the only TV I've watched for 2 weeks is another binge of The Larry Sanders Show. That says something to me.

Ian Milne No way, The Larry Sanders Show is what I watch before bed right now every night!

Contests and working for tv & film business is two different worlds. Not sure what you want to hear but every pro occupation where the field is crowded, the best of the best will always get jobs, rise above average talent.

Two successful screenwriters with a huge podcast following, Mazin & August, don't believe in contests. But they're over 60 and established careers before internet script service boom.

My writer-friend from Baltimore is making huge moves as a tv staff writer. Back during covid 2020 when everyone was home, her spec pilot landed in the hands of tv showrunner who was bored at home. Showrunner loved her spec, passed to manager, manager signed her after one phonecall. She got staffed within a year to a streamer tv show 12-eps. Now she is staffed on network primetime tv, 18-22 episodes. Double the work, stress but double the salary.

Two good reasons to participate in a singing contest. 1. If you sing like Elvis. 2. If you think you sing like Elvis and truly don't.