Screenwriting : The Good And Bad News For Writers by Clare McGlinchey

interesting. the bad news is at pitch sessions, they want to hear the IDEAs. you don't have time to impress them with story. sigh. thanks for this, though! I agree that in the end, the story is where it's at.

I agree that pitch sessions are all about ideas. I also feel that many people on the other end of the pitch session wouldn't know a marketable idea if it bit them on the nose.

I sure wish somebody had told me in the BEGINNING the most important thing is the PITCH. In other words, all that work literally comes down to 10 minutes of stressful clock clicking time trying to express exactly what you think "they" want.. Aren't there any actors out there who want to pretend to be me for 15 grueling minutes?

@Preston Have you heard of the NLP programming which is said we all are programmed this way? It says it all depends on which 'channel' you 'receive' what's getting on around you and 'send' by talking in a certain way. The channels we use are our five senses (listening, smelling, tasting, feeling and watching). We all have one favorite channel on which things reach us, touch us. Mine for example is the emotional. Each single of these 5 channels/senses is active when you get something presented, of course, but only one reaches your heart and those ideas who come via this 'line' are kept in your memory. Now imagine you have 1-3 or more producers, managers, directors sitting on the other side. Each with a personal favorite channel how to reach them - in a way they get your idea. But then, also the one who presents uses these channels while talking - by the words he uses to describe something. Subconsciously you use the keywords of your favorite channel. So, for example: when I describe you this here, I use keywords for the emotional channel. Like 'reaching the heart', touching, feelings, imagine how it must feel for the other ones (I just went through what I wrote so far). You are doing the same when pitching an idea - and of course in all other situations of your life. So, the only thing to reach a person you don't know is to present your idea with keywords of all 5 senses/channels. By this you reach everybody. This is difficult, but: on stage32 we learn how to prepare for a pitching in general and I will use this additionally for sure when I pitch one day. That's a lot of work, because you have to train yourself to describe your idea in a way you usually wouldn't do it and learn these 'keywords' - but if it works and sells... ;) ...why not?

Richard Walter is cool, and I'm very grateful that Clare posted this, but is he always right? The King's Speech is not a very good idea, but the story is? I don't know if you can name the idea of making a film about a real story, a personal destiny, an IDEA for a story. I hope I express this right, you know I mean the idea actually is that you want to tell something that really happened. How can that be a bad idea? It's only a bad idea when the story is boring. But the story isn't boring. To tell about someone who had to master an extreme challenge and overcome a weakness while the world was watching and listening is an interesting story. No matter who it was. That this was the second Prince of England who felt secure behind his father and brother and then suddenly was in front line and became King is only the cream on it, the thing which sells this story for sure. From my point of view. I like Richard Walter's incredible sister Jessica very much.

There is some truth to the notion that what we put out there in the world is reflected back. I feel NLP programming is a gimmick, and I feel that the notion that all we must do to change the world we live in is to change ourselves is foolhardy. Back to the topic at hand, the industry has been known to lack vision, particularly for newcomers with new ideas. I reject the notion that these people are better judges of beauty than I am. They do represent a collection of individuals who have achieved some level of success with certain ideas. They often go out and seek ideas that are similar to the ones where they have achieved success which promotes formulaic thinking. Formulaic thinking stifles art in favor of what is known. I oppose the elevation of gatekeepers to judgers of the artist. They are stretched as it is simply to pass judgement on the commercial value of the art. Promoting the culture of judging the artist: "Needs more energy"/ "Long winded" / "Needed too much prompting" damages the entire process. I have no desire to participate in the artist equivalent of a beauty pageant. (Good script open, but can the writer be warm and presentable in swimwear?) I am here to make art and find people who want to help me in that endeavor. As such it is a co-laboration between myself and other individuals who are excited about the idea. If I find people who are excited about this idea, then awesome. If I don't, that's fine too. But let us not get carried away with judging my performance when really the essence of the process is co-laboration which is the responsibility of multiple parties.

Thanks for that Clare, that great info

Preston - love what you said, "I oppose the elevation of gatekeepers to judgers of the artist. They are stretched as it is simply to pass judgement on the commercial value of the art." I think our real problem as screenwriters is that we chose to work in a very commercial dollar oriented business. It would be wonderful if someday there was group-funded means by which we could produce our work our way and then put it out online (i.e. independent films) and let the public decide. Of course we wouldn't make any money....