Screenwriting

stop the presses- Jason Effin Mirch???? God are you a sight for sore eyes. Lovely to see you.

Agree, Laurie. So happy you're back, Jason.

Pat Alexander positivity is good. But being overly positive/optimistic is a disservice to writers. Realistically positive is the best option in my opinion. It’s not naysaying. I think honesty/transparency has such an aversion that it’s labeled as negative lol.

Pat Alexander imagine that, execs actually doing their jobs.

I couldn't agree more, Jason Mirch! You have to stay in someone's orbit!

Glad the notes were so helpful, Leonardo Ramirez! Thanks for the recommendation. I'm definitely gonna keep Clayton Conroy on my radar.

Super helpful, Maurice Vaughan. The man can read right through the script to its heart. By far, one of my fav coverage people if not THE fav.

Great to hear you had such a positive experience, Leonardo Ramirez! This is the goal of all the Stage 32 script services. We're big fans of Clayton because he is not only immensely talented as a professional he is also an all around great supporter of writers.

And congratulations to you for writing such a remarkable project! Your hard work is paying off and it shows. Keep it up my friend!

Thanks so much Jason Mirch. Means a lot.

Love love love, Leonardo Ramirez! =)

Pete Conrad I love that analogy and I’ll try and remember it as I write thank you

Has anyone ever had this happen... Reader " I passed on your script because from the start I knew exactly where it was going".... Reader "I passed on your script because from the outset I had no idea where it was going"...

I haven't had that happen, Phil Stubbs, but from the first comment it sounds like the script is predictable/lacks surprises and twists. From the second comment it sounds like the reader was confused by what was going on in the script.

Abi Baumann - (I LOVE that name by the way! - I am ALWAYS looking for names to use) anyways - I understand! I sent my work in, scared to death, for the first time. I wanted notes, help, ideas,. What I got back was terrible! Full of mean hearted, non helpful lecturing (I paid for by the way) on how the process works, which yes I knew but I had to get my story out to see if it worked, if it flowed. I was allowed to send 5 out of 8 episodes, with a time limit on the "special" price , and I even put in my notes the last few episodes were not overly proofread yet. Should they have been - yes that was on me but... I did not need the page and a half lecture on it either. That would came AFTER the writing was more complete - why pay for it more than once. I was disenchanted to say the least. BUT here I still am. Pushing on still. I took ,the notes accepted them, took the good, negative and helpful parts , dug in and did some more work on my writing. The negative were fine - just not the lecture and nasty opinions that really did not speak to the writing or story at all.. Not what I was paying for the service to get back. When I was ready once again, I relooked, and found a new person to help me who is AMAZING! I have torn my Pilot apart several times - ideas change and grow, and some totally die. As I work, better and stronger ideas take over. It's all good - part of the process.

I've had two wildly divergent "experts" say the opposite things on one of mine. One liked it and another didn't. Neither wanted to explore working on it to get it made. It's all opinion and subjective, as with any person who judges a work of art. Van Gogh never sold anything while alive. Now he's the highest priced artist. The industry seems to be built on connections. The "A rated scripts" often seem seriously flawed to me. But there is an "A list cast" or director attached. So it gets made.

Travis Seppala Pretty much, but I'm typically writing on contract so that's a different beast, especially when the director and the producer both have different visions. Add a character, take out one of the mains...the budget! Ack! But even on my specs, I'm not much of a rewriter. I wrote a feature script in 3 weeks at the request of my agent so she could pitch to one of her connections. Anyhow, that fell through so I submitted to a couple contests and was a finalist in a couple and a nominee for the Christian Content Media awards (top 3). I got beat out by my old professor so that's okay ha.

The changes I've now made to it were at the request of a producer I'm working with on developing it.

PS I will sometimes if nothing is happening with the script, will re-read it and see if there needs to be any changes. But I usually have to put it down for a month or 2 before I do that.

Cannon Rosenau I'm a firm believer that the first draft of everything sucks. (it's even a chapter in my book! lol) My process once I have a first draft is to let it sit for a month, then read it and mark it up with notes, create a draft 2, then get as many people as I can find (writers, non-writers, men, women, those with and without ties to the material, etc) to read and give me their notes, then use those notes and another pass of my own to come up with a draft 3. That's the draft I go out with.

Yeah the first draft for me is kinda painful and for some reason I always top out at around 90-100 pages... not that much really considering so much will change. But then the rewrite period really gets fun for me delving into each act, the arc structure, more depth of character, their desires, their voices etc... the second act is really the toughest aspect for me I gotta say. I'm pretty natural with dialogue and scenes; its just the whole damn structure thing that is so painful. I can set up the world nicely when I have a concept and build up the barriers holding back the protag from moving from the old world (Act I) into the new world (Act II) but then it's the dreaded 60-pages or so of the second act before we get into the Act III and the resolution... throwing everything but the kitchen sink in the way of their goals... I do break Act II into two separate acts, so play with a 4-Act structure, and I find that this really does make it all less daunting. Actually Christopher Volger has always been an amazing inspiration to me. He's the one that first broke down the the 4-act structure concept that I embraced. He has some great books and Audible stuff I highly recommend checking out... he's super positive and really discusses the mythical structure of writing which I love. Screenwriting is the modern day equivalent of gathering the tribe around the fire in the wilderness at night.

To Travis: I am a senior dude who has been writing etc. for a long time. I grew up in LA and watched the main TV channels. From the 1980's forward there have been a variety of formats for made-for-TV-movies. For a while, in the 1980's Channel 4? had this setup where, same day, evening each week, one of four individual shows was presented. They gave a much fuller two hours with less commercials and other perks like having the show FADE to commercial and then FADE back. The most important is to just write out your story, don't think about anything else. You can take the finished story, and maybe add more for more time or maybe a special could be two days etc.

Travis is right, you have to leave it alone for awhile and let your brain digest it, then take that fourth look.

Travis, you're absolutely correct about the nine-act structure...today's Hallmark/Lifetime/etc. made-for-TV movies roll that way. (I've read where some TVers use a seven-act structure.)

When I first attempted to break in (1980), TV-movies used a six-act structure...at least, that's how Constance Nash and Virginia Oakey put it on Page 68 of their 1978 manual, "The Television Writer's Handbook."

I liked the structure and decided to stick with it...and after I joined Stage 32 in January 2019, I learned about Michael Hauge's plot system (and decided to adopt that, too).

It's tempting to skip character profiles...the only reason I do the profiles is I find it fun to see just how these characters would interact with (or against) each other.

On top of that, I admire writers who can come up with that first draft in one fell swoop (or more) and can go back and do multiple drafts. It's great to be able to fly by the seat of your pants that way.

I know...the perfectionist in me says: "Jim...make EFFING sure you've got all your ducks in a row before you shoot!"

Still...

Well, I've rambled on enough...thanks for the feedback (and the post itself)!

Congrats to all who made the cut, including yours truly. Grateful to Stage 32, especially for the grown-up theme. We of a certain age enjoyed great times, great music, are still fun, and have stories to tell!

Boom! Way to go, everybody. Enjoy the good feels!

Excited to learn my dramedy, GUS, made the Quarter Finalist cut!!! Congratulations to all Quarter Finalists!!!

Very excited that The Jane Austen Syndrome made it to the Quarterfinalist rounds! Thanks to Stage 32 for the "Grown Up" — not to be confused with "Adult" — theme and congrats to all my fellow honorees!

Congrats to all my fellow quarterfinalists!!

The world's second oldest profession - slavery. The world's oldest profession - Hollywood Exec. When lawyers joke, it always goes something like this "How many Hollywood Execs does it take to ruin the motion picture industry? Answer: ALL OF THEM."

Total agreement, it would be better to do it face-to-face. I had written notes, and the notes were great, really great, I appreciated them very much. But there was something the reader missed that really is integral to the story twist -- I went back in and just needed to add one line of dialogue, and it cleared up easily 50% of the notes. If they don't get it, it's too subtle, I know, but it would be helpful to be able to confirm any questions or ask about any fixes that come to mind. Ideal notes would arrive as written first, with a Zoom (or Facetime) AFTER you have digested them.

Ok, next question: If you have a great ONE PAGE and decide to send written Pitch to more than one Professional at a time, is this frowned upon? Next question, if the Pitch date is 3 weeks out and you send a written pitch today, will Stage 32 send the written One Pager to them asap or will it sit and wait until that pitch day comes, even though being a written pitch, there is no meeting?

You're talking about Pitch Sessions here on Stage 32? Live pitches are for sure better in my opinion, especially if you can really nail down your concept in 5-6 mins and they get it, you'll have 4-5 mins to really dig in deeper with them about the opportunity. If it's a great idea and you do connect, for sure it tops the written pitch. It's about relationships as much as the written page. At some point if success comes you're gonna need to think on your feet sitting in a room with a bunch of execs asking you about all your ideas for different projects... just practice your pitches and have them down. If you have a passion for this game and have some talent you'll eventually get in the room... you can't hide behind the keyboard forever.

Keep in mind also that on this site you are most likely pitching individuals who actually don't receive 'pitches' in their day to day salaried or hourly position. Because their actual job isn't to evaluate and greenlight new material. They just happen to be (or more likely have been at one point) "in the orbit" of people who might do that on occassion.

We give FREE feedback on scripts every Tuesday on my YouTube channel if you want us to take a look at the first 10 pages.

https://www.stage32.com/media/3500252380887264882?ref=search&autoplay=1

Chase Cysco I’m in Thousand Oaks but one day for sure fella!

Great share, Chase Cysco! Billy Wilder/Billy Bob Thornton are right. Make your own way. Some writers are becoming directors and producers, and some actors are writing their own roles for them to star in. I don't have any interest in directing or producing, but I might turn a script into a comic or graphic novel one day.

The Video is 27-years old. Whether making your own stuff leads to a financially successful 20/30/40+ year career/occupation is another matter.

Dan MaxXx i agree dan ! i just took it as being more resourceful and sometimes less is more in my opinion

Everyone has a different path. Do what you're good at. What works for a famous person, won't work for someone else. Have realistic goals and ambitions. And most importantly, don't seek out everyones advice. Everyone is an expert and few earn their living doing what they preach.