Hi all! I could use some career advice. I don't live in L.A. and haven't needed to since my background has been novel writing and editing. I still write books and have moved into features and pilots. I was told it’s crazy hard to sell a script (I was told the same thing about selling books in NY, but I got a high-end agent right off the get go, so maybe I was lucky—but she won’t deal with L.A. anymore and is close to retirement) and impossible to sell a TV pilot unless you live in L.A.. SO…here’s my dilemma. I don’t really want to move back to L.A. but I do want to write pilots and features. And adapt a couple of my novels into either features or series (military action thrillers and rom/coms). I don’t need a ton of credits or money, just modest living here. So…do I try to create enough book buzz to get picked up that way, collaborate with someone who has more networking than I do, stick to novels (gah, love scripts!) or just go for it and write features? I guess pilots are out unless I move back to CA. Not sure. Help? Advice? Collaborators? And as always HUGE THANKS!!
Screenwriting : Career direction help? by Katie Bryan
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In this day and age, you don't have to live in LA. You do, however, have to be willing to BE in LA for meetings, etc. I have been to LA 3x over the past year with trip 4 coming up in Nov. I have managed to set up some meetings and no one seems to care that I don't live there. Unless I want to work as a television writer (which, to my understanding are usually 12 week stints) I can easily fly back and forth. I have a friend who is a working screenwriter who keeps a house in LA but doesn't live there. So it's certainly possible. I wouldn't let it stop you from trying anyway!
And there's my dream.... :)
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Congrats on your success, You are a working Novelist with a rep. IMO you have a fantasy image of a "Hollywood" writer. No, you are not gonna sell a few spec scripts & TV pilots and sit back and collect full pay checks, full credits, full residues checks. Aint gonna happen. if you are a novelist like Jk Rowling, Clancy, King, a NYT best selling Writer, then Hollywood comes to you. Leverage your power and hire Oscar winning writers. Contact some Pro Writers on this site. Speak to William Martell, Max Adams, DanG. They got plenty of real Industry experience. Contact RB, the owner of Stage 32. He will tell you the real deal Hollywood Writer's life.
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@Dan MaxXx, thanks! I really don’t want to be in Hollywood, in a writer’s room, work as a PA, or even get full credit. I’m probably a rare exception to the rule (but my writing is the only source of income in a home with a husband who has cancer). I’d be very content flying out for meetings (if I had to), or working on something here in GA. Not looking to get rich or win an Oscar. Would just like to make a modest living selling scripts…whether they’re features or pilots….although I do ‘get’ that pilots probably won’t happen since I’m not in L.A. -- unless I luck out and sell something that’s filmed in GA since that’s where I live.