Screenwriting : Undecideded. by LeAndra Cortez

Hello, LeAndra! Have you gotten any coverage on your scripts? How's your storycraft?

Hey, LeAndra! I'll echo Shawn's question - have you gotten feedback on these scripts? If not, that may be the best place for you to start - whether it be feedback from friends, or working professionals and executives (hint/shameless plug: we offer feedback from working Hollywood execs right here on Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers/coverage). The tough thing about most contests is that you submit your script, and if it doesn't win, you don't really know why....meaning it won't give you any tools for improvement. Some contests (like the ones here on Stage 32) offer feedback along with your entry, so that might be an option as well.

The average pro screenwriter wrote 9 feature before making a dime, so you aren't at "a lot of written material" yet... but five feature scripts puts you at a point where you might start thinking of marketing. I think feedback is a great idea. In addition: read your four favorite screenplays and then read yours - does it match the quality of the other four? That's a great way to know if you are ready. I have a 402 page book on breaking in, but here are some basic things you can do: 1) Find movies similar to your screenplays and find out who produced them, and how those stories came to the screen (you are looking for stories that came to them in original screenplay form, rather than novels or comic books or some other medium where the reason for making the film was that the original material was popular - just saw the OUIJA prequel - and that movie was made because of the board "game". FANTASTIC BEASTS may not have been made as an original screenplay, but based on a hot novel by the author of the Harry Potter books?). Also find out how financially successful those movies were - no one is looking for a script similar to a recent money loser. You are looking for producers to target with your screenplays, but also looking for similar successful projects like yours so that you can use that "doorway" in. 2) Follow the script sales in the trades and keep track of the agents and managers involved in the deals (and the kind of material they are going out with). If you can afford to subscribe to a public tracking board site like trackingb.com or trackingboard.com you can see what scripts go out (but don't sell, but get the writers meetings all over town). Managers and agents are listed. My suggestion on expensive stuff like this is to form a group where you share the costs of things like this. Once you have a target list of managers, use the free 2 week trial of IMDB pro to get information on them. The other good thing about that group sharing the costs is that they can other share info - there are lists of manager's e-mails floating around. Now query the managers who fit your material... and regularly get material out into the marketplace. 3) While you are finding managers that match your screenplays, you can do the same with producers. I've e-mailed producers a brief query and gotten reads. 4) And while you are doing those things there are also a handful of contests that really mean something that you can enter. 5) Always look for the free way in before spending money on something. And focus on contests or whatever that get results - there are all kinds of "high profile" contests and services that don't get results. Results are all that count. And remember - money is supposed to flow to the writer. Don't pay for access that you can get for free. There are people out there who claim to be producers who want money from you to attach stars before they take it to their studio contacts - these are scams. Basically, writing a great script is half the job... the other half is doing all of the mountains of research in order to get that script read by someone who can actually make your career.

Entering into competitions will cost you a lot of money and, to be frank, how many of those competition winners do you know or have heard of going on to greater things?

Hi, my advice is to not send any scripts to producers until you are sure your writing is a standard where ideas are crafted to perfection. Normally, you have one chance to impress a producer or director so don't waste that opportunity by sending out something that is not up to standard- by that I mean, make sure it's a compelling (page turning) read with a great plot line, fascinating characters, clever twists and subplots, subtext, right tone and genre etc. I think if it's a great script it will win or be placed in competitions but my advice is to chose competitions that offer feedback as part of the price. One excellent comp you might consider is Euroscripts Screenwriting competition which costs £35 to submit 1100 word treatment byt which gives 3 pages of notes on structure - think its open to people outside of UK. All the best

Terrific thread! One heck of a post, CJ! I believe newbys should pass on contests for feedback on storycraft. Most contests can be won without anything else happening. There's only a few, mentioned above, who actually do anything more than notify you.

Checked out a couple 'Contest Winners' Profiles this morning. Proper loglines and synopsises are nec when pitching. Pitching is the next level. If your scripts are ready, get your loglines and synopsises together. No one will read our script unless they're enticed by our pitch. Hope this helps

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone! See you Monday

I'm working on two sci-fi shorts I wrote and are self funding. Unless you have all the money, it is the slowest way to get your production off the ground and in the can. But if your script is perfect and your production is industry standard, the rewards are worth it. As a filmmaker and writer I've had the opportunity to talk with readers in the biz and find out what they look for. One thing that stood out was they all talk a lot about peoples submissions. And if it's not up to standards, the word gets around and no one will even bother to touch it, much less read it. Heck, that was back in the late 70's, 80's when you could submit direct to a studio and a reader might read it. I'm from New York and back then the studios were hungry for new stuff. It's not like that anymore now, if you don't have a really deep connection on the inside, (an A-list actor, director linked to a studio, producer with links to a studio or a well known distributor) your chances are razor slim at best. But even after all that, you could have a perfect script and everyone loves the concept, there is one thing that you nor a powerful studio can't control. That's timing. Studios are very cautious about spending big dollars on a risky bet of a film. That's why this year you've seen so many sequels and remakes and prequels. This year alone, there were quit a few movie bombs that were well known subjects. What happened? Timing. They didn't hit the market at the right time or they just wasn't what the market wanted. This is why documentaries are doing really well year after year. They are current events, things that speak to the audience about things that's in the collective conscience now. That's why scary, faith, horror, action, sex and sci-fi always do well, this is what the general public thinks about all the time. These themes are always a safe bet and if you want to hedge your bet, you'll throw your money and time into these genres. I'm producing and directing a sci-fi anime right now about alien cats that come to earth and save it from the apocalypse. What do you bet it won't get an audience considering I cover four of the safe bets, scary, faith, action and sci-fi. LeAndra, you did mention that funding is a problem, join the club. Unless a writer has a rich uncle, we all suffer from that problem. I'm going to tell you something that I'm surprised many people don't know. If you want to make it in this business and you want your work to get noticed, then you will have to come with something that they (the investors, the studios) can't ignore. You have to be in demand. You have to have a large following that knows you and your work and is ready and willing to plop down their twenty bucks for your product. I learned this way back when Jay-Z was a struggling rap artist. We're from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. He learned that to get the record labels to notice him he had to come with people ready to buy his product. So he worked very hard to cultivate that following. Once he hit that critical mass, his brand began to sell itself, and that's when the labels noticed him. It works the same way for TV and film. Here's an example, did you know the animation South Park started out as a short on the internet? As time went on, it grow in popularity, when it reached around 500k views, that's when the exec's took notice. Why because it had a ready made audience willing to follow it to the mainstream and it was timely. I know this is a lot of stuff, but what I'm saying is you don't have to worry about how you're going to get their attention. Start small and produce little scripts, works that you and a few friends and family can fund. Keep doing it and posting it, cultivate your followers, get your brand out there and when it hits that critical mass, your work will take on a life of its own. And believe me they will come looking for you.

LC You're in NYC- full of Writers, filmmakers, Actors, film schools, classes, playwrights, Journalists. Barnes & Noble stores host a book reading every night. Meet Writers. Find a Mentor. get a job at a Lit Agency, publishing Company. Stay active. Volunteer on student films

My man, MaxXx! Have a great holiday weekend, my friend!

I jumped right into contests way early on and I basically threw away money, got kicked in the teeth and eventually realized I should have gotten professional feedback first. I would suggest picking your most polished piece and getting coverage so that someone who knows something and doesn't have emotional attachment to you can give needed critique. Contests will be there down the road.

Are all 5 of your scripts in the same genre? Meaning, did you learn how to craft a solid script in one genre?

There are contests out there that will give you feedback just for entering. I would suggest taking your best screenplay and entering one or two, get the feedback, then decide where to go from there.