Hi everyone.
I'm here because I'm scared.
I'm scared that one day I'm going to switch on Netflix and see that someone had the same idea as me. That gut-wrenching, sickening feeling as if I'm watching someone with my partner.
For the last 25 years I've had original story ideas. I wake up having dreamed a whole new feature film. Story, camera angles, locations, the lot. Then when I wake, I only have the ability to write the story outline. As you may have guessed, I'm not a writer.
The people I talk to say I'm lucky that I can create these worlds in my sleep. But what good are they if they remain in my head and on my PC?
I'm here to do something about it. To learn, to collaborate and to finally turn my dreams into reality.
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A great writer once gave me some sage advice - If you're too scared to send it out, you're too scared to succeed. Even if someone steals one or two of your ideas, no one is going to write it like you will and you can always come up with new ideas.
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That's the spirit Ideas are a dime a dozen. The magic happens in the execution of the ideas. Even if you have a similar idea to someone else your vision is unique. Heck Star Wars was built on a number of old ideas. Westerns, the Japanese classic The Fortress, old movie fighter plane dog fights. Star Wars still had an overall new vision. Good luck.
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By the way you are definitely in the right place to learn. Check out The Writer's Room.
If your premise is a story that's relevant to current affairs, such as a biopic on the Jeffrey Epstein story etc., yeah, you can be sure that someone over at A24 or Bleeker Street is developing either a series or feature on that very topic. You can't take on scripts like Spotlight or The Big Short and expect to do it in a vacuum.
If your stories are personal and uniquely yours, you have no worries. Hell, you'll be lucky if anyone will listen to you describe them. Stealing them? Highly unlikely.
Hi all and thanks for replying. I’m beyond that initial concern of my ideas being stolen. My main concern is writing. In order to develop the ideas I’ll need to become a writer, and a pretty decent one at that if I’m to be taken seriously. This has always been my kryptonite. Writing dialogue. Saying that, I have many ideas fleshed out scene by scene now, so baby steps. And I’ve been impressed with what I’ve read on this site. With this renewed enthusiasm, I hope I can push on.
This should be motivation alone for you to pursue your own ideas and make them a reality. Its almost impossible to create a film which is 100% unique and not similar to another film which has already been made. The most important thing is that you put your own style on it and thats what what will make YOU who you are. :)