Screenwriting : Let's chat! Today's Bonus Writers' Room with Stage 32 CEO Richard Botto @rbwalksintoabar and Jason Mirch by Amanda Toney

I learned that we are all more alike than we think and we all have the same ups and downs with our mental health. I hope everyone continues to support each other after such an inspiring webcast.

This was such a great experience. Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the chat. I walked away with pages and pages of notes!

It's nice to be reminded we share the same struggles as creatives. Whether it's screenwriting, novel writing, acting, etc.... we hear a ton of NOs and it wears on us inevitably. It's important to have a safe place to discuss this and lift one another. It's not just gigs we're dealing with, it's dreams. Also, COMMUNITY IS EVERYTHING. That's my fave takeaway from today.

Today was unbelievable. I love being a part of the Writers' Room for so many reasons including the community and the positive atmosphere.

However, I don't know a single platform, probably in any business, that brings together its executives to provide sage advice, industry insight, and an atmosphere of acceptance for its participants like I just witnessed today. This crew is a walking version of their mission statement.

I am going into the weekend fired up and ready to create. Yet, more than that I feel genuine energy and a support network that will help me continue forward in my screenwriting journey.

Grateful to @RB, @Jason Mirch and @Amanda!

Cheers,

Reb

Today was great. Just proves what a supportive community this is.

So very grateful to all who attended and brought incredible energy to the proceedings. Such an inspiring and rewarding 2+ hours!

Richard "RB" Botto you all are so generous with your time and so inspiring. I am very grateful for all of you and for Stage 32. Thank you for a wonderful way to create into the weekend.

If you missed it, definitely check out the recording. I am inspired.

Stage 32 is like being with family.

I'm so grateful to have found this community.

And a little story to anyone who struggles with rejection. Taste is subjective.

Many years ago I was taking a picture in my front yard of a massive and highly unusual painting I had painted because I had sold it - and wanted a photo to remind me of how unusual it was. : )

At the same time I was taking the photo - an older gentleman walked by and said... "that's horrible, isn't it... the things that people call art!" I was too embarrassed for both of us to cop to having painted it (it was 3D and I did these paintings when I couldn't sleep at night, as therapy... which might explain it's horribleness)... but I did have a good laugh after he moved on. Here I was taking a picture of a painting that I sold to someone who absolutely loved it, while being blasted at the same time by someone who absolutely didn't.

My mom took one of the paintings and had it in her bedroom for years. But then... moms love anything you do. Thanks mom.

I've been rejected numerous times (although I prefer to refer to it as not being chosen) - in writing, music and art.. But I've also had some wonderful wins... and what's most important - is that the process of working on all these projects was thrilling. And I like to be thrilled.

The moral... we all know what that is. Do what you love. Appreciation for art is subjective and also... you never know who might be thinking of you or what waits for you around the bend. Hopefully it won't be the guy walking past my house - but if it is... appreciate that too.

Thank you RB and Jason and Amanda and all of you who inspire me to keep on keeping on. I'm so grateful to have found you.

@Becky lovely story. Thanks for sharing. So glad to have met you and so many others in the WR.

Life of an artist... right?. So glad to have met you too Rebecca. I have a feeling many of us will stay in contact for a long time... given the world resists imploding. Please resist imploding... world. :)

Really enjoyed participating in such a motivating webinar. Thanks R.B., Jason and Amanda for sharing your time and valuable incite into this peculiar industry. Through the Writers Room, you have created a marvelous community of like-minded people who support each other. I feel blessed to have found Stage 32 and look forward to meeting so many of my Zoom friends in person at the AFF. Perhaps we could get together for a Stage 32 dinner sometime during the Festival.

@jill A Stage 32 dinner at AFF sounds great!

Thanks everyone for a fantastic Writers' Room on Friday! I am still buzzing from the massive 2+ HOUR Webcast! I wanted everyone to know that it is now available in the Writers' Room Vault for on demand viewing. You can find it here: https://www.stage32.com/plan-vip

I thought everyone had fantastic insights on the business, the craft, how to maintain a healthy work/life balance, dealing with rejection and fear, and a lot more. I think my favorite take away from the whole day was how supportive our members are of each other!

This is a much watch!: https://www.stage32.com/plan-vip

Many thanks to @rbwalksintoabar , @jasonmirch and @amanda for coping with my somewhat emotional outburst during the Bonus Writer's Room last week. So glad and profoundly relieved y'all took it the right way. RB -- you were so right in saying that I did "bare my soul" which ain't always so easy for us elderly and stoic Nordic dudes to do. I wish to extend my special thanks to @LaurieAshbourne, who so cordially and graciously extended her help ... as she's also been there and done that - bona fide headbangin' - for much longer than I have. A few hours ago, I sent a PM to RB to vent a bit more of my inner thoughts about pitching and certain etiquettes here at Stage 32. Just because we're all taking and purchasing those pitches - not to mention putting a lot of hours into preparing them! - doesn't mean that we have to be forever indebted to these execs 'n' managers and that we really have to stand all of their sometimes questionable indifference, 360 degree pranks and snarks. I'm not mentioning any names here, but I've even been developing some requested material with a bunch of execs here for months -- and s h a m e on them -- as they just disappeared without a trace, without so much as a "thanks, but no thanks." I'm sure many of us have our fair share of horror and war stories, but most importantly, it's paramount to have a great, healthy and supportive screenwriter community, where also "the less than proud moments" can be shared collectively without any shame and regret. FYI my skin is already getting A LOT THICKER, folks -- LOL!!!

Cheers, Godspeed To Y'All & Stay Well & Sane,

From Helsinki With Brotherly & Sisterly Love --

Juhani The Cinescribe Juggernaut

We're here for you, and with you, @Juhani! For me, the session was a testament to the claim that we are a safe space. Anywhere else on the internet would be more likely to turn ugly and defensive, and we all came together and sympathized. Several people even offered assistance! What a beautiful moment, even while we're all hurting.

@Juhani keep on writing. I appreciate you sharing your hurdles with the room as we are all pushing in the direction of putting our work out into the light. Yet, your passion for your work is evident so keep going with that. Our work is but an extension of ourselves but I know the amount of time and effort we put into it. Still, you created something in your scripts and that in and of itself is a win. Cheers, Reb

Juhani, It takes a lot of courage to express how we feel. And by doing this you also remind others who may be uncomfortable speaking up, that it's okay to do so. One day you will find the perfect fit for your writing. In the meantime - you are doing what you love. And that is awesome.

@Karen , @Rebecca & @Becky -- I salute you and bow my big bald head humbly in gratitude to your uber-kind words. Yes, it's true that I'm very passionate and intense ... and I've always tried to channel these formidable intrinsic energies into my narratives and my social networking in "The Light Side of the Force" manner (as often as possible). BUT ... after so many years in the business both as a film journo and a cinescribe, I suffer fools neither gladly nor longer, and if I encounter injustice and/or bad manners, I'm quick (and sometimes perhaps even too quick!) to point it out. I do hope that my outburst gave RB, Jason and Amanda something to think about, when it comes to the sometimes tumultuous and irrefutably fragile interaction between biz execs/managers and us creatives. It's more true than ever that we don't have to stand every kind of BS and Machiavellian 360 pranks thrown at us -- either directly via Skype/Zoom -- on in retrospective snarky/belittling comments in the feedback. It's both amazingly and ironically true that until you're properly produced, alas, a "made man" (or "made woman") in mob speak, you simply WILL NOT get much respect from these gatekeepers. They don't particularly care, if you'll be the next ROADKILL they drive by during their weekend virtual highway trips, feigning shock. Therein lies the rub: We LIVE and we DIE by our pitches and script submissions (whether by exec requests or annual screenplay competitions). Please let me elaborate a bit further. They often say that you've ONLY got ONE SHOT. This is ... partially very true. Some people's memories are short though. Fortunately. For me personally though, here's the creed I live by: If a Stage 32 exec/manager displays any kind of arrogance, rudeness or snarkyness, he/she are OUT in my book. I could give several examples from Stage 32. AS A RULE, I'LL AVOID PITCHING TO THAT EXEC AGAIN. Yes, I have done so a few times in moments of inner weakness -- cautiously opting to dip my battle-weary toe/s in that boiling hot water -- but each time the end result has been EXACTLY THE SAME. My conclusion (however subjectively skewed or biased it may be): That exec/manager simply does NOT like my face (I'm not the most handsome guy you ever saw), my way of pitching, my tone of story/voice OR my ideas. RB was very wise and kind in pointing out in direct reply to my outburst last week that if someone REJECTS you, it's just ONE PERSON'S OPINION. So very true. But if some of these precious industry people can't get their acts together in having the cojones/guts in meeting us virtually as human beings and creatives (and let's not even contemplate that tragic case with an exec taking a pitch in his/her car), we DON'T have to LIKE it. Finally, whatever quibbles or problemos we encounter, now more than ever, it's paramount to voice those directly to Jason and Amanda. Imho that is the ONLY way to maintain MOTIVATION, SAFETY and SANITY for us all involved in this community. Thanks for allowing me to voice another uber-exhaustive rant. I'll never learn my lesson ... (LOL) Cordially, Juhani

Juhani, you have mail :) - So thrilled you stepped out and bared your soul. Honestly, I think it was a gift to everyone in attendance. The support here has been overwhelming and speaks to the power of a like-minded, empathetic, and supportive community. And the members of this Writers' Room are all that and more. Quite honestly, I WISH I would have had this community when I first started writing. I can't imagine how it would have helped me in my journey, simply by having others around me to have experienced (or are experiencing) what I'm feeling and going through as a creative.

This is why the conversation about mental health is so important as well. We MUST take care of ourselves. We MUST always remember that we need to surround ourselves with as much happiness as possible and put OUR happiness first. We have more control than we give ourselves credit for and we must never relinquish that control to others. One person's opinion is just that - one person's opinion. If we listen, we might learn something. Or we may just decide that we appreciate the advice, but we're going to soldier on blazing the path the way we've intended. That becomes easier with experience and with support and that's the foundation of not only the Writers' Room, but what this entire platform was built on.

Cheers.