Screenwriting : What do you do when you're living on the edge as a screenwriter? by Anthony McBride

I would just try to pitch your own stuff to producers. Forget finding a rep, if they want to find you they will.

You try a Stage 32 contest ;)

I understand the frustration. Remember that right now "professional" writers are striking because they're not even getting paid appropriately. You're not alone. Take it one day at a time and do the one thing that you can always control: WRITE. And also no that this community is here to support you however you need

Good question Anthony McBride. I recommend checking out some of the education on Stage 32 about getting reps. Here are some examples I recommend:

https://www.stage32.com/webinars/How-To-Land-A-Manager-and-Create-The-Ca...

https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Packaging-your-Script

https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Learn-How-to-Better-Pitch-Your-Ideas-Go...

https://www.stage32.com/classes/Stage-32-Screenwriting-Class-How-to-Bett...

Feel free to reach us directly at edu@stage32.com. We'd love to help you out!

I sometimes feel like I'm headed in the smae direcdtion you are. Good luck.

Anthony McBride it depends what your goal is. If it’s accolades, then well done, you’ve achieved your goal. But if you’re a screenwriter because you write to get your scripts made, then maybe all of this has been a distraction; hence your frustration.

Agents don't care about contest placements and kudos from industry professionals. Try to make some connections in the business. The odds of selling a spec screenplay are slim to none until you've made some good connections.

the same thing, but in Russia. :(

Are you getting connected with managers/agents as a result of winning these contests and getting any feedback from them?

Since you posted "Actor" as your occupation too, and you live in L.A., I'd push on that...you can write scripts easily at 60 (for your own produced films hopefully) but as Dan said connections are key. And easiest way doing that is do some quality time in front of camera.

Billions of people will tell you in a millisecond who stars in "Oppenheimer"...how many do you think will do the same with who wrote it?

I’m in the same boat, but I’ve been doing this for over ten years.

@Anthony McBride, this industry is at best chaotic and at worst soul crushing, but that’s what makes the journey toward said uncertainty worthwhile. If inclusion is what you want then you keep plugging away no questions asked. Many a creative, and I mean many, have toiled away for years before they achieved success in some form. Keep living on the edge until you make it or you find something more interesting to pursue. We’re all rooting for you!

I've been thinking about that too. It might be worth while to stage a 2 - 5 minute scene, have friends act it out and put it on Youtube. Do that with several of your favorite scenes that haven't been produced. It may be a dumb idea but it's what I've been thinking.

You gotten a lot of great advice, @Anthony McBride, especially about building relationships/making connections. That's how I've had most of my success on Stage 32. And did you see this blog about how to network successfully on here: www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-network-successfully-on-stage-32-3356

Crowdsourcing... it's what they did for Sound of Freedom. As for living on the edge, it depends on how old you are, what your day-job is, and maybe writing other things than screenplays. Also, start a writer's group in your community and, after a while, charge for lessons on format, etc. What you need, is an advertising budget, and if you can't afford it, do it yourself. Also, if you've gotten positive feedback for your script, you may have better success with making a novel of your stories. I once asked a writing professor: how do I get a movie made? He said, "Write a bestseller, and they'll line up." Maybe he was right?

I think David Kleve might be onto something—use short scenes from the screenplays you've gotten the most positive feedback on, shoot them with friends or acting school actors, and post them on YouTube.

Or write something that you can do cheaply in small chunks, get actors and a small crew, and post them on YouTube? While the writing and acting strike's on there are a lot of actors and writers who won't work for studios who might work on a low-budget indie—Joss Whedon with his brother and sister-in-law wrote DOCTOR HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG and shot it during the last writer's strike, so he could get talent like Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, and that video helped jump-start Felicia Day's career as an indie darling.

Anybody know if you're going something for YouTube as an indie project if you need waivers from SAG-AFTRA and the WGA...?

That's what I was thinking. You can showcase your writing along with actors who want to get their faces and acting ability out there.

Also had a post deleted over a comparison. I guess the Mods don't like many things.

I’ve won contests, got kudos, connected with actual actors, had three near productions that were called off at the last minute. Just keep writing. Keep making corrections and keep your day job.

I think the answers we all seek are hidden within the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The question is: How does this industry actually work? There is how we perceive it to be, and then there is a truth obscured by our overwhelming desire not to be disappointed and have our dreams crushed. Example: Stage32 is still offering pitch sessions with industry insiders. Are these the same industry insiders that are contributing to the writers' decision to strike? Is it all about getting our money? False hope? Same with these film festivals through Coverfly and FilmFreeway? To quote Anton Chekhov, 'Uncle Vanya': "It is better to know truth than uncertainty." :But with uncertainty at least there's still hope." If you want to produce your films, I suppose you need to find a way to raise the money. Distribute it on Amazon or YouTube.

I've started animating my own screenplays, and I've never had so much fun in my life. There is also new AI software that will allow you to create video just from text prompts...it's called Gen2.

Niki Galiano tried Gen 2 and the pictures didn't move. Downloaded a picture of an eagle and typed text Eagle flies into the sky. Gen 2 could make it fly. Which package did you get to handle an entire screenplay?

Jeann, well, right now, I'm animating one of my short screenplays using another program, but when I'm done with this, I was going to try Gen2 to produce another one of my comedies. .I watched some YouTube videos about how you can make a scene with Gen2. Once you have the first scene done, then you'll make the second scene, and so on, and so forth...... Then you''ll just have to add all the scenes together in a movie editor program, like iMovie or FinalCut Pro. (I personally use iMovie...I've been using it for years to produce little animated shorts and my clay-mation shorts, and my hypnosis videos, and it's very, very user-friendly. The iMovie program comes free on any Mac computer.) Anyway, from what I've been watching on YouTube, you can basically just keep "filming" scene after scene using Gen2, and then put all scenes together in another program. I also listened to an interview of someone who was doing that, but I can't remember where I heard the interview....sorry. Also, Kaiber.ai has a text to video tool, but I tried it, and it has a really weird "water color" effect . I don't think it's a good fit for regular movies...unless you wanted to make something like Fantasia, or something. lol. Plus, you can only generate 8 second clips, which would be very tedious to try to put all those together in a movie editor. There are also some other AI video software programs I've researched, too, like Pictory, that I think would be a good fit for adding "B-reels" and other footage. (I don't think you can do recurring characters with Pictory, but I could be wrong.)

If you can't beat em' join em'. Let's go make one of your scripts into a film.

Anthony, not to go over the edge: #1 breathe deeply, #2 explore what is going on for your lifeplan, #3 explore what is going on for you, and #4 plan proactively.

If you've already done that (I bet you have), try watching Stories of the mind (2016), by creative director Scott Rice. (I started watching it yesterday. S1E2-12 is available @pbs.)

And, always, have a therapist, a horizon, and some support. (You may count on me for a cup of coffee). Barely everybody's been struggling with mental health nowadays.

Even if you get repped, or sell a script, how do you make a living doing this? I stopped by a wga/sag picket line at NBC. Writers whose work I have seen on big screen and tv, they are walking the pavement out of work, many financially struggling even when employed.

BEER used to work for me!

Niki Galiano, now artificial intelligence is unsuitable for serious creativity. it's a waste of money and time.

Jed Power, beer used to work for me, too.

But then I got sober....

Arthur Charpentier, that won't keep the studios from using it as a club to beat writers and actors over the head with. That's why the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have to nail rights issues down now—because as Bob Iger recently showed us, studio suits are not only contemptuous of creatives, they have zero idea what it is creatives do! Except for directors, because every suit thinks he's "really" a director, and everybody can SEE directors! Directing!....

...Well, except for Clint Eastwood, who doesn't believe in histrionics as either a director or actor.

Dan MaxXx, that's what the strikes are about. Big producers and studios have been strangling writers slowly over the past few years thanks to virtual "writers' rooms" where the writers get paid less because they're not on-premises, the episode order's shorter thanks to The Netflix Model, and writers aren't getting the chance to learn how to move into producing by being on set or on-site. Moreover, the suits are starting to think they can have AIs do all the "big" writing, and only have to hire writers for a bit of script doctoring here and there.

Actors are terrified they'll be replaced by AI models, which while they don't work so great now? The suits are sure will be "good enough" in a year or so....

What the suits DON'T realize is that AI could far more easily replace THEM, because bean counting and looking at past performance for tomorrow's hits? Is something Artificial Intelligence is very VERY good at.

https://youtu.be/JmEyUOLDGFA

Timothy Liebe,

now all major film studios belong to streaming services. and streaming is trying to kill cinemas in order to get more money. and streaming doesn't want to pay the authors the same amount of money.

At the same time, streaming itself is rapidly turning into television with advertising. Therefore, I do not think that the authors will succeed in the strike. You will have a system where the author sells the exclusive rights to the studio once, without subsequent payments.

Timothy Liebe, artificial intelligence does not exist. this is a compilation of plagiarism - an analogue of torrent sites with stolen content. the authorities should and can ban such programs as pirated.

Arthur, I disagree. With the help of AI, I'm animating a short screenplay I wrote. I'm using an AI art generator to make the characters and backgrounds (which saves a TON of time and money) for and then I'm animating it alll in another program..(Yes, the animations are pretty darn simple, but right now, I'm focusing on telling a story, rather than focusing on getting the animations perfect.) AI is improving by leaps and bounds every month, and every week, there are new AI tools coming out. Also, right now, I'm taking an AI video course, so I can (hopefully) make my own AI video tool that will allow me to make a "movie" directly from my screenplays.

Anthony McBride I could use your help on a project that I'm developing, see my job posting or DM me for details. Believe it or not, one of my main characters is a former Army surveillance specialist, so destiny might be putting us together here on Stage32!

Niki Galiano, The artificial intelligence database is a torrent site with stolen files of someone else's intellectual property. changing and appropriating someone else's author's work is prohibited by copyright for everyone, except, apparently, corporations cooperating with the Pentagon.

Arthur, let me clarify - I'm talking about screenwriters using AI art generators and AI video generators to make movies based on their screenplays and the images in the screenwriter's head.. I'm not talking about screenwriters using Chat GPT (or any other writing tool) to write their screenplays. I don't use Chat GPT or any AI writing tools to write my screenplays...I write them myself. But the AI art generators and the AI video generators are making it possible for screenwriters to turn their own screenplays into movies.

Arthur, while I more or less agree with you about AI (at least right now), generating an AI screenplay is not copyright infringement yet because it hasn't been tested in a court case.

There's an excellent chance that it WILL be if a case ever goes to trial rather than getting settled, but if the studios don't keep trying to kick the can down the road by settling with every AI lawsuit they get hit with I'd be shocked...Shocked!

Niki Galiano, It's like using pirated programs DAZ3D and iClone with pirated model databases. AI generators can't read your thoughts and ideas, they create frames based on someone else's stolen intellectual property.

If I was smarter I would have leaped off years ago.

I've said this to Anthony privately, but ill say it for everyone... if youve been writing for many years and your scripts are not getting any real attention (quarterfinals of some contest doesnt count), then either there's an issue with the writing or an issue with the concepts youre choosing to write. So if you have some OTHER way to break in -- like by doing military consulting or medical consulting or legal consulting or forensics consulting-- THEN DO THAT!! Use THAT knowledge and experience instead of your spec scripts to break in because thats the thing you have to offer that most other writers dont. You have to play to your strengths. Not everyones strength is the writing of their own original ideas.

It's amazing who you'll find on social media begging, literally begging, for work. Any work. It would be laughable if not so sad.

Use caution and vet, vet, vet.

I do have military experience and have been trying to brand myself as such. Thanks all.

Anthony McBride WGA has a writers' program for military Vets.

I know, I went through the program in 2017.

Do any of your scripts have a military theme?

I recommend checking out this webinar on mindfulness for creatives - I've found some of these ideas helpful: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/Seven-Steps-to-Mindfulness-for-Creatives

Anthony McBride Hi Anthony, there are certain gurus who would tell you to get used to living on the edge, in the liminal spaces (because that’s where the tension lays for writing the best stories). Others will tell you to fall off the edge and into the darkness, it’s that point of surrender in our lives. Where we realise that we are not in control and that control is actually an illusion.

- I would simply say that there’s a whole host of us in this community that are in the same place or like me have gone over the edge and into the darkness (their dark night of the soul). We are here to help you. -

The only thing that’s damaged by the fall is the ego and all of its illusions. The true you survives, and you become more focused on your purpose and identity as a writer.