Screenwriters, if you get one important nibble, one important name, one important attachment (or even kinda attachment) use that, parlay that, spin that for all its worth. I was just able to get the screenplay of a friend to MMS (Major Movie Star) and this friend was told this morning by a producer: Now is the time, when you've got the script out to MMS, to go after the casting director you want because you are helping them by giving them that association with that big name. Package package package, friends!
Screenwriting : How do you make hay out of a piece of straw? by Diana Amsterdam
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:) x
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Way to hustle.
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Hustle, bustle and woo, my three middle names.
Thanks, @Dan Guardino. Oh looks like we can't do the @ thing here. Anyway: You set the world on bonfire if not total fire, Dan. Nice going! You are right about directors, they ARE more likely to do they own thing, and often looking for projects.
Chris, that is great advice. I've been hearing more and more about the importance of directors both in screenwriting and my other practice, playwriting.
That's possible, that's another way. There is always another way. Congrats!
Congrats!
Great comment, Diana. There is more wisdom in what you say then can be measured. One good contact can change everything. When I began as a screenwriter, I wrote a letter out-of-the-blue to an executive at Universal Studios and pitched my first script. The executive loved the pitch so much, the script was requested. After she read it, she called me on the phone and said, "Lars, I love your writing, please call any agent you want and tell them to call me. We need great writers like you in Hollywood." This one contact really set things in motion. And boy did I call an agent. I spent five years researching, writing and rewriting that script before I felt it was ready for Hollywood. I kept saying to myself, "all I need now is someone in Los Angeles county to read it." I chose wisely and got very lucky that I got a response at all. It's great having a dynamite script, but when it comes down to it. The pitch is everything. As a teacher, I have found, beginner writers plow headlong into a script without really honing that perfect, fresh premise. Great comment, Diana.
I know what you mean about the knock-em-dead concept, Lars. When I was teaching screenwriting, I devoted an entire class to what concept is. It's a surprisingly difficult thing for new writers to get their heads around; they mistake concept for idea or theme. Concept is not (as I was pitched recently) "A girl finds a book on how to be a psychic," or "a guy gets bullied at school..." These are ideas but a concept is MUCH bigger. Recently I was hired to advise a writer on her new project: a screenplay about several middle -aged women who find their strength and sexiness. She pitched this to me as if she had found her concept; but all she had was an idea. I handed her a concept so big, powerful and real, it has the feel of inevitability; if I could tell it here, you would go, "yes!"
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So true. A real great concept has a hook, line and sinker. And if truth be told may be the most important thing of all, especially when it comes to marketing. You can hang amazing writing on a poor concept, but it still remains a poor concept. Great writing with great concept, puts you miles ahead of the pack (so to speak). Nothing beats a concept that just begs to be written AND read.