Matthew Barron's Lounge Discussions

Luis R. Quintero
Guiltless is Award Winning Film!

I'm proud to announce that our film Guiltless is now an award winning film. Thank you Cine Cuauhtemoc Pan American Film Festival! I would also like to thank the amazing cast and crew (fellow Stage32 members) for their extraordinary work!

Kensly Fresh Agenor

Awesome. where can i check it out?

Emma J Steele

Fantastic, Luis! Congratulations!

Xiomara Bernard

Congratulations Luis!

Luis R. Quintero

The team lead by RB is extraordinary and lets not forget the members. Without their passion for their craft we wouldn't need a platform like this. Stage32 embodies what storytelling is all about!

Luis R. Quintero

Oh and I almost forgot Tad, you asked if I could write about my journey. A few months ago I did a guest blog for Stage32. You can read it here: https://www.stage32.com/blog/Don-t-Tell-Them-Show-Them...

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Eric Barnett
Pitching Movie Ideas

Hi, my name is Eric and I wanted to know about pitching screenplay ideas. Is it possible to just to have an idea to pitch to a producer/movie studio and then write the screenplay/have the screenplay be written by someone else? Would pitching ideas only be acknowledged if I have written screenplays b...

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Danny Manus

No. No one is really going to buy a pitch and hire someone else to write it. they might as well just come up with their own ideas for free. and since you can't copyright an idea, you'd just be opening yourself up to them taking it. why would they really need you?

Eric Barnett

Thanks for the advice.

Phillip E. Hardy, "The Real Deal"

Eric: I've pitched several ideas that producers liked, where I didn't have a script yet. What I did have was a good title, compelling idea, logline and a synopsis with a complete story told in 2 pages...

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David Levy

Eric, Take the advice given and run with it. Write the script, logline, and all the other materials you need to gain interest once you pitch it. Only few can get away pitcghing a concept with no witeen material behind it, and we are not those people.

Tony Cella

Directors and producers often come up with ideas and hire screenwriters to turn them into scripts, but not the other way around. Established screenwriters, like Phillip or John August, might have better luck.

Marc Sigoloff
Marc Sigoloff - Family unfriendly comedies

I am a writer from Springfield, Illinois with a recently completed paranormal comedy titled The Ghost Who Came to Dinner. I just started the difficult task of trying to sell it. I'm also in the planning stages of a short film about a pair of internet killers. This one is a really dark comedy.

Marc Sigoloff

I hope it works out for you. Good luck.

Matthew Barron

Dark comedy is a tough sell (I speak from experience). Please keep us up to date on your progress and I hope it all goes well.

Marc Sigoloff

I'm not trying to sell the dark comedy. I'm shooting it myself.

Matthew Barron

Sorry, misunderstood.

Tamika Maxwell

Welcome Marc!

Lindsey Loon
Awesome Aussie music quotes-- ok, brainstorm, let it rain!

I'll start things off-- "This is going straight to the pool room!" - The Castle This is an interesting list: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls008807135/

Matthew Barron

From the same film - "How's the serenity?"

Becca-Chris M
Industry Standard Formatting

What do you feel are the biggest industry standard formatting "no-no's" of screenwriting?

Jorge J Prieto

Directing your screenplay, by writing camera directions is the biggest "no, no". Another one and I'm guilty, is writing what a character is thinking, since in screenplays we only write what we see. Th...

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Becca-Chris M

Jorge - I think that's it: Remember to only write what is seen. Try to put what the characters are thinking into their actions.

Victoria Kinkade

I'm with Bill on the feces thing. OTN writing is a big no-no, as well - can't tell you how many times I've tried to get through a script that actually had some story merit, but because the dialogue was so on the nose it kept throwing me out.

Jorge J Prieto

Thanks, Becca, for the advice Great post by the way. Keep them coming.

W. Keith Sewell

I'm not sure if a lot of these are "formatting no-no's" or story structuring "do and don'ts" we're discussing here. Either way it's a good discussion. Jorge, I agree, writing what a character is think...

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Matthew Barron
Great Coverage meeting.

Greetings and Salutations, I just had a truly encouraging consult with an exec - positive feedback and clear notes for further polishing my script. I highly recommend the service. One hour on Skype talking to an industry pro so helps in separating out the important flaws from the trivial points. I w...

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David Levy

Matthew hit the nail on the head! It is an INVESTMENT in your business. I view it the same way. Glad to see others enjoying the coverage!

Stephen Barber

So cool to hear Matthew! I'm very happy to hear that. I'm sending mine in this Thursday to Joey, and cannot wait! "Encouraging" is feeling we search for.

Stephen Barber

Joey - Thank you so much for that wonderful compliment. It's easy to gravitate to kindness when you start looking at people and finding what it is that you have in common, rather than noticing what's different. You're title of: President - Happy Writers couldn't be more sincere!

David Levy

I am sure I can speak for Stephen and Matthew when I say thank you and if it was not for your tireless efforts Joey we would not be as determined as we are to succeed. I know I would be in the dark, n...

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Matthew Barron

See, now I'm blushing. Thanks Joey - and thanks from my wife as well.

G.R. Barnett
When you're beaten to the punch...

WIthout going into too much detail, what happens when you thin of a concept for a movie, and then--bam--a major studio comes out with a movie that's amazingly too close for comfort to your idea? How do you feel? How do you deal with it? Any thoughts? I had this happen to me on more than one occasion...

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Holly Rivney

This kind of thing has happened to me many times. Everything from an idea of what to put in an empty retail store to oatmeal in Styrofoam cups. Look at it this way - you have a creative mind that know...

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Patrick Fox

That has recently happened to me. Stick to it. If you really think your characters or story is worth writing, continue writing it. If you are really concerned about it being very close, you can either...

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Mark Sanderson

Oh, yeah it's happened to me more than once. It's called "THE SPECTER OF SIMILAR IDEAS." Check out my article on my blog about his harsh reality: https://scriptcat.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/the-specter...

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Michael Eddy

Don't take it personally. In fact - use it as motivation. A sort of psychic pat on the back. If you keep coming up with ideas that Hollywood is making - then you're on the right track and thinking com...

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William Martell

The good news is: you are writing what they are making. The better news is: you now know what their version is, so that you can rewrite yours to be unique. Have you ever noticed that there are 2 movie...

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Dylan Kress
Need Some Casting Advice

Does anyone have any good experience going thru the casting process for one of their projects? I'd really love to chat with anyone who could help guide me in the right direction when it comes to finding the right talent for my project. I'm basically starting out with ZERO understanding so I may have...

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Jack Deacon

Hi Dylan, Casting can be really challenging. Unfortunately a lot of people cast on looks and nothing else, they see someone attractive and bam! they have the role. Of course this can turn out well or...

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Matthew Barron

Hey Dylan, I've cast a couple of tiny, indie productions and I have a couple of pieces of advice that have served me well. See if they work for you. 1. Cast the hard workers: the best actor is not alw...

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Thomas Bailey

I could probably help you out if need be, I wish there was a secret to good casting but its just looking for that one that feels like you don't need to look at anyone else... you'll know it when you see it.

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