Ray Helmers's Lounge Discussions

Hi, all. Excited that my new screenplay THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is now a Finalist in the running for a Creative World Award. Anyone else have experience with this contest?

Screenwriters on screenwriting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkY6muq3P2g&feature=player_embedded

Thrilled to announce that my feature family drama screenplay Rocket Summer has been sold to eKidsFilms. Super stoked, and will try to post updates as things progress.

Hey guys! I am a screenwriter from Brooklyn and looking to go out for funding for one of my scripts. I have been mulling around kickstarter but do not think I can get what I need ($-wise) on there. I recently put together a brief production package with a synopsis, characters, etc. and am going to start sending that out to producers/ production companies. Any other suggestions?

http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people

http://tannerwalle.bandcamp.com/

"Hurry up and wait" is a term I learned years ago when I first started getting into the industry as an actor. It's up there with "no news is good news". In 05 I decided to write a script as I had been thinking about a story in my head for years. I started writing it in a note pad when a friend asked what I was doing. I told him I was writing a script, he read it and told me what I had sounded great but the format and certain things were wrong, he had just taken a class on screenwriting and asked if he could help. I instantly said yes, told him 50/50 split if it ever got made. So we wrote the screenplay, took us a week and sent it out to LA. It had been years since I had done any acting, but I made a point to always keep in touch with the people I had worked with or knew. Within a week we were getting calls and offers for our script. Everything seemed to be working out perfect. We signed with a manager who networked and got us top Producers. Soon studio deals were rolling in with requests for more scripts. We thought we had finally gotten our in. The next 4 years was like a dream. I was flying back and forth from Orlando to LA, even Vegas to meet with people. In that time me and my co-writer had written several scripts, I was even doing uncredited rewrites on other scripts, but our main focus was on the one, our baby so to speak. Little did we know things were about to go very wrong. towards the end of 08, greed and mismanagement made everything fall apart. Our Manager who we had put all our trust in decided that she wanted to Produce and make the film herself. After firing everyone involved and turning down a deal with Warner Brothers she took the money investors had put in and fled the country. About a week later while at the movies I see a movie trailer that is identical to our script. I did the first thing I could think of and called our lawyers. Some people involved with the project had taken our script and made their own version without us. After being told that you can Copyright a script but not an idea we took the advise that suing a major company was not a smart move, we swallowed our pride and lost all intrest in the industry. We even went as far as to pull our other scripts that were being looked at and shut everything down, I did make a point to call everyone involved with the project and make sure we were on good terms, with the exception of those who took our idea. Sometime later I was approached by an author to adapt her books into screenplays. So me and my co-writer wrote our first adaption but found that without an agent or management couldn't get it to anyone. And after being burned the way we had we didn't want to use the contacts we had in LA. So we both once again walked away from writing. One day while on-line checking my email I noticed that I had received an invitation to a website that was just starting out called Stage 32. I opened the email and figured what the heck I'll join and see where this goes. Little did I know that this website would take off like a wildfire. I sat back and watched and read how people were trying to network and get themselves heard/seen. It opened my eyes to the fact that everyone who dreams of getting into the industry struggles everyday to make connections. So I started reaching out and giving advise having been in the industry infront and behind the camera. Well a few weeks ago I took a leap of faith and contacted my old connections out in LA and told them about a script that we had been sitting on and if anyone wanted to take a look. To my surprise I got word back to send it someones way and let them read it. They got back to me after reading it and asked if they could pass it on to some people who were looking for a script along the lines of what we had. I said sure why not. The next email was one that even I didn't expect, the script had been passed on to some Producers who are very interested and would like to talk more about the project and getting it made. To my surprise one of the Producers used to work for Warner Brothers and had made the original offer for our old script. So once again we are playing the Hurry up and Wait game. We feel safe because it's an Adaption from a book and the chance of the idea getting stolen is very slim. So I'm not getting my hopes up, but for the first time in a long time I have the wind pushing me to move forward and to get back to chasing my dream. I will keep everyone here at Stage 32 up to date on what is happening because I feel without this site and everyones posts and involvement I would have never taken that leap of faith and tried again. So I owe everyone here a great thanks.

I am kind of interested in learning the process of how one would approach an agent?

Hi. Hello. Howya doin’? I’m a writer, word-player, lyricist, screenwriter, bard. I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn and a king. I’ve been up and down and over and out…My back-story, former advertising agency writer and creative director from Chicago. Yes, I started in the mailroom. Co-writer of a screenplay finished in 2010. Title: KISS MY IRS - a black comedy/spoof about America's most feared organizations- Internal Revenue. It's like The Naked Gun meets The Usual Suspects and manages to offend many. Seeking agent/studio to produce. Newly completed screenplay – Texting Heaven In works – Chairman Now. Seniors in Heat. Wives & Widows. I’m busy. But if I can help others do scene work, punch up dialog, whatever - I’m up for it. But no travel. No meetings.

Anybody with that magical list of agents open to seeing scripts from so-called new writers?

This is a follow up to Steve Burks excellent list of 10 ways to help get your stuff read. “Have a great title, or it's the first and last thing they'll read. It should inspire a movie poster.” Very important. My advice, keep it simple. One to three words. This goes back to my name generating sessions in adverting – naming new products, etc. When I heard the film title, “John Carter”, I had an image in my mind totally different from what the film’s about/genre. SciFan? To me, a bad/wrong/confusing/non-descriptive title can kill my interest from the get-go. I found a list of top films…their original titles. To me, the name’s the game. Here’s a list I found regarding original titles of famous films. Alien (1979) – Star Beast Dirty Harry (1971) – Dead Right Dodgeball (2004) – Underdog Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) – Bill & Ted Go to Hell Obsessed (2009) – Oh No She Didn't White Chicks (2004) – The Miltons Easy Rider (1969) – The Loners Garden State (2004) – Large's Ark Talladega Nights (2006) – High, Wide, and Handsome, also Loud and Proud Fly Away Home (1996) – Father Goose Saturday Night Fever (1977) – Tribal Rights of the New Saturday Night Soylent Green (1973) – Make Room! Make Room! (the name of the book it's based on) Big (1988) – When I Grow Up Blood Diamond (2006) – Okavanga Goodfellas (1990) – Wiseguy Rocky (1976) – The Contender Mean Streets (1973) – Season of the Witch