Nelson Isava: Screenwriter, director and producer in New York City, New York.

Thank you everyone!

congrats! That's awesome

You're welcome, Alicia McClendon.

Thanks Jed Power ! The logline is:

"Two estranged sisters get mixed up with a modern-day Tony Montana after they find their shitty neighbor dead and his girlfriend knocked out inside his apartment."

It's an action comedy.

Congratulations Nelson!

Love it. Congrats. Look forward to connecting at an upcoming meetup.

before. always before. it can be refined after, but written before, proves out the concept and serves as the foundation and roadmap of your structure.

If you have an idea of how to sum up your movie in a longline it’s good to write it down. You can always edit it later as the script develops.

Nelson, I'm like Laurie in that I like to start with the logline before I even start the script. (I can always change the logline after I've reached the script's "FADE OUT" page.)

Congrats Nelson Isava! Love to hear you had a big win. A big motivation for me is usually getting a reaction out of readers. I love hearing people's initials thoughts in real time as they read one of my pieces.

I feel that Ronika Merl that's always ringing in the back of my head as well.

I totally agree Nick, I always end up showing my third draft or so to people I trust and their first reaction is always so valuable.

You said it in the title - cliché...check all the scripts having appraisals here and on other platforms, like "Alien", "Die Hard", "Lethal Weapon", etc...even some Oscar winning...full of cliché characters...so how they win? Well, many factors included some even circumstantial....one thing novice writers try hard to do that always sinks them in the beginning is being "completely different"...

Research, research, research. In my experience, fleshing out a killer character bio (sometimes mine are dozers of pages long) is what's gonna make me confident that I know them deeply enough to make them feel real and special. I try to write about their relationship to every aspect of the inner self, like their memories (the ones important to the story and themes), their emotions in any given situation, their bodies, and then I bring that outwards and write about their relationship with external entities like their friends, their lovers, their jobs, the government, etc... And lastly, originality and uniqueness is only going to come out of your own worldview and how it informs the stories you want to tell. Though I think doing this type of research in the prep stage will make for a richer source material for you.

Hi Mista - this is a great topic and I highly recommend this upcoming Stage 32 class on this very subject. Brian is a fantastic teacher and resource. Here’s a link so you see how the course is designed: https://www.stage32.com/classes/Developing-Memorable-Characters-and-Worl...

Do an empathy matrix (my favourite tool for character development), once you know them, then their actions fall into place.

I would also make sure they have a good immediate goal. It would be great if you can make us agree with the outcome, but perhaps not their method. For example, we are against child molesters, but may bump up against burning them alive for public sport.

Yes, empathy for the villain. As the old adage goes, "sympathy for the devil". I'll consider that. Thanks, Craig.

This is super interesting! I think rather than be worried about stereotyping and cliches, just focus on the character's wants and needs, like Craig D Griffiths says. If those two ring true to the larger themes you want to explore, then you'll be good. As far as depth goes, dimension = contradiction. If what your antagonist wants is opposing what they need, you'll get a nice threedimensionality to your character. Think about it as opposing their conscious object of desire and their unconscious object of desire. Hope this helps!

Hey Nelson. New here too from NYC. Hope to connect.

You're welcome, Nelson Isava. Hope you get the funding for your film!

Hi Nelson, welcome! Check out our current short film contest here: https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers/contests/Palm-Springs-Women-in-Fil...

Dane Johnson I hear you, I learned that the hard way with my previous two shorts. We're are deep in the grant strategy now. We are saving crowdfunding for last in case there is a gap to close between what we raise and our goal when we run out of options with grants and sponsorships. Thanks for the insight!

Hi Nelson Isava - This will be a good read from you, a lounge post from Dyna Noffke >>

https://www.stage32.com/lounge/distribution/Outisde-the-box-Short-Film-D...

And how she was able to monetize/fundraise for her film

Thanks for sharing Shellie Schmals! Really interesting strategy

Sam Sokolow Hi Sam! I'm SO grateful for the kind and encouraging support that all the staff grant. Loving it here. I'm currently working on rewrites for a kids animated pilot called, "Agents of C.O.W."

Here's the logline: When a young cow with Asperger's Syndrome is taken from a farm by a scorned alien cow, the cow is recruited by a group of adventurous, skilled cows to thwart a slow invasion of their homeworld.

Christopher Thomas - a number of things inspired me. 1) I love Christmas; my family calls me the "King of Christmas"; 2) my wife really starting getting into Hallmark Christmas movies a couple of years ago and I started watching them with her. I felt that I could write something along those lines but with maybe more gravitas involved; and 3) "It's a Wonderful Life" is my favorite film of all time.

Right now I'm finishing the adaptation of my published novel (in Spanish) and it's really tough to adapt your own novel (as it will be tough to find a producer). I'm also writing a theatre play and translating the first chapters of my last novel into English for an agent in USA.

Excellent Alana Gerdes

Alana, that's fantastic news! Congratulations...and all the VERY BEST to you!

Congrats Alana Gerdes. This is a very exciting opportunity. Hope everything works out for you.