Screenwriting

Hi Ammon what the potential for horror? What about cross-genre or genre-shifts (eg GET OUT changing from romance to horror or SINNERS changing from historical drama to vampire horror)?

Hi Ammon, you said 90 pages is too long. What’s the ideal page length for a season? If it’s 12 pages a day, what’s the minimum and max number of days for a shoot and do you aim to do the whole season in that shoot? Thanks!

Thank you EVERYONE for being such engaged and engaging webinar attendees! The Stage32 community vibes were alive and well for sure :)

Here is, for everyone's private access, the submission link to MANSA:

https://airtable.com/app5JJgZcr9THFNUe/pagc96Gen8O4X4uhI/form

Please remember to use judiciously, as per the mandate.

If you had any other questions or ones we didn't get to, please place them in this chat thread and Ammon will forego sleeping forever and check in to answer some of them ;)

And, of course, thank you to Ammon for yet another brilliant and actionable webinar! You are appreciated.

Thank you Ammon and our great host! A few more questions: What is the ideal length of a script to shoot in 10 days? Is 10 days the industry norm? How many pages is each episode? How did you get started in this space? Why & how did Mansa build their own app? Thank you again for a terrific webinar!

Sebastian Tudores Thank you for asking our questions. This was a great webinar. Onward and upward.

Sandra Isabel Correia / Darrell Pennington - regarding comedy ... I saw a clip of Jerry Seinfeld speaking about comedy today and how disappointed he is that there's no real comedy going on. And so I think McBride / Goggins and that crew is probably the only comedy writer(s) team that I have seen in recent years do really outrageous comedy well and comedy that's actually funny. I only saw Vice Prinicpals (2016) just a couple of years ago, and then Righteous Gemstones (2019) - both well worth the time - but you gotta like rough and tumble humor - they don't mess around. :)

TOM SCHAEFER I am very disappointed with the lack of quality R rated comedy that is not just directed to 16-25 y.o. males. I long for the days of yore, like the late 90's and early 2000's hahaha. But all the way back to the 70's as well. Politically incorrect / skewering of ALL points of view television seems pretty non existent to me. That is what I am trying to accomplish with Dixie Dynamite.

I agree with your assessment on McBride/Goggins especially. The first Season of Righteous Gemstones might be my fave McBride work. Judy Gemstone is such a well written anti-feminist feminist and the spine of the show for me. Amber is probably a close second and someone I have had in mind for the lead Dixie character I have written.

I like your way of thinking about producers and the right production company of your projects!

Darrell Pennington - McBride and crew go for the jugular - and their characters are not only cartoonish in raw emotions, they are all larger than life, and ALL IN. "Double-down ALL IN".

This I think is one of the reasons they have succeeded. Every actor in their shows is ALL IN. I have noticed this about bands. When you watch a band perform on a late night show like Letterman/Fallon/Kimmel - you will see every performer ALL IN. So that's a model for me. I keep getting Gary Vaynerchuk videos in my socials - Gary's ALL IN.

So I think in today's numb universe you will need to go ALL IN without being too sophomoric unless the CW network is what you're aiming for. I find that Mcbride and crew have really worked the dialogue and it's highly relatable, accentuating shit we all talk about they throw some gasoline on! And I have also seen the comraderie that Mcbride and Co have with each other and you can see they are literally laughing all the way to bank.

Brilliant questions, I need to think on that one.

Glad the call and script consultation went so well, Justin Groats! I had a great one a while back. I plan on doing one for a script I'm rewriting. I'm rooting for you to reach your goal!

It's less about your idea and more about your execution.

Dolf Van Stijgeren, Good point. You're right, my comment was a bit off-topic

GJ Harvey Absolutely agree. Someone absolutely CAN have a similar idea OR even (for the sake of this topic) steal your idea. But they won't be able to execute it as you did.

Funny but interesting how the subject is moving into new territory. Actually, no one has said they have synopses or scripts stored on Stage 32. ;-)

Dolf Van Stijgeren it’s cool how the topic’s evolved. there are unique ideas. i like to think the top three of my works in progress have not been done before—at least in my combination or execution. they would i fear be stealable.

as for your earlier—much earlier—question: what did the other commenter mean, that putting up synopses here is both safe and unsafe: my own take is this—i wouldn’t steal your killer concept, and you wouldn’t steal mine. this goes, I’m sure, for every other commenter who’s taken time to sensibly post responses in this conversation. but S32 is public and there are a number of shady characters I’ve seen floating around. so perhaps the answer lies in direct swaps with connections that you click with. personally i believe we should do such swaps—if nothing else, to salve the loneliness of us long-distance writers

nod to Alan Sillitoe

Very complex issues - have had 5 scripts optioned now and you must be sure that it's worth giving away the rights for the 6 months or 1 year or however long you choose. Also, protect your IP/your work/your rights - they do NOT own the script when they option it - they only have the chance to shop it around - you retain all ownership. And make sure the producer or company is legit. Do your due diligence on them. Work out a good deal in the option agreement in the event that the script is purchased. Get something fair up front and more deferred if purchased. Some other issues but these are the biggest to mention right away - Nicholas J. Benson

Hire an attorney. Period.

Thank you again everyone! Very useful!

It's on of those things that's highly contextual to a whole bunch of variables.

Giving a first-time producer a $1 option when you are an industry nobody might be a wise move. Doing the same when there's some buzz around your scripts would be foolish.

Options are strange beasts in today's age too. Supply and demand isn't what it was in the 90s. There's small producers out there having to pitch a lot of projects to get anything moving, and a writer with a dozen credits in the indie scene can still be a complete unknown outside of their regular collaborators.

Be very careful the production company produces with decent production values and isn't just some idiot filming on his iPhone. Ask for reels of their previous work.

Keep in mind your logline shouldn't be a synopsis. It’s essential a one sentence elevator pitch designed to get someone to buy or read the rest of your materials. I would make this the entire logline: At night they come into town to feed. Don't let them find you. This will make the right person want to know more.

I like the concept- a bit of Night of the Living Dead/Purge meets College Kids on Campus. Here's a logline idea- When a Crimson Alert seals a college town against a pack of feral vampires, a mismatched group of students trapped in a used bookstore must overcome distrust and their own dangerous secrets to survive until sunrise.

This looks similar to the movie The Mist. A great idea, but the concept could be elevated.

For example, what is the main character’s goal? If he’s heading to his mother’s place despite the apocalypse, that’s one story. If he’s trapped there with a girl he wants to seduce, that’s a different story.

Who are these students? Maybe they’re all from a wealthy college with respectable parents, or maybe they’re a group of high school misfits, and a beautiful girl just happens to be with them.

Bill Albert That's awesome Bill, kudos for this really cool script! The logline should be way shorter, and I know it is so challenging to put all the amazing things into a longish one sentence, but the thing I have found that helps ( because I have the same issue sometimes ), I imagine myself talking to a trusted friend, someone I love talking to, could be anyone, even an imaginary friend, the point is, someone who you love talking to, who always makes you confident and happy, and imagine they ask you, "Give me a one sentence logline of your script?" It's an exercise in getting out of the "should, do, force, nerves, fear" of getting the logline right.

Omar Barnes brilliant post, and suggestion.

you’ve made me realise, the reason I’m grappling with my own logline is, I’m trying to craft a two sentence synopsis of a short film with, paradoxically, a lot of moving parts—the task is Herculean!

but of course that’s not what it should be, at all! I’d lost sight of the proverbial forest…

from now on i need to keep reminding myself:

elevator pitch

elevator pitch

elevator pitch

It's that way sometimes, Deborah Bete. Spending a lot of time on one line. I like "A faint smile touches his face — and lingers" more. It sounds better in my opinion, and it grabbed my attention more.

Agreed, Maurice. "... and lingers" has more weight IMO. "Lingering" doesn't feel as strong a motive. Like Hitchcock said, "You can write 'A man walks into a room,' but HOW does he walk in?" Sometimes it takes much longer than 8 minutes :)

Yeah, lingers sounds more suitable. It's so direct oriented.

I choose — and linger Maurice Vaughan Dale Wolfe Aleksandar Lahtov

I think vertical shorts are here to stay, Libby Wright. They've been becoming more and more popular, and I've been seeing more and more articles and posts about them. I'm looking forward to the webinar tomorrow!

Maurice Vaughan I think it sounds like it could be a really fun challenge to write a story that's compelling in such a different format!

It does sound like a really fun challenge, Libby Wright. I have some script ideas I might turn into vertical scripts. I might even turn some of my short scripts in verticals.

noob here, with my two cents’:

Vertical shorts - their limitations are hard to ignore. When episodes are constrained to just two or three minutes, very few scenes can be developed meaningfully. Most narratives—whether dramatic, comedic, or documentary—need breathing room, and slicing them into ultra-short segments rarely serves the content.

The forced narrowness of the vertical frame also works against how we naturally see the world. Our field of vision is inherently widescreen: we take in broad horizontal landscapes and wide contextual cues. A 16:9 frame captures this far better than the tall, cramped proportions of vertical video. Sweeping vistas, dynamic action, and multi-character scenes simply don’t translate well into a format designed around narrowness.

What’s more puzzling is that phones rotate. The hardware already supports horizontal viewing, yet vertical shorts persist. It’s a format better suited to a single talking head—like a news anchor or a vlog—than to any content that benefits from spatial depth or cinematic composition.

I'm going to give that webinar a try; I want to learn more about this new form of storytelling just so I can understand it better.

You're welcome, Philippe Jeanneteau. That's unique! I haven't written that kind of series, but Stage 32 has a webinar called "How to Write Sci-Fi That Sells: Turning Bold Concepts into Producer-Friendly Scripts" (www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-write-sci-fi-that-sells-turnin...).

"I want to avoid being didactic or over-explaining the theory and instead keep the audience emotionally connected to the characters and their discoveries." You could explain the theory in pieces throughout the series and when you explain it, do it in an entertaining way or do it during a scene where the explorer and writer are uncovering things, during a suspenseful scene, during an action scene, or during a scene when the characters are in a rush/danger.

Maurice Vaughan Thanks again, Maurice — sincerely.

Your insight really helps me refine the way I want to tell this story and gives me a clearer direction.

I truly appreciate the time and attention you gave my question.

You're welcome, Philippe Jeanneteau. Have a great rest of the week! Keep me posted on your series.

Thanks, Maurice — I’ll pay attention to that in my next posts!

You're welcome, Philippe Jeanneteau.

@CJ Walley congratulations on wrapping up the shoot! Tennessee is such a gorgeous state. Has some very pretty spots.

Rewriting and editing. I'm also planning out my writing schedule for next year. The goal is to do at least 4-6 scripts if possible- plus courses and pitching. I honestly am shocked at how much I've managed to get done in a 6 month period and going into next year-- I want to look at learning how to write TV shows- not just features- which I adore a lot.

@Cynna Ael, I see we tackled things the opposite way. I started with teleplays and just started on features.

Elle Bolan I know who to hit up for advice when I start the whole tv thing. sighs part of me is excited-- part of me is like-- OMG, what am I doing. Plus, I DO have a streaming/tv series idea I've been slowly building. Building it right? Not a clue.

Elle, which film are you scheduling researching for. Do you need a little bit of help? My time is open, except for my class sessions which involves breaking down dialogue into subtext. No obligations to the help if you needed support with research. Looking forward to "The Regal Scale". Elle you have a beautiful day/evening.