Screenwriting

From structure to content to representation to industry trends, this is the place to discuss, share content and offer tips and advice on the craft and business of screenwriting

Liked by Stephen Barber and 11 others

Sean Orlikowski
"Stage 32 Look Book" Experience

Hello, Stagers.

Been a member for a while, but first time posting in the lounge!

I wanted to ask about your experience with the "Double Recommend" system and the Stage 32 Look Book. I was recently lucky enough to have my animation pilot "Double Recommended." It was a surprise I didn't expect this earl...

Expand post

Stephanie O'Leary

Sean, that's FANTASTIC - Congrats! I'm also relatively new to the site, so I can't answer your questions. However, I'd start looking for info using the Search bar (at the top of the page.) Also, you m...

Expand comment
Geoffroy Faugerolas

Sean Orlikowski Congratulations on your Double Recommend! That's a fantastic achievement, especially early in your screenwriting journey.

The Look Book is sent to 1,500 executives on a monthly basis. E...

Expand comment
Sean Orlikowski

Thank you for the clarification and details, Geoffroy! I'll sit tight and see what comes in.

Tia Matza

Sean Orlikowski Thank you for your post. Last month I was pleased to find out I was Double Recommended and in the Look Book! Thank you Stage 32. I'd love to hear about people's success along the way....

Expand comment
Stephen Barber

Great job, Sean! Atta-Boy!!!

Liked by Stephen Barber and 16 others

Till Olshausen
Happy End of the Year

Having been double recommended a second time, my screenwriting year ended on a little high note.

It was an exhausting one, but I'm in the mood to wish everyone a happy new year and the strength to keep writing until you win that uphill battle.

I was double recommended for an animated fantasy adventure...

Expand post

Elle Bolan

Congratulations on your double recommendations!

Billy Kwack

Hi Till, cool, I'm a huge martial arts fantasy too

Maria Restivo Glassner

I had a double recommendation for a TV. pilot back in October this year and I haven't heard any feedback yet. I may rewrite my biography in case that wasn't compelling enough. Just in case there is a next double recommend.

Maurice Vaughan

Congratulations on getting a double recommendation, Maria Restivo Glassner!

Stephen Barber

Atta-Boy, Till!!!

Liked by Stephen Barber and 5 others

Michael David
2025 - Looking Back and Ahead!

Hey all!

I love this time of year because it gives us an opportunity to see all the great things we've done and the progress we've made on our journey. I look forward to 2026 but am happy to say that in 2025 I had...

- 4 Feature Screenplays Written (thriller, action, comedy, scifi)

- 3 Options Signed f...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

Hey, Michael David! You got a lot done this year! Congratulations! I had ghostwriting jobs, pitch deck jobs, wrote short scripts, rewrote scripts (shorts and features), made/redid pitch material, adde...

Expand comment
Banafsheh Esmailzadeh

Congratulations and good job on all your hard work! I wrote parts 2 to 4 of Finding Elpis, Glass Waltz, and Lunar Window and also rewrote parts 1 and 2 of Finding Elpis this year. Made finalist with G...

Expand comment

Liked by Stephen Barber and 16 others

Ashley Renee Smith
Looking Ahead Together — What’s Your First Creative Move for 2026?

As you start thinking about 2026, what’s the first creative goal or intention you want to set for yourself as a creative? Not the ten-step master plan, just the initial move that gets the momentum going.

Is it finishing a draft, committing to a consistent creative routine, outlining a new idea, revis...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

I love these goals! I'm rooting for everyone to reach them! Happy New Year!

Robyn Henderson

One of my creative goals is to regularly contribute to Writers Rooms.

Debbie Seagle

Ashley Renee Smith I can't wait to hear about your creative adventure! Do Tell when you #DOiT!

I hope to finish two comedy novels & write their screenplays... that's not too overwhelming while hopeful...

Expand comment
Funizwe Ntsibande

To be a sponge in the next 30 days by navigating and participating within the Stage 32 community. In the 60 days get a litmus test feedback on my first draft screenplay -The Mat Carrier, whether it su...

Expand comment
Jim Boston

Ashley Renee, here's wishing you all the VERY BEST for 2026...and beyond!

Goals...goals...goals...well, here are mine:

1. Join an in-person table read here in the Omaha/Council Bluffs/Bellevue area.

2. G...

Expand comment

Liked by Michael Dzurak and 5 others

Göran Johansson
Production company asked for better logline and synopsis

In August I posted that an Australian production company asked for more details after I tried to sell my script to them. They are back, asking for still more details.

Those of you who like myself want to sell by sending a query letter, I hope you understand that you will have to answer similar quest...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

I think your logline needs a better structure, Göran Johansson.

Göran Johansson

OK, I plan to take a new look tomorrow. More comments?

David Taylor

GORAN - You have a production company on hook, you need help. Get somebody on here who will help you for free but get that Logline fixed and get a real synopsis - in fact two synopsis - short and long. No offence intended. Congratulations.

David Taylor

USING YOUR WORDS - FROM 57 TO 29 WORDS

After losing her baby, a CIA agent sobers up to confront her abusive boss, intent on her murdering a VIP, thus risking jail. The invention of teleportation changes everything.

Göran Johansson

David, your suggested logline. I apologize for causing a misunderstandment. The teleportation is long before she sobers up.

New logline. Is this better, and the company wanted 2-3 sentences rather tha...

Expand comment

Liked by Jim Boston and 4 others

“Orientation Beats Inspiration — Every Single Time.”

Creators wait for inspiration because they think clarity arrives as a feeling.

But upstream, clarity arrives as orientation — knowing what the project is, what it isn’t, and what it’s trying to become.

Inspiration is unpredictable.

Orientation is repeatable.

Inspiration fades.

Orientation compounds....

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

Must-read post, Baron Rothschild! Knowing what the project is, what it isn’t, and what it’s trying to become help me outline the project and get to a final draft....

Expand comment
Baron Rothschild

Appreciate that, Maurice. Orientation has a way of making the work reveal its own next step.

Darrell Pennington

Baron Rothschild I have really enjoyed your posts the last few days. Very interesting and for contemplative people like most creatives, they have the type of information that resonates and returns in...

Expand comment
Baron Rothschild

Great question, Darrell. Plot is downstream of orientation. When you know what the project is and what it’s trying to become, the plot stops being something you invent and starts being something you uncover. Endings reveal themselves when the project’s identity is stable.

Liked by Jim Boston and one other

“Definition Precedes Momentum — Every Time.” Post:

Creators often think they’re stuck because they lack motivation.

But upstream, the real stall happens because the project isn’t defined.

You can’t move toward something you haven’t articulated.

You can’t build something you haven’t named.

You can’t execute something you haven’t clarified.

Momentum i...

Expand post

Liked by Jim Boston and one other

The Orientation Arc A three‑part upstream clarity sequence designed to stabilize creators at the earliest stage of their process.

Most Creative Problems Aren’t Creative — They’re Positional.”

Most creators think they’re struggling with ideas, talent, or discipline.

But upstream, the real issue is almost always positioning — where they’re standing in relation to their own project.

When you’re positioned too close, everything fe...

Expand post

Liked by Jim Boston and 5 others

David B. Williamson
Volume outreach isn’t the problem. Lack of investment is.

Cold DMs only work in this industry when they’re backed by proof that the creator has already put real skin in the game — personally, emotionally, and financially.

Anyone can “spray and pray.”

But spray + pray + proof? That’s a strategy.

Producers and execs think in ROI — effort vs return.

If you won’t...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

Great post, David B. Williamson! I used to spray and pray with pitches, but it was a waste of time for the most part. I don't have any desire to make movies, shows, etc., so my strategy is research +...

Expand comment
David B. Williamson

Absolutely. I’ve learned the same lesson the hard way — volume without intention doesn’t move the needle. The difference really is clarity: knowing who you’re pitching to, why they’d care, and letting the work do the heavy lifting. Appreciate you sharing that perspective.

Michael David

Bullshit

CJ Walley

This is overly dogmatic in tone but there's some truth there. Spray and pray querying is closer to spamming than strategising, and the market place is indeed full of writers looking for a fairy god mo...

Expand comment
Elle Bolan

Cold querying can work... About as well as throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Maybe one or two noodles stick, but the rest is just a mess in the floor.

Networking and making connection...

Expand comment

Liked by Jim Boston and 27 others

Shreyans Jain
Feeling After the Draft

Nothing comes close to the feeling of finally holding a freshly printed and bound copy of your final draft. Two days ago, after draft after draft of my first feature script — including feedback on that initial 180-page monster (I know) — I now finally have a sharp 118-page script, full of mystery. A...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

You're welcome, Shreyans Jain. Great. I also suggest building a portfolio of scripts. Managers and agents like for writers to have a portfolio of scripts. And if a producer, director, executive, etc....

Expand comment
David Taylor

Always be ready for the question: 'What else have you got'.

John Fife

That's a great feeling. Congratulations!

Meriem Bouziani

Congratulations! This is truly a great moment that deserves a proper celebration, even a party and a cake.

Liked by Jim Boston and one other

Aleksandr Rozhnov
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Friends and colleagues, I would love to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! From the bottom of my heart, I hope the coming year brings you health, happiness, inspiration, and the realization of your most cherished dreams.

May every door in the film industry open for you,...

Expand post

Maurice Vaughan

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Aleksandr Rozhnov! Thanks for being active in the community. Congratulations on everything you accomplished in 2025! I hope you accomplish more next year!...

Expand comment
Elle Bolan

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too! Hoping this coming year is filled with joy and sold scripts for you!

Liked by Dwayne Williams 2 and 6 others

Roberta M Roy
Which is easier to market? A feature or a tele series?

With all best wishes by a producer he states: "The piece feels positioned as a prestige film, and while that carries artistic value, it would require a significant budget . . .That said, your track record and your skill as a writer are evident. You clearly have strong command of structure, character...

Expand post

Göran Johansson

TV mini series typically can't afford a large number of actors. At least not here in Europe. And I don't think that large numbers of actors are common either in those countries where the budget someti...

Expand comment
Roberta M Roy

Maurice, I've used that page and contacted many a producer, however, none has responded.

David Taylor

If your idea has a multiple series story engine, it can be TV. If it doesn't it's a movie. Pitching for each is completely different. For the movie you need a great logline, synopsis FULL and script a...

Expand comment
CJ Walley

Easier to market? Well, the market for a feature is objectively far larger.

Maurice Vaughan

New producers join Stage 32 all the time, Roberta M Roy. Keep searching for them in the Browse Members section. Hope you find a producer!

register for stage 32 Register / Log In