style=”text-align: left;”> I
don’t want you to make this mistake. It’s a biggie.
>
> This
mistake isn’t something forgivable like taking too long to get to your inciting
incident.It’s not the unsavory practice
of using “ing” words in your description. It’s not even — gasp — submitting a spec with more than 120 pages!
>
> Those
–- if they really are mistakes — are baby blunders, the kinds writers make
when they first start out.
>
> I made
this misstep — the biggie — after getting some huge breaks, after I had
dozens of meetings set up and plenty of interest in my writing.
>
> My
mistake was based on a false belief.The
false belief was this:
>
> I
thought meetings with producers were job interviews.
>
> They
aren’t.
>
> When
I was finally lucky enough to have UTA sending my work out to reputable producers
all over town, I was able to schedule meeting after meeting.
>
> At
this point, I assumed I was days away from a mammoth payout.
>
> The
truth is:These meetings aren’t about
money, because almost no producer has the means to offer you any money at all.
>
> A
few with independent financing connections will occasionally shell out $5000
for an option or writing assignment, but it’s very rare.
>
> In
at least one way, producers are very similar to writers.They want money from the same place you
do.The studios.
>
> The
studios have all the cash.And only the
top-top studio execs have any power to spend money.
>
> When
you really think about it, there are probably only a few dozen individuals in
the whole industry who — if they wanted to — can just decide to hand over any
real currency.
>
> So
if all these producer meetings aren’t about getting you paid, then what are
they about?
>
> In
part, they’re about opportunities to write for these producers for free.(The pros and cons of such offers are a subject
for another article.)
>
> In
part, they’re about producers needing to meet anyone other producers are
meeting, so they don’t feel left behind.
>
> But
what they’re really about is this:
>
> You’re
making a connection.You’re meeting
producers with whom you might form a long-term relationship.
>
> And
one of those long-term writer/producer relationships might some day, after
months or even years, lead to a time when the two of you find yourselves in a
room with a studio exec — and the possibility of real money.
>
> When
I first started taking these meetings, I was so confused. Nobody was offering me any paying jobs.After much frustration, I finally mentioned
this confusion to my manager.
>
> He
told me, “You’re not there to get a job. This is a business of relationships. People give jobs to their friends.”
>
> So,
to sum up, my mistake was this:
>
> When
I finally found myself in these producer meetings, I was looking for a job when
I should have been looking for a friend.
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> Writing natural-sounding dialogue – the kind that makes characters feel real – comes easily for a chosen few. The rest of us have to work hard at it. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> Like anything else, it’s a skill that can be…
Feeling out of creative steam? It happens to every writer at every level. There’s so much resistance, so much rewriting, so much everything – it’s easy for any writer to lose momentum. But momentum is everything. All you really need, to eventually succeed, is to move forward. All you really need is momentum. If you…
> > There are some scripting tricks you won’t find in the screenwriting books. Here are three things I learned about setups and payoffs after years of writing and reading others’ work. > Expanding Your Setups > > Are readers not getting your big payoff? That can be really frustrating. I’ve seen it happen many…
> Script Coverage Chronicles — December 2014 Three Thoughts On Writing For TV > style=”text-align: left;”> I talk about movie scripts a lot, but I’ve given feedback on many TV scripts as well. Based on my experiences as a writer, a screenplay consultant and a competition judge, here are three thoughts on writing for TV: style=”text-align: left;”>…
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> I read a lot of scripts, and I’ve noticed a trend. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> The average writer’s dialogue is getting better than it used to be. style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> With so…
style=”mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;”> I’ve had producers mean very different things when they’ve asked me for a “synopsis”. Some have meant a one page “pitch” for my script. Others have meant a full-on multi page “summary” of the story (otherwise known as a treatment). These are very different things, and it’s important to…
