Taking notes and making adjustments is a non-negotiable skill for a working screenwriter You’ve probably gotten notes before–in your screenwriting class, your writers’ group, from contests or coverage services. And, be honest, how many times have you blown them off or just changed/added a couple of lines in response to several pages worth of notes?…
A 12-week working lab for filmmakers ready to build a clear path to festivals, impact, distribution, and funding Jon Fitzgerald is a writer, producer, director, festival and distribution consultant probably best known for co-founding Slamdance (watch our interview with him). On May 1st his company Cause Pictures launches a new Impact Lab based on the work he’s been developing around new models of…
Supporting Characters Samwise from LORD OF THE RINGS, Janis from MEAN GIRLS, Luna Lovegood from HARRY POTTER, Lisa from GIRL, INTERRUPTED–they all have something in common. They are supporting characters. Angelina Jolie won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for the latter. What else do they have in common? They are all three-dimensional, fascinating…
How do you strengthen your ANTAGONIST? Annie Wilkes in MISERY–she goes from fawning fan to your worst nightmare. She’s delusional, unstable, and sad. She’s also a capable nurse and an enthusiastic reader. Alonzo Harris in TRAINING DAY–smart, cunning, charming and convincing when he needs to be as well as completely ruthless. Terence Fletcher in WHIPLASH–he’s…
Your protagonist needs to be the driving force of your story. They can’t be a bystander. They can’t be reactive. They can’t have low stakes in the outcome. Yet all too often we find protagonists that exist in the story, even get quite a bit of screen time, but don’t carry the movie. How can…
Get Repped Now! As many of you already know, Get Repped Now is back and now it’s year-round. If you score a “consider for script” or better (appx the top 2-3% of submissions,) your screenplay will advance to our manager panel. We’ve got writers signed the last five years straight. Our First Consider Boom, right…
They can make you or break you Have you ever sent out a script and thought: “I hope they get to my midpoint twist” or “that reveal on page 25 will seal the deal“? The truth is, if your first few pages don’t hook them, they probably won’t get that far. Who is “they?” If your script is in to…
How can you get them to pay attention? We recently gave away 24 free half-hour consults and were consistently asked the same thing: how the @#$% do I break into this business? First off, let’s dispel some common myths and fears. You can get a running start even if you don’t live in Los Angeles….
The Dos and Don’ts You probably already know that you should be out there networking. And if you don’t, let this be your wake-up call, because this business is all about who you know. Now you may think “but I don’t know anybody. I didn’t go to the right university. My family isn’t in the…
Tips for Visual Writing Writing a novel? Great! We can have long internal monologues, a dozen subplots, philosophical musings, and a page-long description of a dining room table set just so. Writing a play? Wonderful! Soliloquies are a must. Actors love monologues. And dialogue can be endless. Twenty-page-long scenes recounting anecdotes that (hopefully) relate thematically to the plot…
