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I just wanted to say there isn't a formula for success. People break in a variety of ways. You're not going to find an equation because if there was one way to do it then everyone would do it.
In writing for the market I'm not telling you to toss aside your script about say Madame Curie and only write broad comedies about turnips. I'm saying if you have a great biopic about Madame Curie you need to understand what sells in your bracket and where it sells. You should read scripts produced in the last three years that fall within whatever genre or category you are writing. You have to be able to look at your work objectively in terms of both writing and structure. Am I hitting the beats? Is my dialog as solid? Don't "Mom" yourself and love your work without seeing what separates it from Ronald Bass or John Logan.
With your Curie script, with any script, you have to be a business person who can read Variety. You have to find out about the people who are producing the new Amelia Earhart biopic and send them a great query letter. You have to find your own deals and the only way to do that is to educate yourself and pound the keyboard and make some calls. You also have to have a pretty thick skin and a lot of determination. Any guarantees? No. But there definitely aren't any guarantees if you don't do anything other than complain about how you're not working.
Screenplayreaders referenced comedy as the easier "in" right now and it's true. Comedies are cheap to make and give good return on DVD rentals. One of the reason they're so cheap is that they hire new writers and pay them Guild minimum for scripts. As a new writer is it easier to sell a $15 million comedy than a big budget period piece? Yes. Should you only write what's easier if it doesn't appeal to you at all? Definitely not. Write what you're interested in and passionate about but know once you're done that at the starting point in your career you're the one who has to find it a home.
That's all very eloquent and I'm going to kill it completely by making a suggestion in what you should read. Comedy is an easier sale and I think the $$$ part probably appeals to a lot of you. I would say you should read "I Want to F___ Your Sister" by Melissa Stack. It was a big deal last year and I believe this is her first sale.
I'd be up for joining the debate on this one. I quite fancy reading "I Want to F___ your Sister" if anyone has it?
I'd also recommend "Book of Eli" by Gary Whitta, it's a post-apocalyptic movie in the vein of Mad Max that sold on spec last year. It's flawed but entertaining and I think the writing style is a good example of the current trend.
Anything off last year's Black List would be good.
P.S. Can anyone email me the Countdown script. I was halfway through it when the link disappeared.
My $0.02, from the trenches of banging my head against the wall: without names attached to your script, or in your movie, you simply don't get any traction. Even films that become the darlings of Sundance, most with name actors or producers, fall more quickly to the wayside than in times past.
Brian, you are dashing my dreams!
Would love to hear more though, Does this mean you really do think that a spec script for a Hollywood comedy really does have a chance of being noticed? What kind of stuff are you writing? I take it you are not just writing but making your movies too?
I appreciate you taking time to add your 2 cents, much appreciated.
I just wanted to say there isn't a formula for success. People break in a variety of ways. You're not going to find an equation because if there was one way to do it then everyone would do it.
In writing for the market I'm not telling you to toss aside your script about say Madame Curie and only write broad comedies about turnips. I'm saying if you have a great biopic about Madame Curie you need to understand what sells in your bracket and where it sells. You should read scripts produced in the last three years that fall within whatever genre or category you are writing. You have to be able to look at your work objectively in terms of both writing and structure. Am I hitting the beats? Is my dialog as solid? Don't "Mom" yourself and love your work without seeing what separates it from Ronald Bass or John Logan.
With your Curie script, with any script, you have to be a business person who can read Variety. You have to find out about the people who are producing the new Amelia Earhart biopic and send them a great query letter. You have to find your own deals and the only way to do that is to educate yourself and pound the keyboard and make some calls. You also have to have a pretty thick skin and a lot of determination. Any guarantees? No. But there definitely aren't any guarantees if you don't do anything other than complain about how you're not working.
Screenplayreaders referenced comedy as the easier "in" right now and it's true. Comedies are cheap to make and give good return on DVD rentals. One of the reason they're so cheap is that they hire new writers and pay them Guild minimum for scripts. As a new writer is it easier to sell a $15 million comedy than a big budget period piece? Yes. Should you only write what's easier if it doesn't appeal to you at all? Definitely not. Write what you're interested in and passionate about but know once you're done that at the starting point in your career you're the one who has to find it a home.
That's all very eloquent and I'm going to kill it completely by making a suggestion in what you should read. Comedy is an easier sale and I think the $$$ part probably appeals to a lot of you. I would say you should read "I Want to F___ Your Sister" by Melissa Stack. It was a big deal last year and I believe this is her first sale.
I obviously cannot speak for anyone else here, but it is not really about the money for me in terms of wanting to write. But I have to be realistic, I of course need to make money. So like probably everyone else here most of my time is taken up with work. My ideal goal would be to sell anything, to try and be in the position where I can call writing my day job and spend 10 hours a day writing instead. Then I could start to think about the things I want to write. Is this an unrealistic goal would you say? I know everybody is probably raising their eyebrows at that, "Yeah, right Murphy, nobody ever thought of that before". But I hope you get what I mean. Am i hoping for far more than I am likely to achieve.
You have written some really interesting posts, I need to get my arse into gear this morning but will read again over the weekend. Thanks very much for your input.
Of course it's not an unrealistic goal, at least from my perspective since I'm pretty much in that mindset myself at the moment. Yeah, I've got a few things out there, but am I in any kind of position where I can quit my day job and just write full time? Absolutely not.
In the meantime, I put in my 8 hours a day, five days a week, and write my ass off on nights and weekends while constantly searching for ways to get my work out there and sold.
I still say the next script, regardless of which one is chosen should be Script Club V...
I agree with this. I have just closed a bunch of old "Script Club" threads, and adding another permutation of Script Club into the mix would be unweildy at best.
Whether the topic is a Produced Script, or an Unproduced Script, it will still be a "Script Club" thread, and we should only have one going at any given time.
Seems like everyone wants to read "I Want to F___ your Sister". No wonder it sold.
From an artistic standpoint; I don’t think it sounds very good. I think the title is very lacking in creativity. I read the logline or synopsis or something (I can’t remember which) somewhere (I can’t remember where), and it didn’t grab me.
However:
From a business standpoint; I think it sounds perfect. I think it’s the perfect script to begin with. Because I think when it comes to studying pro scripts it’s important for us to study fresh new ones that Hollywood is interested in right now.
I agree with this. I have just closed a bunch of old "Script Club" threads, and adding another permutation of Script Club into the mix would be unweildy at best.
Whether the topic is a Produced Script, or an Unproduced Script, it will still be a "Script Club" thread, and we should only have one going at any given time.
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