So, what is everyone working on?

I was working on a thriller -- think I hit 40 or so pages, then I stopped. I had a finished version of (yikes!) another Christmas rom-com that I felt a need to rewrite called A Picture Perfect Christmas. So, that's where I'm at.

What about y'all?

No Man's Space - Sci-fi TV Series
Eight members of different species wake up on an abandoned spaceship drifting through space. Personalities and cultures will clash as they attempt to survive and pursue their own agendas, but they must learn to cooperate if they are going to get the answers they seek, where are they, who took them, and more importantly, why?

Bevin Boys - Drama/war feature
During WW2, a young army cadet dreams of becoming an officer and the glory of war, but when his call up papers instead conscript him to the mines, he struggles to cope with the new role he must play and his place in history.

Pigs in Blankets - Sci-fi/Action feature
In an attempt to find her long lost family, a resentful woman is thrust into the arms of an underground resistance hell-bent on ousting the dictator ruling Britannia and his private police army.


The log lines are a bit crap because I just quickly wrote them, but you get the idea.

I have been switching between them all, but I have focused in on the TV series now - Once the pilot is done along with the bible, I'll move onto the features.

Steve - Why you stopped on the Thriller?

Matt,

Love those titles!

I frequently switch between projects. The Christmas script was already finished, but it definitely needed a rewrite and, honestly, would be the easier of the two to market. And sometimes you stay away from something then come back to it with fresh eyes -- you know the rest. I'll pick up the thriller again soon. I like the way that's going, too.

No title on the thriller yet, but if I can give it a quickie logline...

A retired detective comes face-to-face with his daughter's killer, but a surprise medical diagnosis leads him to believe whether he did it at all.

Rewriting my western feature, Retribution.

I was working on my feature The Apprentice but since I’ve bought my house in September, everything went tits up.  On about 70+ pages.

Steve, I know you just threw this logline up here in a hurry:

A retired detective comes face-to-face with his daughter's killer, but a surprise medical diagnosis leads him to believe whether he did it at all

'believe' should be 'question' or 'doubt'?
Regardless, sounds intriguing.

Good luck with the second Christmas script. You have a knack with those. Female protag this time around?

I'm trying to think of a Christmas idea myself.  The Hallmark marathon is upon us again and let's face it these movies are in high demand.

Goals: To finish my SciFi Zombie short.
Start & finish a Short I'm currently writing on in my head on a topic that's really tragic and a bit of a downer but also should be told imho. The trick is in balancing grim subject matter and giving it a ray of hope.

Trying to juggle Christmas presents, work, and moving house after nearly a decade too.  ::)

The first issue of the Shaka comic consumes all my time at the moment. Only a few pages left and all the artwork is completed. I also have an amazing artist currently doing the cover.

I started promoting the book in August on all the social media sites and am growing a following at a rate I didn’t think would be possible, so that’s been surprising.

I don’t think I'll really be able to commit to any actual screenwriting until the first issue of the comic goes up next year as I'm struggling to focus on anything else, but it’s been a fun process, stressful at times but for them most part a lot of fun.

I still check in to SS several times a day, so that hasn’t changed :)

Still need to send the rewrite of my failed OWC entry in as well when I get a chance.

Quoted from LC Steve, I know you just threw this logline up here in a hurry: A retired detective comes face-to-face with his daughter's killer, but a surprise medical diagnosis leads him to believe whether he did it at all 'believe' should be 'question' or 'doubt'? Regardless, sounds intriguing. Good luck with the second Christmas script. You have a knack with those. Female protag this time around? I'm trying to think of a Christmas idea myself.  The Hallmark marathon is upon us again and let's face it these movies are in high demand. Goals: To finish my SciFi Zombie short. Start & finish a Short I'm currently writing on in my head on a topic that's really tragic and a bit of a downer but also should be told imho. The trick is in balancing grim subject matter and giving it a ray of hope. Trying to juggle Christmas presents, work, and moving house after nearly a decade too.  ::)

Good luck with your juggling. I know it's a struggle round this time of year.

Would love to read something soon from you. It's been too long! Good luck on your work, and of course hit me up if you need a read.

Good call on the logline. You're 100 percent right.

I struggled so much writing this second Christmas script, you have no idea. I started it last year, stopped, started again. Something felt off about it. Christmas romcom with a female lead? That's so well out of my comfort zone. Christmasville was more me telling Hallmark "hey, this is what you should produce!" That didn't work.

Anyway, I finally finished this new one and sent it out for coverage. Got a pass. Not enough suspense or stakes in the second act. My protagonist was getting away with way too much and not being checked on it. Something like that. So, I'm rewriting it again and so far it's feeling better -- the writing aspect. It just feels better. And yes, a female protagonist this time around. Going all out Hallmark here. Not to mention there's numerous streaming services with so much original content these days, so even though I'm not necessarily writing with my heart, it is still a challenge. Fingers crossed.

Another problem for me is you cannot find a Hallmark script online to save your life. They are just not out there. It would be interesting to see what the quality of the writing looks like on some of these scripts.

Quoted from LC I'm trying to think of a Christmas idea myself.  The Hallmark marathon is upon us again and let's face it these movies are in high demand.

They are in high demand. I have email addresses up the wazoo of all the prodco's I queried a year or so ago.

Maybe somewhere down the road we'll put our heads together and come up with an idea?

Quoted from SAC Matt, Love those titles! I frequently switch between projects. The Christmas script was already finished, but it definitely needed a rewrite and, honestly, would be the easier of the two to market. And sometimes you stay away from something then come back to it with fresh eyes -- you know the rest. I'll pick up the thriller again soon. I like the way that's going, too. No title on the thriller yet, but if I can give it a quickie logline... A retired detective comes face-to-face with his daughter's killer, but a surprise medical diagnosis leads him to believe whether he did it at all.

Thank you - Making a conscious effort on my titles recently lol

Your quickie logline is interesting - I would want to read it only to find out what medical diagnosis could lead someone to believe he is innocent.
I know it was only a quick logline, but what is it actually about? Is the whole movie this one encounter? what are the stakes? finding the truth?
Glad it's going well for you though. When you said you had stopped writing I feared it may have been the dreaded writer's block.

Quoted from LC Goals: To finish my SciFi Zombie short.

Awesome! I wanna read that.

Good luck with the house move as well, I know how stressful that can be.

Dug this up on Reddit, Steve. I'm sure you already know the half of it, but this person's in the know apparently.


They have their own set of rules and structure that they give as a guideline to their writers to be followed for all films. A buddy of mine 'had a friend' who wrote one and sent around the one-sheet guidelines. If you're interested I can try to dig it up... but it's exactly what you'd expect the guidelines to be if you've seen a few of their movies.

1
itsjustmoran1y     
Found it! This is the first time I've ever tried to post anything with formatting, so if it's a mess, I apologize! Also, this is a few years old at this point so I don't know if trends have changed, but hopefully it's helpful to you in some way:

EDIT: Formatting is hard!

HC/HMM Movie Info

• Treatment – we like to start with a fleshed out outline broken down by act so that we can get a good layout of what the script will be.

• Script should be 105-110 pages typically

• 9 Act Structure

o Act 1 is 18-21 pages

o The other acts are shorter but should be generally consistent (8-12 pages usually)

o Midpoint is at the middle of act 4

o Acts 7/8 - needs to be the low point/breaking point before things get better.

o Act 9 is often 7-10 pages

• Total runtime we aim for is 86:30

Other things to note

• We always like a strong female lead (late 20s/early to mid-thirties) and she needs to have a romance. This is always our A story.

• Our audience is W25-54, and we don’t like to stray far from what we do. It’s kind of a ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.

• We are very family friendly and PG/G in nature. A rule of thumb when watching our movies is you want to be able to watch with your 80-year-old grandmother and your 8-year-old niece.

• HC – typically light romantic comedies with a heart-warming ending.

• For Christmas - we always need snow or the remnants of snow and lots of holiday decoration (in a tasteful way). We also like to see our characters doing lots of wintery/Christmassy things – ice skating, baking cookies, sledding, building snowmen, making snow angels, kissing under the mistletoe, hanging stockings, drinking hot chocolate, picking our or cutting down a Christmas tree, decorating the house/tree with holiday décor etc.

• HMM – More dramatic a little less comedic (but still with a happy ending). We tend to deal with more dramatic storylines (but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little humor). We’re actually moving more toward all mysteries on HMM.

o On HMM we can be a little less of the Christmassy (HMM is a little more about story and not as much the celebration of Christmas).

• Our content is not sexual in nature at all (a kiss or kisses is enough to show the romance in our movies), and we usually save this moment for the end when our lead gets her fairytale ending.

• We don’t do cursing, dirty jokes, innuendos etc.

• We’re generally not fans of montages.

• We’re not over the top, tacky (with our characters or our sets) or overly campy.

• We don’t like karaoke or singing scenes in our movies.

• ** Please stay away from killing off family members (there tends to be a lot of dead father/mother/wife/husband in our movies, and we’re trying to get away from that).

• We love to see pets in our movies (and we have a cat and dog – the Happies – that can potentially be the animal talent).

Read More
5
itsjustmoran1y     
HMM = Hallmark Movie Mysteries

HC = Hallmark Classics

...

I'm still searching for an actual Hallmark script.
Let me know if you find one. You've got that big long contact list. Maybe someone you've been in contact with might give you one if you ask nicely. I know... doubtful.

...

** Note the 'trying to steer clear of (an obvious previous trend) the dead spouse/family member.' I thought that'd be popular.

P.S. Thanks, Matty. :)

These two I am closest to finishing the 1st drafts:

CRATERPEOPLE - Years after a war versus robots that were designed to please, in a world where sex and reproduction are like currency, a couple tests virtual reality games where mating occurs inside and outside the game.

$7,000,000 - A generous, funny, and charming young man now has thousands of clones who all act like him, except they have orders from their creators to bring terror to those they ensnare in a romantic relationship.

Also, a couple others I've started work on and would love to finish writing by early 2020:

GENERATION: DOOMSDAY. - Flying around the globe at light-speed creates six versions of the same race-car driver, who must induce a second Ice Age by themselves after their travel companions become manic from the voyage.

RUN AMOK - A hip-hop musician contends in a friendly competition between celebrities, over who will collect eight billion fans first and gain enough supernatural power to bring death to every one of their followers.

Quoted from LC Dug this up on Reddit, Steve. I'm sure you already know the half of it, but this person's in the know apparently. They have their own set of rules and structure that they give as a guideline to their writers to be followed for all films. A buddy of mine 'had a friend' who wrote one and sent around the one-sheet guidelines. If you're interested I can try to dig it up... but it's exactly what you'd expect the guidelines to be if you've seen a few of their movies. 1 itsjustmoran1y      Found it! This is the first time I've ever tried to post anything with formatting, so if it's a mess, I apologize! Also, this is a few years old at this point so I don't know if trends have changed, but hopefully it's helpful to you in some way: EDIT: Formatting is hard! HC/HMM Movie Info • Treatment – we like to start with a fleshed out outline broken down by act so that we can get a good layout of what the script will be. • Script should be 105-110 pages typically • 9 Act Structure o Act 1 is 18-21 pages o The other acts are shorter but should be generally consistent (8-12 pages usually) o Midpoint is at the middle of act 4 o Acts 7/8 - needs to be the low point/breaking point before things get better. o Act 9 is often 7-10 pages • Total runtime we aim for is 86:30 Other things to note • We always like a strong female lead (late 20s/early to mid-thirties) and she needs to have a romance. This is always our A story. • Our audience is W25-54, and we don’t like to stray far from what we do. It’s kind of a ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality. • We are very family friendly and PG/G in nature. A rule of thumb when watching our movies is you want to be able to watch with your 80-year-old grandmother and your 8-year-old niece. • HC – typically light romantic comedies with a heart-warming ending. • For Christmas - we always need snow or the remnants of snow and lots of holiday decoration (in a tasteful way). We also like to see our characters doing lots of wintery/Christmassy things – ice skating, baking cookies, sledding, building snowmen, making snow angels, kissing under the mistletoe, hanging stockings, drinking hot chocolate, picking our or cutting down a Christmas tree, decorating the house/tree with holiday décor etc. • HMM – More dramatic a little less comedic (but still with a happy ending). We tend to deal with more dramatic storylines (but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little humor). We’re actually moving more toward all mysteries on HMM. o On HMM we can be a little less of the Christmassy (HMM is a little more about story and not as much the celebration of Christmas). • Our content is not sexual in nature at all (a kiss or kisses is enough to show the romance in our movies), and we usually save this moment for the end when our lead gets her fairytale ending. • We don’t do cursing, dirty jokes, innuendos etc. • We’re generally not fans of montages. • We’re not over the top, tacky (with our characters or our sets) or overly campy. • We don’t like karaoke or singing scenes in our movies. • ** Please stay away from killing off family members (there tends to be a lot of dead father/mother/wife/husband in our movies, and we’re trying to get away from that). • We love to see pets in our movies (and we have a cat and dog – the Happies – that can potentially be the animal talent). Read More 5 itsjustmoran1y      HMM = Hallmark Movie Mysteries HC = Hallmark Classics ... I'm still searching for an actual Hallmark script. Let me know if you find one. You've got that big long contact list. Maybe someone you've been in contact with might give you one if you ask nicely. I know... doubtful. ... ** Note the 'trying to steer clear of (an obvious previous trend) the dead spouse/family member.' I thought that'd be popular. P.S. Thanks, Matty. :)

Wow, Libby. Thanks! this is awesome stuff. I keep hearing about this 9 act structure and I'm pretty sure it's only in there because of commercials, being it a television movie and all.

But damn. I would love to get my hands on an actual script. They are hard to find. Actually impossible. No one seems to have them, or to want to send them. It would just be helpful to see this 9 act structure the ways it's played out in a script, although your post gives a pretty detailed description.

Thanks again!

Just finished third version of a feature based on my short "Meeting The Other Woman."

Wrote it at the request of the folks who produced the short - they are looking for funding for a feature - I really don't think anything will come of it but it was a fun exercise.

Now working on outline for another feature "Shipping Out." A comedy about a billionaire who builds a skilled nursing facility at sea so that terminally ill folks can spend their last days wining, dining, gambling, etc.  Lot of sticky logic issues to get through on this one but it's something that might take shape - eventually.

Quoted from eldave1 Now working on outline for another feature "Shipping Out." A comedy about a billionaire who builds a skilled nursing facility at sea so that terminally ill folks can spend their last days wining, dining, gambling, etc.  Lot of sticky logic issues to get through on this one but it's something that might take shape - eventually.

Love it! Lots of possibilities there. Logic issues, though? How can there possibly be logic issues with a terminally ill nursing barge at sea?  ;D ;D ;D

Quoted from SAC Wow, Libby. Thanks! this is awesome stuff. I keep hearing about this 9 act structure and I'm pretty sure it's only in there because of commercials, being it a television movie and all. But damn. I would love to get my hands on an actual script. They are hard to find. Actually impossible. No one seems to have them, or to want to send them. It would just be helpful to see this 9 act structure the ways it's played out in a script, although your post gives a pretty detailed description. Thanks again!

The 9 act structure was Bob Siegel, although his version is a bit different to what you've posted. He watched a load of Hollywood films and timed them with a stop watch and came up with it

He has an Act 0, though, which is quite interesting. This is exposition that happens immediately, or even in the credits : Like Star Wars.

Bang: Back story, then get on with the film from minute one.

He also called it the Two Goal Story.

It's a story where the protagonist thinks they are trying to do one thing, then there is a huge reversal, and then they are trying to do something else. It's designed, like most derivatives of 3 Act structure, to create the maximum emotional response in the audience.

In a Hallmark film it would go something like:

Big City Girl moves to a little town in Winter to buy the towns oldest hotel to knock it down for big profit apartments, but then she meets little town guy and realises there's more to life than money and decides to reopen the Hotel and gets the town to work together to rebuild it.

First goal: Buy hotel through any means necessary and get permission to knock it down.
Second goal: Rebuild the Hotel and restore the towns ailing economic community and spirit.

I need a kick up the arse!

CONFLICT or BEAST OF WAR (both average working titles I know, lol)


During the American Civil War, Confederate and Union soldiers must put aside their differences to battle a killer shark...

Got a long backlog of scripts. Still, it's not as long as it used to be, so I'm grateful for that.

There was a period of time last month where I was physically working on only two of them:

Andretta - Rough draft is already posted up here. Still putting the finishing touches on the full version.

After.Life - A zombie TV pilot.

Then, my brother and I are working on a dark comedy/satire, which I can't go into too much detail on, yet. We are on the final draft, but it's time-consuming, due to unforeseen circumstances.

Then, Zack (hey, Zack) came along and gave me an invite into a script he was working out. Not sure how much I can mention, because it belongs to somebody else.

I'm plotting out the outline on, what I'm hoping, is my next (solo) feature: a neo-noir horror movie, Charon.

If it's not that one, it'll either be Decker House, an old haunted house-horror of mine or my brother and I might go back and clean up a buddy action/comedy we have waiting for a rewrite.

Thankfully, I've officially been able to put away 17 other scripts that I just wasn't making any progress with to cut this number way down.

This shit just never ends... Lol.

My heart's still with a satirical romantic comedy, but there's a bit too much research involved to just jump right into it, but a part of me would really want to make that one next.

Quoted from stevie CONFLICT or BEAST OF WAR (both average working titles I know, lol) During the American Civil War, Confederate and Union soldiers must put aside their differences to battle a killer shark...

Fuck, yeah! "Slavery Shark" (sharks, after all, are gray, just like the Confederates).

Quoted from Mr. Blonde Fuck, yeah! "Slavery Shark" (sharks, after all, are gray, just like the Confederates).

I’ll keep that in mind Blondie :o

Quoted from stevie I’ll keep that in mind Blondie :o

And, hey, for that, I'll only ask for 10% of the gross. =)

Quoted from Mr. Blonde And, hey, for that, I'll only ask for 10% of the gross. =)

That will be a shitload, bro  ;D

Main thing I've been working on is a new feature with Sean. Not sure I can give too many details at the moment. But it's been a very exciting couple of months for me. ;D

Besides that, I'm working on a rewrite of "Here Comes The Bogeyman", with hopes of entering it into a couple of competitions.

Quoted from SAC Love it! Lots of possibilities there. Logic issues, though? How can there possibly be logic issues with a terminally ill nursing barge at sea?  ;D ;D ;D

You'd be surprised

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films The 9 act structure was Bob Siegel, although his version is a bit different to what you've posted. He watched a load of Hollywood films and timed them with a stop watch and came up with it He has an Act 0, though, which is quite interesting. This is exposition that happens immediately, or even in the credits : Like Star Wars. Bang: Back story, then get on with the film from minute one. He also called it the Two Goal Story. It's a story where the protagonist thinks they are trying to do one thing, then there is a huge reversal, and then they are trying to do something else. It's designed, like most derivatives of 3 Act structure, to create the maximum emotional response in the audience. In a Hallmark film it would go something like: Big City Girl moves to a little town in Winter to buy the towns oldest hotel to knock it down for big profit apartments, but then she meets little town guy and realises there's more to life than money and decides to reopen the Hotel and gets the town to work together to rebuild it. First goal: Buy hotel through any means necessary and get permission to knock it down. Second goal: Rebuild the Hotel and restore the towns ailing economic community and spirit.

Yep, here's the link for what you're talking about, Rick. I think it was posted on another thread some time ago but anyway...

https://chasingmacguffins.com/2018/08/17/writing-hallmark-channel-movies/

Quoted from AnthonyCawood I need a kick up the arse!

Ditto to that. :)

Quoted from stevie CONFLICT or BEAST OF WAR (both average working titles I know, lol) During the American Civil War, Confederate and Union soldiers must put aside their differences to battle a killer shark...

How's this for a title: Reb, White and Blue.

Here's the original reddit link re the mention of commercials and preceding structural cliffhangers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/8mli8w/how_to_hallmark_movies_happen/

Quoted from StevenC Maybe somewhere down the road we'll put our heads together and come up with an idea?

Sounds like a plan. :)

I know their recipe is for snow, and trimming trees, baking gingerbread cookies etc., but they surely could do with outside the box sometimes, maybe a special Christmas downunder series - heartbroken girl travels halfway around the world and finds the love of her life.

Similarly, heartbroken young woman escapes the big city and buys one of those €1 places in Sicily -
an Under The Tuscan Sun type of seachangee/fish out of water self-empowerment tales e.g.
Buy your dream home for € 1 in the fabulous town of the Sicilian hinterland, just a few kilometers from the enchanting beaches and the historic temples of Agrigento.

Mind you, maybe that's an independent RomCom pitch.
Might be a bit ambitious for Hallmark who probably wouldn't want to go the extra budget/travel etc.

Quoted from Zack Main thing I've been working on is a new feature with Sean. Not sure I can give too many details at the moment. But it's been a very exciting couple of months for me. ;D

That does sound exciting, and intriguing. Looking forward to reading it.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films The 9 act structure was Bob Siegel, although his version is a bit different to what you've posted. He watched a load of Hollywood films and timed them with a stop watch and came up with it He has an Act 0, though, which is quite interesting. This is exposition that happens immediately, or even in the credits : Like Star Wars. Bang: Back story, then get on with the film from minute one. He also called it the Two Goal Story. It's a story where the protagonist thinks they are trying to do one thing, then there is a huge reversal, and then they are trying to do something else. It's designed, like most derivatives of 3 Act structure, to create the maximum emotional response in the audience. In a Hallmark film it would go something like: Big City Girl moves to a little town in Winter to buy the towns oldest hotel to knock it down for big profit apartments, but then she meets little town guy and realises there's more to life than money and decides to reopen the Hotel and gets the town to work together to rebuild it. First goal: Buy hotel through any means necessary and get permission to knock it down. Second goal: Rebuild the Hotel and restore the towns ailing economic community and spirit.

Thanks, Rick. It's good to know the origins of this. I'll see how it plays out as I write. Trimming large acts (act 2, for example) into smaller bite sized bits might be helpful going forward. God knows I have my issues with act 2.

And your hotel scenario is spot on with pretty much 90% of Hallmark movies. That's part of my issue, as well. It's hard to be creative when you're bound by such a tight formula -- although it works.

Steve

[quote=LC]Here's the original reddit link re the mention of commercials and preceding structural cliffhangers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/8mli8w/how_to_hallmark_movies_happen/


Sounds like a plan. :)

I know their recipe is for snow, and trimming trees, baking gingerbread cookies etc., but they surely could do with outside the box sometimes, maybe a special Christmas downunder series - heartbroken girl travels halfway around the world and finds the love of her life.

Similarly, heartbroken young woman escapes the big city and buys one of those €1 places in Sicily -
an Under The Tuscan Sun type of seachangee/fish out of water self-empowerment tales e.g.
Buy your dream home for € 1 in the fabulous town of the Sicilian hinterland, just a few kilometers from the enchanting beaches and the historic temples of Agrigento.

Mind you, maybe that's an independent RomCom pitch.
Might be a bit ambitious for Hallmark who probably wouldn't want to go the extra budget/travel etc.
[/quote

Yeah, out of the box -- that's what I thought with Christmasville. But seriously, I like all those ideas, and fish out of water is what a lot of them are anyway.

If you want, when I get my latest done I'll send it over if you don't mind. I don't think I've sent you this one yet.

Personally I'm OK with rigid formulas and structure.

I don't for a second think it's the only way to write a good script, but having a strong, traditional structure using a formula doesn't necessarily make a film "formulaic". The creativity comes in a strong premise, engaging characters, subverting expectations, creating novel twists and trying to make the story genuinely heartfelt etc.

Specifically in terms of these Hallmark type films it's that emotional punch that's really the thing. It's a real skill, whatever formula you're working with. Can you get your jaded audience to cry with happiness? I think that's a beautiful thing to aim for.

Like in the example I gave, you can already see all the beats of the story, and you can see how generic it would be, but what can you do to make the reversal genuinely profound, what can she discover about herself and life that really changes who she is? Can you make it so honest, and unexpected, even though you know its going to happen somehow that it is genuinely moving and effecting? That's pretty high level writing and if you get to that point, that's a hell of a skill to have.

I suppose I see it a bit like a poet writing a sonnet. The structure is set in stone, but within that structure you are free to be creative. The art is in writing to a formula but not being formulaic.

Sure, Steve! Send it on over when you're done.  :)

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Personally I'm OK with rigid formulas and structure. I don't for a second think it's the only way to write a good script, but having a strong, traditional structure using a formula doesn't necessarily make a film "formulaic". The creativity comes in a strong premise, engaging characters, subverting expectations, creating novel twists and trying to make the story genuinely heartfelt etc. Specifically in terms of these Hallmark type films it's that emotional punch that's really the thing. It's a real skill, whatever formula you're working with. Can you get your jaded audience to cry with happiness? I think that's a beautiful thing to aim for. Like in the example I gave, you can already see all the beats of the story, and you can see how generic it would be, but what can you do to make the reversal genuinely profound, what can she discover about herself and life that really changes who she is? Can you make it so honest, and unexpected, even though you know its going to happen somehow that it is genuinely moving and effecting? That's pretty high level writing and if you get to that point, that's a hell of a skill to have. I suppose I see it a bit like a poet writing a sonnet. The structure is set in stone, but within that structure you are free to be creative. The art is in writing to a formula but not being formulaic.

I agree completely, and that is a wonderful thing to aim for.  Just a bitch getting it done.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Like in the example I gave, you can already see all the beats of the story, and you can see how generic it would be, but what can you do to make the reversal genuinely profound, what can she discover about herself and life that really changes who she is? Can you make it so honest, and unexpected, even though you know its going to happen somehow that it is genuinely moving and effecting? That's pretty high level writing and if you get to that point, that's a hell of a skill to have.

I've been thinking about this passage a lot lately, Rick. I just wanted to say that this might be the best piece of advice/motivation that I've ever received here. Thanks again.

And while I'm at it...

Seeing as I could not find any Hallmark scripts, like, anywhere, I decided to try my hand at emailing some produced Hallmark screenwriters. One answered! I basically asked about the 9 act structure and here's what he said --

Hiya. I am a bit slammed in my own bit of deadlines, but the help I can give is the basics. Which I hope are not too obvious.
I think the Writers Guilds on both coasts have copies of a lot of these scripts, but you have to go in person. Which, do, it’s great.

-Act One is usually 25 pages. The rest of the acts are about ten pages each.
-Act Two and Three usually have one act out that’s positive (“We have a a plan!”) and one that’s negative (“Oh no! The lights!”)
-Act Four is the end of your first hour and what would be in a standard screenplay your midpoint. (They’re going to get the goal! OH NO THEY”RE NOT!)

-Act Five they put things back together and develop a new plan to get the goal. And then it’s pretty much the same through Act Six and Seven, varying act outs that are positive and negative.
-Act Eight has a moment of “All is Lost” from just about any feature screenplay.
-Act Nine it always (always) works out.

Good job, Steve! Great info.
I actually emailed Bob S and requested one, but the email bounced back. Bummer, should have known. Worth a try though.

This is a holiday game, but it's noteworthy for Hallmark formula:

https://blog.tdstelecom.com/tv/tds-tv/holiday-fun-countdown-to-christmas-movie-games/

** And ditto to Rick's advice. I've read that para over and over too. You can look at Hallmark with cynicism (prefer to write something more lofty etc.) but one thing's for sure - writing for any market must be the genuine article, no tongue in cheek cop out.  Honest and affecting and touching stuff indeed.

Working on producing GRAND AVENUE - a script some might remember here, circa 2011-2013.

First iteration of this had Richard Benjamin directing with Sebastian Stan and Jennifer Morrison as the leads, however we couldn't get any traction at a $5MM budget,

Recently we had ROGER DODGER's Dylan Kidd attached to direct, however we are now on the hunt again. Good coverage at CAA, so I'm still hopeful, and we're talking to one of their clients about directing.

I have another script called JOHN LENNON'S HEAVEN which is less developed, out to UTA for one of their directors, waiting to hear back.

I'm working on notes for a feature film - I got the idea from the OWC where we had to write story as if a particular historic element had not happened. I had the short half written and didn't get it done in time. And the ending was similar to one of the submissions, so I didn't continue on. I think it will make a good feature, though.

AJR

Quoted from ajr Working on producing GRAND AVENUE - a script some might remember here, circa 2011-2013.

ajr, thanks for the update.  I remember Grand Avenue.  It seems so long ago.  Always wanted to know what became of it.  Now I do.  Stick with it.  It's a very good script.  

Ghostie

Thanks, ghostie, appreciate your support, hope all is well.

AJR

Quoted from ghost and_ghostie gal ajr, thanks for the update.  I remember Grand Avenue.  It seems so long ago.  Always wanted to know what became of it.  Now I do.  Stick with it.  It's a very good script.

It's always nice to get updates on the golden oldies and find out where moves are still being made. Things like Grand Avenue, Fade to White, The Farm, Bad Penguin.

Sorry to hear that your previous efforts fell through, Anthony, but keep it up. I know you're going to get it where you want it to be. =)

BAD PENGUIN was a really good script.

AJR

Is it  sad that I was thinking of going back to read some of my old stuff on here from back in the day and I cannot even remember the titles of certain things... In fact I still have floppy drives with original files but no way to open haha

Quoted from Old Time Wesley Is it  sad that I was thinking of going back to read some of my old stuff on here from back in the day and I cannot even remember the titles of certain things... In fact I still have floppy drives with original files but no way to open haha

Wow. 2003. You are an old timer. Mean that in a good way, of course. Can’t you search your name to find these scripts? Or email Don?

Quoted from Old Time Wesley Is it  sad that I was thinking of going back to read some of my old stuff on here from back in the day and I cannot even remember the titles of certain things... In fact I still have floppy drives with original files but no way to open haha

Welcome back

Quoted from Old Time Wesley Is it  sad that I was thinking of going back to read some of my old stuff on here from back in the day and I cannot even remember the titles of certain things... In fact I still have floppy drives with original files but no way to open haha

Welcome back!

Just write your name in the ScriptSearch at the top of the page and the scripts you have on SS should pop up.

I got 26 results for you, unless I've got the wrong Wesley. :)
Stoned Patriots ring a bell?

I did not see that search at the top of the screen haha I saw one on the page and when i searched it kept giving me posts of mine.

Not many people predate me except maybe Don and a few that may or may not be here anymore.

As to stay on topic and not need to be moderated swiftly upon returning, I have not written anything since I disappeared. I loved writing and I gave it up because it turned me into a toxic person (More in the way I treated others in the way I responded to them) and it slowly made me hate myself.

I loved the community here and even though the book has closed on me writing, I still love stories and am going to try to be active in helping in whatever way I can going forward.