Screenwriters, Filmmakers & Self Proclaimed Storytellers
It’s been six weeks since we kicked off and we’ve since finished up our second short film, however this one hasn’t got a title yet. We’ll get back to you on that one. It’s a horror / thriller short about 10 minutes long. Much thanks to everyone who helped put this together.
More details and clips to come soon, but like the screenplays though, we’re going to take you through how we went about it and what we do with it in the coming weeks.
So you’ve got a great screenplay, its well written (or so you tell yourself), you know about formatting and not driving the script on loads of dialogue that go on for pages and yet nothing happens in the background (always visualize!) – and using the right words to explain scenes thus flowing the story on at a good pace.
You’ve even made sure you covered your own back and sent yourself a copy, registered it with the WGA West or East, copyrighted it or some equivalent. You perhaps even read this piece we did last week.
What next then? Well, get it out there… but in most cases you will probably want to tread lightly and have mentioned it to friends, colleagues and/or family. And they’ll be happy for you and perhaps even want a copy of it, which you are happy to send them. Go ahead. And here’s what you should expect from this. NOTHING. Unless all your friends are screenwriters too.
So yes, expect nothing. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, take whatever you get as a bonus. This is not a knock or assumption on your friends, family, etc, this is just the truth. Why?
– They are likely not all screenwriters (which is probably a good thing).
– As much as they’d love to read your idea, the screenplay will require them to devote a fair bit of time that they likely do not have. So even if they have some screenwriting knowledge, you’d also better make sure that they have time too.
– They are biased (because they care) and likely not to give you the critique you want to get. And if they have critique they may be reluctant to give it you. The exceptions are if that “someone you know” is (A) in the industry, (B) aspiring to do similar things and is on your level, or probably a bit of (C) an asshole.
– (B) is a bit of work because often, what you write is very close and personal to you. I used to review work for other people back in the days. They were strangers, but often you had to really explain things in detail to combat their initial feeling of being offended (I’ll get to the reviewing thing in Chapter 3). Long story short, you have to let it get out there and people are going to have their opinions.
– If not A or B: the critique may be of no use and have nothing to do with the story, because they are not screenwriters, and likely have no idea how things like formatting and plot lines are supposed to work.
Does this mean that you shouldn’t send it to people you know? No. Send it, definitely. Just don’t expect this to be the magical trick to get your idea sold. You have a long way to go.
I sent it to some friends, a couple of them have connections or are in the industry. Perhaps they’ll pass it on. If they do, awesome, if not, you can’t really push them on it (other than a casual couple reminders perhaps). A couple of them are those who’s opinions I value greatly and I know that they have some knowledge about how things work with scripts and movies, etc. Are they professionals, no… but they are amateurs like us at this point, who have done a bit of work before, even if at a hobbyist level.
And so this is stage two. Just get it out there to people you know and trust first. If something comes out of it, consider yourself lucky. At the least maybe you can start a chain or two and get a contact or two. And this leads onto the next part, meeting strangers and putting out for strangers (the script that is…). Which is a lot easier now, than say 15 years ago.
Sure, it’s not the first screenplay we’ve written, but at the same time, we’re not experts. We haven’t quit our jobs and do this for a living…..yet. So why should we tell you how to get a screenplay out there? Well, someone has to. And trust me, some of the advice will be good, because we’re testing it out for you.
Here we tell you what we did. What we did right, and what we did wrong. What feedback we accumulated, what we learned and then denied admitting we learned.
Lets assume you wrote a screenplay first though. Because putting one together is a different matter, and that’s not what this post (or series of posts) is about. There’s plenty of material out there about how to convert that great story idea you had while intoxicated at 3am one night to a properly formatted piece that isn’t just a shit load of dialogue you thought sounded cool or carried a message you needed to say. . . . . . . . >>>>>>> Fast forward a bit. It’s done, great job.
Register it. Do you need to? Maybe not, after all, it might just sit in the storage box or hard drive for years to come. Someone might find it decades from now and think its a rare screenplay that would make a great idea because by then movies are a dead art. Or who knows, things might work out sooner than that. You never know. But why not? It’s cheap and easy to register your script with the WGA, and it gives you some proof. Plus contests and companies often require you to list the registration number when submitting to them anyway.
And while you’re at it, email yourself a copy of it, and snail mail a copy of it via registered mail / certified mail, whatever gives exact proof of when you did it (though this is not going to win you a case by itself, it will help you prove your authorship). And you’re convinced its a good story, right? So then do all of the above. If not, you might as well throw it out and start again anyway.
So for the WGA part, go to: http://www.wgawregistry.org/webrss/ or if on the east coast – https://www.wgaeast.org/
What does it get you. Peace of mind perhaps. If you want to feel safer, visit http://www.copyright.gov or your local equivalent. Here’s a place that talks about the pros/cons of each – http://www.writersstore.com/wgaw-registration-vs-copyright-registration/
Does this matter. Only a little. Chances are it won’t happen, and if it does, you’ll need to be ready to do a lot of work, get a lawyer, etc. But the more you do, the more evidence you have. So get on with it. And now that’s done, we can start to dive in. Next chapter coming soon.
I tried to come up with a top 10 list of Thanksgiving movies. I could only think of one. I started looking around and realised its not good to put things none of us have seen. That and Thanksgiving movies are shit.
However, its time for a commercial break. From da beatmaster.
I guess the secret is out, The Havenots is not the first screenplay any of us here have written. However, getting back into the swing of things helped me dig in the crates and skim through many screenplay’s past sitting in the hard drive (yes, as much as the image one would like to conjure as a writer is that of one surrounded by reams of paper, its also not the 1900’s anymore either). Many of these attempts to write what one random night was a great idea (while intoxicated probably), perhaps never quite made it, got abandoned 50 pages in, or never got that rewrite.
Some of them might be worth a revision now. I dug up a screenplay I wrote not too long ago called Small Town Stars and found a past logline/synopsis and even notes from a couple of contests that were entered with it. The screenplay managed to make the quarterfinals where it was entered which was not bad for something I felt needed a bit more polishing, but wanted to get feedback on. It certainly isn’t as polished as the Havenots, but definately worth opening the file and making some edits. And seeing it in the files sort of reminded me of The Havenots, as its a very middle of anywhere city plot where futures look far from bright.
The plot focuses on a couple of students who dream of making movies one day, but all they see are the grim stories within their own town. But they start to lose track of what’s fictional and whats real? Surrounded by dead end life in a dead beat middle American town, two teenagers (Ferdinand and Charlie) use their love for film as a ticket for their escape. But with scars from the past and the town they are in, sometimes it is hard to escape. Golden opportunities in life become downward spirals, as Ferdinand’s life becomes connected to incidents that happened a generation prior.
With knowledge starting to build of what is going on in the movie scenes, Ferdinand becomes a grown man behind the lens, but also realizes he has no way out. As a result, there’s only one way to go from here. If he can’t beat them, join them. Sort of a dark thriller/drama perhaps.
Top tens and random ideas aside, one of the things we want to do with this website is take you through what we do, our journey so to speak as this evolves. So not just about short films and screenplays, but what we did with them, and how we went about them. Hopefully it at the least can give you a bit of advice too.
We’ve been working on promoting and/or finalizing our new pieces and here is where you have to make the most of your contacts, your network, various events, contests and more. So we’re going to try to devote some of that time to start putting some commentary here in the coming weeks.
You’ll find more about who’s involved on this project now that this site is starting to evolve itself…. (no one cares for a site with nothing on it, so currently we’re working on keeping this at a good pace for starters), but the next gear, next step, etc is taking you through not only what we’re doing, but what we do with it. So stay tuned.
Earlier this month, voters in Washington and Colorado voted to ease the laws on smoking trees. I’m sure there won’t exactly be Amsterdam-esque cafe’s opening up tomorrow or anything, and public use is still banned in these states, but it was surprising to hear of this. My second thought was of making another top ten list, which is no way related i’m sure. Should also say, this isn’t necessarily just stoner comedies or anything like that (some are), but flicks with it as a key component of the story.
1. Up in Smoke (1978) – Cheech and Chong’s first full length film, enough said.
2. Dazed and Confused (1993) – Black Sabbath echoing through the neighborhood as high school seniors swat down mailboxes.
3. The Big Lebowski (1997) – “The Dude”. Great twisted comedy only slightly dampened by everyone saying “The Dude” in the year or so thereafter.
4. Reefer Madness (1936) – Twisted, an old propaganda film that’s plot-wise pretty useless. It got popular many years later for reasons that differ from what the group funding the original project probably intended.
5. Halloween (1978) – Lighting one up while Blue Oyster Cult plays in the car as a psychopath follows in the rearview mirror
6. Friday (1995) – Puff puff give, puff puff give. Classic. Just don’t make a sequel too many. Too late.
7. Maryjane (1968) – Haven’t seen this, but the title says enough.
8. Grass (1999) – A modern day documentary that looks at how the US government has spent loads of time and money on drug policy strategies, hosted by who else…. Woody Harrelson.
9. Half Baked (1998) – Dave Chappelle co-wrote and carried the comedy here.
10. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009): Shoot him again, his soul is still dancing.
Other mentions.
The Trip (1967) – Written by Jack Nicholson (though more an LSD flick) back in his Easy Rider days (which also had Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda). Something tells me they “rehearsed” all parts many times….
Pineapple Express (2008) – Not sure what I thought of this movie, half of it is quite good, half of it is quite bad. Many movies of all kinds in the mid 2000’s fit this sort of criteria, perhaps revised last minute to give the story more action.
Super Troopers (2001) – Bit of a “retro” movie in some ways, but a decent movie overall.
Grandma’s Boy (2006) – I didn’t know Adam Sandler was still making silly comedies after The Waterboy (or decent ones at least), but this one about a 35 year old pothead video game tester got good feedback from many places / and horrible feedback from others. Sometimes that’s a good sign, better than if everyone says its average. Haven’t seen it though, so can’t add my opinion.
Plenty of others I’m sure, but well…. I don’t quite remember.
I have to admit, its been a while since I’ve watched Saturday Night Live. In fact, I struggled to name three current cast members (had no idea Andy Samberg left). And there have been some horrible ideas come from this show when it comes to movies, a reason why five minute skits should not be 90 minute movies, maybe 80 if you discount the intro and credits. Which means you have 5-10 minutes to kill. So to fill those minutes… here’s a few movies that they maybe (should/could/probably better they did not) have done.
1) Wild and Crazy Guys: Instead of Night at the Roxbury. Ackroyd and Martin might have made this a good movie.
2) The Ambiguously Gay Duo: It’s animated, so easier to do. And they had about a dozen short versions of their stories, that one larger plot wouldn’t be too farfetched.
3) Toonces the driving cat: It would be a horrendous movie. You would already know the ending. And animal rights activists might complain. But done right, this could be hilarious. And it would allow nine crashes.
4) Mr. Belvedere Fan Club: This would be funnier now because it would make no sense to most and for someone to be into it now…? Surely there’s an online fan club, group, etc for everythinng.
5) Hans and Frans: Allegedly this was almost made and it even had Arnold cast for it. But it was never completed.
6) Matt Foley / Motivational Speaker: Because his life is more interesting than Pat’s. But no one could play this role other than Farley, so its perhaps a non factor.
It’s not a top 10 list, as well, most of these skits should not be movies (such as “Pat”) and largely Waynes’ World is to blame. Will have to make up for it by putting 14 on the next list.
Now that the election drama has subsided and become less dramatic, we’re currently working on a short film this very weekend. It is a dark comedy titled Alphabet Soup and is centered around a day in the cafe where a wide variety of customer and staff characters make the day just “that” much longer. Within a matter of a couple of weeks, the script was written from scratch, we worked on storyboards and used local contacts to audition and get a cast together.
Ideally by this time next week, we’ll be finalizing it and making it the first of many short films to appear on this very site.
We recently finished a full length screenplay called “The Havenots”. It took a fair bit of feedback and rewrites to get the flow how we wanted, but feel that its a good mix of current events, drams and dark (very dark) comedy. As we speak, it is being sent over to various contacts and entered in the odd competition here and there.
Here is an outline of the screenplay: Michael Rappaport III is one of the most prominent businessmen in the world who capitalizes on the misfortunes of others as if it were nothing more than a game in which the rules can be tweaked if need be. He has everything he could want, all within reach, yet also has nothing, losing track of why this was all being done in the first place.
Shiloh is a discontent young woman who has given up on the idea of “making something” out of her life. Forced to work two jobs (one of them at Michael Rappaport’s firm) to dig herself out of college debt and living expenses, Shiloh’s life has become a monotonous chore that she simply carries out. Day after day, she fades out further as life flies by her eyes.
But when she loses both of her jobs in the same day, she finds herself at a crossroads: does she continue to live the empty life she’s been living or does she awaken from her apathetic doldrums to seize control over her life? And what does that “control” even consist of?
Stephen is a homeless war vet who drifts from place to place, hiding from his past and surviving the present. On a chance encounter on the train, he sees Shiloh and follows her home. Once they realize that they have a shared past and contempt for the powers that suppress them, they team up against Rappaport to show them that it takes more than money to hide from the disappointments and shortcomings life has to offer.
In all cases, whatever you have, want, need, when you lose track of life, you truly lose it. This screenplay focuses on the lives of these three people – from different yet similar walks of life and how they cross each others paths in today’s world.
Contact Us if you would like any additional info or a copy of the screenplay (registered under WGA).
