Get Your Screenplay Read. Image via Wikipedia

A few years back I finished the first draft of my first screenplay ever. Like a lot of folks who dream of Hollywood success, I was eager to share my work with the world. Problem was, I had no idea what I was doing.

Through a friend of a friend, I was put in contact with an “entertainment attorney.” I put the words in quotes because while there are tons of people with a strong work ethic and great integrity, this particular guy was not one of them.

I remember getting off the phone. I was super excited because this guy had agreed to read my screenplay and offer me feedback. So like most writers, I sent off my screenplay – packaged with the appropriate cardstock cover and two brass brads… And a few weeks later I get a email:

“Jason. Thanks for sending me your screenplay. I read it. Because you want to produce your own movie, I think you will need a lawyer who understands how to put together a private placement memorandum. And also, while we did not talk about this prior, you owe me $250 dollars for the hour I spent reading your script. Please send me a check ASAP.”

These days I would tell him to go “F” himself. But back then, I had no idea what I was doing. So I sent him his money. And to make it even worse, $250 dollars represented an entire week’s salary.

The whole point of this is – if someone agrees to do you a “favor,” it’s best to get reciprocal expectations in writing.

Scissors can be used to foreshadow your screenplay Image via Wikipedia

A screenwriter sent me an email saying she understands the need for foreshadowing but wasn’t sure how to do it. Of course the specific content depends on the story but here are some general ways you can adapt:

1. A visual clue. A very obvious one is letting us glimpse a gun in a drawer when your protagonist is looking for a pair of scissors. We know that gun will be used at some point.

2. An innocent verbal clue. This could be something that we don’t even notice standing out in any way, but later it pays off. For instance, someone might mention that he used to enjoy hunting, and that makes sense later when we see that he’s a great shot.

3. A verbal cue that stands out. By this I mean something that is out of the ordinary and you do notice it. For instance, if somebody is asked casually which school they went to and they answer, “I don’t see why that’s important,” it signals that at some point in the story we’ll find out a reason why they’re touchy about that subject.

4. A musical cue. This often is the province of the director and the person who composes the sound track. In a thriller, for example, a particular piece of music may tip us off that something awful is about to happen.

To avoid having any one element of foreshadowing be too obvious, often the writer will throw in some red herrings–some things that could be foreshadowing but in fact don’t pay off or pay off in a different way than we expect.

The person who has the gun in the drawer may become an immediate suspect in our minds, but later maybe we see him use it to light his cigarette and we realize it’s not a real gun (of course he may have a real one somewhere else….). That kind of misdirection keeps the audience guessing.

The goal is to make your foreshadowing subtle enough that it’s only in hindsight that the visual or verbal cue takes on significance.

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Jurgen Wolff offers a new screenwriting tip here every Tuesday; also see his site,www.ScreenwritingSuccess.com and his book, “Your Writing Coach.”

Sometimes one of the people they’re filming dies or decides to stop cooperating. Sometimes they’re following a process with an unknown ending–for instance, the life of a contender in the Olympics. If she wins gold , they have a great story. If she gets silver or bronze, it’s still a good story. If she comes in fourth, there’s the drama of such a near miss. But if she comes in sixth, or has to pull out because of an injury, the story line isn’t so clear.

Sometimes documentary makers end up with hundreds of hours of footage without a clear story spine. That’s when they have to dig deep and sometimes they find a story that’s much more interesting than the one they hoped to get. In the case of the Olympic athlete, for instance, it might be her relationship with her father, who is also her coach. Or it might be the aftermath–what does an athlete do when it’s clear she’s peaked?

I think what we can learn from documentary makers is to pause before we launch into the obvious story and dig deeper to see if there’s a more interesting, perhaps more subtle, one lurking underneath.

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Jurgen Wolff offers a new screenwriting tip here every Tuesday; also see his site, www.ScreenwritingSuccess.com and his book, “Your Writing Coach.”

The problem is, many people in Hollywood are still waiting for someone else to give them permission. Permission to make a movie. Permission to be successful. Permission to live the best life possible. UGH!

Here is a little secret. If you’re looking to raise money for your movie, set up a crowdfunding campaign. This allows you to test your concept from day one. And if successful, crowdfunding also allows you to find the people who may be most interested in your movie. In addition to providing you with funding, some of these folks will help you spread word of mouth.

Earlier this week, I got a call from Micro Giving asking if I thought filmmakers would be interested in their crowdfunding platform. After checking out the site, I signed up to be their affiliate (so yes, I get paid to promote). But with that said, the reason why I think it’s worth checking out for filmmakers is… Competition.

The site has a ton of sponsors, but it does not yet have too many other filmmakers competing for the sponsorship monies. In fact, at the time of writing, there are very few film projects on the site. (And I know you could do better.)

Anyway, if you want to check out the site for a possible crowdfunding campaign – YOU CAN SET UP A FILMMAKING CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN  HERE

“What shouldn’t you do if you’re a playwright? Don’t bore the audience! I mean, even if you have to resort to totally arbitrary killing onstage, or pointless gunfire, at least it’ll catch their attention and keep them awake. Just keep the thing going anyway you can.”

Of course you don’t really want totally arbitrary events in your script, but if you need to capture their attention, put it in and then in the next draft work your way backward in the story so it has some motivation or at least is foreshadowed and work your way forward in the story to make sure it has a consequence.

(Jurgen Wolff offers a new screenwriting tip here every Tuesday; also see his site, www.ScreenwritingSuccess.com and his book, “Your Writing Coach.”)

Bloody nose Image via Wikipedia

As a filmmaker, sometimes life sucks. Sometimes deals fall apart. Sometimes what you thought was a sure-thing becomes a no-thing.

When I was in NYC, we were going into production on a 1.5 million dollar movie. Then all-a-sudden the entire project fell apart. Something about the investors getting cold feet… Something about the actor’s mom… Dunno. Truth is, the reason the project fell apart does not matter.

But what I do know is this – I suddenly found myself in New York with no job and no money. That SUCKED. Truly. I remember calling my friend and mentor Joe Surges on the phone. I thought he would be encouraging. Instead he said something I never forgot… He said, “Get UP!”

ME: What?

JOE: Get UP! You just experienced your first knock-out in life. You have two choices, you can quit – or you can get up, wipe your bloody nose and push forward.

I chose to push forward. I had no other choice. Eventually found work at the Maine Media Workshops – which eventually led to my move to California, where I was able to produce a few features thus far.

Since that time, I have been rejected, fired, heart broken and dumped. I have had a gazillion business projects and movie projects fall apart. But this is the price of success folks. There will be good times and bad times. There will be red and black.

And I gotta tell ya – each time life tries to throw a sucky punch (intentionally spelled that way), I take the punch. Block it if I can – but when I get hit, I get up. I don’t stop. Neither should you.

See you at the TOP!

He told Arkansas Online: ”I try to avoid writing movies about cops.  That may seem illogical, but let’s face it… being a cop is not all roses and sunshine. Nobody calls 911 because they’re having a good day.

“Being a cop means you are there for the worst time of people’s lives; they’re bleeding, crying, or both.  Rarely are there happy endings.  So when I write, I create my own world with happy endings.”

In that sense, writing about what you don’t know may be a great strategy. Stuck in an office? It’ll probably make you happy to write a story set on an idyllic island. (If you’re stuck on an idyllic island, will you want to write about an office?)

Writing about realities we wish were so is a powerful motivator. If you’ve felt constrained by the ‘write what you know’ idea, give it a try.

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For more tips on screenwriting, visit Filmmaking Stuff every Tuesday for a new post from Jurgen Wolff and also check out his site, www.ScreenWritingSuccess.com. You may also find his “Your Writing Coach” book useful.

YOU have a product (your movie) and YOU must sell your product. In order to sell your product, you must find a customer and convince them that your movie is worth more than their money. Obvious right?

But most filmmakers have no idea how to find a customer.  It’s not your fault. I blame the STUPID notion that filmmakers should concentrate solely on making movies without considering how to source their target audience.  Think about it. Filmmakers traditionally depended on some sort of middle-man distributor to come in deus ex machina style to provide a big fat cash advance. But that was then…

Now, as a result of DSLR technology, you have a whole world of filmmakers flooding the market with awesomely good-looking backyard indies.  It’s an example of supply and demand. There are too many movies! And there are too few traditional deals. And sadly, most filmmakers have no idea how to get their movies seen and selling. As a result, the entire world of indie filmmaking is belly-up.

The only way modern moviemakers can compete and succeed is to learn from traditional small businesses. Filmmakers must focus on finding creative ways to produce movies inexpensively and spend tremendous effort (and little money) sourcing an audience. Which, when you compare the filmmaker’s need for customer acquisition to other businesses, it’s really the same thing.

Welcome to the new movie business!

So who wins? Filmmakers who can source an audience for their movies are in better shape than those who can not. Period.

How do your source an audience: In two words – Internet marketing.

I got news for you. Selling a movie online is no different than selling an eBook! But not everybody knows how to sell things online. That is OK. I explain this in my book. And for those of you not ready to get my book (so you can discover my mad movie marketing methods) – here is a tip as well as an actionable item: Crowdfunding.

By now you’ve heard of crowdfunding. But the little secret that nobody is talking about is this – Not all movie projects will get fully funded by the crowd. BUT, by creating a campaign, you essentially get the word out about your movie. You increase your YouTube hits (because you presumably embed your trailer into your campaign)… And even if your campaign is not successfully funded, anybody who did donate is now part of your future audience. Hmmm.

I know I’m on a bit of a rant today. So I’m going to slow-my-roll. If you like this filmmaking stuff, make sure you click here   >>

And if you want to see me speak or attend any of my workshops, telephone your local film festival and leave this message on their answering machines –> I WANT TO SEE Jason Brubaker LIVE.

Feel free to comment below.

Image via Wikipedia

Filmmakers aren’t like normal business people. Marketing a movie is not considered part of the normal day-to-day process. But in other industries, marketing is just an aspect of business.

This makes a lot of sense. In the old days, your success as filmmaker depended on your ability to create an unproven product. And if your product (or in this case, your movie) did well with audiences, it was picked up, marketed and sold. These days, there are less deals. That means filmmakers must take on the responsibility of marketing a movie. And if  this is something you would rather leave to a third-party, then you’re living in the stone ages.

1. When marketing a movie, the first thing you need to think about is your target audience. WHO cares about your movie? If you don’t have an understanding of your target audience, then nothing else matters.
2. If you KNOW your target audience (in this case, YOUR people) then your next step in marketing a movie revolves around uncovering all the places your people shop. What magazines do they read? Where do they hang out online?
3. Then figure out where they watch movies. Do they prefer netflix to iTunes? Or will they shop at Amazon? Obviously part of marketing a movie is getting your title into the appropriate marketplace. (Try distribber)
4. Once your movie is in the appropriate marketplace, then circle back to step number two and target the approprate publications, websites and forums. Not all of this will cost money. Some will.
5. After that, figure out how to build a relationship with your audience.

If you don’t have any idea how to get started, I created an easy to follow guide on marketing a movie. In it, I talk about all this stuff in much greater detail. Click here to find out more   >>

Also, you might say: “Hey, I haven’t even made my first feature. Why should I care about marketing a movie now?” The reason you should care is because – If you don’t know who is going to buy your movie – then you won’t have any idea how much money your movie could potentially return. And if you can’t figure out a reasonably project ROI, then good luck raising money.

Just sayin’

In two words: Cold Calling.

I know this may sound unrelated to filmmaking. But I can tell you that success is not created in a vacuum. It is created with the help and support of other people, including mentors and customers.

And while it is true that some people stumble upon contacts and get lucky, I would venture to say that over 90 percent of self-made successful people got what they wanted in life by utilizing some variation of the following three success tips:

First: They knew what they wanted.

Second: They made a plan to get what they wanted.

Third: They picked up the phone and cold called people who could help make their plan a reality.

Think about it. Could you go to “networking events” and try to find folks to help introduce you to the appropriate contact? Yes. But just as easily you could pick up the phone, call your prospective contact’s place of business and try to get him or her on the phone to make your pitch.

Will you get through? Maybe. Maybe not. But if you had a list of 100 prospects and you called all the people on that list, odds are good you would find someone willing to sit down with you.

Why is this important to your filmmaking? Because unless you ASK for what you want, how is anybody in life going to know how to find you?

If you would like to find out more about networking, success strategies and most importantly – how to find prospective investors for your next movie, you might want to check out the independent producer’s guide to getting movie money. You can find out more by clicking here  >>