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How NOT To Get Your Screenplay Read (For Smart Screenwriters)

How Not To Get Your Screenplay Read

A few years back I had 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.”

How To Make Your First Feature Without Going Bonkers

first feature

Sooner or later the filmmaking bug hits you. . . It’s like a far off voice or compulsion. But like breathing, for the serious independent filmmaker, the need to make a feature is always present.

How To Use Foreshadowing In Your Screenplay

foreshadowing in your screenplay

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.

Warning: Lazy People In Hollywood Can Hurt Your Career

lazy people in Hollywood

The other night a friend of a friend of a friend kept telling me how upset he was that someone stole his movie idea. The story had something to do with space and time travel and a villain… I don’t remember. I asked him if he actually wrote a script, or if it was just an idea. He told me it was just an idea. Said he thinks someone overheard him at the local coffee shop.

The First Time I Got Fired (In The Movie Biz)

i got fired

And although everyone was happy to teach me the inner workings of production, off set, it was my responsibility to scrub toilets and mop the floors. I didn’t mind the crap work. In fact, scrubbing toilets taught me a valuable lesson. I realized if I can keep my dreams bigger than the crap, I can get through pretty much anything. I had no choice but to become the most successful janitor this company ever had. And I never complained. Someone had to do it, and at the very least, I ate lunch with a group of talented film and video professionals.

Use This Secret Filmmaking Strategy So You Can Get Your Film Made

get your film made

Have you ever known a filmmaker who sent their demo reel into the Hollywood abyss? Maybe they sent it to an agency or a production company in hopes someone would discover their talent and hire them. Similarly, many screenwriters and aspiring actors have been known to employ this strategy too.

How To Write A Screenplay You Can Produce (Yourself)

Write A Screenplay

Listen. If you’re an ambitious writer, I’m going to tell you a secret. There is no better feeling in the world than the day you stop sending query letters and instead, you start producing your own work. For years and years, you have dreamed about seeing your work on the big screen. You know you’re good. So why ask for permission?

How I Got Started In Filmmaking

How I Got Started In Filmmaking

In the morning, I would wake up with cupcakes mashed in my hair, stare at my fat face in the bathroom mirror, and leave for my appliance sales job. When sales were slow at the store, I would order cheeseburgers, and start eating. One day, when I really felt bad about my sad existence, I decided to do something. I went into my cubicle and started writing a screenplay. Since I never wrote a screenplay, I had no idea what I was doing. But I was so frustrated, and fat, and hating my life, that it didn’t take long until I had a first draft…