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Golden Bee posted:Melanie: I like your stuff, will see if I have anything that fits. Thank you! Looking forward to it. To that end--what might be some good methods of connecting with (good) screenwriters locally, who might be practiced and dedicated, even if they might need a bit of polish, who are open to collaboration on new works and may already have work they want to see actors put up? I know plenty of people who write and/or call themselves writers who produce work of varying quality, but many yet with the right mix of talent, dedication and reliability whom I can see matching my own work ethic. I'm in NYC so I know they're here--it's just a matter of knowing where to look, besides film school and film festivals (which I already frequent).
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Nov 19, 2015 23:58
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blinkeve1826 posted:Thank you! Looking forward to it. Go to all the improv schools. Talk to people whose shows you like; that'd probably be a great next step. HMU next week after attending a show or two at UCB, Groundlings, IO East, or the equiv.
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Nov 20, 2015 04:52
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Golden Bee posted:Go to all the improv schools. Talk to people whose shows you like; that'd probably be a great next step. HMU next week after attending a show or two at UCB, Groundlings, IO East, or the equiv. Improv for screenwriters? Interesting suggestion. I can understand sketch shows (and am already talking with someone who does both sketch writing and improv at UCB), but what's your thinking behind finding good writers improv shows? I'll see if I can in the next week or so, though admittedly my evenings between now and Thanksgiving are just packed with pre-holiday sessions/events/screenings/etc. I'm already talking with one friend I met almost a decade ago on this very site about a collaboration I'm really excited about, so this is already starting to bear fruit! I'm always interested in collaborating with new people, though, so regardless of when you see this, if you're a writer/filmmaker interested in creating new work with me, please feel free to reach out. I love working with goons. 
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Nov 20, 2015 06:58
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So apparently Amazon has released a free screenwriting app on their service that's tied to your account/uses the cloud, etc. https://storywriter.amazon.com/ Also if I'm understanding it correctly they removed the 18 month free option on submissions so submitting to them (Amazon Studios) isn't going to be a big hindrance to shopping around either?
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Nov 20, 2015 19:28
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So I'm planning on investing in my writing future and am currently debating what my best option is. Live in Milwaukee - Decided a weekly/twice weekly commute to Chicago isn't unreasonable. Currently I'm weighing my options in screenwriting courses. My Options iO Chicago - 90 Minute Commute Second City - 90 Minute Commute UW-Milwaukee - 20 Minute Commute (And A Full Course-load) MATC - 20 Minute Commute (And A Community College) I'm pretty set on either iO or Second City's programs, as they won't put me in debt, are results oriented program, and have both spit out successful working writers on the regular. On top of that they have huge value in networking opportunities. So I pose the question: Do any of you goons have experience with either of these programs and if so what did you think was good and what did you think sucked?
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Nov 21, 2015 09:04
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Sober posted:So apparently Amazon has released a free screenwriting app on their service that's tied to your account/uses the cloud, etc. I went ahead and imported my 109 page honker of a script to storywriter, and then submitted it to amazon studios through the app, and the process seemed pretty smooth. I didn't see anything about the 18 month free option in the legalese but I may have missed it. Not that I'm really proud enough to shop this thing around to begin with. Edit: this article talks about how amazon isn't doing free options anymore. http://nofilmschool.com/2015/11/amazon-launches-new-free-screenwriting-app-amazon-storywriter polish sausage fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Nov 22, 2015 |
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Nov 21, 2015 22:21
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Anyone remember when the Blacklist comes out? Is it the last Friday in December or something to that effect.
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Nov 23, 2015 04:36
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Mid-December, on a Monday e: here are the release dates for the last five years 12/13/10 12/12/11 12/17/12 12/16/13 12/15/14 Zypher fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Nov 23, 2015 |
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Nov 23, 2015 04:49
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Sober posted:So apparently Amazon has released a free screenwriting app on their service that's tied to your account/uses the cloud, etc. Interesting. Does Amazon Studios do/plan on doing movies or is their content generation still all TV shows?
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Nov 24, 2015 01:05
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Yes, they do movies. Their first release is actually in a week and a half (Chi-raq) but it was an acquisition and not fully homegrown.
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Nov 24, 2015 01:46
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Zypher posted:Mid-December, on a Monday Probably the 14th this year.
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Nov 24, 2015 04:16
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So has anyone done/is anyone planning on submitting for the CBS Writer's Mentoring Program? I'm thinking it is worth a submission, even if CBS hasn't really put out much more than grievously over the top crime procedural shows for the past decade. I'm revising a draft and then I'll be working on a spec that the submission guidelines call for. If anyone else wants to go at it I'd like to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and would be more than willing to return the favor.
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Jan 5, 2016 08:20
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Here's something I can't find the answer to: A scene within a scene, specifically a character watching a news report, then we go into the news report which shows a quick selection of characters and places. How to format this? So far I've started as NEWSCASTER (V.O.) Blahblahblah ... and then I'll just use scene headings for where the news report takes place before resuming the scene. Is that right? Do I have to make it clear in the action that we're following the news report or will the constant voiceover be enough?
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Feb 1, 2016 18:52
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Alan_Shore posted:Here's something I can't find the answer to: On one hand this sounds decent, but on the other hand it sounds like it could get confusing without an example of what it would look like. I think what it boils down to is how important what is going on in the newscast is. Is what we are seeing exposition, or is it actual character information being relayed? If it's just exposition I would probably do something like this to avoid breaking up the flow with a ton of sluglines: On the screen we see images and clips of people in location A doing X, Y, and Z. If we're cutting to actual characters doing important things that affect the story directly, sluglines might be the way to go. I would still be careful of the flow while reading it.
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Feb 1, 2016 19:41
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hotsoupdinner posted:On one hand this sounds decent, but on the other hand it sounds like it could get confusing without an example of what it would look like. Agreed! It's a news report that will introduce some important characters and information, so sluglines I guess. I'll have a play and see how awful it looks!
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Feb 1, 2016 19:44
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Alan_Shore posted:Agreed! It's a news report that will introduce some important characters and information, so sluglines I guess. I'll have a play and see how awful it looks! Post up the scene after if you don't mind and we can tell you how it reads to us.
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Feb 1, 2016 20:34
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I'm a director, not a screen writer, but for my part if I'm reading a script I'm thinking at least somewhat logistically. If there's a new location I need to think about (such as a tv studio) I personally find it helpful to have the slug line in there unless it would be truly disruptive to the flow of action. It will end up slugged in the shooting script either way I suppose.
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Feb 3, 2016 00:37
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What's the etiquette on soliciting scripts? I work for a company in Mississippi that has a film arm that I'm heavily involved in. We have all of our own in house equipment and just got our first feature distributed. We also have three sound stages (36,000 sq ft, 10k sq ft and 4k sq foot), grip truck, etc etc. We have two other features in development in the $1-3 million dollar range and a few short films as well. We also deal extensively with every film that comes into town (and MIssissippi is bumping on the low range films lately ) - from producing, to EP'ing, rentals, vfx, DP'ing, etc.All that to say that we do have some idea of what we're doing. What we DON'T have is a good collection of scripts in the $50k-250k budget range. So we're lookin out in the ether to see what people have and if there's something we're interested in optioning. So, uh, anybody interested? I can definitely give more info out in private if anyone is interested. Obviously it'd have to be a film that could be made in Mississippi - preferably central.
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Feb 3, 2016 03:14
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Send a PM, I know a few ppl who write in that range.
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Feb 3, 2016 16:51
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Golden Bee posted:Send a PM, I know a few ppl who write in that range. PM sent, thanks!
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Feb 3, 2016 17:20
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Odd question that I'm not sure if anyone knows - What are the laws regarding remakes/adaptations of foreign films? As an exercise, I wanted to try writing an English adaptation of a foreign film (the one I'm considering is a 1990's Japanese film), but would I actually be able to do anything with it? Or is it just something that I could only ever use as a practice exercise?
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Feb 22, 2016 01:17
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Mordiceius posted:Odd question that I'm not sure if anyone knows - What are the laws regarding remakes/adaptations of foreign films? Unless you have the rights to the original film, you're better off just writing your own idea that you can use as a sample and send to competitions.
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Feb 22, 2016 01:28
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To clarify about my position of doing it as a "writing exercise." You could spend a lot of time writing it and making it really good and then not doing anything with it because you don't have the rights to it. Or you can spend all that time writing something that will actually help you move forward in your career.
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Feb 22, 2016 01:39
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Mordiceius posted:Odd question that I'm not sure if anyone knows - What are the laws regarding remakes/adaptations of foreign films? In short, the same as English-language IPs. You have to buy the rights in order to sell a remake.
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Feb 22, 2016 08:19
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hotsoupdinner posted:Or you can spend all that time writing something that will actually help you move forward in your career. If it's just a writing exercise, you might be better off working up an outline of what it would be. You'll still accomplish the same goal, but you'll have the seed of an original idea.
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Mar 11, 2016 08:54
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Probably not the first person to try this, but... I'm in the process of completely re-writing my screenplay from my college screenwriting course years ago. Comedy-horror that took place over a week. In hindsight, that was really dumb since it seems rushed and totally implausible. I ended up taking a day planner and wrote out all the scenes from my outline to specific days. Almost like if a character kept a schedule. It ended up comfortably fitting a specific time-frame of two months. On a spreadsheet, I copied all the date and time information with columns for the characters. This allowed me to see if I was leaving characters out for too long or putting too much at one time. One plus is that I even filled in some back story stuff earlier in the day planner.
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Mar 29, 2016 02:25
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Egbert Souse posted:Probably not the first person to try this, but... Without knowing the specifics of your story, the usual screenwriting advice favors as compressed a timeframe as possible. It increases the sense of urgency and decreases the risk of the story losing focus.
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Mar 29, 2016 08:48
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Something I threw together after I was struck with inispiration at work yesterday https://www.celtx.com/auth/public/resource/nkjnvbln Any thoughts/suggestions/criticisms?
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Apr 2, 2016 23:06
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How do I properly write a scene that jumps from two points of view? Classic example - Man-A is hungry. Imagines Man-B dressed as a taco. The scene alternates showing the illusions of Man-A and the reality of Man-B.
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Apr 9, 2016 02:12
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INTERCUT: INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT / EXT. DREAM GARDEN - DAY
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Apr 9, 2016 02:14
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Something Else posted:INTERCUT: INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT / EXT. DREAM GARDEN - DAY And (following this example) if Man-B is saying different things when dressed as a taco, how would I do that? Say the dialog was something like this: Man-A: I'm so hungry. Man-B (dressed as taco): Please, eat me. Man-A: Get in my mouth. Man-B (normal): What the gently caress, dude?
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Apr 9, 2016 02:33
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Under those circumstances you might want to just use a new scene heading for each cutaway. It would also make sense to write the taco guy's character line as TACO MAN B but I could see that getting confusing without separate scene headings.
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Apr 9, 2016 04:31
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I think the most important rule to follow in this situation is to make sure that the formatting doesn't get in the way of the flow of the read. All can be forgiven by a reader if the scene reads just as funny/scary/sad/happy/exciting as it's supposed to.
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Apr 10, 2016 18:15
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So, here's a simple question with a no-doubt complicated answer: how do you write a screenplay? Like, what does your actual process look like from start to finish? I'm trying to build a daily writing habit by writing for a few hours in the evening but I feel like I don't know what to do to use those hours productively.
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Apr 18, 2016 06:10
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Baby Babbeh posted:So, here's a simple question with a no-doubt complicated answer: how do you write a screenplay? Like, what does your actual process look like from start to finish? I'm trying to build a daily writing habit by writing for a few hours in the evening but I feel like I don't know what to do to use those hours productively. Man, everyone is different. If you read about any of your favourite directors or writers, you'll see their working habits are all insanely different. For me, I like to vaguely plan the whole movie out first on a board like Blake Snyder (Save the Cat) suggests. Then I slowly slowly slowly write the script in Celtx. Do whatever works for you, as long as you're writing (but a plan helps!).
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Apr 18, 2016 06:14
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Baby Babbeh posted:So, here's a simple question with a no-doubt complicated answer: how do you write a screenplay? Like, what does your actual process look like from start to finish? I'm trying to build a daily writing habit by writing for a few hours in the evening but I feel like I don't know what to do to use those hours productively. The hardest and longest part is breaking the story and planning. That's where the grind is for me -- making sure everything serves the story in a satisfactory way. Those days are generally less structured for me as I may be researching, plotting, outlining, or watching movies in order to get a feel for the tone I want. Then the actual writing part is easy - "rear end in chair time" as one of my teachers would put it. When I spend enough time planning, the rest really falls into place. At my most productive, I was able to write multiple drafts of two different pilots as well as half a feature in twelve weeks. Whether it was quality work is another story.
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Apr 18, 2016 19:48
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Baby Babbeh posted:So, here's a simple question with a no-doubt complicated answer: how do you write a screenplay? Like, what does your actual process look like from start to finish? I'm trying to build a daily writing habit by writing for a few hours in the evening but I feel like I don't know what to do to use those hours productively. I start out with an idea, hand-write a basic outline. Then I turn that outline into scenes, action, and a summary of dialogue. Then I go through the dialogue summaries and turn it into actual functional dialogue. Then I have friends tell me how lovely it is. Then I make it less lovely. Prior to this I would just try and discovery write myself into bedlam, get overwhelmed and quit. After discovering this process I can churn out a first draft of a pilot in a little more than a week.
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Apr 22, 2016 17:59
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Rise from your grave! Let's talk formatting. I'm writing a sci-fi film, and as expected there are spaceships in it. So here are a few questions: 1) When writing the ship's name down in the scene heading, would you use speech marks? Here is a typical example from my script: INT. SPACESHIP "BRUCE" Then either italicize or underline the ship's name in dialogue or action, correct? 2) Should I name every ship? For example, there's a small evil ship, but man I don't want to give it a name, so for now it's called "Angry Croissant Ship", because that what it looks like (though it's not important really). Should I just describe it as an angry croissant, give it a lame name then move on? 3) When I move back and forth between locations on the same ship, I write it like this: INT. SPACESHIP "BRUCE"/LOUNGE Blah blah blah INT. SPACESHIP "BRUCE"/CORRIDOR Blah blah blah I think that's the most specific and least confusing, looks a bit unwieldy though. What do you think?
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Jun 8, 2016 11:01
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How do the scripts you like do it? Star Wars, Trek, and Independence Day all have differing standards; use what you like. Don't use loglines to be cute. Action lines are fine but don't give me INTERIOR: THE FLYING PIE - KITCHEN.
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Jun 8, 2016 18:16
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Golden Bee posted:How do the scripts you like do it? Star Wars, Trek, and Independence Day all have differing standards; use what you like. OK cool, so what should I give you?
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Jun 8, 2016 19:24
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