Day 27 – Get your script out there: Queries

It’s ready.  It’s done.  You’ve written and rewritten, polished and repolished, gotten feedback from other scriptwriters –definitely someone other than your mom or sister (unless your mom is Kathryn Bigelow or your sister is Sophia Coppola…annnnnnnd I’m pretty sure she’s not) — and now you’re ready to try your baby darling script out on the market.

How do you get your script noticed?  How do you break into the high-walled and fiercely guarded Hollywood fortress?  They say that every Waiter in Los Angeles has a script to sell.  And by “they” I mean “me”.  I say that a lot.  Cause in L.A. EVERYone is a writer.  But chances are you don’t live in L.A.  Chances are, you’re not serving egg-white spinach and tofu omelettes to the rich and famous at your quirky little Sunset Boulevard diner.

What do you do?  What. do. you. do.

Shoot the hostage.

Sorry, wrong analogy.  Where was I?  Oh yeah…

First off, nepotism is a beautiful thing.  If you’ve got a family member in the industry or friends of family that has a connection, milk that for all it’s worth.  If you’ve got a story worth believing in, pitch it to them.  It’s a long shot, but totally worth it.

You undoubtedly remember this scene from Dumb and Dumber:

Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me… ending up together?
Mary: Well, Lloyd, that’s difficult to say. I mean, we don’t really…
Lloyd: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I’d say more like one out of a million.

[pause]

Lloyd: So you’re telling me there’s a chance… *YEAH!*

This has GOT to be your distorted but decidedly optimistic reality as a Hollywood Outsider.  Your chances are one-in-a-million, but that’s STILL a chance!  I mean, what else are you gonna do:  you’ve got no food, no jobs…your PETS HEADS ARE FALLING OFF…!!

Okay, still stuck back in the D&Der movie.  I’m back.  I promise.  Annnnnd SCENE.

Let me tell you a super secret weapon that every single one of us has available to us to crack the system.  Here’s a hint.  It’s in the title of this post.

No, not “Get”.

No, not “27″, either.

“Out”?  Are you kidding me?  For the love of….no, it’s not “your” it’s “QUERIES”.  Queries are what we’re looking for.  Sheesh.  Are you SURE you’re ready to send out?

Then prepare yourself for the query.  This can be done with a letter (that is sooooo 1987!) or it can be done with an email.  But steel yourself.  Cause I’m not talking one or two query letters.  I’m talking hundreds.

When I talked to Scott Myers (screenwriter of K-9, Alaska, etc) he detailed this approach:

Find successful movies that are generally similar in tone, genre and even subject matter to your script. Find out who the producers are. Find out who the director and writer’s agents and managers are. Then email query them. Two lines, for example:

‘My name is David Acuff, I’m an editor by trade and aspiring filmmaker. I have written an original screenplay “Title”. Logline: [1-2 line description]. May I send it to you for your consideration?’

And out.

If you don’t believe that can work, ask Seth Lochhead from Vancouver.  He sold the first draft of his first script, “Hanna” which released in theaters back in April 2011.  He sent out 400 emails to people in the business.

“A lot were one-sentence emails.  A girl is trained to be an assassin; would you like to read my script,” writes Lochhead.

From his blog, Vanity is My Only Child, during an interview we read some even more interesting dirt:

Written for his film course while he was in his early twenties, Seth Lochhead’s Hanna was eventually picked up by Focus Features and found its way onto Hollywood’s Black List (despite the ominous sounding name this is actually a list of the year’s ten best unmade scripts). After being considered by Danny Boyle and Alfonso Cuaron, it fell into the hands of Joe Wright. A departure for Wright, who was best known as the director of period dramas such as Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, Hanna brought a pumping, arthouse aesthetic into the mainstream cinema and garnered rave reviews worldwide.

That’ll preach, people.  That’ll preach.  But essentially it’s the same old numbers game…the more queries you put out there, the more virtual e-doors you knock on, the greater the odds you’re going to make the connection you need to make the sale you want.

If you’ve got a sec, hop over to Yam-mag.com and read this interview with Seth Lochhead on his writing process.

When Wired4Film approached Lochhead about his email blast strategy he did offer this sage warning, “Emailing all those people did, however, become an excuse to procrastinate and not write. Writing is the key.”

Let’s sell a screenplay!

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The Hollywood Reader – Day 02

Welcome to Day #2!

Hopefully you’ve poked around ScreenwritingMasterClass.com as well as Go Into the Story and you’ve dipped your big toe into the wide ocean which is the Screenwriting underworld and didn’t get it all Soul Surfer’d.

Water’s not so bad, eh?  And did you check out the 14 Days of Screenplays and immerse yourself in professional writerly shtuff?  Hope so.  Then you’re ready for the next step…no, you’re not ready to face the Hollywood Reader…WAY to soon for that.  But you are ready to acknowledge the existence of the Hollywood Reader.

What is the Hollywood Reader?  There’s a great book out about it that’s got a detailed explanation to that, but the short answer is that in the Hollywood Coliseum, they are the Emperors who thumb up or thumb down your little gladiator…er…script.  Thumbs up?  They get to move to the next level.  The next set of eyes.  One step closer to that bidding war we always wanted culminating in a 7-figure payout with backend points.  Thumbs down?  Fed to the lions.  Tossed in the slushpile…the island of misfit scripts without so much as a Return to Sender or “here’s why your script stinks…” note or nothin’.  Nada.  Bupkiss.  This is Sparta!  Bamf!

THE FACTS

Each year between 400-500 movies find some form of theatrical release in the United States, all the way from tiny independent films which manage to grab one screen for a weekend to a major blockbuster which opens on 10,000 screens or more.  Typically, the major Hollywood studios, including their specialty/art house divisions (e.g., Miramax, Dimension, Fine Line, Fox 2000), produce approximately 60% of the movie fare which reaches the marketplace.

Hollywood Screenwriter Scott Myers delves deeper into the idea of the Screenplay…

What does an agent sell?    What does an actor act?
What does a script reader read?     What does a director direct?
What does a studio buy and develop?    What does a producer package?
What do line producers budget?     What do marketing departments base their ads on?
What does every key grip, sound guy, stunt woman, animal trainer, production assistant, script supervisor, and every other below-the-line worker rely on to ply their trade and make a buck?

That’s right, a screenplay.  In Hollywood, nothing starts without the script.  And in this universe, we answer the question “What is a screenplay” with this answer – It is a commodity.

And that’s what the Hollywood Reader is looking for.  Imagine, if it were your job to read through scripts all day and one day across your desk came “Unforgiven” or “Little Miss Sunshine” or “Shawshank Redemption”.  After days and months of 2nd rate Tarantino-wannabe hack work and badly formatted vampire drivel, you come across this gem, this magnum opus.  It’s as if the heavens have opened up and shine down upon you.

That’s what they want, the Hollywood Reader.  And they go into each script hoping to unearth that diamond in the rough.  And generally, they’ll give it about 10 pages before they decide it’s fate.  You’ve got 10 pages to hook them (or less!)

COVERAGE

A story analyst/script reader reads a script and provides coverage.  Coverage is the reader’s evaluation of submitted material.  It consists of a log-line, an encapsulation of the concept in one sentence; a two-three page synopsis of the story and characters; a one-page commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of the material; a box-score rating system where the analyst “grades” the material in the following areas – Concept, Plot, Character, Dialogue, and Writing; and at the very end of the document, a one-word assessment of the material – PASS, NOT RECOMMENDED, CONSIDER, RECOMMEND.

Pass = Substandard, unacceptable submission

Not Recommended = A glorified pass, maybe one-two good elements

Consider = Strong, salable material with some problems, but promising enough to warrant a look

Recommend = Happens once in a blue moon

Anything with a Consider or Recommend goes up the food chain to the company’s story department.  Anything else goes directly into the slush pile (recycling bin).  Which means how the reader responds to your script and what the reader says about it in coverage are of critical importance to you.

 AND WHAT IS THE READER LOOKING FOR…?

 CONCEPT

•       Is this a high concept project? One with a commercial hook? Is it striking, extraordinary, fresh,                 imaginative?
•       Has it already been done?
•       Does it have mass appeal or blockbuster potential?
•       Is it better suited to the art house circuit?  Is it too small in scope for a studio picture?
•       Have similar ideas already done well in the marketplace?
•       Is it strong enough to warrant a buy if poorly written?
•       Does it provide a solid foundation on which to build a motion picture?
•       Does it have a solid marketing potential? Can the studio or production company sell it to an                          audience?

STORY: WHAT’S IT ABOUT

•       Does it hook me within the first 5-15 pages? Does it immediately capture my attention?’
•       Is the central conflict strong and clearly defined? Is it clear what the story is about?
•       Are the stakes of the story high enough to make it compelling?
•       Does the world of the story (setting or milieu) offer enough for the big screen?
•       Do I like what the story is about? What it says? What it means?
•       Might it offend a certain segment of the population?
•       Is it racially biased or morally reprehensible?
•       Is it sexist or misogynist?
•       Does it contain elements that will draw an audience into the theaters?
•       Is this an extraordinary story, or rather a simple, ordinary plot with some extraordinary touches?
•       Is there a strong emotional pull? Do I laugh, cry, get angry, feel happy? Do I genuinely care about             what happens from page to page?
•       Is it credible? Plausible? Logical?
•       Is it timely, or dated? Does it offer something for today’s audience?
•       Is there a subplot or more? Does the subplot intersect with the main plot, creating more narrative               complexity and affecting the life of the protagonist, or does it dangle in the middle of nowhere and             could just as well be left out?

STRUCTURE: HOW IT’S TOLD

•       Is the structure appropriate to the genre?
•       Is there a clear-cut beginning, middle and end?
•       Does the first act set up the central conflict, establish what the protagonist wants and what s/he is           up against?
•       Does the second act build? Is there an increasing sense of jeopardy, urgency, tension?
•       Does the third act solve the central conflict?
•       Are there climaxes at the end of each act?
•       Is there sufficient conflict throughout?
•       Does the script move, build, intensify, continually hold attention? Is the dramatic progression                     strong?
•       Is there a logical, causal connection between each scene?
•       Is there enough new information, or does repetition set in?
•       How is the exposition handled? Is it conveyed through conflict, or stagnant dialogue?
•       Is the plotting predictable, obvious? Too simplistic or complex? Too vague, disjointed?
•       Is the script cohesive? Does it gel? Does it flow?
•       Is it written with clarity?
•       Does the resolution tied up any and all loose ends? Is too much left to the audience’s imagination?
•       If the ending is predictable, is the inevitable delayed as creatively and imaginatively as possible? Is           the ending too pat and trite?
•       Is there a satisfying payoff? Does the writer reward the audience for paying attention?

DIALOGUE

•       Is it believable, witty, intelligent? Compelling, sparkling, razor sharp?
•       Is it wordy, stilted, artificial? Hackneyed, contrive, flat?
•       Is it coherent? Too rambling or nonsensical?
•       Is it consistently well-suited to each character?
•       Does each character have his/her own manner of speaking?
•       Is the dialogue too expository?
•       Is it too “on-the-nose,” revealing exactly what everyone means, thinks, feels?
•       Does the dialogue lack subtext? Is there no other meaning beneath the lines themselves?
•       Does the dialogue artfully and seamlessly reveal character?
•       Are there too many long, dull speeches?
•       Is the dialogue crisp and well-paced?
•       Does the writer rely too heavily on dialogue to propel the story?
•       Is the dialogue too profane or sexually explicit? Crude or offensive?
•       Is it appropriate to the genre, adding humor to a comedy or tension to a drama? Is it consistent?

CHARACTER

•       Is the protagonist likeable, sympathetic, empathetic, identifiable? Will an audience locate the story’s      center of good in this protagonist?
•       Is the protagonist an engaging, credible, dynamic character who can carry a motion picture? Are               they worth watching for two hours?
•       Is it a star role, perhaps suited to one actor in particular?
•       Is the protagonist launched in quest of a specific goal? Is this goal strong enough to hook and hold           an audience throughout?
•       Does the protagonist fight for what they want amidst conflict, forced to take greater and greater                 actions?
•       Is the protagonist active or reactive?
•       Do they have the will and capacity to continue the struggle?
•       Do I root for this character to succeed? Do I care? Do I become enmeshed in their world?
•       Does the protagonist sufficiently “arc” through the story? Do they undergo a significant change by             the story’s end?
•       Is the antagonist (or forces of antagonism) strong enough to challenge the protagonist and                         continually thwart the protagonist’s efforts? Throw sizable obstacles in their way?
•       Is the villain a truly formidable foe? Sufficiently bad, evil, dangerous, frightening? Do they make it            too easy for the protagonist?
•       How are the secondary characters handled? Are they colorful and fresh, or cliched stereotypes? What       purpose do they serve in connection to the protagonist? Has the writer maximized the opportunity for       conflict?
•       How are the characters revealed? Via action or dialogue? Do they mostly sit around talking about               themselves and each other?
•      Do all of the main characters have individual traits, quirks, idiosyncrasies? Are they true standouts or      just average? What are their strengths and weaknesses as far as their viability for the screen?

If you’ve written a script, take a look at these questions and answer them honestly.  Or give your script and these questions to a trusted friend or industry insider and have them look over your work objectively.  If you haven’t written a script yet, let these questions simmer in your brain stew while you consider what concept you’re going to turn into the next “500 Days of Summer.”

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Wired4Film gratefully acknowledges the help and contribution of Hollywood Screenwriter Scott Myers and author Jennifer Lerch to unravelling the mystery of the Hollywood Reader!

August is Scriptwriting Month — Day 01

Day #1!

Filmmakers and wannabes…we here at Wired4Film have fielded a LAWT of questions about Scriptwriting, screenplays and mostly how to break into the industry.  So much so, that we’ve decided to make August 2011 Scriptwriting Month.  The WHOLE month.  We’re gonna talk about the ins and outs the screenwriting craft, conduct interviews with experts and all in all fill your curious noggins with Screenplay knowledge and lore.

AUGUST 2011 = Scriptwriting Month

Where are you at in the process?  Trying to find a good idea?  Trying to navigate the sea of Act II?  Polishing a rough draft?  Getting a Production house to buy your script?  Finding an Agent?  Maybe you’re a Producer wanting to find a good script.  I’m telling you, if you stick with us, by September, you will have WRITTEN AND SOLD YOUR FIRST SCRIPT!  Okay, not really.  Puh-lease!  These things take time, Filmmakers!  Don’t believe anyone if they feed you that instant success line.  There’s no such thing as a sure thing.  But, what I can guarantee is that your writing process, your craftsmanship, your salesmanship will become more informed if you keep up!

ScreenwritingMasterClass.com

To start, Wired4Film has partnered with ScreenwritingMasterClass.com on a special deal.  For the Month of August, any class you enroll in and mention Wired4Film, you will receive a 10% discount (CODE: Discount10).  Why?  Because step 1 of the writing process is getting hooked up with a Screenplay Sherpa to guide you along the perilous route of self-discovery and writerly wit and wisdom.

Yes, I highly recommend all the screenwriting books by Syd Field and Robert McKee, etc etc etc but in the end, they won’t talk back to you.  Taking a screenwriting class from someone who has actual screen credits to their name is gold, baby.  So do consider that.

The ScreenwritingMasterClass.com is taught by Tom Benedek and Scott Myers.  Click their names to see their IMDb resumes.  And remember, that those are their published credits.  I know for a fact that Scott was contracted on over 20 Feature film scripts that never saw the greenlight o’ day.  Just part of the biz.  He still got paid, though.

Website: ScreenwritingMasterClass.com
Discount Code: Discount10

Here’s some info from their website.

We are professional screenwriters: Both longtime members of the Writers’ Guild of America, we have worked as writers in the entertainment business for a combined five decades, having written over fifty film and TV projects including the hit movies Cocoon and K-9.

We are professional educators: Tom and I have been teaching since 2002: Tom at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and in the MFA program at University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts; I have taught through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, winning their Outstanding Instructor Award in 2005, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

We have sold spec scripts: Tom wrote and sold the original script Zeus and Roxanne which MGM produced.  I wrote and sold the original screenplay K-9 which Universal produced.  Together we have written seven spec scripts which have been optioned or sold.  Moreover I doubt there is anybody who teaches screenwriting who knows more about the spec script market than we do because we have followed it daily for twenty-five years.

We know how the movie business works: The spec script market, pitching, working with managers and agents, producers, studio executives, directors, actors, writing and rewriting, generating and developing story concepts, tracking trends — there is a ton to know in order to survive and thrive in the movie business. Based on our decades of professional experience, Tom and I understand that business, and share our insights with Screenwriting Master Class participants.

Last week I talked to Scott about the classes to ask how they were going.  He had this to say:

Screenwriting Master Class has been a big success. I’ve written perhaps 300 pages of lectures since January and worked with perhaps 60 different writers either in our public online classes or private script workshops. Looks like one of the latter is going to sign with a big Hollywood manager based on a script I mentored him through. And I’ve got high hopes for another who is already a best-selling non-fiction author.

So, that’s exciting.  But even if you’re not interested in their classes, I advise you to bookmark Scott’s Screenwriting Blog with this warning…it’s the equivalent of drinking from a fire hose.  So get ready to get soaked…academically speaking.  So much information in one place.  You should go to there:

Go Into the Story

There you go, filmmakers!  And are you ready for your first homework assignment?  Good!  Remember as kids, your neighbor Johnny would say, “You’re a goo-faced booger butt!” and you would smile calmly and yell back, “It takes one to know one!”  Okay, maybe that only happened in my neighborhood.  But, that was a valuable screenwriting lesson for us.  It DOES take one to know one.  Meaning, it takes a good Script to know a good script.

That’s what our 14 Days of Screenplays challenge by Scott Myers is all about.  Reading the works of the masters in order to identify good writing and perceive great storytelling.  Take a look.  Be inspired.

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14 Days of Screenplays

by Scott Myers

Students ask me how I learned the craft of screenwriting. I give the same answer that Walter Hill did:

“The usual story – read a lot of scripts, saw every possible movie.”

By and large, most folks seem to do a pretty good job on the ‘seeing movie’ front. But reading scripts? Not so much. I think I know why that’s the case. When we think of “movies,” we almost automatically think entertainment. And even if we students of screenwriting sit in a theater, checking our watch at every major plot, tracking subplots, and questioning story choices, on the whole the experience of watching a movie isentertaining. But when we consider reading a screenplay, my guess is that the first word that comes to most people’s minds is work.

Well, that’s true enough — reading a screenplay is work. But you expected to play your way to the top of the screenwriting heap? Think of any other creative outlet: painting, sculpture, novels, poetry, acting, dance, violin, composing. Do you think that any of the people who succeed in creating a career in any of these fields got there without studying the subject matter at a granular level?

The simple fact is if you are really serious about learning the craft of screenwriting, you must read scripts. It is perhaps the single best way to drill down into the heart of the craft. It’s one reason that so many script readers become successful screenwriters — reading all those scripts, even bad ones, is a massive learning experience.

So here’s something you can do to kick-start your screenplay reading habit: read 14 scripts in 14 days. I recommend this to my students often and the ones who’ve actually done it report back that it helped them immensely. Reading that many scripts in a compressed time provides a Gestalt grasp of the craft that you would not likely get any other way.

[Warning: old fart story ahead.]

Now way back when K-9 sold and I moved to LA, screenplays of existing movies were not that easy to find. I had to cobble together other screenwriters, my agents’ assistants, and other fans of the craft into a kind of ‘black market’ of screenplays. This was especially true of the latest hot selling spec scripts like Basic Instinct and The Last Boyscout, but track them down I did. Trudging 5 miles every morning… through thick snowdrifts… in the pitch black… oh wait, that’s another old fart story. My point is this: you’relucky! With a couple of clicks of your computer’s mouse, you can tap into a universe of screenplays — for free! My favorite screenplay hosting website is SimplyScripts.com, but there are plenty others. 

So allow me to cut trail for you with links to 14 scripts. Different styles, writers, genres, and decades. I’m including Back to the Future and Witness because those are the first two screenplays I read, so perhaps a bit of good luck will rub off on you.

Day 1: Back to the Future

Day 2: Witness

Day 3: Alien

Day 4: Some Like It Hot

Day 5: Body Heat

Day 6: Fargo

Day 7: The Shawshank Redemption

Day 8: Die Hard

Day 9: Thelma & Louise

Day 10: Dead Poet’s Society

Day 11: The Matrix

Day 12: Network

Day 13: Memento

Day 14: Toy Story

14 great scripts. 14 days. Trust me. It’s worth it.

Reprinted with permission.

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Scott Myers has been a screenwriter since 1987 when Universal Studios bought and produced K-9, a spec script he co-wrote. Other movie credits: Alaska (1996), starring Thora Burch, and Trojan War (1997), starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. Currently, he’s an Executive Producer with Distillery Pictures in Raleigh, NC.

He has recently launched the ScreenwritingMasterClass.com with Tom Benedek to train, consult and mentor screenwriters into the industry.

He has a screenwriting blog you need to bookmark at www.gointothestory.com