The Top 5 Day Jobs for Strategic Screenwriters
There’s screenwriters who write one script, mail it off to Hollywood, and sell it for $500k. And then there’s the rest of us: working our butts off in the trenches, slogging through bills, slaving away at some soul-sucking day job so we can pay the rent and keep writing our screenplays, working towards that “big break.” If you’re up for contemplating a career change, one which can boost your skills as a screenwriter, harden your resolve and build your character, or even plug you in with powerful contacts, take a...
read moreTop 5 Bad Things Script Consultants Say About Script Coverage Which Aren’t True
Script coverage, as we all know, is 3-4 page “book report” on a screenplay, consisting of a synopsis and a set of reader comments on the script itself. The basic idea is, a busy producer or agent hires a script reader to read the stack of scripts on her desk, and then write COVERAGE for each script. That way, the agent can read the 3-4 pages of coverage, rather than the full 100-page script, saving time and money. And as you know, many companies online now offer script coverage as a service. But ooooh, watch out. Because that...
read moreThe “Am I A Good Screenwriter?” Quiz
Hey screenwriters and screenwriter wannabes! Think you got what it takes to be a screenwriter in this Chew-’Em-Up-Spit-’Em-Out Hollywood Town? Take my easy 5-question screenwriter quiz to see if you’ve got the good when it comes to turning your screenplay into a lean, mean, agent-wooing machine. Answers are at the bottom. 1) Which character description is better? A) PETER JENKINS (40) – plump in a polo shirt, blond, Nextel on his belt. B) PETER JENKINS, late thirties/early 40′s, slightly overweight, sandy blond...
read moreThe Top 5 Reasons Why Screenwriters Quit
As the owner of Screenplay Readers, interacting with dozens of writers on a daily basis, I’ve seen it time and time again – screenwriters simply GIVING UP, and getting out of the business. It’s always a bit discouraging to see talented folks, and folks with potential, simply throwing in the towel when it comes to their screenwriting career, but quitting is not always a big, fat, INEVITABLE decision. Because the reasons most screenwriters quit are often very avoidable. Here’s the top 5 reasons I’ve seen that...
read moreTop 5 Tips for Starting a Script Reading Business
What? ! They actually PAY PEOPLE to read screenplays!? Yep! And I’ve found it to be a great way to augment my income. (Heck, I started my script reading company Screenplay Readers in 1999 and it soon took the place of my dreaded day job!) So here’s the skinny – I’ve just released a big ole video training course on how to set up your own script reading business, from scratch, even if you know nothing about the interwebs. But here, in brief, is some of the biggest, best bits of advice I can offer to folks wanting to...
read more5 Steps To Growing Thick Skin as a Screenwriter
From my perspective at Screenplay Readers, I see the odds that are stacked against screenwriters every day, with every script that comes in and piles up in our queue, and I can’t help but think that many of these screenwriters sending in their scripts don’t share that perspective. I also can’t help but think that KNOWING how stacked the deck things are for screenwriters starting out is ESSENTIAL to a screenwriter taking the right steps to get sold and represented. That is, if a screenwriter doesn’t understand the odds...
read moreTop 10 Tactics for Shy Screenwriters to Use At Hollywood Parties
It’s the age-old cliché of Hollywood: the industry party, loaded from wall to wall with wannabe’s, fakers, hanger’s-on, and phonies. And they’re all nobodies going nowhere who think they’re somebody. If you go to an industry party in Los Angeles, the chances of you running into some of these characters are extremely high, and I’m sure your tolerance for these nimrods is probably just as low as mine. But here’s the scoop, screenwriter: Most parties and events I’ve been to are actually 99%...
read moreScript Coverage 101 OR “They don’t give Recommends, do they?”
In the late 1990′s, I worked for legendary B-film maverick Roger Corman, who made Bucket of Blood and the original Little Shop of Horrors, and whose film company gave some of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers their first shot at directing – Ron Howard, James Cameron, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese – the list goes on and on. Some of my many jobs while working for Corman were re-writing scripts to meet budget requirements, coordinating script revisions and script page colors, making copies, getting scripts to cast and crew,...
read moreThe Top 5 Biggest Script Format Mistakes Screenwriters Make
Your script is finished! And I’m pleased to announce that you are the most talented screenwriter in the world! Huzzah! Yes, it’s true. The word just came over the wire this morning. Your certificate is on the way, so you can pin it to your chest and wear it on the school bus home. But first… before mom throws your certificate up on the fridge… … you might wanna take one last look at that script of yours, before you throw it over the Paramount gates and pick up your briefcase full of cash. Because it might be...
read moreThe 5 Questions That Will Make Any Script Tighter
If you’ve written a script, open up your script right now and turn to any page in the script. Read the scene. Then answer these questions below. This is the Scene-By-Scene Litmus Test you should run EVERY SCENE of your screenplay through, systematically, to find out if it can be improved: 1) Is the scene even NECESSARY? If yes, go to #2. If the information or emotional firepower of the scene has already been given to us in a previous scene (or if it happens in a later scene), then the scene is probably not necessary. If...
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