OK, this is a little bit off topic, but I encourage you to take this class. It's free and done on-line. Check it out:
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Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
London calling
A bit of a good news/bad news day. We had submitted the pilot to the BBC Writer's Room for consideration. That was quite a while ago. The process there is that they send a post card verifying receipt of the script. Then they read the first ten pages. If the script sucks, they send it back at that point. If not, it moves on to the next stage where they read more and make notes. If they pass, then it gets sent back with notes. Otherwise, it moves on to the next stage... no point in going any further, since we got our script back with notes.
What have we learned from this? We don't suck!
In fact, we got very encouraging notes and comments back. Things like: "Despite the familiarity of the set up and the style this has plenty of charm and character. The humor is gentle but sharp and has solid foundations in the well rounded characters and narrative. The world is well drawn and there is a strong sense of place in the writing."
Should I go on? Yes, I think I should!
"The narrative is well crafted making quite a complex, multi-character story feel fairly effortless, despite the sprawl of the story it remains quite focused and compelling."
Did I hear MORE???
"Todd is an engaging character, his flaws give him an authentic complexity and depth making his story particularly compelling. Nearly all the characters are well drawn, with plenty of depth and shading, the range of voices is impressive and gives the world and story real texture. The dialog is sharp and funny in places with an authentic ring to it."
So why did they pass?!?!?! It seems our story fits into a "crowded genre." Funny, I think there is not nearly enough dramedy on the air and a crowded genre would be yet another procedural. But, that's just my opinion, I guess. I'm not bitter - I'm just saying.
Thank you, BBC Writer's Room, for the feedback, consideration and well wishes!
What have we learned from this? We don't suck!
In fact, we got very encouraging notes and comments back. Things like: "Despite the familiarity of the set up and the style this has plenty of charm and character. The humor is gentle but sharp and has solid foundations in the well rounded characters and narrative. The world is well drawn and there is a strong sense of place in the writing."
Should I go on? Yes, I think I should!
"The narrative is well crafted making quite a complex, multi-character story feel fairly effortless, despite the sprawl of the story it remains quite focused and compelling."
Did I hear MORE???
"Todd is an engaging character, his flaws give him an authentic complexity and depth making his story particularly compelling. Nearly all the characters are well drawn, with plenty of depth and shading, the range of voices is impressive and gives the world and story real texture. The dialog is sharp and funny in places with an authentic ring to it."
So why did they pass?!?!?! It seems our story fits into a "crowded genre." Funny, I think there is not nearly enough dramedy on the air and a crowded genre would be yet another procedural. But, that's just my opinion, I guess. I'm not bitter - I'm just saying.
Thank you, BBC Writer's Room, for the feedback, consideration and well wishes!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wildcard
Wow - got some REALLY great feedback & constructive criticism from Wildcard Pictures today. They made a couple of suggestions for minor changes we could make before the script is "ready to be read out loud and brought to the next step."
They commented on how our family dynamics are believable, the characters "all have such distinct personalities", and that we don't give away too much right away. My very favorite comment is "Another great mystery you have created is why they are so upset about Sid returning to town. Is he the man who caused the terrible accident that killed their parents? Could be! We just don’t know – and it’s nice that you have left that out at this point."
Well, I am just tickled!
They commented on how our family dynamics are believable, the characters "all have such distinct personalities", and that we don't give away too much right away. My very favorite comment is "Another great mystery you have created is why they are so upset about Sid returning to town. Is he the man who caused the terrible accident that killed their parents? Could be! We just don’t know – and it’s nice that you have left that out at this point."
Well, I am just tickled!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Doctor, we have a heartbeat
Made an interesting connection last night. Don't want to jinx it by say too much too soon. However, I remain cautiously optimistic in light of this person's enthusiasm.
Stay tuned!
P.S. Scott, I will send you a private note with some details.
Stay tuned!
P.S. Scott, I will send you a private note with some details.
Friday, July 16, 2010
The Honeymoon Period
We were off & running. We were under an 18 month option with Front Row Media. There was very little Scott and I could do at this point... the waiting game had begun. So maybe not so much running as sitting. However... neither of us can sit still for very long, so we continued to write. Over the course of several months we completed 2 more full episodes, and outlined 3 more.
On two separate Saturday nights we met at Scott's office after hours. We set up our pads of paper, post-it notes, and dry erase markers on the big conference room table. We talked through back stories, we ironed out inconsistencies, and we did lots of math - I'm a stickler for characters being the right age and talking about events in their past with some sort of sensible chronologic integrity. That's just me.
We worked out story beats, we laughed a lot, we figured out how to be fresh & clever without being cliched and cloying. At least I hope we did that! We drew on our own past experiences (Scott always says, if we can't plunder our own lives for story ideas, what's the point?), we discussed shows we don't like and why - so we could avoid making those same mistakes.
We took short breaks to grab some take-out, and seven hours later we realized it was 2 in the morning, and maybe we should wrap it up. Both times, we were so energized and on such a high (maybe due to the dry erase?) that we vowed this would be our full time jobs - soon!
However... and there's often a "however" isn't there? 18 months past and our script did not get sold. Rights reverted back to us, and we maintain a friendly relationship with Doug and Mimi. Don't fell too bad for us, though. We haven't given up. Chapter 2 of Scott & Amy sell Crossing the Divide has only just begun! Meanwhile, Scott has been banging out novels like he has something important to say. I took a writing class and have been collaborating with my new partner on two separate feature length screenplays - in spite of the old adage that you should not work with the same person you're crazy enough to have a relationship with. Oh well.
This blog isn't about the other stuff we're doing, so back on track! Now that we're caught up, let's see where we can take it from here. The Honeymoon may be over, but the Marriage has only just begun!
On two separate Saturday nights we met at Scott's office after hours. We set up our pads of paper, post-it notes, and dry erase markers on the big conference room table. We talked through back stories, we ironed out inconsistencies, and we did lots of math - I'm a stickler for characters being the right age and talking about events in their past with some sort of sensible chronologic integrity. That's just me.
We worked out story beats, we laughed a lot, we figured out how to be fresh & clever without being cliched and cloying. At least I hope we did that! We drew on our own past experiences (Scott always says, if we can't plunder our own lives for story ideas, what's the point?), we discussed shows we don't like and why - so we could avoid making those same mistakes.
We took short breaks to grab some take-out, and seven hours later we realized it was 2 in the morning, and maybe we should wrap it up. Both times, we were so energized and on such a high (maybe due to the dry erase?) that we vowed this would be our full time jobs - soon!
However... and there's often a "however" isn't there? 18 months past and our script did not get sold. Rights reverted back to us, and we maintain a friendly relationship with Doug and Mimi. Don't fell too bad for us, though. We haven't given up. Chapter 2 of Scott & Amy sell Crossing the Divide has only just begun! Meanwhile, Scott has been banging out novels like he has something important to say. I took a writing class and have been collaborating with my new partner on two separate feature length screenplays - in spite of the old adage that you should not work with the same person you're crazy enough to have a relationship with. Oh well.
This blog isn't about the other stuff we're doing, so back on track! Now that we're caught up, let's see where we can take it from here. The Honeymoon may be over, but the Marriage has only just begun!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Oh, and here's some money for what you wrote...
So the big day arrived. Amy and I sat by the telephone, waiting for our conference call with Mimi and Doug at Front Row Media in Los Angeles. The phone rang... And we were off.
Just as we'd felt a connection with Mimi just in our e-mail exchanges, we quickly felt a similar comfortable sensibility while talking with them both on the phone. It was pretty clear that they "got" our script and appreciated its quirks.
We talked about our characters like they were real people. We talked about plots. We talked about possibilities.
What I remember most clearly was Doug saying, "Well, we take on only about five projects at a time. We had availability for one more, and there was a stack of about six scripts on Mimi's desk that we were considering. Tough luck for the other five--she read yours first, and said none of the others matched up in quality..."
The conversation lasted maybe thirty minutes. It concluded with the news that they'd be sending us a contract to sign, and once that happened, they'd begin taking our script around to meetings with producers, studios, networks, etc.
It was one of those scenarios where you understand all THE WORDS that somebody is saying, but you can't quite wrap your brain around the idea that these words relate to something that you have actually written. Surely, there must be a mistake. Surely these people aren't talking about taking OUR SCRIPT to meetings with network honchos and studio bigwigs..?
Even as that kind of "unreality" swirled around us, the contract pages arrived over the fax machine. Wow. It was true. We were about to sign a contract and receive a check from Front Row Media, granting them exclusive rights to market our script.
We were--and even now, I can't quite believe it--now professional screenwriters! Somebody had paid us for something we wrote!
NEXT: What do you do while you play the waiting game?
Just as we'd felt a connection with Mimi just in our e-mail exchanges, we quickly felt a similar comfortable sensibility while talking with them both on the phone. It was pretty clear that they "got" our script and appreciated its quirks.
We talked about our characters like they were real people. We talked about plots. We talked about possibilities.
What I remember most clearly was Doug saying, "Well, we take on only about five projects at a time. We had availability for one more, and there was a stack of about six scripts on Mimi's desk that we were considering. Tough luck for the other five--she read yours first, and said none of the others matched up in quality..."
The conversation lasted maybe thirty minutes. It concluded with the news that they'd be sending us a contract to sign, and once that happened, they'd begin taking our script around to meetings with producers, studios, networks, etc.
It was one of those scenarios where you understand all THE WORDS that somebody is saying, but you can't quite wrap your brain around the idea that these words relate to something that you have actually written. Surely, there must be a mistake. Surely these people aren't talking about taking OUR SCRIPT to meetings with network honchos and studio bigwigs..?
Even as that kind of "unreality" swirled around us, the contract pages arrived over the fax machine. Wow. It was true. We were about to sign a contract and receive a check from Front Row Media, granting them exclusive rights to market our script.
We were--and even now, I can't quite believe it--now professional screenwriters! Somebody had paid us for something we wrote!
NEXT: What do you do while you play the waiting game?
Monday, April 5, 2010
Los Angeles comes calling...
Shame on me for being away so long. It won't happen again! So, where we were?
Oh, yeah... "Interesting things" were starting to happen on the site where we'd posted a synopsis of our pilot script. People were looking at it. Some people were looking at it quite often.
Now, Amy can give you a better idea of how this whole displaying-our-script thing works. As far as the technical aspect of all this goes, I'm basically just along for the ride.
But our synopsis was getting quite a few "look-sees" and every time one of these occurred, we were notified. And in a lot of cases, we knew who was doing the looking. I don't mean to be coy, but I'm deliberately not naming names (some of which you would certainly recognize) because I'm not sure about the legalities of making this public information.
But as I said, people were looking, and a few people came back and looked again and again. That really got us curious...
A few people/companies contacted us about reading the entire script. One, a production company based out of Los Angeles, really "clicked" with us. One of the partners in the firm, a woman I'll call "Mimi" (mostly because that really is her name, and in case she's reading this, then, Hi, Mimi!!!) e-mailed Amy.
Amy forwarded the e-mail Mimi had sent to me, and we were both struck by how "sympatico" we felt with this woman, based entirely on the short message she sent. We could tell she shared the same humorous sensibilities as we do, and there was just something about the way she approached us that felt "right."
So we allowed her and her partner (who I'm going to call "Doug," because....well, yeah, you get the idea. And if you're reading this, also, Doug, then Hi to you, too!) access to our full script.
Then we did what we had gotten really good at doing... Sitting back and waiting. Trying to keep our hopes and our expectations realistic. Trying to convince ourselves that a rejection or another of those ever-popular "never hear back from them again" scenarios wouldn't crush our little hearts and break our little spirits.
We'd half-convinced ourselves that we'd be okay with rejection. We actually started to PLAN for it. Then Mimi had to go and upset the apple cart by getting back in touch and saying that, well, she kinda liked our script, and could we arrange a time to have a conference call with her office?
Just imagine how disappointed we were not to be disappointed this time.
NEXT TIME: We talk to Mimi and Doug on the telephone.
Oh, yeah... "Interesting things" were starting to happen on the site where we'd posted a synopsis of our pilot script. People were looking at it. Some people were looking at it quite often.
Now, Amy can give you a better idea of how this whole displaying-our-script thing works. As far as the technical aspect of all this goes, I'm basically just along for the ride.
But our synopsis was getting quite a few "look-sees" and every time one of these occurred, we were notified. And in a lot of cases, we knew who was doing the looking. I don't mean to be coy, but I'm deliberately not naming names (some of which you would certainly recognize) because I'm not sure about the legalities of making this public information.
But as I said, people were looking, and a few people came back and looked again and again. That really got us curious...
A few people/companies contacted us about reading the entire script. One, a production company based out of Los Angeles, really "clicked" with us. One of the partners in the firm, a woman I'll call "Mimi" (mostly because that really is her name, and in case she's reading this, then, Hi, Mimi!!!) e-mailed Amy.
Amy forwarded the e-mail Mimi had sent to me, and we were both struck by how "sympatico" we felt with this woman, based entirely on the short message she sent. We could tell she shared the same humorous sensibilities as we do, and there was just something about the way she approached us that felt "right."
So we allowed her and her partner (who I'm going to call "Doug," because....well, yeah, you get the idea. And if you're reading this, also, Doug, then Hi to you, too!) access to our full script.
Then we did what we had gotten really good at doing... Sitting back and waiting. Trying to keep our hopes and our expectations realistic. Trying to convince ourselves that a rejection or another of those ever-popular "never hear back from them again" scenarios wouldn't crush our little hearts and break our little spirits.
We'd half-convinced ourselves that we'd be okay with rejection. We actually started to PLAN for it. Then Mimi had to go and upset the apple cart by getting back in touch and saying that, well, she kinda liked our script, and could we arrange a time to have a conference call with her office?
Just imagine how disappointed we were not to be disappointed this time.
NEXT TIME: We talk to Mimi and Doug on the telephone.
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