We're Alike, You and I

We're all one, man. We writers. So what's everybody doing this Labor Day weekend? Must be the price of gas or the alignment of the stars but literally everybody I know is working this weekend, myself included. But that's cool - a couple of quiet days to really catch up is a good thing. Weekdays for me are overflowing with phone calls, lunches and emails and it's actually hard to find a couple of quiet hours to do what I primarily do - work with writers.

Today I am judging the semi-final round of the Silver Screenwriting Competition. This is really fun but so hard to choose - we got some GREAT scripts. Something was definitely in the water.

Here's a weird writerly question - recognizing that it's profoundly narcissistic, have you ever pictured your own funeral? Like what kind of food would be served? Who would be there? Have you got it all planned out? I wonder if funerals for people in our age bracket (shut up, you in the back) will consistently become celebrations rather than sad events, as in the past. Would you have an open casket? No FREAKING WAY for me. Then as a writer, you do weird things like have this conversation with yourself:

That's weird and narcissistic! Get help, man. How long since your last therapy appointment, for real?

But what if nobody knows what I want my funeral to be and I wind up with a boring one? It's important, man! I have to have it all planned!

Your funeral is not for you, ding dong, it's for the ones you left behind.

Nuh uh! It's about who I am!

Yeah okay good look getting the permits on this "funeral" you have in mind, and by the way you might want to focus on living for now.

I want a Viking funeral; put me on a boat, set it on fire and shove it off the shore and into the ocean. Permits aside, that's one cool funeral. And while I was floating out into the ocean, And She Was by the Talking Heads would be playing and the guests would have a clam bake on the beach and drink punchbowls of my famous Pineapple Rum Surprise. That's a party, man.

Who's in? And who's watching FITZCARRALDO this weekend, hm?

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Reading Correspondence Course

Have you ever thought of becoming a professional script reader? Or perhaps as an aspiring screenwriter, you’d like to have the inside track on just how scripts are analyzed in Hollywood. Either way, this self-paced Reader Correspondence course may be just the thing for you.

Week one:
Overview of the Job Description
Job Expectations
11 Things You Better Know Right Now
Understanding the Grid Categories
Off grid Categories
The Language and Tone of Coverage Reports

Includes: three sample coverages

Homework: watch 3:10 to YUMA, LEGALLY BLONDE and HOT FUZZ.

Write a logline for each.
Write a brief description of the theme of each, the character arc for the main character, who the antagonist is and what the first act break, second act break and midpoint were within the story.

Week two:
The Reader's Oath: No Harm, No Foul, No Lies
Tenets of Being a Good reader
Rating the Writer
Rating the Project
The Shape and Structure of a Coverage

Homework:
Read two scripts; provide recommendations for the project and the writer, one page of comments.

Week three:
Writing the Synopsis
Sample Synopses

Homework: provide loglines and synopses for two sample scripts.

Week four:
Writing the Full Coverage
Speed and Efficiency; Tricks of the Trade
Finding Reading Work; Accumulating Samples

Homework: Timed reading of two scripts.

FINAL EXAM

Provide full coverage for three scripts including a 2 page synopsis and 1 1⁄2 pages of comments. Rate the writer and the project.

Passing the final exam with flying colors will earn you a letter of recommendation from The Script Department as an entrée to potential reading jobs.

The cost of the class is $575 and includes feedback and notes on your progress throughout.

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Are You Ready for Success?

So many things have to be in alignment for a screenwriter to step into the ring with reputable rep and really get the work out there in a competitive way.

We've talked about the controversial and provocative subject of talent here on the Rouge Wave. And other elements that are important as well: networking, determination and perseverance, education, practice, timing... But something that is often overlooked is emotional readiness. Are you inviting success into your life as a writer, or are you unwittingly slamming the door?

How you feel about the process and where you are is a great indicator of your readiness to really be in this rarefied and sometimes very frustrating world. It is as common as the day is long for writers to wax and wane in terms of confidence. Some days you're up - other days you come crashing back down. It happens to most everybody - even established writers. I think it was one of the writers of WANTED who said recently that every working screenwriter secretly fears they are about six months away from teaching screenwriting at a community college somewhere. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But the wolves are always at the door - there are no guarantees in this business.

I think it a truism, however, in any walk of life, that when you feel a sense of desperation about whatever your goal is: getting the job, the guy, the loan, the approval of your boss, mom or whomever - the goal recedes from your grasp. If you want something and are coming from a place of a deep-seated, subconscious belief that you really can't get it, you doom the outcome. For some writers this desperation takes the form of victimhood or paranoia. For others, it's hubris and arrogance. But it's the same fear, basically - I can't make it. I deserve to make it but those bastards are against me. The system is set up to exclude me.

And so everything is seen through this filter. The reason I didn't place at X competition is that it wasn't FAIR. The reason I am not getting my calls returned is that those jerks in Hollywood are rude bastards! That consultant or script service ripped me off!

Not everybody who gets older gets wiser. But many do. I have been quite open about the dumb mistakes I have made - one of many examples: send a tv spec script straight to the show runner of that show simply because I could - my cousin by marriage was a powerful ex at Fox. Spec got shut down faster than a gin joint and I burned the connection. Plus it was quite awkward running into my cousin at family events. Dumb. Not the way those things are done.

But you do get wiser, eventually. And you learn. And over time, a sense of peacefulness descends upon you. Nobody is out to get you in Hollywood. Or demean and rob you of your ideas and happiness. If another writer has a success, that does not mean that he/she is a fabulously lucky jerk who doesn't deserve it.

I had lunch the other day with Marc Zicree, a fabulous, genteel, gracious and optimistic man who has made a living in Hollywood for decades now. Marc is one of those people around whom you suddenly feel a great sense of peace. He's been at it for many years, he has reinvented himself, he has continued to do what he loves. He is the ideal of success, in my view. We talked about the predominant belief that Hollywood is a bad, mean, cheating, awful place and how holding a different view of that is controversial. I have actually received, over time, several what I would categorize as "hate" emails whenever I talk about holding a different view of Hollywood. I have never said it is something out of a Barney episode. It's not. It's show BUSINESS. But not everybody is literally out to get you.

No, not everybody is nice in Hollywood. But that is true in every walk of life. But where do you choose to put your focus? On the positive or the negative? And,it doesn't have to be binary; you can recognize that not everything is sunshine and roses while not choosing to dwell on that.

I find that negative attitudes and beliefs usually accompany writers who just aren't ready to be here. If bad notes or an unreturned phone call inflame you and feel terrible, something is out of whack for you. You will always get bad reviews. There are always people who will not act in the way you would prefer. If anything you do in life embitters you - something is wrong. Your emotions are like a GPS system - a warning light is flashing if you feel cheated, unappreciated, shunned, scared or angry.

So are you really ready to be the success you would like to be? Do you have the grace, wisdom and peacefulness necessary to not take things personally? Do you know that subjectivity is nothing more than that? If you choose to instead continue to pursue your cabinetry business, does that feel like a great choice and not a failure?

Check in with yourself, Wavers. Is writing providing you with joy? Do you take your Hollywood interactions and rejections in stride? Are you happy for others when they find success? Do you know, for sure, that choosing a different path is perfection itself and not a failure?

As the great Joseph Campbell said - follow your bliss. That is the only true indicator you have. Positive thinking isn't something cute your mom or 3rd grade teacher encouraged you to do. It is much more powerful than that. Life is all about letting go and letting life take you where it will. You have to let go of the "how" and the "what" and only follow how you feel. Maybe you do have a bright future as a paid entertainment writer. Maybe you really should be a carpenter or IT specialist. There are no guarantees. But if you feel primarily misunderstood, cheated, shunned or overlooked when it comes to your writing - something is out of alignment.

A delightful and brilliant movie, if you haven't seen it, is Ratatouille. The movie is loaded with "follow your bliss", positive thinking:

"In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere."

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The Assistant Files

And continuing Good In the Room Week here at the Assistant Files…

Truth be told, I guess I forget how daunting it must be to writers -- especially new, trying-to-break-in writers -- to walk into a strange room and try to prove unequivocally to people you've never met that you are a genius and they should give you large sums of money.

At least, that's probably what it feels like on your end. "Look at me! Watch me dance! Faster? I can go faster! Watch these tricks!"

But you know, from the point of view of the exec or producer, he's really just hoping that you won't be boring, and might even be someone that'll make him look good, what with your killer project and your undeniable awesomeness which everyone else in town will soon be clamoring to get a piece of.

A while ago I stumbled on this video of Michael Wiese teaching some folks how to act in a meeting. It's short, and it makes some good points, so you should watch it.

Here's what I think you can take from this video:

1) Listen to what he says about assistants. That Michael Wiese is a wise, wise man.

2) I've said it before and I'll say it again: be confident. No, not a cocky know-it-all. But do show the folks you're meeting with that they are in capable hands and that you are confident in the material. Outward calm and confidence makes them think you know what you're doing, even if inwardly you know you're just fumbling around in the dark. Again, confident and calm, not needy and desperate.

3) Know your audience. What is it that they're looking for? What brought you into the room to begin with? There must be something that they liked about your idea if they agreed to meet with you; try to highlight that. If you know your audience, you can show them how you're really on the same team. That's the whole point, right? Not so much to sell them something, but to get in business together. You each have something to offer the other. If you look at it that way, you're really on equal footing. Just two people in a room, working together toward a common goal.

Everyone likes a winner, and Basking In Reflected Glory is an important and valuable skill set in Hollywood. Everyone wants to be associated with a hit property, however tenuously, because hustling for that next gig isn't an activity exclusive to writers. Being associated with a winner adds to their worth, helps them get the next meeting, the next project, or maybe just the next M/A/W to come talk to them instead of the guy over there who worked on MEET DAVE.

So be the winner that they want to know. Be the likable hero of your own real-life adventure.

Does that help? I hope so, because I really do want you to succeed. That way when I'm making the rounds, trying to get my next gig, people will be really impressed when I drop your name.

xo,
Andy Sachs

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The Winner!

Would Meg, writer of the Money Side Up premise line please contact the front desk to collect your prize? Congratulations!

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Should You Write a Short Script?

So yesterday, The Wave-inatrix got together with my friend T, a DGA program graduate, gifted short film maker and soon-to-be CSI AD (assistant director). I'm leaving his name confidential so as not to jinx anything. Not that I believe in jinxing - how juvenile! - but still. Anyway, so T, as we already know here on the Rouge Wave, is in search of his next short film to direct. His last short film starred Sandra Oh of SIDEWAYS and Grey's Anatomy, just by way of wow, that's impressive.

T and I talked about Billy Friedkin and Werner Hertzog (VERNER for you non-teutonic types), then ordered mint lemonade and went over the scripts I had obtained for T through clients and a few submissions here on the Rouge Wave. I know, you're wondering why the pic of the fancy wine, above. It's coming. Read on.

Now I do want to note that yours truly has stupidly never bothered to write a short script. Why, I thought, would I do that when I should write a feature script - that's where the money and the careers are, right? Ah. But through this experience I have learned that in actuality, a well written short script is not only a trillion times more likely to get made, it can open doors FOR your feature script. I admit, I have secretly thought that short scripts were hobbyistic ways for nascent writers to spend time rather than facing the REAL work - a feature. Sure, I've seen plenty of short films and gone to short film festivals - wow, you barely have to feed the meter! But this experience with T has really been eye-opening for me. Had I bothered, in the past, to write some short scripts, my work would have been the first thing I would have given to T, and due to our friendship, my experience and sunny personality, I would probably be the one getting my short script produced. But no. I have never bothered. In fact, I pitched T a short story I had written awhile back. He LOVED it. Was it in short script form? Had I adapted it? Because he'd make it baby! Ahhhhh guess what the lame answer was? No. Hadn't bothered. I missed the boat. That crazy Willie Wonka boat. You know the one. Through the tunnel?

So - exactly what is a short script? How short is short? Well, there doesn't seem to be an exact measure. A short script can be anywhere from 10 to 30 pages long. Most often, short films submitted to festivals, etc., run about 10 to 12 minutes. So that's approximately a 10 to 14 page script. Price Waterhouse fired me for trying to use my abacus at work, just FYI. But you get the drift.

So there we were, T and I, drinking our mint lemonades and going over what DIDN'T appeal to T about the short scripts I'd given him, as he worked up to the one that did appeal to him very much. What, I asked T, is the short list, in your view, of qualities you look for in a short script?

And this is what he said:

Voice.
Absolute and irreversible change.
Emotional payoff.
Gettable locations.

We've talked so much here on the Rouge Wave about sequencing, structure and character arc over some 100+ pages of script. How on earth do you squeeze that all down to say 12 pages? It's like trying to shove a camel through the eye of a needle, right?

As T and I reviewed the short scripts that did not work for him, two qualities came up over and over again: 1) Very expensive shoot; too many cars, extras and locations. 2) What was the point of the story and he could see the end coming a mile away.

Many of the short scripts that were submitted to me after I made the request here on the Rouge Wave fell into the "what was the point" category. They were clever and ironic but sort of ended with a thud. Wow - so the good guy was the bad guy. As if that revelation and irony was super powerful. But it isn't. Not really. Many of the submissions were dramatic dead-ends. Well written, from page to page but ultimately, what I saw again and again was the writer getting through nine pages and then essentially saying - PSYCH! Wait - did I spell that right? You know what I mean, like what your brother did to you all growing up until it left a painful scar. Here's money - PSYCH! You can borrow my car - PSYCH! My best friend has a crush on you - PSYCH! Ha ha ha ha. Ha. Yeah it's pretty funny now, dude. Who's pushing fifty? I'm just saying.

Many of us are familiar with the famed American short story writer, O. Henry. Famous because he wrote extraordinarily clever short stories that almost always had a major twist. Most famously, The Gift of the Magi. Ambrose Bierce, of course wrote the amazing An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

Those two writers - and I'm only stating the obvious and of course leaving off many, many modern writers who were inspired by them - knew how to tell an extraordinarily emotionally complex story in a simple way in a short space of time. Simple plot, complex characters. We've all heard that before, right? If that formula is true of a feature script, it is a thousand times as true for a short script. Because you do not have 90 minutes to tell your story. You have ten minutes. So writing a short script is not a free pass in which a writer doesn't need to bother with complexity and payoff. A short script doesn't ask less of you as a writer - it asks quite a lot more.

A short script has to be extraordinarily powerful because of the delivery system - 10 pages. It's not good enough that everything we just saw didn't happen or was ironic or awful or cute. Ten pages about two sisters who find a kitty and save their parent's marriage simply isn't compelling enough to warrant a short film. A short film really has to cover significant emotional terrain. As T put it, "absolute and irreversible change".

T said, on the one hand, he hates writers to censor themselves by worrying about expense and "gettable locations" but at the same time, the reality is - could this scene in the car be shot in a car that is moving or parked? Because the moving car is way more expensive and difficult. Can the scene set in a crowded bar be set on the sidewalk OUTSIDE the crowded bar? Because if we show the crowded bar interior, the film maker just got himself dealing with hiring dozens of actors to play extras. See what I'm getting at?

If a feature script is a field of grapes harvested and turned into a barrel of wine, a short script is that barrel of wine turned into one jeweled glass of exotic, apricot-scented dessert wine.

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Quotable

Will the Rouge Waver who submitted a short script entitled QUOTABLE please contact the front office immediately? I know we emailed and I asked you to marry me because I loved the script so much, but, and this is a lesson for all Wavers - please always include a title page with your name and contact information, for their are leagues of people just like The Wave-inatrix, with a tenuous hold on short and medium-term memory. My friend, the director looking for short scripts loved QUOTABLE and would like to talk to you.

End transmission.

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Rabbit Hole or Brain Candy?

All right, Wavers, I plead guilty to leading several of you straight down the rabbit hole by introducing you to the crack that is Arts & Letters Daily. I think by now you all know how I feel about feeding your mind no matter what walk of life you are in but especially if you are a writer. Expand your mind and the rest will follow, right?!

Here's a few more sites that I trust you are trolling each day for nuggets:

Narrative
Because this literary site features an impressive array of writers and thinkers and fiction is good for the soul.

The Utne Reader
Because you may not agree with everything you read there but being in touch with other points of view in this compendium of the best of the alternative press is illuminating and provocative.

Salon
Because this is one of the smartest newsy/literary websites ever.

Slate
Because as print news publications like the New York Times, the LA Times and others struggle to be relevant, Slate is ascendant.

The Onion
Because it's the perfect antidote to the seriousness of it all.

Scriptalicious
Because the only German I know is what I learned in high school but this is funny: Gesehen: The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger spielt auf eine Weise, dass man sich fürchtet. Und zwar wirklich fürchtet. Und Christian Bale ist sexy. Yes, I would agree with the observation about Bale. The other stuff - uh, yes?

...and there are so many other great sites as well. Feed your mind, read lots of points of view, read fiction, fatten your brain up some. Just be disciplined; your writing time should be quiet, uninterrupted time - set a timer if you have to. But don't feel guilty about reading great stuff online - you need to be doing it. It's part of not only being an informed, entertained citizen, it's where you may stumble upon ideas, inspiration and motivation.

No need for guilt if you set aside the time daily and return to your writing when your web surfing time is up. While The Rouge Wave is not in the same league, by far, with any of the sites above, I hope that it is one such brain candy site for writers. I do strive to entertain. Bread and circus and all that.

Now get back to work everybody!

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The Assistant Files

When writers come in to pitch my boss, he usually closes the door. I bring them Diet Cokes and room-temperature waters, ask if they need anything else, and go back to my desk.

Where I then eavesdrop on their conversation.

(The entire point of being an assistant, after all, is that you get to learn by example. You stay on your boss' calls, you have access to his emails, you listen to him in meetings. It's not much, but it's basically the entire perks package on offer, so you gotta take advantage of it when you can.)

It's interesting how easy it is to tell if a writer is good in a room. Even with the door closed. Even if I can only hear the rise and fall of their conversation over the hum of the A/C.

Good in the room: the writer talks for a while. My boss starts to interject questions. His questions and comments come faster and faster. There are bursts of laughter or exclamations of surprise and approval. The meeting runs long, and I have to bump the next thing on his calendar.

Bad in the room: the writer won't let him get a word in edgewise, because he has a memorized pitch he's rattling off. There are long, confused pauses. My boss opens the door again after twenty minutes. "Thanks for coming in," my boss says to the writer. "Great on paper," my boss might say, after the writer leaves. "But did you see how sweaty he was? Poor guy."

You need to be both a good writer and good in a room to have a career here, which probably seems awfully unfair to a lot of writers: not only do you have to be a great writer, you have to shave and put on pants and go be charming to some studio guy!

Hollywood as an industry likes to think of itself as "Cool". You can still work if you're writer-quirky (and in fact it might do you some good) but if you have a hard time making eye contact, screenwriting as a career is going to be tough. You spend a LOT of time in meetings, especially as a new writer whose spec just went out. Welcome to the meeting machine. Can we get you a beverage?

From where I'm sitting, "good in a room" has a lot to do with confidence. A writer who's calm and happy to talk about his story because he knows it and knows that it's good is pleasant to listen to. A writer who's tense and sweaty and thinks his story might be pretty bad, not so much. Which is not to say that his story actually IS bad, just that the executive listening to his fumbling pitch has probably already stopped listening and is thinking about Pinkberry.

People who are decent at pitching usually do it a lot. This is how the progression seems to go:

First, you have to get over the embarrassment that you're even talking about your idea.

Second, you have to stop apologizing for it. If you're going to write it, it must be pretty good, right? Nobody likes a braggart, but everybody likes calm and confident.

Third, you need to just tell the story. It's amazing how bad people are at this. I have a lot of sympathy, because it's hard to boil down 120 pages of your blood and sweat to a quick chat. But think of how you describe a spec you just read and loved, and then try to do that for your own work. Nix your insistence on talking about themes and subplots and character arcs. Tell us what the story is, and what's so great about it.

Fourth, you pitch so often that you get comfortable doing it. It makes you tense to listen to a pitch by someone who's nervous. It's very relaxing to listen to one by someone who knows his stuff and is calm.

Fifth, I eavesdrop on your conversation with my boss. Later, my boss comes out and says "That guy was awesome. Call his agent and set something up for next week. Let's get this going."

Congratulations, you're officially good in a room.

xxo,
Andy Sachs

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Down the Rabbit Hole

I have friends who often tell me that they can just start clicking around online and get absolutely lost, following one story and then another. That never happens to me. I'm too busy and guilt-ridden or something. But there is ONE website that I have to avoid because I will get really immersed in it. A website that has been listed here on the Rouge Wave under "things I love" for sometime. A website at which I often print out article after article to read later. So if you're looking for a new addiction that is not necessarily entertainment, gossip or fashion related, if you're tired of reading message boards with rants posted by dullards and fiends, check out Arts & Letters Daily, an aggregate or compendium, if you will, of newsworthy articles gathered from some of the most prestigious news and opinion outlets internationally.

I apologize in advance for the fact that you are about to get sucked down the rabbit hole for many hours. Tell your boss that I'm really sorry. But just think - next time you go to a party, you're gonna knock 'em dead with your fascinating repertoire of conversational topics. Guys - chicks love a smart guy. Just FYI.

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Ripped From the Headlines Competition

All right, Wavers, so here we go. This was a slightly confusing competition since it was a new exercise for everyone. My original intent had been that writers would in some way combine elements from all three news stories into one premise line. Many, many Wavers did not quite grasp that but I don't think I was perfectly clear. However, in addition, I found that while there are tons of enthusiastic Wavers who send in one-page scenes in our other, more traditional competitions here on the Rouge Wave, many of you need a major brush up on how to write a compelling, pithy, clever premise line. For now, let's just vote on the finalists but expect some premise line lessons here on the Rouge Wave in the near future.

Next R from the H premise line competition will be much more clearly explained, preceded by some brush-up talk and much more strictly judged. Given the wobbly nature of this very first Ripped From the Headlines premise line contest, I went with what I wanted to go with. Because I'm the boss, applesauce.

Here are three loglines that most intrigued or cracked me up:

Money Side Up
by Meg Pezzella

Gina must choose between Nick, her new boyfriend/co-owner of her cutting-edge L.A. breakfast eatery, and her brother Scott, owner of a celebrity boutique hospital accused of negligent homicide. Gina jeopardizes her business when she discovers Scott trains his mentally ill patients to steal for him, using the money to fund his hospital and her restaurant. What price breakfast?

Wave-inatrix: I chose this premise line because the title was clever, Meg used all three news stories in her premise line, she kept it short and her last sentence is funny and clever.

Sunnyside Down
by Jason Hennessy

After 7 robberies in a fiscal year, a breakfast restauranteur gets fed up and decides to egg on justice himself when he discovers his most regular patrons are the ones that keep taking home his bacon.

Wave-inatrix: I chose this premise line because the title made me laugh aloud, the premise line is nice and short and while Jason did not include the mental hospital story, his premise is clever as heck (newsflash: I prize cleverness highly) and his playful use of breakfast words was - clever.

FEED THE ANIMALS (with apologies to Girl Talk)
by Seth Fortin

Scott Benedict's strange, succulent breakfasts, served only to LA's most exclusive elite, promote youth and vitality -- better than botox and surgery put together! If his customers knew that he had to murder mental patients to harvest his, um, "ingredients".... well, they probably wouldn't care. But when a paranoid Scott kills the Venice Beach witch doctor who knows about the necronomicookbook he's using to whip up canapes of eternal youth, it's bad for business: ghastly figures begin harassing, intimidating, and robbing Scott's employees and customers outside his Melrose bistro. When the last of his staff quits on the night of the full moon, Scott rushes to complete preparations for the Dr. Drew Pinsky celebrity fundraiser breakfast alone, but it looks like he's got some guests who don't have reservations -- and they're not here for the wild-mushroom coquette....

Wave-inatrix: While Seth's premise line is too long, I chose this premise line because Seth used all three news stories, he has a little DEATH BECOMES HER thing going on and he wrote the premise line in a playful and compelling way.

Voting Guidelines:
Vote for the premise line and title that most entertained you and vote like an executive - which writer would you hire to polish up the premise line, develop it some and make it into a short film of the film festival kind? No ballot stuffing please.

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Movie of the Week Club

Over lo the past 100 years or so, the production of moving pictures has gone from a trickle to an avalanche. A quick visit to any video store will reveal miles of shelves of movies. More movies than a normal person would ever want or need to see. But writers, especially screenwriters aren't normal people.

For those of us lucky enough to take film classes, many great and obscure movies were mandatory viewing and thank god. I really can't see myself having voluntarily moseyed out to see Jules et Jim at age 18 one Thursday night. Until I saw it and a world was opened up to me. The Battleship Potemkin! Metropolis! Fanny & Alexander! Breathless! The Seven Samurai! There were movies out there that were different than THE CANNONBALL RUN and FLUBBER. It was revelatory.

Academic studies, cultural access or parental influence nonwithstanding, even today as we get older, the world spins faster, there's so much going on in our lives - we barely have time to go out to the theater to watch current releases. When we go to the video store, we often pass right over anything not on the "new release" wall. Who has time? Well, I'm here to say we must make time because there are movies down there on the lower left of a bottom shelf that are absolute jewels. No self-respecting screenwriter should be guilty of not perusing the shelves for those jewels we may have missed or long forgotten.

Let's try something interesting. If enough Wavers participate, we could have what amounts to a book club for movies. Here's the idea - we'll have a movie of the week that participating Wavers will watch and then when the week is up, we'll have some feedback and discussion from all you movie-nuts and screenwriters. You know, comparing, contrasting, weeping, arguing, laughing, admiring, complimenting and wondering about what we just saw.

So The Wave-inatrix actually has two movies for the movie club this week:

Fitzcarraldo and Burden of Dreams - the documentary about the making of Fitzcarraldo.

Here's why I have chosen these two movies:

Because Werner Herzog is a fascinating director. Because he is as driven as his main character, Fitzcarraldo. Because this is a famed movie with a famously troubled shoot. Because the steamboat going up the Amazon is an iconic moment and you just can't beat the tension. Because Klaus Kinski is an actor you should be familiar with, god rest his crazy soul. Because if you love movies, you really should have seen this movie by now.

If you have a Movie of the Week Club to suggest, email me HERE and I'll compile a list. If we get a lot of suggestions, we can vote on what comes up next. Please provide a few bullet points about why you nominate your suggestion and think it worthy of viewing and discussion.

For now: Fitzcarraldo and Burden of Dreams. Discussion on Tuesday, September 2nd right here on the Rouge Wave.

One - two....

flex those Netflix fingers....

THREE

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Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

I love the Mini-W. Such a smart kid. She's put me through horror film boot camp this summer, making me watch all her faves with her. And she said she'd seen this odd little film that she received on her NetFlix: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Uh, okay, weird title but I'm open. I'm cool, man.

One word, Wavers: Wow. What an odd, funny, fascinating, brilliant little film. It's a virtual slasher film primer. Don't worry - it's not graphic except for one boob-n-nipple shot. It's not a mockumentary but a mockumentary/reality/slasher hybrid, if I had to define it and I feel compelled to try.

I was absolutely riveted by Behind the Mask and if you are writing horror, slasher, thrillers or just interested in taking an enjoyable dvd film class - I encourage you to check this movie out. I am so enamored that I'm in the process of contacting the writer and director, Scott Glosserman. I'm hoping he's a cool dude and that he might be open to an interview for the Rouge Wave. We'll see where some good old fashioned adulation gets me. Co-written by David Stieve, Behind the Mask is a tongue-in-cheek look at a serial killer who takes his business quite seriously, preparing with cardio workouts, meticulous planning and jovial dinners with a serial killer mentor as they compare notes and stories.

This is a MUST see dvd.

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Silver Screenwriting Quarterfinalists

Well Wavers, this is the list of quarterfinalists in the Silver Screenwriting Competition. I know that more than a few Rouge Wavers are on this list but I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to everyone alike. Cupcakes for all of these fine writers! And just think, someone on this list is going to be the Grand Prize winner - it's very exciting!

For your Wavertainment, please notice the interesting titles on this list. Notice the way that one interesting title piques your interest moreso than another. If you had to choose a script out of this list to read, which would it be if all you knew about it was the title? Fun stuff, no?

But again, the main thing is - CONGRATULATIONS to those who made it to the quarterfinals, good luck on advancing to the next couple of rounds!

A Soldier's Honor, Mike Scherer
All The King's Horses, Richard Huber
Another Time, Another Place, Skip Berry
Apricot Harmony, John Killeen
Aurelious Rising, Paul Cooper
AWAY GAMES, Michael Cheung
Bad Rap, Mark Grisar
Bananafish Sandwich, Kevin O'Malley
Battle Mountain, Kristine Hurst
Blood Money, Michael Eging
Blood Snow, Adam Hong
Blowback, Jeff Travers
Body Work, Haik Hakobian
Bridie Molloy, Daniel Donnelly
Bull's Eye, Tamara Farsadi
Business or Pleasure, Sara Zofko
Chapman, Justin Owensby
Christmas 1914, Robert Milius
CROSS MY HEART... Rich Sheehy
Cul-De-Sac, Galen Young
Devil Of Sorrow, Robert Lewis
Devil's Due, Neil Cumbria
FAMILY FIRST, Patrick Barb
Feed the Monster, Rob Rex
Felix the Flyer, Christopher Canole
FORT MISERABLES, Leonard Lawson
FREE SKATE, Caitlin McCarthy
Garbo's Last Stand, Jonathan Miller
Ghoul, Kelly Parks
HANGING ON, Matthew Kaplan
Hate Day, David Kempski
Head Games, Scott Marengo
Hunger, Michael Hogan
In God's Name, John Killeen
In Trust, Justin Owensby
Influence, Dov Engelberg
Jam the Flow, Galen Young
Lights on the Lake, Jason Tucker
Loss of Innocence, Eric Gaunaurd
Marry Me, Daniel Korb
Mr. Unlucky , Tony Nichols
PHANTOM NOISE, Yvette Bou
POWDER BROWN, Philip Dorr
Qumran, Mike Scherer
Red Car, P Montgomery
Relative Terms, Deborah Stenard
Revived, Jennie Von Eggers
RUNNING GUN, Mike Bencivenga
Salt and Light, Natalie Zimmerman
Scavengers, Diana Kemp-Jones
Scent of Jasmine, Israela Margalit
Scents of Justice, James Albert
Searching for Ernie, Ron Vigil
She's Got A Way, Elise Stempky
Shooting Bambi, William Goins
Sisters in Arms, Barry Leach
Sleeping With the Lutefisk, Wenonah Wilms
SLIDING INTO HOME, Rich Sheehy
SNILDERHOLDEN'S JUNGLE, Jennifer Thomas
Something For Me, Juan Sebastian Jacome
Sonny Takes to Peru, Mark Hammer
Soulmating, Christopher Bosley
Stakeholder, Stephanie Branco
Stolen Sky, Dan Fabrizio
Stuck on Love , R.J. Berens
Stupid Love, Steven Zelman
Swing, Christie Havey-Smith
The 6, Brandon Vega
The ABCs of Mr.D, Alex Darrow
The Adventures of Zara Zancan in Cactus Canyon, Amy Quick Parrish
The Bermuda Prawn, Patricia Semler
The Bottomless Puzzle, Patrick Daly
THE DE-HAUNTERS, Bryan Bagby
The Devil in Saint Nick, Christopher Burns
The Doll, Rich Figel
The Fire Store, Allen Colombo
The Friendliest Evil Clown Around, Michael Pauly
The Goddess, Rafael De Leon Jr.
The Hinge, Vining Wolff
THE KNUCKLEBALLER, Michael Murphy
The LAM of GOD, Drew Langer
The Magic of Merin: Inside the Lamp, David Kiez
The Nazi Method, Matthew Grant
The Nutcracker, Connie Tonsgard
The Orchard, Diane Stredicke
The Placeholder, Amy Neswald
THE PRICE OF VENGEANCE, Patrick Hoeft
The Prisonaires, Mike Freeman
THE SAXON, Nigel Grant
The Spinning Wheel, Natashia Saunders
The Terminals, Matt Umbarger
The Tooth Fairy, Michael Hogan
Through The Grapevine, Shequeta Smith
Through the Night, Edward Martin III
TO THE SEA, Elizabeth Robinson
TOOL, G.T. Field
Tooth Lake, Richard Topping
Truthies, Carlo DeCarlo
Turnabout, Mike Scherer
Turning Annie, Bruce Stirling
Twilight, Sebastian Moretto
Unity, Eugene Langlais
Unsigned: The Feature, Christopher Wasmer
UTOPIA, Kevin Norman
Wait For Me, Brantley Black
white niggers in the woodpile, paul van zyl
World Wide Web, Jason Arnopp
Wrocklage, Stephen Daniels
Yard Sale, Irin Evers

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The "T" Word

Recently, as all good Wavers know, The Wave-inatrix started an interesting conversation about talent. Or - it - as it is sometimes colloquially referred to in the biz. The post sparked a healthy debate and dialogue. Is talent necessary to succeed? Who decides if you have "it"? Can talent be cultivated, taught or habituated? Most importantly, is talent some kind of mysterious word bandied about to keep the competition out? Don't bother - you don't have "it". Talent is a mysteriously arrived at, exclusive quality that only writers of the highest caste have.

My opinion - and it is only an opinion - is that yes, having that mysterious facility with words and story herein referred to as "talent" is crucial to having a paid writing career. And I define paid writing career to encompass novels, short fiction, essays, journalism, screenwriting and no doubt a couple of other mediums that are at the moment escaping me. Writers who lack talent are not, in general, published for public consumption. Because editors, agents and managers of all stripes receive too much for the slush pile to pay someone who ain't got that thang.

Does determination and perseverance matter - oh god yes. But if you don't have talent, perseverance is meaningless. If you got it, you got it and you always had it. If you don't, you don't.

I think that thought is absolutely terrifying to aspiring writers.

And it is complicated by the fact that while I do believe talent is inborn from day one, it does need to be identified and groomed. If Michael Phelps had grown up in a Bedouin family with no access to a swimmable body of water, perhaps his talent would never have blossomed into more than a great eye for a distant oasis. Or perhaps like a character in a sweeping novel, he would have traveled great distances seeking open bodies of water, mysteriously drawn ever forward by a desire and dream he couldn't articulate only to later write a clumsy novel about the experience that is picked up by a publisher with an eye toward a clearly unique story, who then hires a ghost-writer to tell the Wandering Erstwhile Swimming Bedouin memoir in an entertaining way. And that, Wavers, was what they call in school a run-on sentence. But I digress.

Here's the reality - everybody has talent. For something. Music, cooking, teaching, ping pong, diplomacy, animal husbandry, organizing, motivating, salesmanship, growing stuff, making stuff, swimming - something. Everybody has a talent. But not everybody has writing talent.

And it is a matter of great curiosity for me and some indignation, that consistently, the general public seems to feel that writing is somehow easy. Maybe it's because of the way we look, or the way we often work at home in our socks, or maybe we're just so cool we make it look easy. But the perception that what we do is somehow easy and can be learned by purchasing a few books on the topic is maddening and when I'm in a bad mood - demeaning. So many writers were outsiders growing up; the freaks, the geeks, the homebodies and we were misunderstood and abused for it. And now we're cool? And now our talents are instantly accessible by dilettantes and pretenders?? That the occasional indignation that arises like hot lava. And dilettante, by the way is the word we writers use when it's gettin' ugly and we're pissed. Oh yeah, we fight with words. Gol darn it.

The thing with talent that makes it a fun and provocative topic is that it is as elusive as hell and almost impossible to define. Which is why, ironically enough, "it" is a fairly accurate word for talent. Although of course, "it" is generally used when referring to actors and entertainers meaning they have a certain indefinable charisma and magnetism.

Do you have writing talent? Maybe. Maybe you do but you don't know it because you never tried. There are plenty of stories of successful writers who started writing much later in life. The fact is that there is just no end-all, be-all definition of writing talent, who has it, where you get it and whether it can be cultivated, taught or picked up at Walgreens on sale.

Well - Walgreens is always selling out. Try Target.

Do you have talent? Yes of course you do. At something. It might be writing. It might be wood carving. You can't really find out until you try. The only thing I can note, from my experience, is that writers who claim to have it boldly and flatly and with pride, consistently give me scripts that don't reflect that. The hallmark of a talented writer seems to be - again, from my experience - a great neurotic fear that they do not have talent at all. I cannot explain why this happens. Do I have talent? I think so. But I also think writing talent - like all talent - is on a spectrum. In the blogging world, Nikki Finke is quite talented, in my opinion. There are a lot of bloggers who just blow my mind. I love this new, Wild West of blogging, a path that was laid long ago by great journalists, critics, essayists and thinkers like Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, Kenneth Turan and more recently, Christopher Hitchens, James Wolcott and Anthony Lane. To leave out about a thousand others that are eluding me at the moment.

The thing with blogging is that while it is an exciting Wild West, with saloon doors flung wide open by the notable absence (in many cases) of the gatekeepers - editors - the doors flung wide open thing is a double-edged sword. Resulting in numerous belly-button gazing blogs with little literary, entertainment or educational value. Anyone can blog. Writing has become a populist notion now more than ever before. No longer is it the exclusive purview of tweed-clad, pipe-smoking editors and writers imbibing at the Algonquin Round Table.

Movies are by definition populist entertainment and it is the proliferation of movies as popular entertainment which has, in my opinion, created a sense that anyone can write one and that it's fun and easy - liking taking up golf or knitting. Is Tiger Woods talented? Incredibly. But that doesn't mean that you can't go enjoy a game of golf for the sake of the game. It just means that you probably won't receive the accolades and earn the accomplishments that Woods has. If that's okay with you - go play golf. Maybe - just maybe - you are that Wandering Erstwhile Swimming Bedouin who just hasn't had a chance to try writing but in fact, that talent was nascent within you all the time. You can't know until you try. And if you want to try - then you should.

Here is my short list, in no order, of the necessary supplies to have in your travel bag if you want to be a successful (read, paid, produced, appreciated) writer:

Determination
Perseverance
Talent
Social Skills on a spectrum from charismatic to an ability to speak to people at all
Intelligence
Curiosity
Heart
Individualism aka "voice"
Luck

It is a provocative subject, this talent thing. I have no doubt that everyone possesses it. In one form or another. Anyone - and I include myself in this - can be taught to do math. But not everyone can be a super string theorist or Albert Einstein. Anyone can be taught to swim, but not everyone can be Michael Phelps. God I'm tired of the Phelps-worship running rampant right now but he is a great example. I'm a swimmer. I love to swim. I more than love to swim, I lurve to swim. (Woody Allen reference, people, keep up with me!) but I will never, ever be an Olympian swimmer. I don't care because for me, it's just the love of the water itself. If you love to write - you should WRITE. And write and write and write. Of course there are examples of successful screenwriters who are less talented than other successful screenwriters who got lucky, who knew the right people, who were in the right place at the right time. But they have talent. Every single one of them. This I believe to be true.

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UCLA Writer's Faire - September 7th

Wavers, if you live in the LA area - this is a really, really fun event. I go every year and I just LOVE it. I am so in love with the UCLA Extension Writer's Program that I am thinking of asking it to marry me.

11 am-3 pm
UCLA Campus: Young Hall Courtyard
Admission is free. Parking on campus in Lot 2 is $9.

Be our guest at the ninth annual Writers Faire featuring 24 free mini-panels and lectures in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, writing for the youth market, playwriting, publishing, feature film writing, and television writing. Writers of all levels are welcome!

There’s so much to do at the Writers Faire:

* Listen to 70 instructors/writers as they participate in lively discussions about the art, craft, business, and life of writing.

* Enroll in most fall courses at a ten percent discount (advanced courses not included).

* Get one-on-one advisement on courses and certificate programs.

* Learn more about Los Angeles-area MFA programs and speak to representatives from five top schools.

* Become familiar with Blackboard, the platform used in all Writers’ Program online courses.

* Watch Final Draft representatives demonstrate their software (discounts are available).

* Visit with more than a dozen professional and community organizations and writing-allied businesses, all of whom share a common goal of promoting writing in Los Angeles.

“For me, the highlight of the Writers Faire was listening to the instructors discuss issues of craft. The advice they gave was drawn from experience, delivered with humor, applicable, and free.” – Andrea Kremer, Creative Writing student

Click HERE to access a PDF of the 2008 Writers Faire schedule and videos of panels from last year’s Writers Faire. Or contact the Writers' Program office at (310) 825-9415 or email HERE for more information.

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The Assistant Files

Hi Wavers, I'm back again to impart a little bit of Assistant Wisdom.

You've heard of the concept Six Degrees of Separation, right? Obviously you have; you're with-it screenwriter types. Well, forget Six Degrees; in Hollywood, it's more like two. The entertainment industry is basically high school. Maybe college, if the one you went to was relatively small and privately funded, with a conspicuously lax moral code.

But seriously, it's small. Just how small? Let me tell you a little story…

One night I ended up at a bar in my neighborhood with several assistants from a management company. The bar was about two blocks from the townhouse I lived in with a couple other girls. I had been living in this townhouse with one of the girls for several months, the third roommate had just moved in, someone I didn't know much about other than she was an aspiring costume designer and she looked for apartments on Craigslist. Maybe that situation sounds strange; it would to me too, before I moved to L.A.. But here it's not uncommon to end up living with people you don't really know. A product of lots of expensive housing plus lots of underpaid young people, I guess.

Anyway, I had gone with my management-assistant friends to their company holiday party, and this was our impromptu after-party, a.k.a. the after-we-ditch-our-bosses-party. We were loud, we were rowdy, we were squeezed in and around a booth too small for our group. The two guys in the booth next to ours seemed to be enjoying a quiet evening before we arrived, so I felt compelled to apologize to them. We got to talking, as people in bars are wont to do. One of the guys mentioned he was just visiting, I asked what brought him to town. Turned out he was a screenwriter. Turned out he was THE SCREENWRITER OF ONE OF OUR PROJECTS.

Wait, what? Are you kidding me? I happen to be in a bar and RANDOMLY start talking to a guy who is the writer of a script on our development slate? Bizarre coincidence, right? What a small world, right? But wait, there's more.

"Holy cow!" I said. "What a coincidence! Of all the bars in all of Los Angeles, HOW WEIRD that you would happen to be here, at my neighborhood watering hole!"

"Oh you live around here?" He said. "My sister lives a couple blocks away."

You already know where this is going, Wavers, don't you? After comparing notes further we discovered that his sister was MY NEW ROOMMATE.

Now THAT is a small world.

My point here is that everyone knows everyone else -- this random stranger in a bar happened to have connections to me both personally AND professionally. You never know when you meet someone what connection they have to your life, or what effect they might potentially have on your career.
If you take anything away from my experience, take this: 1) always talk to strangers in bars, and 2) don't get drunk and make a fool of yourself. Hey, I'm not judging. Just, you know, maybe stop before you throw up on some barfly's shoes. Who knows, he could be your future agent.

******
The Wave-inatrix here:

What Andy says is so true - I have a next door neighbor with windows flung open about 8 feet from where I am sitting right now. It's summer in LA; a REAR WINDOW thing happens in my neighborhood. So this neighbor, he enjoys his (very good and eclectic) music (loved the Bowie yesterday) and I can hear wisps of laughter, dishes clattering and even loud sneezes. He can probably hear pretty much dead silence; I only turn on the music when I'm cleaning or doing my capoeira practice. Anyway, so we finally met, this new neighbor and I, outside on our tree-lined street one evening earlier this week. Turns out this is Steve Faber. Co-writer of WEDDING CRASHERS. He didn't point it out, but when it came up organically Steve blushed some and shuffled his feet. I don't think it would have come up. I tried to keep my cool, Wavers, I really did. But moments later I found myself compulsively pointing out what I thought were the funniest parts of the movie. Among them - Isla Fisher's line of dialogue delivered in a sing-song: I would find you!

I told Steve about The Rouge Wave and hopefully one day, Wavers, Steve might make a guest appearance in the form of an interview. We'll see if I can talk him into it. I'm feeling a lot of blueberry pie deliveries to his doorstep and the mysterious muzzling of a certain yapping chihuahua who lives upstairs.

Steve, if you're reading this, that is totally not MY yapping dog, that is the chihuahua upstairs, really excited about his movie debut - another staggering six degree coincidence - no, I'm lying about that one. But it's not my yapping dog! I have a shih-tzu who might bark once a week or so, questioningly, toward the door when take-out arrives. Then she looks at me and goes back to sleep. So - I have quite the guard dog situation going on. Don't EVEN mess with my house, criminals. That twelve-pound ball of fur will take you down. After she opens one eye and notices you with the TV in your arms.

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Ripped From the Headlines Competition

Okay Wavers, let's try something new and different. I have pulled three local stories from the LA Times and here's what you're gonna do. Using the three stories as a jumping off point, write a compelling premise line for a feature script.

Here are the three stories:

Restaurant breakfasts make come back in LA

Deaths at Pasadena hospital scrutinized

Melrose residents on guard after 7 armed robberies

And here is what I suggest:

Restaurant breakfasts: Your character might be a patron or a restaurant owner or a chef. This might be a new restaurant or an old one trying to reinvent itself. The recipes and food noted in the actual article are unimportant unless you can find a way to make that compelling and necessary to your story. The restaurant could be a halfway house employment hub, it could be minority or celebrity owned - the sky is the limit. That's the point of this exercise.

Pasadena hospital: You might focus on the a particular (fictional) patient, the celebrity doctor, the location, medication, etc. Ditto sky's the limit.

Melrose crime wave: Point of view of the robber - a victim - both. Violet crime. Funny crime. Crime wave. Crime syndicate. Sky. Limit.

Remember, this is all as a jumping off point. Is this a comedy about a restaurant owner who can't keep up with the new trend of breakfast dining who then robs people on Melrose and is hospitalized only to become the hospital's new cafeteria pancake whiz - UNTIL one of his robbery victims checks in to the hospital for revenge?

Guidelines:
Premise line must be no more than four sentences (we're cutting a lot of leeway for this one). Genre does not matter. Premise line must be accompanied by a great title. Make sure your premise line includes a set up, a complication and a cliff hanger. Make sure the genre is crystal clear (the title will help with that as well). Make us get excited about reading this non-existent script. Can you find a hook somewhere in these headlines?

Deadline:
Monday, August 25th, 12 midnight, Pacific Daylight Time.

Prizes:
The usual - a $25 gift certificate to Amazon, Starbucks, AMC Theaters - a business you enjoy patronizing but not in a mean way, close to where you live or online.

Submission and Fees:
Free as the day you were born. Submit HERE.

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From the Mailbag

Dear Mistress of Coolness -

- Okay you guys were never going to buy that, were you? Fine.-

Dear Wave-inatrix:

I just started reading your web site a few weeks ago and really appreciate it. I'm still working through the coolestfilmsites. I really enjoyed your essay on rhythm (Music in Writing) with your example from David Mamet. While you are on this topic, I'm wondering about the difference between dialogue on the page versus actually being spoken. When I read what I've written, it always sounds great in my head, and also when I read it aloud, but I have a feeling that's like having your mother tell you how talented you are. I'm hoping you can write a few words on this topic. Thanks for your great web site.
-Wondering in Williamsburg

Dear Wondering -

You need a table read, my friend! If you don't have access to my free SAG all volunteer table read, do this - get some of your friends together and have an impromptu table read to see how your dialogue sounds. Choose a pivotal scene and give your friends the upshot of the scene and the script itself. Give each person a quick bio of the character he or she will be reading. Young, old, bitter, excited, upset - whatever. One person needs to be the narrator (the one reading the action lines). That can be you but it might be harder to focus on hearing the how the dialogue sounds and also, hearing how the action lines sound can be illuminating too.

Make sure the friends you ask are hep cats - hep to movies and screenwriting - somewhat. Sometimes even well meaning friends can sound pretty wooden because they are self-conscious. You don't want that. You want people to take it seriously and to go for it. Don't feel bad if your dialogue is not the greatest right now - good dialogue takes time to get a feel for. Bribe some good friends with beer and hotwings and host yourself a table read party. It does wonders.

Oh and thank you for the compliment on the Rouge Wave. The Wave-inatrix, she tries real darn hard to make it a fun place to be. Rock on, Wondering!

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Slow, Slow, Quick Quick Slow: Music in Writing

Today I met a favorite client of mine (hi Mike!) who just so happens to a funny and very gifted writer. As we went over his script pages we discovered that in a few set pieces, his rhythm was off. Just, you know, the scenes weren't working. Too little information was happening at too slow a pace. So we worked on the rhythm of his opening pages and the rhythm of subsequent set pieces and talked about rhythm in writing overall.

Firstly, rhythm is a word I always stumble on when I write it - what word has two h's!? I vote for: rithum. I wonder if in the year 2050 all words will be spelled in the shorthand of text messages. That would be super annoying. I also stumble over "dialogue" because according to my computer, that is a spelling error. Some people spell it simply "dialog". That looks both way wrong and way right to me. Must research.

Again with the digressage.

Just about everything in life has a rhythm or a pattern. The seasons, the day, your life. And so does writing. First act, second act, third act. Set up, complication, resolution. Feel, do, complicate, resolve. And all of this while other stuff is going on like walking, eating and picking up the phone. Your scenes should have an almost balletic feeling to them.

As every comedian knows - ya gots to land the joke. And in this case, ya gots to land the scene. Keep things moving - whether that means physically or the dialogue, or as is often the case, both. Look at the HOW on your page. Yes, you've got the beat, yes your character work is good, but does the scene flow? Imagine that you are a camera; how does this scene look when you watch it? Is the dialogue flowing back and forth between your characters fluidly? What is happening in the background? Is a waitress efficiently balancing an order in her arms? Is the front door opening and closing - what is the choreographed scene happening here and how are your main characters part of it?

In real life, a phone ringing can interrupt a conversation. In reel life it can too - but you made it happen just when it did for dramatic or comedic effect. Feel the rhythm on your page. Is it there or is it stepping on some toes at this point? That's okay if it's a little clumsy right now, but eventually you want to choreograph your scenes in such a way that the scene has a genre-appropriate flow to it. Do you need long pauses? How about short bursts of dialogue and action? Is your romantic comedy couple doing the mental tango while they eat dinner? Is your script a fox trot, a quick-step or a dramatic paso doble? If you were to set your script to music, what would the music be?

This scene from David Mamet's STATE AND MAIN could be set to music. Check it out:

ANGLE interior Walt's office.

WALT
I have to tell you, I can not express
to you how happy...

MAYOR
And we're glad to have you here...

WALT
My golly, you know? All my life I grew up in the city, but every
summer...would you like a cigar?

MAYOR
(of cigars)
Aren't these illegal?

WALT
Why would they be illegal?

BILL
...there's a trade embargo against Cuba.

Pause.

MAYOR
Well, you know, Walt, I just wanted to say that anything I could do...

WALT
That's very kind of...as a matter-of fact, one I hate to bother you with...

MAYOR
...not at all...

WALT
...we need the shooting permit for Main Street...

MAYOR
Whatever you need. The City Council, of course, has to pass on your...

WALT
...the city council...

MAYOR
On your "permit," but that is less than a formality.

WALT
...it is?

MAYOR
I am the City Council. We meet Friday, and I...

WALT
George, that is so kind of you.

MAYOR
And, my wife wanted to, wanted me to ask you, we'd like to welcome you,
we'd, she'd like to have you to dinner at our house.
(beat) I don't mean to be...

He hands an invitation to Walt.

WALT
Are you kidding me? We would be
de...

Phone rings.

Walt motions to an aide, who writes in green on a production board...Tuesday 12th, dinner, Mayor.

MAYOR
Well, I won't take more of your time...

BILL
Walt, it's Marty on the Coast...

MAYOR
We'll see you Tuesday, then...

Walt starts for the phone.

WALT
It's one of the great, great pleasures meeting you...

Mayor leaves the office.

BILL
It's Marty on the Coast -

WALT
On the coast? Of course he's on the coast, where's he gonna be, the
Hague...

Walt goes to the phone.

WALT
(into phone)
What? Marty! Hi. We're...
(pause)
The new town is cheaper than the other town. We're going to save a...for...because..because we don't have to rebuild the Old Mill, they've got
an Old Mill...they've got a firehouse...they...

A production assistant comes in, installing a piece of equipment. She brushes past the drywipe board, where we see she wipes out "Dinner with the Mayor."

WALT
Baby, baby, I want to save the money just as much as you do..no, no it's not coming out of my pocket, it's going into my pock...my...my and your pock...yeah? Okay. A product placement - tell me ab...he's going through a tunnel. (to Production Assistant) Whoa, whoa, whoa...you wiped out the board. DINNER WITH THE MAYOR, TUESDAY NIGHT, write it in red. That's all we need, to miss Dinner with...

First A.D. sticks his head into the room.

FIRST A.D.
We can't shoot in the Old Mill.

WALT
(to phone)
Wait a sec, Marty.

Mamet uses ellipses to create breathing room around his dialogue. It makes it feel as if it overlaps more. Overlapping, slightly stilted dialogue is his trademark. It creates a rhythm in the scene.

And here's a scenelet from a comedy I wrote a million years ago. Quick primer: A newly empowered Ella spirits her Granny away, leaving Lena, the bad-gal-extraordinaire pinned to a tree.

Confused, Lena stares after Granny.

LENA
Hey! What about me?

Suddenly - THWANG!

- An arrow slices through Lena’s coat at her shoulder millimeters from her flesh. And pins her to the tree.

Lena looks at the pinned arm incredulously when -

THWOCK

- Another arrow pins her other arm.

Ella lowers the bow calmly.

ELLA
Get in the car, Granny.

LENA (o.s.)
Hey!

Lena struggles in vain.

LENA
You can’t just leave me here!

WHACK! A pine cone hits Lena’s head. She stares after Ella and Granny miserably.

A moment in a scene of mine has no business being next to a great Mamet scene - but my point is this. Do you see how, in that scenelet of mine, the movement is almost storyboarded? I draw attention to certain parts of the moment purely by where and how I used the words. Notice the creative choice I made:

- An arrow slices through Lena’s coat at her shoulder millimeters from her flesh. And pins her to the tree.

I didn't write:

- An arrow slices through Lena’s coat at her shoulder millimeters from her flesh and pins her to the tree.

I chopped the sentence up because it "lands" better. It's a little funnier to note that the arrow pins Lena to the tree after the brief pause that the punctuation mark created.

Does your scene have a rhythm? Or is it clumsy? Is it as pithy as possible? If you took away the dialogue could you still understand what was going on based on body language, etc.?

Well, as Gene Kelly sang in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS - I got rhythm. I got music. I got my gal, who could ask for anything more? Who could ask for anything more?

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Instant Mood Medication

Put away your anti-depressants today, Wavers, I have the perfect medicine for you.
You can't watch it without grinning.

Laughing Baby Video

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The Doctor is IN:

Dear Doctor Jeff:

I am writing a script about grief – a mother lost her daughter in a car crash. I have read a lot of scripts by aspiring writers like me and whenever I see grief depicted, people show the grief-stricken one staring out windows a lot or going to the dead person’s room and looking at their stuff. But that seems so boring. I know there are several stages of grief that people go through, but without being able to show every stage, do you have any pointers on some of the different ways people handle grief, especially a mother?
-Wondering in Wisconsin

Dear Wondering,
The initial stance in the face of grief and loss is often a self-protective, ‘shut down’ as a way to keep unwanted feelings at bay. We may say things like, “They’ll pull through, they always do” or, “Oh, it was expected. I’m fine.” Recently, a dear friend whose husband died (after a devastating battle with alcohol and painkillers) was chased for two weeks by a series of recurring nightmares after his death.

In the nightmares, she and her husband were at home, completely disconnected from one another; either in separate parts of the house or unable to communicate. My friend would wake up so sad, so bleak and depressed… hating her nightmares.

We explored the possibility that the nightmares were, in fact, friends and teachers. When her husband was alive, she had to emotionally armor herself each time she walked in the home having no idea if he’d be passed out on the floor, called the police again because of people climbing around on the second story roof, or driving drunk. These nightmares were metaphors of their complete disconnect to one another. In separate parts of the house, unable to communicate. These visceral, cellular nightmarish truths needed to be felt, to be allowed. The nightmares served as release valves for the psyche.

Last part of your question, you might consider having someone deal with death or loss in two contrasting ways or worlds; 1) By day, where she speaks one truth. The “Oh, I’m okay. We all go through it.”. And 2) the one experienced through symbols in dreams or chased in nightmares.

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What's the Deal With Movie Trailers?

When I met with our fair Wave-inatrix a few weeks ago, she asked about my day job.

I told her that I worked at a theatrical marketing company, i.e., a trailer house. I was a little shocked but definitely excited when she asked me to write this little blurb for the blog.

First, the name: why “trailer” if they come BEFORE the movie? Well, in the early days of film’s misspent youth, they did come after the feature film. The problem was, the audience usually had things to do. Y’know, like churn butter or get to their 18-hour shift in the factory. They couldn’t hang around.

Once the big money people realized there was bigger money in whetting people’s appetites for upcoming films, they started showing the previews at the start of the feature and the “trailer” business was born.

Today, when a studio is ready to start their campaign for a film, they send us the daily film footage or a roughly edited version of the whole film. Our producers will grab the editor that works best with that genre, and the work begins. Sound familiar? Yep, that genre thing is all over the place in this industry.

Since the average trailer shown before the feature is about 1 and ½ to 2 minutes long, the producers have to get down to the most basic elements of the film. Are there some moments that make you jump from the horror flick? Is there a great kiss scene in the romantic comedy? Are there great dialogue lines? Is there a hot star or director attached to this movie?

At this point, the editor creates or “cuts” a series of possible trailers. Now, copywriters, enter stage left. These are the writers whose sole job is to create the word-sketch of the project. The producer wants their take on the project with lines for the narrator and dialog/shots from the film. Talk about boot camp for log lines! The writer that gets in, gets out and gets the message across…you guessed it….gets the gig.

Once the studio executives, the producer, and the editor pick the copywriter’s scripts, they complete the campaign. Thus begins the approval process with the studio. Once the campaign makes everyone involved happy, it goes to finish. That means that music; narration, graphics and dialog are all put together. Now, the trailers are fresh from the oven and ready to separate us from our hard-earned cash.

Now, you’re thinking, “Nice article. What’s it got to do with me?” Let me quote the immortal Inigo Montoya from “The Princess Bride:”

“Let me explain. NO! There is too much. Let me sum up.”

If you could make a trailer of your movie now, what scenes would it use? What lines of dialogue serve as your film’s amuse bouche, giving audiences just enough of a taste to want the whole thing? What genre conventions have you used? Can those be turned on their heads to really grab an audience? Maybe a look at your script from a marketing producer’s point of view can help you. I know it’s helped me.

That brings me to some of the questions I usually get from people about my day job. Julie, like many, wanted to know why the trailers are sometimes so much better than the movie?

Well, it’s because the film didn’t give our people much with which to work. Our job is to get butts in seats for our clients. We’re going to put all the best stuff in the trailers. Maybe the script didn’t really give us anything to chew on. It could also be a great script but the film derails in the production process. I’ve seen both.

And yes, that guy from those insurance company commercials is one of the main voice-over artists for film. I’ll save you the midnight-memory jog---his name is Don LaFontaine. He’s one of only a handful of men that voice feature trailers and television ads or “spots.” You read correctly, it’s just men at the moment. However, there are some awesome ladies poised to change that. So, aspiring female and male V-O artists, keep it up!!!

On that note, I’ll return you to your regularly scheduled Wave-inatrix. Thanks, Julie! Oh, by the way, I’d now like to put in my request for a cupcake. Red velvet, if you please.

Breck Murray aka The Wave-inatrix's favorite Writing Buddy

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The Assistant Files

Assistants are obsessed with lists. We spend at least 40% of our working day
talking to each other about them.*

"Does anyone have a list of mid-range sushi restaurants in Chicago? My boss
is going on set next week. Thanks."

"I'm looking for a list of French novels that were adapted in the 70s."

"Looking for a list of 29-year-old mixed-race lepers for upcoming feature. Musical theater experience preferred. Will compile. Thx."

One of the most popular categories is lists of writers in a particular genre.

How this works is, your boss has a project she's looking to develop, and it's based on an obscure graphic novel about Jesuits with magical powers who can transform themselves (but only into a flock of killer turkeys). So she tells you to find you a list of people she might want to check out.

You are then supposed to magically conjure up a list of one or two dozen writers in this genre. You do this by asking your assistant pals if anyone has a list of sci-fi/action/comics writers. Sometimes they do, sometimes you're forced to collect names and make the list yourself.

The list usually looks something like this:**

NAME(S): Joe Genrewriter

AGENCY: CAA (Antonio Borracho Cohen)

NOTES: THE LAST TURKEY AIRBENDER, JESUIT NINJAS II

Then you give the list to your boss, and you start collecting writing samples, setting meetings with likely writers, etc.

Why is this important to you, the aspiring screenwriter?

Because you need to decide which list you want to be on***. Are you going to be on the ROMANTIC DRAMA list? The ACTION ADVENTURE list? The FAMILY COMEDY list? The LOW-BUDGET HORROR list? The ROMCOM list, the R-RATED COMEDY list,the SCI-FI list?

There's some overlap. People who are on the ACTION list might also show up on the SCI-FI list. People who are on a ROMCOM list might be on a RAUNCHY COMEDY list, too. But if you have many different interests as a writer, give some thought to which list you want to be on before you start to market yourself. Because if you have three samples, a romcom, a horror, and a sci-fi epic, people are not going to be impressed by your range. People are going to be confused. People will not know how to sell you, how to pigeonhole you, which list to put you on.

(I know, you're convinced that you're the exception.)

The thing is, when your agent calls around about how great your spec is and how my boss should meet with you about any open assignments she has, he needs to be able to pinpoint what kind of stuff you write. Which list you're on. You know how it's confusing and slightly weird when Adam Sandler does serious dramatic roles? It's exactly like that. People want to know before you walk in for your meeting that you're the go-to guy or gal for historical epics. They are, after all, willing to pay you quite a bit of money for your skills, and they want to be sure that they're dealing with an expert, not a generalist dilettante.

*Figure possibly made up.

**Pretend this is in Excel or a table in Word.

***Once in a while people will ask for something really specific, like lists of writers from New Orleans, or people who used to be Navy SEALs or something like that. But you can't really do much about that unless you have a time machine.

****
The Assistant Files are contributed by one of three anonymous studio assistants. They may or may not answer your comments; they're really busy. But you can try.

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Network, Studio, Production Company - oh my!

Today I discovered a really great new blog - The LA Grind - and here (re)present a post from about a week ago that I found quite informational. I mean, at first you read it and you think SUPER DUH but then you realize - or, okay, I realized, that my grasp of exactly who does what was not as strong as I thought it was. Thank you, Russell - cupcake for you!

*****

I was at a seminar last night for tv writers and a question was introduced which made me realize many people don't understand the difference between a Network, Studio, and Production Company. So,

Network: A network distributes programming. They are the STATION that puts a show on the air, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, USA, TNT, ESPN, etc. there are six major companies that own networks for SCRIPTED TELEVISION: FoxCORPS, CBSCORP, GE, Time Warner, Disney, Viacom, Sony.

FOX-Owned by FoxCorps
CBS-Owned by CBSCorps
NBC-Owned by GE
CW-Co-owned by CBS and Time-Warner
ABC-Owned by Disney

These channels DO NOT produce programs. They BUY programs and sell ad space to recoup their cost. You may ask, but Russell, I who produces these shows, I thought... Well they are produced by...

Studios: Each show is produced by a STUDIO. Studios are designed to FINANCE and PRODUCE television. These studios DO NOT distribute television, the finance shows and SELL THEM TO NETWORKS. If you are asking HOW Fox doesn't have a studio, the simple answer is THEY DO. Each network ALSO has a STUDIO that produces shows that air on their network.

FOX- 20th Century Fox
CBS-CBS Paramount
NBC-Universal Media Studios
CW-Warner Brothers
ABC-Disney Studios

So, you're pretty confident now, that whatever is on FOX is produced by 20th Century, CBS Paramount is producing everything on CBS, etc etc. Right? WRONG. While 20th Century does produce many fox shows, like 24, they also sell shows to other networks. My favorite current example is SCRUBS. Scrubs is produced by DISNEY, but was DISTRIBUTED by NBC. However, when NBC cancelled Scrubs, it was PICKED-UP by ABC for another season.

Why does this happen? A bevy of reasons; A show a studio is developing doesn't fit on the network they are producing for, a network thought they would like a show but then decided after seeing it they aren't wild about it, the studio specifically produces a show for another network, etc. etc.

When I lived in DC, I met a guy who worked at History Channel's studio, just like the model I've been talking about, but smaller. He explained their system like this. History Channel is only obligated to buy X amount of the content they produce. If history channel passes on a show, they are free to shop that show to other networks.

The point is, it's reciprocal. Sometimes the studio produces the show for another network, sometimes the network doesn't want the show. However, this shows why you'll be watching a show on CBS, and see a 20th Century Fox logo. Or when you're driving past the Warner lot and see banners from other network's shows.

Production Company: Most people think a production company is the company that actually PRODUCES the show. However, this is a misnomer. In actuality, a production company has EXACTLY the same role as a studio, but they are not owned by a network. Most production companies that work with television are successful producers, showrunners, directors, etc. That have OVERALL DEALS with a studio because of their success.

An OVERALL DEAL means this...A Studio will pay a production company X dollars, and in return they will own EVERYTHING the production company produces, whether it's ideas, scripts, etc, for the length of the deal. People like David E. Kelley, Joss Wheadon, J. J. Abrams have overall deals with studios.

So, there is a general overview of WHAT each type of entity does. Next time you're watching a show and you see a production company, a studio, and a network, you'll understand why it is the way it is.

Next time...I'll try to explain what syndication is...maybe...unless I forget.

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