Are You a "Creative?"

Today I am proud to announce what I hope will be a regular column here on The Rouge Wave. (You guys know the blog is shortly to be moved and renamed, right? Don't freak out; there will be breadcrumbs. I drink your milkshake!) But before I introduce Libby Barnes, life coach to those who work in the entertainment industry - or aspire to - I must remind you all that you are weird. Well - so am I.

"Creatives," as those poor souls like us are known, who write, act, direct, sculpt, photograph and otherwise sing a song back to life, are gifted with abilities that the masses could only dream of having. But with those creative gifts comes a lot of doubt and yes, I'll say it - neuroses. I try to address that here on The Rouge Wave but I am not a qualified professional. I just get it because I am you. When I heard about Libby Barnes, who does life coaching and workshops specifically for creatives, I thought wow! I must get her to write for The Rouge Wave! And she was kind enough to do so.

In addition, Libby will be on an upcoming teleclass (details TBA) taking your questions about the peaks, valleys and swollen rivers you encounter as you carry the gift and the burden of dreams of being "a creative" like some crazy scene from FITZCARRALDO. Without further ramblings, here is Libby's inaugural post:

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As a life and career coach for the entertainment industry, I often work with writers on ways to increase their self motivation and productivity. For many of them, there are no 9 a.m. meetings, no bosses to please and no deadlines to meet. Bottom line: There’s no structure. And most writers thrive on structure, so they have to create it themselves. One of the most effective strategies I like to suggest is what John F. Kennedy once referred to as “throwing your hat over the fence.” If you throw your hat over the fence, you will HAVE to climb over the fence to get it. You’re committed. To metaphorically “throw your hat” means you announce what you’re going to do and when you’re going to do it, preferably to people who matter to your career. This, in turn, propels you into action because there’s no going back and you don’t want to fail in front of them.

As a writer myself, I’m always looking for ways to create that accountability and commitment. Recently, I was working on the fourth draft of a screenplay that I felt had great marketability. But I kept putting it down and losing motivation. So, I decided to set a date to do a staged reading of it. I booked the theater, made the announcement and prayed that my creative juices would flow. And they did. Knowing that my work – good or bad – was going to be read out loud to an audience was productive pressure at its best. I completed the final draft and had a fantastic reading that opened a lot of doors for me.

How can you throw the proverbial hat? It may be as simple as signing up for a class or joining a writers' group where you have to share your pages. Better yet, start a group yourself. Being a leader and needing to set an example for others will inspire you to rise to the occasion. Or you could schedule a table reading in your home, book a meeting with your agent or tell an industry contact the date you’ll be sending him your script. The possibilities are endless.

Whatever you choose to do, you want it to be realistic so that you’re setting yourself up for success, but also challenging, so you’re compelled to get to work. And it can’t be easy to take back, like promising your mom you’ll finish your first draft by next month when you know that, even if you don’t, she’ll love you anyway. You want to announce your intentions to people who may NOT love you anyway if you don’t get it done. By making this commitment before your work is ready (and especially because your work isn’t ready), you’ll be creating that structure and accountability that can often be the key to a writer’s success.

One great outcome from my staged reading was that a producer liked my comedic style and wanted to collaborate on my next project. I emailed him a couple days ago asking if he’d like to meet on Thursday to go over the completed outline of my new script. Guess what? Right now, I don’t have a completed outline of my new script, but I can promise you that by Thursday I will. I have thrown my hat and now I must follow.

Libby Barnes is originally from Virginia, where she received a Master's degree in Counseling. She moved to L.A. in 1998 to pursue acting and writing. She is now a life and career coach for the entertainment industry and is working on her fourth script. To schedule a complimentary life coaching session with her or to find out about the next Passion Into Action workshop, visit her website or call 310-721-7028.

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Movies that Move You

So the other day I drove past the Hollywood Universalist Church on Franklin Blvd. in Hollywood and saw a sign describing upcoming sermons based on movies. I wish I could have slowed down to write down all the titles but we like me alive and with all limbs, right? The only one I remember is THE VISITOR. What a wonderful, appropriate idea.

I have read before that there are some therapists who use films as a form of therapy - an add-on if you will. A way for viewers/patients to connect with their deepest feelings through the emotionally and sensually immersive, transformative medium of film.

Recently, I (re)watched NORMA RAE and sure enough found myself reveling in the feeling that I was watching something important, something substantial, something that made me feel like a better person for having experienced it. I wanted to retroactively thank the DP, the writers and the director (Martin Ritt, who directed another favorite film of mine, THE FRONT, about the blacklist).

And Sally Field. I like her, I really like her. Jokes aside. It's a great performance. When the petite spitfire wrenches herself from the grasp of her burly escorts marching her out of the textile factory and instead climbs up on a machine and holds up the famous UNION sign, eyes round with determination, fear and an elegant sort of hopeful defeat...well...that's a movie moment you want to see, Wavers. It's transformative and beautiful and wrenching and glorious. And it makes you wish you had that much courage. And it reminds you that you do.

Not all movies hit that deep vein of emotion and catharsis for us and thank god, right? That would be a bit exhausting. Recently, I watched CLOVERFIELD and was thoroughly entertained (engrossed, really) and then promptly forgot about it until someone told me about the mysterious splash in the end. Movies are populist entertainment and the impact of film on a viewer can be anything from enormously cathartic to simple, gut-busting entertainment. But once in awhile, you see a movie that taps into that part of yourself that forgets anybody else is in the theater. Movies in which the main character is the person you wish you could be or someone you once were. Movies that tighten our throats with joy and appreciation and impact.

So I'm curious - what movies have you seen, Wavers, which left you flat on the seat, a puddle of cinemagasm and filmic adoration, wanting to write fan letters to every single name that flies by in the credits? What movie do you wish you had written that gave an audience member that same feeling?

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Dialing for Dollars

Hello, Wavers! You've by now noticed I've been posting less Wavy goodness lately. Mama has been very busy. Administrating and judging the Silver Screenwriting Competition, running The Script Department, working on my own writing and producing plans and projects, preparing for my class at the Great American Pitch Fest on June 13th and the panel I will be on at the Broad Comedy Film Festival in Venice the following day and (deep breath) writing a book based on The Rouge Wave and (deep breath) finding time to exercise, get enough sleep and eat well. Foof. It's a lot.

In addition, I feel as if I've said about everything I have to say on the topic of screenwriting here on The Rouge Wave so I'm posting less often and only when I really have something to say or a question to answer, rather than just warming over old topics just for the sake of posting. Hope that's okay with all of you wonderful, loyal Wavers. I love love love a good question or comment - that way I know I'm posting something that you wanted the answer to, not just postulating cutely on organic dialogue again.

Today I had to call 40 - 40 - agents, managers and production companies on behalf of a client with a script that I am in love with. Once in a blue moon, a script bubbles up to the surface that I just have to throw myself behind. And when I am a fan of a script, look out. My phone is smoking right now.

You know why calling a lot of people, some of which you know, some of which you don't is anxiety-inducing? Because some people are so short and rude on the phone. As I say, 40 calls, right? Of those 40, I would say I know or am acquainted with about 20 of those people. And those people are friendly. Hey Julie! Sure, what's the logline? Sure, send the script. Yay. Feels good. I know if the writer called on his own behalf, he'd be shut down just by dint of the We-Don't-Know-You Filter. So it's great to see those pay-it-forward/networking efforts cash out in getting reads when I want them.

Some of the companies I called - wow, dude. Take a coffee break. Breathe it out. Be nice. I can imagine being on the receiving end of query-type phone calls every single day must get really old and that the second you answer the phone, you're on defense but geezo, we're not curing cancer here, we're just talking about whether you'll read a story. Chillax.

Got some really, really interesting skinny from my old employer, Walden Media, about what's on the slate upcoming and what the new mandate is all about. Very different mandate, I'm surprised - moving closer to the Bristol Bay mandate of old. (Walden and Bristol are both owned by Anschutz. Well, they were. Til Bristol was shuttered a few years back). Cary Granat has formed his own prodco, continuing his interesting odyssey from Dimension to Walden to what amounts to Walden-II-Minus-Anschutz unless Anschutz is funding Granat which I seriously doubt. Phillip Anschutz is the man who signs the checks at Walden, incidentally, being the conservative Colorado billionaire who owns Narnia-land. I used to LOVE reading for Walden Media, let me tell you. That was a great gig. It's nice to continue to be in touch with creative executives there. Another reminder, Wavers - yesterday's assistant you were polite to is today's exec who gives you all the skinny.

It's very fun being just down the hall from Heroes and Villains; I just walked on down there all casual like with my coffee and leaned on the door frame and was all like, dudes, I have a rockin script that you need to read. Script in reading pile. YES.

All righty Wavers, more later, I will not abandon you, I'll just be posting a bit less and please, if you have suggestions or questions - send them my way and I'll be happy to answer them.

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This I Believe

So I was listening to NPR the other day, as I am wont to do, and I heard the very last installment of their This I Believe series. It was Muhammad Ali talking about what he believes about life. It was fascinating. And I thought - how interesting, making a statement about what you believe is like writing a mission statement, isn't it? And a mission statement is a bit like a great logline isn't it? It's a very core, fundamental statement about your script.

Long time Wavers know I tend to harp on the fact that screenwriting is only one kind of writing and that you should develop the muscles and the skills to write for other mediums. Short fiction, poetry, non-fiction, first person essays - well, how about we get a two-fer today?

How about Wavers write a 100-word This I Believe Statement and submit it to the comments section here? It's a way to think about and focus on your core values and beliefs but with a strict word limit. The word limit - just like in writing a great logline - forces you to distill your thoughts into the most powerful expression possible. And here's the two-fer part - as you do this, you'll revisit and reinforce what your core values and beliefs are. In a busy, busy world we don't check in with ourselves often enough and ground ourselves in what we really believe to be true of ourselves and this life. There's just so much noise and distraction. But if we don't check in with why we're here on this planet, then we're chucking the guidebook out the window.

Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ, but as a metaphor, it celebrates the possibilities of rebirth and new paradigms. Passover celebrates freedom from adversity and new beginnings. So it seems appropriate on this Easter and Passover holiday to take a moment to do an uplifting writing exercise that reinforces who we really are and what we hold dear.

So here's my This I Believe:

I believe that happiness is not about stuff or achievements, but a feeling of well-being. I believe that knowing the universe is fundamentally good is the only thing you need to know for sure. I believe there are no mistakes, accidents or wrongs that won’t unfold into grace down the road. I believe that grace is where courage, wisdom and laughter meet. I believe in being nice to people. I believe in playing more and worrying less. I believe we are the writers, directors and producers of our lives and that we tell the story we want to be in.

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Networking in Los Angeles

Good morning, Wavers! A Rouge Waver (we'll call him Pete) wrote in and asked, having just moved to Los Angeles, how on earth to meet other screenwriters and get that networking and socializing started from the ground up.

One can't exactly walk into a cafe frequented by writers and stare meaningfully at those writers and make small clicking noises until they look up, catch your gaze and become your new best friend, mentor and super-connection. Well I mean, one could do that but then you'd wind up like my friend Bob, who got a restraining order and permanent ban from the cafe.

First of all, Pete, moving to Los Angeles to further your screenwriting career was a very smart move. So congratulations on your ability to make that happen. There's no silver bullet, of course, you are going to have to be very proactive if you want to meet and get to know other screenwriters and industry types. But here are some resources that might be helpful:

Find your local LA screenwriting Meetup Group.

Check out special screenings and events sponsored by the American Cinemateque.

Contact Marc Zicree's Super Mentor Group for classes and/or admission to Marc's renowned networking group, The Table, which meets each Thursday evening in Toluca Lake.

Check out the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. They have great classes, some of which might be right up your alley - a two day weekend intensive. Classes are always a great way to meet other writers.

The Script Department will be offering weekend classes in the next few weeks and months so stay tuned in to the Rouge Wave for those announcements - but in the interim, there are two back-to-back table reads coming up, April 1st and April 8th at the Attic Theater at 7:30pm.

And this last tip comes with a caveat. The Done Deal Message Board, largely populated by temperamental blow-hards but sometimes frequented by actual nice, intelligent people, does have members who live in the Los Angeles area so you might want to gingerly check there. Again, a caveat: Message boards are generally replete with Anonymous Hostility and Heartfelt Disinformation so go to there with great caution.

So there you go, Pete, that's about as much as I can tell you. Give it some time, put yourself out there, take some weekend classes and read the LA Weekly for events and screenings to attend.

If any Angeleno Wavers have other or more suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.

Good luck, Pete. And welcome to LA. If I find you making small clicking noises at a cafe I'm going to have to intervene. Just FYI.

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The Fresh Idea Race

A Rouge Waver wrote in with a two-part question:

One of the many problems I'm encountering as a novice is coming up with a good story idea. I imagine it's one that plagues screenwriters at every level, but as a novice it looms large, that's for sure.

Join the crowd. Coming up with fresh ideas is, in my opinion, the only REAL challenge of being an aspiring screenwriter. All the other stuff - execution, i.e. what I talk about on TRW almost every day in one form or another - is something that screenwriters eventually get right through practice and repetition. Writing great character and dialogue, nailing structure, understanding theme and tone, developing voice, writing cinematic, kinetic action lines. That's all accessible for most aspirants. Of course, there's that ineffable innate talent thing and that's just god-given but still, you get my point. Execution and craft can, for the most part, be learned.

But fresh ideas - that's tough. In this week's New Yorker, there is a really great article about Tony Gilroy (MICHAEL CLAYTON, DUPLICITY, etc.) and here is a section I thought fascinating and depressing:

Gilroy believes that the writer and the moviegoing public are engaged in a cognitive arms race. As the audience grows savvier, the screenwriter has to invent new reversals - madder music and stronger wine. Perhaps the most famous reversal in film was written by William Goldman...in MARATHON MAN. Laurence Olivier, a sadistic Nazi dentist, is drilling into Dustin Hoffman's mouth, trying to force him to disclose the location of a stash of diamonds. "Is it safe?" he keeps asking. Suddenly, William Devane sweeps in to rescue him and spirits Hoffman away. In the subsequent car ride, Devane starts asking questions; he wants to know where the diamonds are. After a few minutes, Hoffman's eyes grow wide: Devane and Olivier are in league! "Thirty years ago when Goldman wrote it, the reversal in MARATHON MAN was fresh," Gilroy says. "But it must have been used now 4000 times." This is the problem that new movies must solve. As Gilroy says, "How do you write a reversal that uses the audience's expectations in a new way? You have to write to their accumulated knowledge."

Now, in this passage, Gilroy is speaking specifically about reversals - but the same is true of coming up with fresh ideas - you must write to the audience's accumulated knowledge. Which is why the list of movies we were coming up with yesterday is important. Screenwriters need to be articulate in what has come before and what is going on now. Because audiences have literally seen every story that can be told at the movies already. They really have. But. Knowing that, it's not that you have to come up with an idea for something that has literally never been done (good luck with that, by the way) it's telling a story with your particular imprint, with your particular take on it - that is what you need to strive for. I believe there are infinite variations on each story and that's what keeps the doors open for you as you strive to come up with an original idea. You have to think about the meta story you want to tell - okay this is the story of a man needing to restore his pride and his dignity. Okay how about if that's a western? How about if we make the antagonist a wealthy landowner? Nah. How about we make the antagonist a dangerous outlaw? Yeah, okay - how about the story is not about the rancher trying to save his ranch but him accepting a job in order to save his ranch? What kind of job? How about if the job has to do with the outlaw? And we have 3:10 TO YUMA.

So it's being able to go from the meta to the details of your story. And it is in the details that you will find the specificity and the originality you are looking for. In FRENCH KISS the meta story is an uptight woman who falls for a rebel type. Yeah but he's a Frenchman. And the woman has to get on a plane and track down her fiance, who she thinks is cheating. And she sits right next to this crazy, stinky Frenchman - and they wind up falling in love. So the meta story is pretty familiar, yes, of course, but the specific details create a particularity we have not seen.

So when trying to come up with a good idea for a script, at first identify the meta. Then create details that have not been seen before. Use your store of knowledge about what has come before. If you're writing a romcom - you better have seen a truckload of romcoms so you are aware of what has been done. Ditto every other genre. This is why it is essential that screenwriters - woe are we - see a huge amount of movies. Pity the poor sucker who skips this step, thinking that he or she is just so brilliant that totally original ideas literally sprout from their brain regularly. No such luck. You have to do your homework. Identify which genre you'd like to write, noodle around with some ideas then test them - go through the mental files (if not physical files) of other movies in this genre and look for similarities and differences. How can your idea be the same but different?

And part two of this Waver's question:

I'm particularly attracted to movies like Babel, Traffic, and Syriana et al; those with multiple storylines and a common thread (although, I wasn't all that keen on Crash, too preachy I thought...okay, racism, I get it). But, how many scripts are you seeing that employ this technique? Would you tell me not to bother, it's been done to death? Or, would you say that it may be okay to pursue as a writing sample?

You know, for a while there, a couple years back, I saw TONS of scripts that were ensemble, braided storyline scripts just like BABEL, TRAFFIC and CRASH. A lot of writers got inspired by that. So on the one hand, I would say beware going for that - it's a very tough mini-genre to pull off and to pull off well, let me tell you that. The skill set involved is formidable. That said, because Hollywood is so counter-intuitive sometimes - I would always err on the side of writing what you are really, really passionate about. If that's what you want to write - go for it. If you can pull it off with excellence and originality, it will at minimum make a great sample. And who knows - it might just get you repped or even sold. An awareness that there was a spate of films of this nature relatively recently is of course key. I do not think writing this type of script is a slam dunk right now. I wouldn't do it, personally. That said, in my opinion, there is one truism in Hollywood that trumps them all and that is that nobody knows anything. So do what you will.

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The Assistant Files

Industry assistants expect other industry assistants to Get It: speak the lingo; use the shorthand; know the players, the protocol, how to treat each other, and the secret handshake.

It's mostly stuff you pick up in your first two weeks on the job. But every once in a while you run into someone who's either completely oblivious, or who's just a jerk and doesn't believe in the "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" method that most of us live by.

WARNING: ANDY-RANT AHEAD. When you're an assistant to a talent agent, one of the things you do is set up BAZILLIONS of appointments for your clients to be seen by casting directors. You deal with the casting assistant, who may or may not actually be an unpaid intern, depending on how big the production and/or casting person is. Fifteen of our clients had appointments to see one casting director yesterday afternoon. Several different roles on one project and a few clients up for each role, you see. That's a lot of appointments to keep straight. And someone just got fired off another desk for screwing up one client's appointment, so I was taking no chances -- I confirmed the appointments a day early AND the morning of. Not uncommon practice for a good assistant.

And yet yesterday I came back from lunch to hear voice messages from clients saying things like, "Hey Andy-- I'm standing outside the room and there's no one here. Am I in the right place?" You get one message like that, you think, "Okay, smartypants. Did you print out the email I sent you with exact turn-by-turn instructions on where to go, or are you going off 'vibes' again?" You get two messages like that, you think, "Ugh, ACTORS. Do I have to come pick you up and deliver you to the audition myself? Do I look like Elisabeth Shue? Don't f*** with the babysitter!" However, when you get SEVERAL messages like that, you immediately think, "I AM SO FIRED."

But this is all in a day's work for Andy Sachs, Super Assistant, so I spring into action. Call the casting assistant at the number I'd reached him earlier. No answer. Why isn't anyone answering?! I have lines blinking, people. Pick up your phone! Again and again, still no answer. All the while, I'm emailing him, hoping he's in front of his computer and not running around, assisting with the casting session.

Finally I get a ping back. "Oh, sorry! We changed the location." WTF? "We decided we were too diva for that room. Ha ha." HA HA?! This is funny to you? I now look like a jerk in front of no less than FIFTEEN of our clients, their respective managers, my boss, and anyone else who doesn't hear the end of the story where it turns out it's not my mistake and you're just a jerk. THANKS, dude.

Anyway, my point here is that it's never all about you. (Unless you're A-list, then the rules are different. But I don't think there's ever been a casting assistant on the A-list. I could be wrong.) The industry is a collaborative effort. Not just during the development process or once you get into production, but in the course of everyday business. There are a lot of moving parts that keep this town running. We all rely on each other. So don't be a jerk.

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The Assistant Files

In the last Assistant File we talked about interpreting the code phrases used in industry assistant-wanted ads. In this one I'm going to give you some tips on acing the interview process.

You see, I - like many assistants who've worked in the industry for any length of time - have functioned as a one-Andy HR department, and have hired my own replacement, simply presenting two final pre-approved options for The Boss to choose between.

(Or, to be honest, to fuss and moan about, because most bosses, even though they are theoretically aware that you are not going to stick around and answer their phone for years and years, simply cannot believe that you are leaving them. Some of them actually use phrases along the lines of "I can't believe that you're leaving me!" or "I thought better of you, I really did!" or "A good assistant would never have done this.")

All this boils down to the fact that many long-time assistants have done a lot more interviewing than you might expect from people who are glorified helper monkeys. And here, for what it's worth, are my takeaways:

*DO have an email address that is some version of firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Do NOT have an email address like NUMBER1PHIL@AOL.COM or AWESOMEASSISTANT4U@HOTMAIL.COM or SEXXYSEXXYSUE@YMAIL.COM.

*DO have your contact info immediately accessible in your cover letter. Do NOT include email addresses that will bounce back or phone numbers of cell phones that are disconnected for lack of payment. When I call to chat with you about your resume, if this isn't a good time, say so. I'm going to be asking you probing questions about past insane jobs you've had, so if you're at work and can't talk, don't be stilted and weird, ask if you can call me back over lunch.

*DO dress up a little bit. If you're a boy, nobody is going to make fun of you for wearing a suit and tie. If you're a girl, wear something your conservative aunt would approve of. No open toes, no cleavage. This isn't a date. Do NOT wear jeans. Come on. Entertainment is mostly a pretty casual environment (barring agencies. Agencies are like Mad Men.) but the understanding for job interviews is that you show up at your most formal, not like you just got back from Senor Frog's.

*DO explain in your cover letter why you want this particular job, particularly if you're trying to break in. Do NOT say stuff like "I'm just trying to get my first job in entertainment. I'll take anything. But I'm really looking to jump ship to talent management." Industry jobs get insane numbers of resumes, so if your background isn't something I can grasp at a glance - say, if your work experience is all in real estate and you're applying to be a development assistant - you can't expect that you're going to get a call unless you have a terrific pitch for why I ought to consider you over the dozens of people with exact-match backgrounds.

*DO lie. (A little.) Tell me you're detail-oriented, terrific with difficult people, organized like a mofo, willing to go the extra mile, work-obsessed, happy to commit for two years: As an assistant, I know full well that those little white lies really boil down to "I will work hard and give this a for-real shot." Which is really all one can expect. Do NOT lie in real ways that I can spot. Like if you say that you work at Company X but really you got fired from that desk six months ago and I know people there. And do NOT be too honest. Don't say things like "How much overtime can I count on, moneywise?" or "I take a tango class on Tuesdays so I'd need to leave early every week, I hope that's not a problem," in the actual interview. This is Hollywood. Everyone's pretending they don't need the money and love the job so much they'd work for free.

*DO, if it's relevant to the position (the ad said something about "personalities" or "thick skin," or the outgoing assistant uses code phrases like "Boss expects excellence") mention any past work experience with a "demanding" boss. Do NOT badmouth said boss. There's a fine line between letting me know that you worked for a crazy bitch and handled it fine because you're a rock star, and actually calling your old boss a crazy bitch.

*DO be polite and attentive during the interview. I know a monkey could do this job, you know a monkey could do this job. You still need to pretend to be thoughtful and impressed when I'm telling you about the long hours and the stress and the lack of getting to go to the bathroom. I just want you to know what you're getting into so I don't foist a lemon off on Boss. Do NOT blow past me with stories about how you had a sooooo much more stressful job than this. That's not going to impress me, it's going to make me think that you're a jerk.

*DO follow up after the interview. A thank-you note or email is not just polite, it helps me remember who you were. And feel free to call or email about a week later if you haven't heard back. Do NOT call me twice a day, every day, because you thought you were such a terrific fit. I know I said that interviewing isn't like dating...but really, it is. If I want to see you again, I'll call you. In the meantime, be cool. You don't need the money, remember?

If you follow the above tips, you may not get the job - this is after all a ridiculously competitive industry - but you at least stand a shot of being taken seriously and having your resume go in the keeper file, instead of having me make fun of you in an Assistant File later.

xxo,

Andy Sachs

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New Speak: It's JUST for Texting!

So how many Rouge Wavers text their family and friends? I do it a lot now. Texting has become part of my life. I was never one of those self-described Luddites. I can upload, download and update many things. Nevertheless, texting as far as I was concerned initially was a sort of last ditch thing for confirmation, etc., but now I text friends and colleagues about any number of things. When I first started texting I would text something like this: Hey, my flight is late. See you at the gate. I'm wearing a red coat which took me 3 minutes to text and gets a reply like: C U thr. So now I am down with the texting lingo: U R cmg @ 8? It was a brief learning curve but I can now text with the best of 'em.

As a sidenote, I'm fairly certain my Blackberry's "smart type" has some kind of content editor because no, I am not texting the work "duck" or "ducking" - ever.

Texting and IMing using a truncated new speak is not new. We're all familiar with brb, lol, omg, cya, kk and my funny newest - zomg! But one pitfall of new speak, whether it's in texting, IM or message boards is that we become lazy. It's fine to say "your gng 2 B lte!" - the operative word there being "your" instead of "you're". I have noticed that spelling in scripts I read has gotten worse and worse. And this is the truly horrible part - I have to catch myself more and more too.

Not that you're going to catch me writing: 2 B or nt 2 B anytime soon in a script or anywhere else, but it is a challenge when your brain shifts back and forth from proper spelling to new speak. Proper spelling and grammar is slowly eroding. On the one hand, that is the way of things. We no longer speak the way Shakespeare wrote - iffin that was the way Joe Average spoke at that time, or anywhere close. We no longer speak the way we did in the 1950s for that matter: Say, you are looking very nice today, Jody! Today that would be: Girl, you're hot!

Language is an organic thing and we have plenty of evidence to prove that. But make sure that you do check yourself when working on scripts or anything else that will be publicly consumed. Watch your "your" versus "you're," "to" versus "too" and duck versus...well - you get my point.

The hilarious thing is that your script will be read by people who are probably texting while reading it: Ths scrpt kicks ass! brb! Mtng! - but they'll still slam you if your script has spelling errors or language usage problems. Because the way we speak in some mediums is not the way we speak in others. Scripts are still expected to be written properly. I am not referring to the fact that you may have a character who uses slang, but particularly in your action lines - get it right.

So even if you are a texting aficionado, but sure to flip that switch when you write. It matters. No j/k.

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10,000 Hours

So my best buddy ever, Keith*, gave me a copy of Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers and I have been most fascinated by it. In chapter two, Gladwell discusses the 10,000 hour theorem: that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice and repetition before a person is truly head and shoulders above others doing the same thing. 10,000 hours of computer programming, cooking, writing, skiing - whatever. Gladwell makes a pretty salient and compelling point that practice does indeed make perfect.

*This is a rarefied status subject to change, bribery** and favoritism. Just FYI.

**Cupcakes and tiny dog sweaters. [--Ed.]


I think we all remember the Great Computer Meltdown of '08. That horrible day when my hard drive failed and I hadn't been backing up and - well - I lost a lot of stuff. One of the things I lost was the curriculum I had prepared for the Learn to be a Reader correspondence course. So I had to either pay a bunch of money to get that and other things retrieved from the hard drive or just write it again. So I wrote it again. That added another several hours to my cume.

There are a number of students taking this nifty correspondence course and as I am grading their synopses, comments and logline generating skills and giving them new homework for the following week, I am amazed at how much more there is to being a reader than I had appreciated. In having to write the entire curriculum - and then rewrite it all again a month or two later, I have put quite a number of hours into breaking down and expressing the ins and outs of story analysis. And though I do some type of story analysis just about every day, it really has made me stand back and think - wow, this really is not something just anybody can do and do well. I am struck by how much I have learned about reading and covering scripts, about the methodology, the politics and the presentation. I think I probably have spent 10,000 hours doing what I do and it's become second nature. That's a good feeling.

For example, in Week Three, the lecture and homework are about synopsizing a script.

Did you know:

Do not ever, ever, EVER comment within the synopsis – this is a story summary and there is absolutely no room here for your opinions. Strictly separate the synopsis (an accurate retelling of what happens) from the commentary (a breakdown of what is and isn’t working by element).

or -

Do NOT synopsize as you go. This will slow you down terribly in completing the coverage and it will also take you out of the read. Just read the script straight through, as you normally would. Use a highlighter or a red pen and read along swiftly but mark those pages, names or moments that you KNOW are significant enough to include in the synopsis.

or -

Very frequently, the script isn’t very entertaining at all. Your job is then not to write a highly entertaining synopsis because that is misrepresenting the script. However, if the script has ANY funny, moving, scary or action-packed moments that stuck with you – really get that feeling and description down in the synopsis. The ability to write a well-crafted synopsis is what separates okay readers from GREAT readers.

I wish I had been able to take this class several years back when I began reading. I knew the basics but I really had to feel my way through finessing my process. The other day, The Script Department received an order to do some coverage from Seed Productions (Hugh Jackman's company). As I prepared to assign the work to a reader, Seed emailed me again. Could you do it personally? Nobody has the thoughtful insight that you do. You have spoiled us. That compliment really made my day. Though now I have to read, synopsize and cover two 100+ page plays by Monday. But it's all good. I always get GREAT stuff from Seed.

So - how many hours are you putting into your writing on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual and cumulative basis? If Gladwell is really onto something - and I think he obviously is - can Wavers understand why, based on the 10,000 hour observation, that it's not super likely you're going to sell your first script? Ten scripts - 100 hours each - that adds up.

So that's all I have to say this Sunday. Tonight I am hosting a Golden Globes party with ballots and the whole nine yards. Be careful, Keith, you could get bumped in the Best Pal category. Do your homework, show up looking pretty and you might retain your status.

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The Assistant Files

It's a new year and a lot of folks are in the market for new jobs, myself included.

Looking for an assistant gig in the entertainment industry can be absurdly difficult. Often you have to know someone just to get your resume in the door. You endure multiple rounds of interviews, usually starting with the outgoing assistant, who will give you the stinkeye and declare that you've never worked a desk as intense or busy or important as THIS one. It's enough to make a girl want to scream, "Listen, people. I know how to answer the phone. IT'S NOT BRAIN SURGERY."

Because there is such hot competition for even the most entry-level positions, sometimes we lose sight of whether a given job is one that we'd WANT. And with job postings so full of industry catchphrases, sometimes it's hard to tell just what the job entails. So I've compiled a list of common job posting language for your reference. Interpretations are based on my own experience and may differ for individual users.

*****************

Andy's Guide to Understanding Hollywood Assistant Job Postings:

Typical assistant duties: Rolling calls, scheduling meetings, reading minds.

Thick-skinned: You will be yelled at a lot and blamed for things that could in no way possibly be your fault. Crying is not allowed.

Long hours: Say goodbye to your non-industry friends, your pet, and sleep.

Organizational skills: You'll be expected to know at a moment's notice the exact location of every scribbled note, scrap of paper, and crumpled receipt that has ever crossed your desk. You'll keep all of these items indefinitely, in a meticulous filing system, even though you've also committed them to memory.

Must be flexible: You'll be required to run personal errands.

Must be discreet: You'll be required to run embarrassing personal errands, and claim them as your own.

Attention to detail: You'll be expected to remember which restaurants your boss has approved for lunch meetings, exactly how he takes his coffee, and which corner of the desk the trades should be arranged on before he arrives in the office each morning. Slack on any of these and you'll likely need to employ that Thick-Skinned quality, so I hope you weren't padding the ol' resume on that one.

Strong computer skills: The company doesn't have an IT department, so you should know how get all of the computers up and running again after he crashes the system trying to download the latest celebrity sex video.

Excellent phone etiquette: Must be able to lie convincingly on the phone.

Excellent communication skills: Must be able to decipher cryptic phrases such as, "Andy, why don't I see that thing on my calendar?"

Ability to anticipate: You'll need to provide a synopsis and a new copy of that script he took home but didn't read, without being asked, and in time for the meeting where he will pretend that he read it.

Desire to learn the industry: You'll eagerly memorize the phone number and client roster of every agent in town. And you'll do it for peanuts because the experience is so invaluable.

Ability to handle a demanding environment: Your boss will demand one crazy, unreasonable thing after another. You'll handle it.

xxoo,
Andy Sachs

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The Page Count Clinic

Good morning, Wavers! I inexplicably slept for 10 hours last night. I have no idea why so I just count my blessings that my lifestyle gives me the latitude to do that and get on with my day.

Ahem. Onward.

A commenter on yesterday's post wondered why BENJAMIN BUTTON appears to have a very loose structure and, I assume, intimated that we should not be as concerned with getting structure right when there are (truly) so many exceptions. Yes, there are many exceptions to the rule. But until or unless you have made it - are repped, are pitching, are sold or selling - you MUST understand exactly how structure works and you must demonstrate this in your writing. Exceptions are no excuse not to know exactly what you're doing in the now. Aspiring screenwriters are like nascent cooks - you must stick to the recipe in order to learn. Once you've made it over the moat that separates aspiring writers from paid ones - then and only then can you begin to put the recipe book down and vary from it when it comes to things like structure. Yesterday's discussion of structure was a rudimentary one - of course there are all sorts of jumping off points.

Additionally, before we get to today's topic, one cannot know what went on in the production of a major motion picture unless one was there. The script may have been tightly structured but somewhere in development, decisions were made to add more and bigger set pieces that plumped the structure up until it is what it currently is - pretty free form. Or not. We have no way of knowing unless we can ask that question directly of the writer. One can spend all day every day finding exceptions. Aspiring screenwriters trying to break in don't have the luxury of stepping off with new and wacky structural techniques. You need to show a rep or producer that you have basic screenwriting craft down cold before you start popping wheelies.

So on to the topic of the day: The Page Count Clinic

Another commenter said: Do you have any suggestions for reining in runaway page count, other than the obvious of scene chopping solution?

Yeah, no, I dunno. Good luck with that.

Wait, I'm getting too cavalier lately. Forgive my insouciance. Yes, there are a few things you can do to cut down on page count. When I write, I never, ever worry about page count in the early stages. I don't care if my whole script, from fade in to fade out has 72 pages. That gives me room to expand and add more set pieces and more character development. I don't worry if my script has 132 pages either - that's an opportunity to take what I have and distill it into sharper, more powerful pages.

So when you have too many pages that's the opportunity begging to be had. Distilling 10 okay pages into five GREAT pages.

There are two fundamental ways to approach reducing your page count - reviewing each SCENE for relevance and then reviewing each and every PAGE to see where you can cut a line of dialogue, two lines of action, etc.

SCENEWORK
When it comes to each scene, do the scene test: Does this scene contain a relevant beat? Does this scene concurrently develop character? Does this scene contain the thematic undertones of your premise? Does this scene, in other words, absolutely carry its weight and earn its spot in the script? Think of yourself as the captain of a ship loading up to head out to sea - is this scene necessary? Does it earn the spot on the ship? Or is it ballast that can be tossed because it will only weigh the ship down?

PAGEWORK
Once you're confident that every scene is absolutely necessary, go over every single page and look for ANY opportunity to reduce your action lines from three lines to two. Are there entire action lines that break up dialogue between characters? Are you over-directing the characters, in other words? Is there another way your character can express his or her thoughts in half the dialogue? Is your character actually repeating him or herself? In the same way that grapes are stomped down into a pulp which will ferment into wine, pages can be s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d down into more powerful stuff too.

Something I like to do which seems a bit arbitrary is to say to a writer - okay lose 10 pages off this script. I don't care where, I don't care how, just do it. And to a one, the writer comes back aglow with accomplishment and sleeker, faster, more powerful pages.

Just given that marching order with no parameters is empowering because when it comes right down to it, it's not rocket science to look at your pages and see where the fat is.

So you may want to try that first - just take 10 pages out of your script. Open that sucker up and go. If that feels daunting or directionless, try reducing pages using the following steps:

Do a structure check: Are your act breaks falling on or about pages 10, 25, 50 and 75? How far off are they? Remember, this is a ratio based on the Golden 100 Page Script. Is the ratio about right? If there are 50 pages between act breaks, you have now pinpointed where the problem is in your script. So focus on that section.

Do a scene review: go through each and every scene and ask it these questions: What's your name and where are you from? Well, no, maybe like: What is the BEAT in this scene? Is there one? Does this scene absolutely and without question move the story forward? Does it develop and reveal more about your character? And ideally - does it do both? Does this scene jump in late and get out early? Could the scene move a long even a little faster?

Do a global page reduction: Go through every single page and find any and all lines that can be cut. Anything. Dialogue, action lines - nothing is safe. Go pithier. Use more powerful, evocative words. The sun shines down on this suburban neighborhood. Dogs bark, children play and the mailman makes his rounds - which is not bad - might then become: Another sunny day in this family neighborhood; kids play, dogs bark. - We lost seven words in the second example. Maybe we don't need the mailman. Or do we? Go through every single action and ask - what is really important to point out here? Is the word 'suburban' really critical? Or does 'family' do the job? That's your call. But I guarantee that you will find TONS of things you can reduce just slightly. Writers tend to overwrite and over direct scenes. Strip each scene down to the bare bones using words that deliver the feeling and imagery important to the scene but that literally take up less space.

Depending on where you are as a writer - the global page reduction method is probably the best way to cut down on pages. You'd be surprised - even the most advanced writer can always find extraneous stuff on his or her pages. Newer writers are more likely to have scenes that are not necessary at all. If you're not sure where to begin, I'd follow the steps above in that order without worrying about what your total page count should then be. Just follow the steps and then check in again. Did you lose 10 pages or so?

If you have to lose more than 10 pages you either have a problem with the structure full stop or you have a major issue with overwriting pages.

If you have 10 pages or less to lose, you probably just need to trim action and dialogue on your pages.

Writing IS rewriting. I love trimming pages because it's not a punishment, it's a challenge. How can I make what's here work BETTER than ever before? It's like chipping away at the marble to reveal a finer, more beautiful image. It is making wine from grapes, it is squeezing the - okay I've run out of weird metaphors but you get it.

In general, as a rule of thumb*, I always like to shoot for the Golden 100 Page Script. If you're writing comedy, romcom, thriller or horror, this page count is actually pretty sweet. If you're writing scifi, fantasy or drama, you might wind up with 110 pages. If your script has over 115 pages, you need to pull the car over and see what's going on. It might be fine but it also might be your clarion call to write sleeker, more powerful pages. No matter what your page count, you can always produce better pages than the ones you currently have. I guarantee that. In fact, that's a whole other blog post - when to STOP tweaking!

*stuff it, Anonymous.*

*This seems like a good time to explain my "stuff it, Anonymous" disclaimers. A couple or three times a week I get comments or emails from disgruntled Have-to-be-Righters who tell me how WRONG I am. Everything on the Rouge Wave is from MY perspective and MY experience. Anyone who takes what I say as gospel should have his head examined. These are all suggestions and advice. Do what you will. Do what works for you.

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The Assistant Files

I actually really like many parts of being an assistant. It's uncool, but I basically have the kind of '50s-housewife personality that is quite happy to bring people coffee and roll their calls.

However. There are a few things I really, really dislike about being an assistant, and this is one of them:

Assistant Call-Rolling Power Struggles

The following is all hypothetical and did not happen to me recently. Or anything like that.

Say your boss ("Boss") is pretty important. Say there's an executive ("Executive") who Boss deals with a lot and who feels that he, Executive, is a pretty big deal. Say that Boss does not necessarily agree. In fact, say that Boss and Executive basically dislike each other a lot, but are forced to work together because they're both on the same project.

So that's the backstory. Now, say that while Boss was in a meeting, Executive called and left word.

Hours pass. Boss doesn't return the call because Boss will always try to get out of calling Executive, no matter how often you say "Hey, Boss, we owe Executive a call." Eventually, Boss gets one of those jerk emails from Executive that reads "CALL ME." Boss swears creatively and yells out, can you please get Executive on the phone? You call Executive's office: "I have Boss returning Executive's call."

A pause. Executive's assistant says "Let me check." A minute passes. Executive's assistant gets back on.

"Okay, you put Boss on the phone and as soon as Executive can jump off the call he's on--"

"I'm not going to do that," you say. You don't want to put Boss on the phone because you suspect that Executive is mad at him, and will make him hold for more than the 15 seconds that's about the max Boss can handle before yelling at you that you shouldn't have put him on the phone if they weren't ready. "I can hold for Executive, though."

"...just put Boss on," the assistant says. For her part, she doesn't want me to hold for Executive because it means that her Executive will have to hold for my Boss, even if it's just for the few seconds between "Hi! Still me, sorry." and Boss getting on. (Confused yet?)

And just like that, the other assistant and I are now in the midst of an epic power struggle about whose boss is more important. (This is something I would not have believed if you'd told me about it when I first moved to LA.)

"Nope," I say.

"But Executive can't hold for Boss--"

"Are you kidding? You really think I'm going to make Boss get on the phone and listen to your hold music for five minutes just so Executive doesn't have to stay on hold for the time it takes me to push the hold button and tell Boss that he's on the line? Really? Really?!?"

"Just put Boss on the line to hold, it won't be for all that long--"

"No. We'll leave word. Thank you."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Basically it's a game of Hold Chicken, and it's stupid. As soon as I got off the phone, I was both very irritated that someone had dared play King Of The Phone Mountain with us and equally embarrassed that I cared about this even a little bit. I went into Boss' office, fuming. "What," Boss said. "I left word," I grumbled. "Also, Executive is such a jerk! His assistant tried to make you hold for him!!!"

"...," Boss said.

People in the industry often act like being an assistant qualifies you to eventually work your way up and have your boss' job. I disagree. You know what being an assistant qualifies you to do? Be a wife. In the '50s or early '60s. With a bunch of petty concerns, and sublimating your own power struggles into those of your boss/ersatz husband and obsessing over how people take their coffee and trying to anticipate their needs...it's very Mad Men.

xxo,

Andy Sachs

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The Assistant Files

I recently heard this philosophy of networking that says something along the lines of: you don't need to be out trying to meet as many people as possible. Instead you should put your energy into being someone that other people want to meet, and then let them come to you.

Let me first say, I don't know if I'm totally on board with this strategy. It seems like people who have introvert tendencies (ahem, writers) might take this as encouragement to just be TOTALLY AWESOME in the privacy of their own homes.

But it did start me thinking, in a roundabout way, of soundbites.

Say you're taking a meeting. The routine goes that they greet you and offer you a beverage and a seat, and then you have about five minutes of small talk. Because this five minutes comes at the beginning of the meeting when you're still good and nervous, it's pretty intimidating, right? You want to make a good impression, you want to build rapport, maybe you just want your voice to start working and the flop sweats to stop.

We all occasionally struggle with feeling like a person that others want to meet. Especially if you're still in that trying-to-turn-pro stage of your career, you might catch yourself feeling like you don't actually have a lot to offer yet. (Right? Is that just me?) So having a sound bite or two to fill that five minutes, a little scripted TA DA! all planned out ahead of time, can help take the edge off those nerves.

What the heck do I mean by 'soundbite'? Think of it as a hook, something people can latch onto so that you stick in their minds. Remember that game you played at sleepaway camp, "My name is Andy and I like alligators…" It's sort of like that; just a little something you're putting out there that people can associate with you. It makes you memorable.

You're a Yale grad who once took a year off to join the circus. You're a former JAG Corps judge who never rendered anything but a Guilty verdict. You have quotes from your favorite movie, Joe Versus the Volcano, tattooed on your body.

These are all soundbites I've heard from writers as they waited for meetings with my boss. (I can't vouch for their truthfulness, but hey-- they worked.)

With a soundbite, you give people a nice, neat little package of I'm Awesome, Jump On This Bandwagon. But you ALSO give the people you've met a way to sell you to, say, their agent, boss, or whomever else they might be passing one of your scripts along to. They get to rave about the fantastic new writer they met, and top it off with, "AND she used to work as a pilot for the President of the Congo. You should totally meet her." You're actually helping make their job easier. Now doesn't that sound like someone that other people would want to meet?

xxoo,
Andy Sachs

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Creating a Successful Web Series: I Want To Go to There...

My dear friend Michael Perri, talented writer, producer and mimic was nice enough to write something for us here on the Rouge Wave about creating a web series:

***

Picture this: Some of your coolest peeps are kicked back in your pad, yukking it up over brewskis or wine and something to nosh on. The conversation is free flowing and TAH-DOW! Someone yells out, “OMFG, that story is so freaking amazing I almost tinkled in my boot cut jeans!” Another one of your besties chimes in, “Ya dude, we like should totally film that and put that on the web... like a series!” Everyone pauses for a brief moment as eyes widen like y’all just invented a way to turn water into gin. You pop out of your favorite La-Z-Boy and declare, “THIS COULD BE THE BIGGEST WHATCHAMACALLIT THAT CYBERSPACE HAS SEEN SINCE AL GORE CREATED THE INTER-WEB!”

The allure to achieve long lasting fame through the Web is a powerful magnet. I am not talking about the 30 seconds of fame generated by viral videos like “The Landlord,” “Star Wars Kid,” or “Chocolate Rain.” I am talking about creating a viable online episodic series that people tune into each and every day.

With the millions of eyeballs gazing at LCD screens across the world and the potential for achieving inter-fame so high many ponder: What truly makes a great Web Series?

Blogs like Rougewave give words meaning; your Pod-casts give those same words a voice, while Vlogging (video-blogging) can even provide them with some kind of a face. Your choices are never-ending. Whether your web series is reality or scripted, it needs to have the right DNA to grow up big and strong, play in the big leagues and eventually dunk the ball.

But, the World Wide Web is still like the Wild-Wild West. Everyone is trying to mine for Internet gold. There are no barriers to entry and anyone can stake a claim. But can you harvest a juicy nugget and cash it in for fame and a new Aston Martin? I’m not going to bore you with the details of designing the site, fishing for ad dollars, tagging the site for searches... because without stellar content, a fresh hook and that uncontrollable variable of variables called luck - you just can’t be a success.

So what makes a great Web Series?

Goals: Whether your goal is to sell a boatload of advertising space or boldly go where no cyber-punk has ever gone before, make sure you have the target in mind so that everyone aboard the project is on the same page. It’s funny how many times I ask that question and people sputter out random thoughts instead of their mission statement.

Characters: Former NBC Chief Brandon Tartikov was a television executive credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation. He had a vision: great characters make great entertainment. The same holds true for cyberspace. Look at the top web series out there today: Ask a Ninja, Chad Vader, Dr. Horrible, Jesus People and my beloved Citizen Kate. They all are centered on a main character(s) that have a goal, whether it’s to answer your deepest questions through eyes of martial arts killing machine or meet Barack Obama - a strong proactive character with quirks and goals is certainly captivating.

Planning: You must put on your project manager cap or find someone who is detailed, task-oriented and cool under fire. As producer, you need to plot out the details of your shoot. Just like a full-scale production company, you’ll need to budget, hire, cast, procure, write and record. You may even get more bang for the buck if you prep and plan in stages. The biggest mistake people make is to try and do it all at once. Take your time.

Marketing: Word of mouth is still king. Within nano-seconds you can Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Text, email (or for heaven’s sake call) someone and share the funniest thing on the web. My inbox(es) were off the hizzy with the new Andy Samberg short minutes after it aired on SNL. So what if you don’t have Jamie Lynn Siegler or Justin Timberlake in your video? Use every avenue to let the world know your series has arrived.

Sales: Want to make money? Well, Veoh and Revver are some of the sites that will share advertising dollars with you. If all goes well and you’re thinking of trying to sell your series, all the networks have New Media groups or spinoffs for short form content on the Web. Disney recently launched Stage 9 in the hopes it could incubate shorts into movies or TV shows. But you’ll need an introduction. Why not try uber agent UTA’s spin off, 60 Frames? They develop, produce and manage new media clients and have one of the loudest mouths in the biz. You can even create series for mobile phones. Bunnygraph Entertainment specializes in bringing creative minds and product companies.

Crossover Appeal: If you want to move over to the heights of the TV plateau, you must ask yourself, “Could I really watch this on TV?” But, even that’s hard to gauge these days. Remember Quarterlife? (Sorry NBC.) Pretend you get to put a show on air and millions will watch. Look at “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” or “Monster Garage.” Both pilots were shot on a dinky camera but both made it to series. Why? The idea had substance + awesome characters + a fresh hook...oh and luck...

Substance: Above all, your web-series must be about something. Then, how much substance is required for the Web? To just say your story must have a beginning, middle and end is not enough. It has to be UNIQUE! Is it timely? Is it provocative? One of the funniest things I have ever seen on the web was a short when a girl was enjoying an ice cream cone, then comedian Louis CK strolls up, steals it and then runs off to a nearby helicopter and flies off. All in 10 seconds. Never seen that before!

Okay. So, think you can beat the thousands of other people out there trying to create the next Chad Vader?

Ultimately, you have 10 seconds to grab some Web-surfer’s attention and up to five minutes to hold it. If your objectives are clear and your characters and story hook are distinctive, you’re well ahead your competition.

You have to have the patience, drive and creative fortitude akin to an indie filmmaker over and over again. Look what happened to Robert Rodriguez and P.T. Anderson after they wrote, directed and produced their movies. They tried, failed, tried again and succeeded. Don’t be afraid to try and try again to something sticks.

May the Web be with you...

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The Assistant Files

As we speak, managers and agents all over town are weighing their options: take the spec out now and be the only one everyone is reading, or wait until January and spec with the masses? As Julie mentioned yesterday, Hollywood practically goes into hibernation for the winter. Most offices will close down sometime the week before Christmas and reopen after the first of the year, and very few specs will hit the town right before the break.

So if we're not inundated with new specs during the holiday season, what are we reading?

In the recent past, water cooler talk at this time of year has centered around The Black List. Legend has it The Black List was created a few years ago when one resourceful development exec, looking for good scripts to read, asked friends to nominate the ten best unproduced screenplays they'd read that year. He took hundreds of suggestions, compiled and ranked them by number of votes, and The Black List was born. He sent it back to his friends for their perusal. And since Hollywood is a town that trades on information, that list spread through tracking boards and email chains in no time.

As its first-page disclaimer states, "The Black List is not a 'best of'list. It is, at best, a 'most liked' list." Of course there are some scripts that people nominate just so they can act like the entertainment business is Important and Serious, or to make themselves feel smart. But I think largely people nominate what they liked, what made an impression over the course of the year.

To give you an idea of what makes the list, here are the top three scripts from the last three years:

2005: THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE (Allan Loeb), JUNO (Diablo Cody), LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (Nancy Oliver)

2006: THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE (Craig Zahler), STATE OF PLAY (Matt Carnahan), RENDITION (Kelley Sane)

2007: RECOUNT (Danny Strong), FARRAGUT NORTH (Beau Willimon),PASSENGERS (Jon Spaihts)

What do we assistants do with The Black List? Read everything we can get our hands on, update our lists of writers, and debate the relative merits of the scripts as if we have some decision-making power.

The list has grown each year, and the 2008 edition will include the suggestions of a couple hundred film executives and high-level assistants.

Votes are in and the list is due out mid-December. If you can get your hands on them, I highly recommend reading these scripts. After all, these are the favorite scripts of the people you want to be in business with, the ones that got people excited. You might as well see what the buzz is about.

xxoo,
Andy Sachs

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The Mini-W Reviews: Slumdog Millionaire

There are 3 words that define the film Slumdog Millionaire: Best Picture 2008.

Every year the Academy searches for the movie of the year that inspires, that moves the audience, that has impact. This is precisely what Slumdog Millionaire does. Jamal Malik, a contestant on India’s version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” and winner of 10 million dollars, is accused of cheating. He is interrogated and forced to prove how he knows every answer to all of the questions.

Jamal tells of each life experience that he has had, revealing why he remembers each answer, such as who is on the 100 dollar bill. Jamal has led a tragic life. Growing up in the slums of Bombay, and orphaned at a very young age, Jamal and his brother Salim have made it by themselves through unimaginable pain, fear, and poverty.

With amazing accomplishment, heart breaking loss, and unbreakable love, the story of Slumdog Millionaire is one that will go on for a long time. Don’t hesitate to get out of the house, go to the theater, and take the time to watch this movie. Keep in mind that it’s an intense experience, not to be mistaken for a feel-good film. The ticket at the Arclight was so worth it.

I give Slumdog Millionaire five out of five jellybeans.

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The Assistant Files

A little confession: I couldn't think of a topic to write about today. I searched dark corners of my brain for something, anything, about an assistant's life that you might find interesting. But there was nothing.

And then I happened to be on the phone with a genuine literary agent, and I thought, "Now there's a head writers might want to get inside!" So I asked him, "Awesome Lit Agent, if you could give some advice to the up-and-coming screenwriters of the world, what would it be?"

His response? "Where do I start!"

And then I waited while he laughed at his own joke. But THEN he actually did offer some advice on three things your script can do to catch his eye and turn him in your favor right away: have a good title, hit the important structural beats, and have a great opening sequence.

Remember how we talked about building trust in a query letter? It's sort of the same thing. He's looking for some indication that your script won't make him want to beat his head on his desk.

Said the agent, "Let's be honest, my instincts are to do as little work as possible." And he has plenty of scripts to read, work to be done. So he's going to put your script through a few checkpoints before he commits to giving it a real read. First you have to grab him with the title. Then he'll flip through to see if the inciting incident, act breaks, and midpoint show up at the appropriate times. And then he'll read the first three pages to see if you've established the tone, if the writing is fresh and clear, and if it seems like a story worth telling.

And if you meet all those requirements, he'll give you until about page ten to really hook him in. Time is money, folks. If the first ten pages don't compel him to read the rest, he's on to the next script in the pile.

Now keep in mind that this isn't ALL he's looking for in a script. But imagine it's Sunday night, and he has a stack of scripts he has to get through before tomorrow's meeting where they'll discuss the weekend read. He's going to survey the selection and prioritize. Sometimes other factors come into play: "Oh, this is the one that the senior agent was pushing (moves to the top). Hmm, this is the one from my mom's dry cleaner (moves to the bottom)." But if you're one of the rest of the scripts in the bunch, these three things he's mentioned can help get you closer to the top of the pile. Which is good, because you know he's not getting through that whole mountain of scripts on Sunday night, that's for sure. Not with Entourage to watch. So the closer you can get to the top, the better your chances of getting read now, rather than trying your luck in next weekend's heap.

There you go, Wavers. Apparently agents don't just schmooze in expensive Beverly Hills restaurants all day, they also read scripts. I braved the Armani suits and finger guns to get this information. Don't say I never did anything for you.

xxoo,
Andy Sachs

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Why Table Reads Are Fun and Cool!

Last evening at the Attic Theater, as I am wont to do about once each month, I hosted a table read. This time the guest of honor was Rouge Waver Chris Bosley. Chris was nice enough to stay up late afterward and write a blog post for y'all about what it was like:

***

One of the challenges for an aspiring screenwriter -- okay, any screenwriter -- is becoming comfortable with uncertainty. Even if you come up with what you think is a solid story premise and dedicate yourself to executing that concept in the form of a well-written script, i.e., unique voice, visual scene descriptions, memorable characters, snappy dialogue, complete unity of theme, until someone reads that script and puts up a truckload of money to turn it into a film . . . you just. don't. know. Will anyone "get" my vision for this story? Or is it just 110 pages of self-indulgence that will only cause the reader to hurl it across the room in frustration??

So it's nice, short of an actual sale or the like, to have those occasional moments when you can see your work click with others and be reasonably confident that, okay, maybe it doesn't totally suck. I was lucky enough to have one of those moments tonight at the table read Julie arranged for me at The Attic Theater. The subject matter was the first act of my rom-com titled SOULMATING. Although I placed in the quarterfinals of Silver Screenwriting with it, there was obviously something that wasn't connecting enough to take it into the later rounds. And since I hope to enter it in other upcoming contests, I need to figure out what the problems are before I can fix them. This was the first step for me in that next rewrite phase.

Naturally, Julie being the font of support and encouragement that she is, took that goal and amped it up about 500% by surprising me and bringing along her friend Steve Faber, writer of "Wedding Crashers." So that was pretty damn cool right there. And in the interest of making the most of my read, I also dragged along my friends Max Adams and Lee Patterson. Max is a past Nicholl fellow, writer of the feature "Excess Baggage," and coordinates the online writing workshop that I've been in for the past two years; Lee is a fellow workshop member and just in from London because he won the Nicholl himself this year. Like the old Sesame Street song says: "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong." I'm only the guy with the first act of a script that needs some help.

But then another cool thing happened as the read began: people laughed. And in the right spots. This might sound like a minor thing, but especially with a comedy, making people laugh is somewhat of the essence. So that was good too. But the best part was getting notes and feedback from the actors and other writers in the room. Like, insanely great feedback. Steve diagnosed several fundamental character issues with laser precision. Things I kind of knew were hanging out there became instantly clarified. And with plenty of possible fixes for those issues as well. Max, Julie, and the others also gave me awesome suggestions on plot and story improvements that, if I can implement them, will (hopefully) make a good script great. My head is still swimming as I try to absorb and process everyone's comments, but in a good way. In a way that will fuel a whole round of new creative thinking about the script as I take the next pass. Many thanks to everyone -- actors and writers -- who gave of their time and selves to help me become a little more certain about my script.

To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, it is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend taking advantage of the service that Julie provides. All you have to do is bring snacks!

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The Assistant Files

Some assistants read query letters and some don't. Unfortunately you really don't know which type of assistant your letter is going to land in front of. (And trust me, it will almost definitely be an assistant who opens any mail you send.) But I'd venture to say that more are read than aren't. Because, as I've blathered on about before, it's good for an assistant's career to find that next great script. Hoping to do so, we go to the pitch fests, we see who's winning which contests, and we read queries.

Of course by "read" I mean "skim with about 8% of my attention span while I also roll calls with my boss."

I started thinking about this topic because Blake Snyder posted about it last week on his blog. He encourages querying, but also writes, "But what actually do we put into those communiques to elicit the best possible response?"

Um… let me preface this by saying that this is just one assistant's opinion. Okay? But for me the answer is SO SIMPLE I almost can't believe there might be people out there pondering the existence of other answers.

The first thing I look at? The thing that better be SO GOOD it commands 100% of my attention? The logline, obviously.

Because it's all about the idea for the movie. I mean, your letter could be witty or brilliant or fascinating in some other way, but if I'm going to go to the effort of REQUESTING and then READING yet another script, it's only because your logline made me say, "Now THAT'S a movie!" So make sure it's an amazing, wish-I'd-thought-of-it idea.

Once you have that, make it easy for me: put your logline right there in its very own paragraph, indent it, make it bold. It's the VERY FIRST THING I'm going to look for, so you may as well direct my eyes to it.

And that's about it! Sounds easy, right?

However, even AFTER you've dazzled me with your logline there are still many, many things you can do in your letter to make me hesitate about requesting your script. They include but are not limited to:

*misspelling pretty much anything
*sounding like an amateur
*sounding crazy and/or desperate
*telling me how much your friends, family, or anyone else I don't know
from Adam liked your script
*including photos of you and your dog dressed as characters from your story

I'm not saying any one of these things on its own would make me turn away from a great logline ( ...possibly the last one), but enough of them together might add up to make me think, "I don't know if I want to deal with this person." Because you have to remember, A LOT of query letters come in. That's a lot of potential projects, and I have to figure out a way to weed through them somehow.

Simple, professional, and AWESOME. That's pretty much what you're shooting for with a query letter.

xxoo,
Andy Sachs

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