Can't Get No Rep

Dear Rouge Wave,

What are your thoughts on the old catch-22, can’t get a representative but production companies/studios/networks only accept material submitted through a rep? Like so many others, I’ve thought about (and, yes, tried) going the “straight to a production company route.” However, I often run into that wall. I try to target the production companies that have produced or have in production/development similar projects to mine. What’s your suggestion for this type of situation?

-Frustrated in Florida

Dear Frustrated,

This is indeed a frustrating situation. Many production companies will not accept unsolicited scripts, much less those from unrepped writers. But there are some that do. You have to do your research and look up the submission requirements of the production company you are targeting. If you can't see the information you need in the HCD (Hollywood Creative Directory) then you can pick up the phone and politely ask.

The tricky thing about this business is that there are accepted ways of doing things - the norm - but for every norm there are exceptions. So it's hard to know what to do or what to believe. See, here's the thing: Production companies have some pretty good reasons for not accepting unrepped work. A repped writer has been vetted, for one thing. Production companies would rather know the work is on the level where a manager or agent really believes in it. It's a filtering system. It's quality control. And it's very necessary. You seriously would not believe how many scripts arrive in Hollywood every day - and many are unsolicited. And they go straight into the circular file. Production companies are inundated with new material and are of course busy developing the material that they already have. They don't have time to sort through unrepped, unsolicited material to make sure it's a fit for their company and they may not even be looking for new material at the time anyway. A rep only submits to a production company if that rep has a sense that the material might be a fit for the company's mandate, tastes and current needs. An unsolicited, unrepped script may be totally, 100% inappropriate but worse - here's the thing I have been avoiding saying so far - if it's not repped, the chances that it's any good are slim.

All of the big, busy production companies are going to operate with a filter in place. A hardcore filter. No rep - no read. Period.

There are some smaller companies that might respond to a killer query and ask to read your script - you just have to find them.

But let's return to the tough truth I hesitated to say upfront: If it's not repped, the chances that it's any good are slim. Ouch. But unfortunately, Frustrated, this is the truth. Getting rep is phenomenally hard, especially these days. And yes, of course there are writers who should be repped but they just haven't been read by an agent or manager who really clicked with their material or voice. Those writers get reads and get meetings with the agent or manager they targeted but wind up not clicking and have to keep trying. That's how you can tell if you're getting closer and closer - people respond to your work but they aren't quite ready to climb onboard with you.

But. If you have been trying to get rep for awhile now, unsuccessfully, you need to stop and ask yourself why that is.

Have you been querying reps with the same script for some time? Or with various scripts? What is the rate of read requests on your query? Is it time to review your query? If you DO get read, you're obviously getting a lot of of "passes" - well, how many "passes" are you getting? It could be that it's not the reps - it's you. You may just not be ready to be repped. Your writing might not be rating high enough on the professional, creative and unique Richter scale. In other words, that it's tough to get repped is not as much a reflection of this very tough industry, it's a reflection of the fact that your writing is not comparable to those writers who are repped. In other words, your material just isn't strong enough to warrant representation.

Now: This may not be true of you or your material, Frustrated, but if you've been trying for awhile, you need to read the writing on the wall and return to improving your work...generating new ideas, writing fresh scripts and working your behind off on improving your craft. Going AROUND rep by going directly to production companies works for some people but for others it is a rationalization. Stupid reps! I'll just go straight to buyers! Well - are you picking up what I'm laying down here?

Going straight to a buyer can work - again, the infuriating thing about this business is that while what I am saying here is all eminently true, there are rare stories of people who do successfully sell a piece of material and circumvent the normal routes. But really, those are rare stories and think about this: Do you want a one-off sale to a production company so small and so open that they basically have no quality control - or do you want a real career? A real career requires a rep. It just does.

So yes, you can go straight to prodcos but in a way, you are circumventing a reality: Your writing will not blossom into a real career without a rep. And a rep will not take on a writer not ready for that career. So that's the real catch-22, not how to go around the built-in quality control.

I hate to sound negative - in fact, I loathe it - but lately I have been hearing from a lot of aspiring writers who seem to feel that they are entitled to representation. Unfortunately, they lack the perspective of one who does read repped and sold work and, well, aspiring writers often overestimate the quality of their writing. There's only one real litmus test: not if your friends like the script, not if your writing group likes the script, but if a real, working entertainment professional does. It only takes one "yes," right? But if all you are getting is "no" then it's not Hollywood, it's you. Which is a very bitter pill to swallow. Well, wait, you say - that doesn't make sense - if it only takes one "yes" then I'll just keep at it until I find that "yes" like a needle in a haystack! I'll be that story! That story of determination! Everybody said no until I found this ONE rep who believed in me!

It's about calculating odds. Every "no" makes that "yes" a rarer thing. Okay, you're at the prom in your pretty dress. Nobody has asked you to dance. Not one person. It's not YOU, it's THEM, they are a bunch of jerks. How long do you stand there feeling totally rejected before you take a look down at the dress and notice that it's got a punch stain on it and a tear in the hem? Ohhhhhh. It is you. I mean, hey, you might find that ONE dude who doesn't mind a punch stain and a torn hem - but is that the dude you want to dance with? Okay in a romantic comedy, sure, that's probably the guy for you because he looks past appearances. But in Hollywood, you want a rep who LOVES your work so much that he or she is willing to bank a career on it. And on a dance floor full of pretty girls, the bar is pretty high. Don't underestimate that, Frustrated. There are a lot of great, repped writers out there. Hollywood is full of them. So as the new girl on the dance floor, you have to compete with that. So you can stand there with your torn hem and punch stain and wait for just the right guy, the guy with lower standards, or you can go home, clean up that dress and come back to the dance ready to lay down some moves.

Remember, it's not how many "nos" you get, it's how you then restrategize and handle that. For now, you are your own business manager. X tactic is not working. Okay, so what is needed, here? Maybe you are four more completed scripts away from really nailing it and telling a great story in an engaging way. Maybe you are one script away from that. Maybe the script you are querying just isn't going to go anywhere, ever. Sooner or later, you must take honest stock of the situation.

Yes there are production companies that will read unsolicited, unrepped work. And I don't mean to cast aspersions on them; there are new, small prodcos really casting wide for material and they are eager and able to wade through the stacks. Just do your homework and find out who they are. Get an HCD and get on the phone.

But you lead off your question by saying it's hard to get rep, which makes me wonder if you're ready for rep - and if you're not - chances are you're probably also not ready to be sold - to anyone. Take a look at your material - is it really competitive in this market? It's hard to know the truth of that and the only barometer is the reaction you get out on the dance floor, as flawed as that system may be - it's the only real measure.

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Catching Up With Hilary Graham

Good morning, Wavers! The other day, Margaux Froley interviewed Hilary Graham, last year's Silver Screenwriting Grand Prize winner, to find out what she's up to almost one year later. Sounds like she's been pretty busy. But don't take my word for it, let's hear from Hilary:

Hilary, it's been six months since your Grand Prize trip to Los Angeles. How has your approach to your career shifted since then?

Well, being a writer from New Hampshire, I think it’s critical to go to LA every few months and get an infusion of that energy. Plus, it gives me an excuse to wear lipstick. There’s a line from ALMOST FAMOUS that Kate Hudson and her friends keep repeating throughout the film: "It’s all happening..." I feel like that when I’m in LA, and it’s a great motivating factor. One thing I left LA with was that I should never miss an opportunity to pitch my "take" on a project. When I got home I had three novels given to me by producers, three magazine articles, and three "concepts." I pitched my take on all of them. Yes, it was a lot of hard work, but now two of those things are percolating...

What have you been working on since?

Since October I have written two treatments, four chapters of a novel, finished a first draft of my latest spec script and developed pitches for the aforementioned novels/articles/ideas. Some of these things were better than others. ;)

You recently sold your first project...tell us about that. From coming up with the idea to check in hand.

While I was in LA, I was a busy, busy lady. You - The Script Department - set me up with a bunch of meetings, and so did my manager - Seth Jaret of Jaret Entertainment. They were general meetings, but sometimes I did pitch a few of my new ideas (I had three "polished" pitches). At one of the meetings, I did my three pitches, and one of them led to a request to see a treatment. So, I went home and quickly wrote said treatment, and now that production company is paying me to write that spec.

It sounds like you have been incredibly productive. Is this normally how fast you write or has a taste of Hollywood gotten to you?

I am by nature a hard worker, and I know that you need to work hard to get ahead in this business because everyone is hungry. I write five days a week, 9:00 – 2:00, and often for a couple hours in the evening and on weekends.

Are there any lingering lessons you are still benefiting from since your LA trip and your meetings with other working screenwriters and producers?

My two biggest lessons are to not be too hard on myself and to try not to jump to conclusions. One of the worst meetings I had (which was actually a post-LA phone call with the agent of an A-list director) was bad. Embarrassingly bad. But the production company that set up the call is now paying me to write my spec, so it just goes to show you. Also, I pitched one producer a take that he didn’t really respond to back in November, and recently, out of the blue, he called up to tell me that he changed his mind and we’re working together on a treatment.


Any advice for aspiring screenwriters?

Write as much as you can. You get better as you go.

Also, any sense about what the market is like in Hollywood for new writers breaking in?

God, I don’t really know. But I try to remain naively optimistic. I always think there’s space for fresh new voices and original ideas.

How has your representation helped you manage your blossoming career?

My manager rocks. He has access to all of the gatekeepers in Hollywood and he has relationships with these people. Plus, he has an amazing critical eye for my work, which really helps me strengthen and improve my writing. And of course, he is one of my greatest cheerleaders.

Would you encourage other writers to enter the Silver Screenwriting Competition?

I encourage every aspiring screenwriter to enter the Silver Screenwriting Competition. You WANT to win this prize. The cash was nice, sure, but that was only part of the real prize. To me, the trip to LA was really what it’s all about. Not only did they set me up in a cool little trendy hotel, but the Script Department put so much energy into making sure I was living the life of a Hollywood screenwriter — from arranging meetings to taking me to lunch at the Paramount commissary to taking me for drinks at the chi-chi Château Marmont.

At night, the Script Department set me up with drinks and dinner with three different major screenwriters: Blake Snyder (author of the SAVE THE CAT screenwriting series), Steve Faber (WEDDING CRASHERS), and David Arata (CHILDREN OF MEN). The words of wisdom offered by these experienced and talented people was just invaluable. Nothing beats having a mini-mentorship with an Academy Award nominee over some Pinot Grigio. Blake, Steve, and David each were happy to share their unique perspectives on and experiences in the business of screenwriting, giving me sage advice, and most of all encouragement. Well, Steve Faber also gave me slight heart palpitations, but in a good way. The man is a force of nature.

By day, the Script Department arranged meetings with producers, making me more than just a name on a cover page, and providing me the beginnings of a working relationship with people from a slew of well-respected production companies. And we all know how essential relationships are to this business (especially for a writer who lives on the east coast).

Since my trip, the ongoing creative support from The Script Department has been amazing. Before I won the 2008 Silver Screenwriting Contest, I used to feel like I didn’t really have a writing community, that I had no one to bounce ideas off of. Now, I have The Script Department — a team of talented, insightful WRITERS who actually have a stake in helping me achieve success and are committed to shepherding me in every aspect of this business. Talk about priceless! Clearly, this is more than just your average screenwriting contest. Enter it. Hell, enter it twice.

What's next for you?

Taking a shower. It’s almost noon and I’m still in my PJs. After that — world domination.

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Competition Criteria

Dear Rouge Wave:

Love your blog, it's a raft of rationality, creativity, and intelligence amidst a sea of screenwriting blather...

But I'm not sure if the screenwriting contest is worth entering.

Because the finalists and winners in these contest are virtually never commercially viable.

I know there are (rare) exceptions, but the scripts that do well almost always seem to be "small" family dramas, period pieces about obscure historical figures, and quirky indie dramas.
None of which will have CAA or the major studios knocking at my door.

So, my question is...Will your contest be any different? More specifically, will marketplace viability be an important criterion?

-Skeptical in Saskatoon


Dear Skeptical:

Not sure if you read the interview just a couple of days ago with Brian Schornak of Back Lot Productions. SUNSHINE CLEANING - a very quirky indie - won a competition, was produced and had a wide release. So quirky indie scripts can do very well.

The criteria for judging scripts at the Silver Screenwriting Competition are simple: We are looking for talented writers with unique voices, entertaining and original scripts executed beautifully. Ergo, a potential career that lies ahead. That is why the prize, outside of some fun things like an iPhone and MacBook Air, is a trip to LA to meet with managers and an A-list writer.

Competition-winning scripts that meet those criteria will absolutely have CAA or ICM knocking on your door. Voice and talent are the holy grail, my friend. When you say commercially viable, I'm not sure what you really mean - over and over again we see funky scripts (JUNO, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and SUNSHINE CLEANING, to name a few) that were totally commercially viable. If we got a big action thriller at the Silver Screenwriting Competition that met the criteria I mentioned a moment ago, it would climb up the ladder very quickly and yes, would be even more attractive than a quirky drama - to some buyers. But any script that has won a competition is something that attracts agents and managers because, as Brian said in his interview, this is an automatic sorting system. Of thousands of scripts submitted, this writer has proven that he or she is in the top 1% in originality, execution and voice - regardless of the genre or "commercial viability."

If there's one thing I know for sure about Hollywood, it's that agents, managers and producers are always looking for fresh, new writers. That I can say for a fact. New writers with new voices and unique stories are HOT. Everybody wants to say they discovered you.

But screenwriting is not a sprint, it is a marathon. If you enter a competition and win (or at least place in the top five), you have just been anointed, validated and confirmed with talent. You have a script that can get you the attention you need to get meetings and get noticed. If your criteria for entering a competition is that the script should then get you immediately repped and sold - well, you might be thinking in sprint mentality. The point is to build a fan base and to get out there and noticed as a promising writer. There is no silver bullet. You still have to have the goods - ongoing.

And there's so much at play. If you go through the list of writers who have won competitions for the past five years say, and researched each one and found out which one subsequently sold that script or subsequently sold a script or subsequently was repped without selling any script and is getting open assignment work, you'd probably see a relatively small number. Why? Because now we come into some variables: Did the writer make the good decisions necessary to leverage that win into meetings? Did that writer have a body of work to back up that win? Did or does the writer live in Los Angeles and get out there to meetings? Did the writer follow up the winning script with another, even better script?

There are a lot of variables; and, like a lunar eclipse, things have to line up just so for a win to really get the writer the traction they need to build a career.

Let me say it again: There is NO silver bullet, quick fix or easy way in. A competition win is hugely validating and energizing. But it now gives the writer a new set of challenges. Can you leverage the win? Can you write something that great again? And again? Can you get into meetings and be good in a room?

Winning a competition is a great way to get your foot in the door and then kick some serious ass. It elevates you from the teeming masses - and they are teeming - make no mistake. But you're the one who has to do the ass kicking. Is there more great writing where that came from?

Winning a competition means you have just arrived at a whole new base camp as you continue to climb this mountain. But nobody but you can affect those other variables of more good scripts to back up your win and potential career. Nobody but you can be good in a room. Nobody but you can have other great ideas on deck.

Saying that competition-winning scripts are quirky, small and not "commercially viable" is definitely an inaccurate generalization. Writers who look askance at competitions with that as their reasoning are, in my view, copping out. There's no free lunch. If you have the chops to win a competition, you have to be responsible to use that experience to move on up from there. Let me say this loud and clear: Good writing is good writing. And the cream always rises to the top.

At The Silver Screenwriting Competition our goal is to reward the winning screenwriter with an opportunity to do just that. Move on up. Come on out, meet some influential people, create relationships and pitch your heart out. In addition, we follow up with all of the winning writers - where's your rewrite? How are you spending your time? Have you sent thank you notes? What are you writing now? We don't give you your prizes and walk away - we are an integral part of paving a path for you. But you have to have the goods to walk that path. And by goods I mean chops, determination, good strategic decision making and more great ideas and scripts in your old kit bag.

Whether you choose to enter The Silver Screenwriting Competition or any other competition is up to you. Is it worth it a shot? Is it worth the possibility of setting up a whole new base camp, one much closer to the peak? To me the answer is self-evident.

The deadline for the Silver Screenwriting Competition is coming up fast, by the way. May 1. So if you'd like to have a shot at taking your nascent career and turning into a real one, polish up your draft and submit ASAP.

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Failing Upward: Writing Group Blues

Dear Rouge Wave:

I recently joined a writing group here in NYC. It was a labor intensive application process - essays, writing samples, personal interview, audit session. I had some questions re: the leader in terms of his personality and how we would work together but I put them aside and went to the audit session. The other members were very nice and gave me some valuable feedback on my script. So, my problem is this: When I read their scripts, I was not impressed - at all. Now, I know I am a newbie and have a TON to learn but it was pretty clear to me that they need to learn even more. Without patting myself on the back too hard, it just seems like I am at a more advanced stage than they are and so, I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to continue. I'm kind of thinking about it like my tennis game - when I play people who are worse than me, I typically play to their level...and vice versa - if my opponent is better than me, I play better. I know I only improve my game when I play people better than me, not when I play someone worse. Do you think this applies to screenwriting? Can I really only get better by having more advanced, knowledgeable writers critique my work? So...what do you think? Is it worth it to make the effort and join the group? Oh, I should also mention that I now know for a fact that the leader will drive me nuts (controlling, arrogant, condescending), though I did like everyone else. This is my first experience with a writing group. Help!!

-Annoyed in Annapolis

Dear Annoyed:

I can see where the audition to even get IN this writing group would be a bit, well, annoying. On the other hand, you have to give this group kudos for being very careful about who they admit to the group. You say that you are not impressed and that it's clear many members of this group still have a lot to learn: Do you mean that in terms of basic craft and execution? And if so - what percentage of the group is literally writing bad pages? By bad pages I mean too much black, clumsy action lines, two-dimensional characters and wooden dialogue. Or do you mean to say that you weren't impressed because you didn't think the scripts you read were commercially viable without theme or universality?

Well - in any event, there are two ways to look at this:

Get Out Now
If you're already annoyed and having doubts, if your attitude (fair or not) is that you are a much better writer - get out and get out now. If nothing else, your attitude about this is going to poison what you contribute to this group and certainly what you'll get out of it.

Chillax, Man
A writing group really does have room in it for all sorts of skill sets. That said, it depends on how advanced you really are. You are a self-admitted newbie so we're not talking about plunking John August into this group, right? Measure the distance between yourself and your fellow group members and ask - is the distance such that I can still get valuable, insightful and intelligent feedback? And is it such that I can give valuable, insightful and intelligent feedback as well? Or will you spend time nicely explaining why the 15 page flashback (suspiciously similar to a scene in THE DARK KNIGHT) is probably not a good idea to a high school senior from Poughkeepsie? Unless the distance between you and the rest of the group is that vast, you probably have more to learn and to gain from your fellow group members than you think.

Here's what is a big drag to have in a writing group:

The Whiners: spend their allotted time complaining about how they couldn't write this week and they have to get a root canal. Or they whine about the story and how hard it is and how unfair Hollywood is.

The Long Talkers: take their turn and then 3/4 of someone else's. They are self-centered and go on for miles about the backstory of their main character and how Mamet-like their dialogue is. They bore everybody else and they do not hear comments as much as use them for mulch and a jumping off point for their next rant. When they DO give comments on your work, they go on and on til even you are bored.

The Takers: show up late and leave early. They don't attend every week. When they do, they're all about THEM. They pretend to listen to your pages and your questions but they don't care and it shows. Ambition drives them, but a self-centered attitude guarantees that if the apocalypse came during writing group, they would be the first out the door.

The Know-it-Alls: Their comments are brusque and opinionated. They don't ask questions of your material, they make statements and give directives. They leave you feeling confused and annoyed and attacked.

The Emotional Tinderbox: cries at group a lot. Always has personal drama. Takes up time talking about break-up with boyfriend and how writing sucks and Hollywood is unfair. Will seize upon something in your script, even positively, and will gush over it to an embarrassing degree.

In my opinion, Annoyed, a good writing group should have one, underlying mission statement and that is to support one another with positive feedback, thoughtful criticism and intelligent conversation, no matter where each writer is on the curve. Even a very new, not very good writer can give some great feedback. You seem to want to know what's in it for you. But you need to be thinking also about what you can bring to the table for the others. Don't be so quick to judge; you might be surprised.

That said - if your gut tells you this really isn't going to be a fit in terms of the group leader's personality (I find that alone slightly odd; writing groups I have been a member of have been fairly egalitarian) and you feel strongly that the other writers are ALL at the very beginning of the learning curve, get out while you're ahead.

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Can Winning a Competition Make a Difference?

Today The Script Department's very own Margaux Froley interviews a development exec about competition winning scripts, the spec market and what you can expect from a meeting. Enjoy.

***

I'm always curious about the perspective of other industry friends, especially those who have come up the demanding ladder of the development world. I recently discussed the current state of the industry with Brian Schornak, VP of Production at Back Lot Pictures. I consider Brian's taste in scripts to be impeccable, meaning he understands a writer's voice and has a terrific ability to help shepherd classy, yet quirky, films. He was involved with the recent successful film, SUNSHINE CLEANING.

For those of you who don't know this fun fact, the script of SUNSHINE CLEANING was discovered in a script contest by the company Brian works for. Brian was also one of the producers who met with the winner of the 2008 Silver Screenwriting Contest, so he's no stranger to seeing screenwriters blossom from contests.


Q: You've seen writers get discovered by contests before, including meeting with last year's Silver Screenwriting Grand Prize winner, Hilary Graham.What common elements are you seeing in the scripts that get plucked from these contests?

Generally, the writer has an interesting, distinctive voice and tells a story that really grabs the reader's attention. Not necessarily the most commercial, sellable story - it's more about establishing the writer as someone to work with and to watch grow. The winning script might turn into a hit spec sale but that's not the be-all and end-all. Some of the specific writing mechanics, like structure, might be imperfect - but those things can always be fixed with development.

Q: So a script wins a contest. Great. Now what? When you meet with the winning writer, what are you expecting them to bring to the table?

I like writers who come equipped with a bunch of ideas - fleshed-out or not - that will give me a sense of the type of screenwriting career that they want to pursue. I also love to talk about movies and get a sense of their general taste. All of this helps me when I'm looking to develop original material or fill writing assignments. Honestly, personality goes a long way, since being "good in a room" is key to landing paying writing jobs. You don't have to be the nicest or funniest person I've ever met, but I take a lot of meetings, so a great conversationalist with intuitive people skills will stick out in my mind long after we've parted ways.

Q: Can a writer really launch a career from a contest?

Absolutely. As a first-hand example, Megan Holley wrote SUNSHINE CLEANING, which was a fantastic script, and submitted it to the Virginia Governor's Screenwriting Competition back in 2003. Our company happened to be involved in the judging process because my boss Glenn Williamson is an alumnus of UVA. She won the competition, we made the movie, and now she's much sought-after all over town. It's been a great experience.

Many other contests - Nicholl in particular, have turned out viable writers, and I think that producers and literary reps alike are looking more closely at contest winners these days. The town is very competitive in terms of finding the next hot writer and the competitions are a great sorting mechanism.

Q: Among the "industry" crowd, how quickly do prize-winning writers get noticed? More by managers than agents?

It depends on the size and reputability of the contest, but in some cases there's a mad dash to obtain and read the winning scripts. Managers might be more inclined to sign writers who have a lot of potential but need some development, whereas agents are more likely to come aboard once a sale seems possible. But that's not always true.

Q: How does building and maintaining a relationship with a production company help a new writer with his/her career?

Writers are always welcome to check in periodically with the execs they had good meetings with (sometimes you just don't feel much of a connection, and that's okay, there are plenty of places to do business). Execs are always putting together lists of projects for paid writing assignments and for internal development projects, so it's good to maintain visibility.

Q: What's the spec market like right now?

The spec market waxes and wanes. Right now it's waning, as for economic reasons studios are cutting back on their development and production slates, so there's less incentive to buy new projects. As a result, production companies are more likely to package scripts with a director or a star before going out to buyers. The movie business, although largely tied to corporate conglomerates, does seem to be fairly recession-proof thus far, so I imagine and hope there will be more activity in the near future.

Brian has also already volunteered to again meet with this year's Grand Prize winner of the Silver Screenwriting Competition. He could be discussing your script with you by October! Hmm...what to wear? Click here to SUBMIT. Deadline: May 1st.

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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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Quitting When You're Ahead

Sorry Wavers, but you are weird. So am I. Creatives are just strange. The way we think, our emotionality, the way we are always observing other people. The way we are always thinking about our writing and our stories. You gotta have some empathy for our family and friends who don't get it. I mean, seriously, we must be tough to be around sometimes.

One of the weirdest things about us is how our brains work when we are in the zone. I've been working almost every single afternoon lately with my raconteur, Mr. Perri, on figuring out the loglines for several script ideas and the beats for a particular script. Particularly when you are brainstorming with another person, you notice the way the creative energy ebbs and flows. I've noticed, for Perri and me, that we can brainstorm for about three hours before suddenly, the creative plug gets pulled. The room feels too hot. Our conversation slows. We get stuck on one particular point. We start circling and circling the same point. We can't bust out. We suddenly feel overwhelmed and...tired of thinking. Which is when we pull the plug for that day. Enough. We look at what we DID accomplish and we call it a day. I am of the opinion and the experience that you just can't push it.

So what do we do? We have to make regular writing/brainstorming/outlining time in our day to day, we know that, right? But we also have to know when it's enough for that day. Because pushing it beyond the limits of having fun kills creativity. You'll start to generate bad ideas, you'll start to mess up what you had done with your story.

So make sure you quit when you're ahead, Wavers. For whatever reason, Creativity Fatigue kicks in at some point and you have to recognize it and be okay with walking away from it for that day. I'm always talking about balance in our lives, right? You don't have to crack your story or an aspect of it on a particular day. Don't forget that as much as we need Behind in the Chair time, we also need Subconscious Mulling Time.

Most of us creatives - and I include musicians, poets, writers and artists in that - get ideas and breakthroughs and inspirations when we aren't even trying. We have to be still to let it in sometimes.

Flannery O'Connor, who wrote my absolute, hands-down favorite short story of all time "Revelation" (seriously, please check it out) once said, and I am paraphrasing, that every day she'd put a blank piece of paper in her typewriter and just sit for four hours. That way if a good idea did come, she wouldn't miss it. Flannery did pretty well with that methodology.

So that's the Behind-in-Chair discipline, which is SO important. But we also need to honor the Wait-and-it-Will-Come method. Our brains are so endlessly complex and fascinating. Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink is a great read if you are interested in the topic. In fact, the rest of the title of that book is "The Power of Thinking Without Thinking."

So if you're writing and you suddenly feel the walls closing in, if your ideas are drying up, if you're not having fun anymore - walk away. Go do something else. Just put your behind in that chair again tomorrow and trust that in between, your brain really is still working out the problem. It will save you the awful feeling of Creative Fatigue, it could save your script from some really bad decisions and hey - how many other people in life get to walk away from the work and know the brain will still figure it out? It's pretty cool.

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Theme Schmeme

So a group of Rouge Wavers who are students at the UCLA screenwriting program collectively wrote in and asked me to address the topic of theme.

But listen. Theme is for suckers. Don't worry about it and don't bother. Your story just does not need to have a subtextual or deeper meaning beyond what is going on in the plot. Audiences don't care to be touched or moved in a deeper way than right on the surface. They don't pay to see a movie in order to then have to think, feel and experience the story in a primal way. And they certainly get plenty of satisfaction with themes like "love conquers all" - I mean, that's really engaging stuff for anybody. And if your "theme" - should you choose to be all namby-pamby and have one - is something like "blood is thicker than water" or "you have to earn trust" or "being responsible is a good way to live" I guarantee you that whoever reads your script is going to just really, really connect with that message. It will be so different from any other script they've ever read because the specificity of that - I mean, "responsibility" as a concept, that's just so... maaaan that's just not been done before. No sirree. Rest assured.

So if you feel overwhelmed by the concept of theme, you're just wasting your time, man. It ain't no thang. Just dance your interesting characters through a story for the sake of it and don't worry about what the story means, at the end of the day. Don't worry about giving audiences something to mull over or discuss or have a revelation about. Theme is only for babies who want more out of a movie than fleeting entertainment. It's for people who want their entertainment to be "meaningful" and speak to "humanity" with "universal themes." Can you believe these jokers? Unreal. You'd think that for 12 to 14 bucks a pop, they'd be happy just to sit there and watch whatever is on the screen - a bunch of moving images and plot and explosions. C'mon.

Theme is what intellectual, sensitive writers with no clue sit around and freak out about. What is this story really about? What is WALL-E really about? Oh come on, it's easy, Wall-E is about a lonely robot. Period. That's why it did so well. And THE DARK KNIGHT is just about how Batman battles with crime and the Joker. And the Joker is just the Joker and seriously - why does everything have to mean more than that? NETWORK? Um, angry anchorman goes nuts. JAWS? Battling a big shark. STAR WARS? AMERICAN BEAUTY? LETHAL WEAPON? There are no themes there! That's just good story telling. There is nothing more to observe or discuss when the movie is over. Am I right? I don't know what this world is coming to sometimes.

Oh and get this - there is this crazy cabal of writers, dramatists and teachers who think that "theme" should be present in every character, on every page and in every set piece of your script. So that if your "theme" is related, say, to an entertaining question and therefore is something ridiculous like "what makes us human?" then your script is really like a conversation about that. So then every set piece should have "what is it to be human" in the set piece some way somehow.

So if you actually followed this crazy idea of layering universal theme into your story, you'd actually then have to know what your theme is, know that it is the root of your story and know that the plot just services exploring that theme. Crazy. Total pain in the behind.

So as one example, say you were making a decision about what job your main character had, in a story with this "what it means to be human" theme - so you'd probably want to then make your main character's job dressing mannequins or painting portraits or teaching history - see how each of those could fall into the theme of what it means to be human? So all of your story decisions and details would all be under the umbrella of the theme. Some total nut jobs even name their characters in ways that allude to the theme.

Writers who identify and articulate a complex and yet universal theme, who really know, foundationally, why they wanted to tell this story, they weave that theme into every single page. The theme is a conversation between every character and situation in your script and the audience. Are man-friends important? Why is so hard for men to have emotionally intimate relationships with other men? Do buddy/friendships come between a new couple? So every conversation, every detail, every character and character's job and ancillary characters - everything drops into the funnel of what the theme is. In different permutations. What is your theme? If it's a sappy Hallmark card generalism that's okay. Just dig deeper. Try harder. Get to the slightly more specific, interesting part. Write that theme down on a post-it. Stick it on your computer. And explore that theme in every way possible in your script. The theme is the North Star and the script is a ship sailing under its guidance.

What a buncha hokum, huh? Theme schmeme - who needs it? Theme is for eggheads and intellectuals. Theme is too hard for you to figure out. Theme is something you need to buy 12 screenwriting books to understand.

Phooey. Theme is the fundamental topic of your story. It's what drew you to wanting to write the story in the first place. It's not the purview of intellectuals, it's not rocket science, it's what your script is actually about. You just need to work out what your theme is and articulate it and then every page, every scene, every bit of dialogue you write ask yourself, is the theme present on this page, like invisible ink?

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Office Space

Sorry for my absence yesterday, Wavers. Remember a week or three ago, I wrote about writing in cafes and the need to get out of the house? Well, yesterday I moved into my very own office! Actually, it's better than my very own; it adjoins the sunny and spacious office of my friend and creative partner - not to mention wildly funny raconteur and new media producer - Michael Perri.

Working at home has been a privilege and a convenience but my business(es) have outgrown that setup, and we had to get something more official. The best part is that my office is on a working studio lot! I say working as a descriptor because it's on one of the oldest lots in Hollywood and has a historic site status. The studio opened in 1920 as Hampton Studios and was later the site of United Artists, with Douglass Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin as its principals. Howard Hughes had an office there when RKO rented space there. Currently, True Blood is shot there and Allan Ball's offices are there as well as Sacha Baron Cohen's, Fuse Entertainment's, Egg Pictures', Heroes and Villains' and many, many more.

The funny thing is that while it is indeed a mini-studio lot (I think there are about five sound stages) similar in size to Prospect Studios, it really is pretty old and funky. There are about three large bungalows with office space rented out to some of the tenants I mentioned and many, many more. But I have also seen an acupuncturist's office and a photographer and several post-production companies. Apparently you don't want your office next to one of those - it's loud. The Lot is pet friendly; I have seen a few canines wandering the halls. The commissary is gorgeous and probably a little expensive judging by the look of the food there.

So yesterday I moved in and today I move in more. Of course, you have to make your office fun, right? It has to look like an entertainment office! Turns out I have plenty of cool and comfy furniture to go in it, and my partner Margaux is donating her Italian language TO CATCH A THIEF poster. The Script Department definitely took up some square footage in my life and now, car-load by car-load, that will be moved over to the Lot. Mike and I work together almost every afternoon on our creative pursuits, so now we'll just open the door, create the suite and get to work. In fact, we've been doing quite a bit of brainstorming the past few weeks and have quickly used up every single white board in his office - so much so that we can't even clean them off well anymore. We're told you can get white board material at home improvement stores and buy it by the foot. We'll probably wind up doing that. Or, I'd love one of those giant chalkboards like at school that flip - there's two sides and they are freestanding. If anybody knows where I can get one of those, I'd love it.

So that's the news of the week, Wavers. I shall be back with some really great interviews coming up on The Rouge Wave, some golden oldies and some fresh new thoughts for your reading/learning and procrastinating pleasure.

Say - is anyone writing this week? Can we all check in on that? What is everybody up to?

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What Reality TV Can Teach Us

So American Idol, the pop culture phenomenon, has been on television for how long now? I have no idea because I'd never seen even one episode. Shocking, right? I've been a real Luddite. Until this season. (No offense, Luds).

I don't know what made me do it. Curiosity? Luddite shame? Whatever the reason, I got hooked. And my embarrassment over that is matched only by my frustration because apparently everyone else is over it so I have nobody to commiserate with.

So - setting aside the uncomfortable feeling of getting hooked on a reality tv show judged by a singer/choreographer from the 80s who appears to be on painkillers, a constipated Brit with serious emotional issues, some new girl I do not recognize in any context and a black guy who used to be in Journey (is that right?) and who uses the word dog - or is it "dawg" so much that if I were King Herod I would have cut off his tongue by now - so setting that all aside, I have found some interesting parallels between American Idol and aspiring screenwriters.

The very early, cattle call rounds of American Idol, the ones that take place in cities all over the US, are the most obvious, painful comparison to aspiring screenwriters. Literally thousands of singers line up to audition. Thousands. I was amazed at how many people are just SURE they can sing - when they cannot. They get up there at that audition and they just sing their hearts out because they love it and they feel it and they want it but oh lord. Just oh lord. Not so much. Why, I thought to myself, does everybody think they can sing well enough to be a paid performer just because they love doing it? Why are Americans so deluded and entitled? I love singing. I sing fairly well. But not anywhere close by a country mile to the way I'd have to in order to make that a career. I also love sailboats. But I am not a sailor. People get into tragic accidents when they think they can do something that they really cannot. My uncle Malcolm enjoyed wine, thought he was a vintner and a tragic occurrence at the Owl Creek wine press came to pass.

How often have you heard people say - I love to write. I'd love to be a writer. I'm gonna write a novel one day. People love my writing. Whoops, there it goes again - entitlement and a disrespect for the craft of writing. I think that's what gets me. As if writing is just easy. You just write down words. As if singing is easy, you just sing stuff. As if making wine is easy, you just smash stuff.

Rest in peace, uncle Malcolm. But I digress.

A few episodes of American Idol later, after the absolute jokers have been weeded out, we get to the singers who can actually sing but they begin to be tested by stress and demands. Yes they can sing but can they sing country music? Or a Michael Jackson cover? What kind of range do they have? Can they perform on stage? Do they have an identifiable persona (in writing world: voice). And now we begin to weed out even more contestants. And then things just begin to get completely subjective. Is the hippy-baby-mama contestant with the long blonde hair and the full sleeve tattoo cute and inspiring - or annoying? Is the emo kid with the eyeliner fresh and relevant or a good singer leaning on a tired shtick?

So we return to writers. And you know, Wavers, I have a unique bird's eye view of this, being that my business is patronized by a very wide range of writers - everyone from the complete beginners to the repped and solds. Over the past few years, I have noticed definite types and trends when it comes to completely new, beginner writers. I see realism, humility and maturity - but more often, I see a complete disconnect between the reality and the dream. Bad, derivative ideas wrapped up in hubris and laziness. Get rich quick types, in other words, who figure because they liked HELLBOY or LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, they will just play a little Hollywood Powerball and get rich quick.

But just like American Idol, the writers who can't really write get sorted out rather quickly and rather brutally. I would say the average aspiring screenwriter goes about two years before he or she runs out of enthusiasm for screenwriting. After hundreds of dollars spent on software and books, after countless late night hours spent arguing on bitter, blind-leading-the-blind screenwriting message boards about whether an agent or manager is better or why this or that spec sold when THEIR spec is so much more brilliant, after three half-finished scripts, a pilot and 28 unanswered queries, they realize they just don't have the patience - or the talent - for it.

Because they got caught up in the entitled, Powerball thinking. Buy the software, buy all the books, eat, think, dream and love movies, and you will make tons of money in a couple or three years. No such, Wavers. Just no such. You need talent. And there's no way to candy-coat that fact.

It's not a sprint, it's a marathon. And absolutely not everybody trying to write and sell a script is going to actually make it. In fact, over 90% of you will never be repped or sold. Does that fact make you want to quit? Then you should quit. But what if you do have the patience? What if you are that person in line for an American Idol try-out in Baton Rouge or some far-flung place but what if you actually can chug along through every single challenge and what if you DO have a voice and a story to tell that America will love? That's the allure, isn't it? What if?

If you really do think so - slow it down a little. You don't have to buy every single book on the topic. Just a few select books will do. What you really must be doing is writing every day. And - and nobody wants to hear this one for some reason - you need to read. A lot. And no, I don't mean other scripts. That's a given - I mean, you need to be reading books (fiction and non-, new and old), the newspaper and periodicals. You need to be reading not only news but editorial content. You need to be reading good writing. What on earth does that have to do with screenwriting?

Look, for once and for all, screenwriting does not exist in a bubble. Screenwriting is only ONE kind of writing. If you don't spend time reading and appreciating - much less writing - other forms, you will be a 90-pound weakling out here in Hollywood. I cannot tell you how different the reality has been for me in the way Hollywood "types" are perceived and how they really are. To a one, every agent, manager and development exec I have ever met or talked to (and I will also include every writer I know who has either made it or is on the cusp of making it) is intelligent, articulate, omniverously curious and very, very well read. Are you?

My daughter enjoys watching America's Next Top Model and of course, when you have any excuse to spend time with your teenager, you do it because god knows when that door will be open again - so I watch it with her. And we have noticed a trend - in the early rounds, the girls who are very pretty in an obvious, easy way are always over-confident and they never make it far. Because they're pretty, they don't have to work all that hard. And they are consistently found bingeing on a big slice of humble pie.

Why do we Americans increasingly think that things should come to us easily? Why do we think that we can obtain talent in the same way we obtained our Pottery Barn leather furniture and credit card debt? Not everyone can do everything well. Writing might be your passion - but it might not be your true talent. I love to sing; it makes me happy. But I don't put myself on the same planet as those who do it for money.

So where do you fall in the scheme of things, Wavers? So you think you can write, huh? But can you? Can you really? Do you have what it takes to be on top? Can you handle the long journey? Can you adapt? Can you handle brutal rejection? Can you write more than one type of thing? Can you read, synthesize and discuss current thought, literature, history and opinion? In other words, do you see yourself as part of a tradition of writing or as a standout exception - the one thoroughbred on the track who is going to break all the rules, run one lap and win the roses with very little effort? Nobody would ever admit to harboring that delusion and yet many do.

Now get back to work.

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Industry News Update

All righty, Wavers. I've removed the voting for the short scenes as it had petered out in a cloud of our-voting-system-sucks. Congratulations to Emily, who truly did write a very worthy short scene. I will find a better way to sort out the voting in the future.

Moving on. Here is some industry news updates for this week ending March 20th, 2009:

In Development

Blacklight
Feature
Fox Atomic, Zombie Studios, Union Entertainment
P: Richard Leibowitz
W: Jason Dean Hall
Sci-fi actioner set 25 years in the future, about an elite covert ops team sent after a rogue American CIA colonel. Project will be developed simultaneously as a feature film, video game and comic book.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice
Feature
Walt Disney Pictures, Gunn Films
P: Andrew Gunn
W: Barry Blaustein, Jason Hefter
Family comedy in which a teenage couple planning to run away together is magically transported 20 years into the future, only to discover that their lives did not exactly turn out as envisioned.

Doing Da Vinci
TV pilot; ordered to series
Discovery Channel, Pilgrim Films & TV
EP: Craig Piligian, Rob Katz, Tim Pastore
Reality show in which teams try to rebuild Leonardo da Vinci's inventions using materials from that time period.

A Ribbon of Dreams
Miniseries
HBO, Chase Films
EP: David Chase, Brad Grey
W: David Chase
Epic miniseries following two disparate men who team up to help pioneer the burgeoning movie industry through the early 20th century.

Hot Properties

The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist
Feature
Paramount Pictures, Bad Robot, Circle of Confusion
Based on the article "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist" written by Joshua Davis and published in the April 2009 issue of Wired. J.J. Abrams produces.

This Week in Production

Howl
start - 3/16/2009
James Franco and David Strathairn star in the story of the 1957 obscenity trial launched to censor Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," the groundbreaking poem of the Beat Generation.

You May Not Kiss the Bride

start- 3/16/2009 Romantic comedy starring Katharine McPhee and Mena Suvari about a pet photographer who gets mixed up with a foreign mobster and his daughter in need of American citizenship.

Unstable
wrap - 3/14/2009
Lifetime TV movie about a woman who questions her sanity when strange events occur, after meeting her soulmate. Shiri Appleby stars.

U.S. Attorney

start - 3/18/09

CBS legal drama pilot set among the federal prosecutors in Manhattan's U.S. Attorney's office. Jason Clarke and Melissa George to star.

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