Are you a worried about having your screenplay idea stolen? So worried that you are scared to send your script to a screenwriting agency in case they take your screenplay and sell it without giving you a dime? If you are, don’t worry you’re not alone. And here’s the good news, this isn’t something you need to worry about. Why? …
Five Tips To Sell Your Script
I was catching up with one of my screenwriter friends the other day and she was talking about a new script that she’s working on. Well, as our conversation progressed my friend got round to talking about selling her script, so I though this might be a nice chance to talk about some of the most important things to consider …
A Tribute to Elmore Leonard (the master of dialogue)
Just two days ago world renowned crime writer Elmore Leonard passed away. It’s a sad day for those of us who loved his work and a sad day for the entertainment industry as a whole. Elmore Leonard started out writing Westerns and transitioned into crime, becoming one of the great crime writers of the century. Elmore Leonard was a prolific …
Kevin Spacey on the Rise of Television
Here’s an interesting BBC article about the demand for stories on television. The message (from Kevin Spacey) is this: television has replaced books, where consumers would read for hours on end. Now consumers want to watch for hours on end. There is no better time to go into screenwriting as the medium is going to open up even more than …
How To Format Your Screenplay
I’m not going to give you a step-by-step guide on how to indent, capitalize and parenthesize your screenplay. There is already a ton of information out there on the internet that can show you how to do this. Instead, I’m going to write about the little things you can do to improve your screenplay and help you pick up good …
The Evolution Of The Hollywood Screenwriting Agency
Besides death and taxes, one of the surest things in life is change. I remember when I started my career fresh out of college, working as a script reader. That was around ten years ago now, back in 2003. Before Web 2.0 and Social Media. We don’t have to go too far back, let’s say pre-2006, to a time when …
Empathy: The Secret To Great Screenwriting
(Blind, 6 year old Guo Bin lies in a hospital bed after his eyes were gouged out by a woman in China’s Shanxi province.) It was like something something straight out of a horror movie. On August 24 a six year old boy in China’s Shanxi province was found covered in blood in a remote field. The boy had gone …
Do you have to live in LA to make it as a screenwriter?
This is a common question and I get asked this a lot. Of course, the vast majority of working screenwriters live in Los Angeles, but that is only as a percentage. I’ve seen screenwriters working out of Europe, South America, Australia and New Zealand—sell screenplays to Hollywood. Let me give you two real examples of people who I’ve heard of …
LA for Screenwriters: the good and the bad
In my previous post, I posed the question: do you need to live in LA to make it as a screenwriter? The answer, as evidenced by some interesting examples, was no. In this post I’d like to discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages to living in LA. Okay, so you want to make it as a screenwriter. One day …
Where To Send Your Script Or Screenplay
If you’re asking this question, you’re probably thinking about the best place to send your script or screenplay once it’s finished. A couple of answers spring to mind here: a screenplay agent, a production company, a screenwriting agency, or a film studio. All of these answers are good, but some are more appropriate than others. Let’s take a look at …