Have you ever read a story about people who pushed themselves past the point of human endurance? Stories like the man who ran 26 miles at the Arctic Circle or the 16-year-old who rowed alone across the Indian ocean?

Often when I read stories like that I think: How did they do that and what in the world did they get out of it?

Now I know. Recently I worked on a project that pushed me physically, emotionally and creatively past my point of endurance. I was tired, stressed, I couldn’t eat and certainly couldn’t sleep from all the nerves and the pressure.

Not only were there were a lot of people relying on me that I didn’t want to let them down, but I was responsible for their safety as well. My response to all this pressure?  I simply believed it could be done and put my head down and focused on doing the work.

And when it was over and I could look back on the project and what we pulled off, an amazing sense of accomplishment filled me.  It proved that there is no such thing as “can’t be done.”  Everything can be done — it just takes almost superhuman will power and belief in yourself and your team.

And for anyone in the entertainment business, I know there is often a sense of this “can’t be done.”   Feelings like “I can’t break into the business” or “I can’t make a living with my writing, etc.”

Well, you can. It just takes almost superhuman belief in yourself and the unwavering desire to put your head down and do the work.  When you believe in yourself, you have to do the work to get yourself there but you can accomplish anything.

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Succeeding: Pushing Yourself Past the Point of Human Endurance

Being a writer is hard. Trust me, I know. Trying to be creative all the time is draining work. And sometimes you can get stuck. Really stuck.

And sometimes the best answer is to get out of Dodge.  Instead of beating yourself up, go somewhere to get away from it all. Take a vacation for a couple days. Leave your laptop behind. Try to turn you phone off. Try to stop thinking about your project and enjoy the place you are in.

By putting yourself in a new environment and letting your mind relax, you can often get re-inspired!

Even in my life, I have noticed that getting out of town helps me. Recently I took a weekend off and went to Seattle. We walked around the city, enjoyed Pike’s Place, and even hiked Mt. Rainier! I didn’t do any work and I even read a book for fun. And when I got back, I was refreshed, ready to work and feeling very creative.

In fact, this is similar to what happened to Kevin Williamson. He couldn’t get a job for years and years and years.  In his frustration, he packed up, ready to move out of LA. He happened to stop at an inn outside of LA and suddenly got inspired to write SCREAM and, well, the rest is history.

While I can’t promise that getting out of town will result in a SCREAM-like success, I can predict that you’ll have new perspectives on your current roadblocks.

So pack your overnight bag and get out of Dodge!

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

HOW TO GET UNSTUCK IN YOUR SCREENWRITING: GET OUT OF DODGE

Lately we have been getting a lot of submissions for possible representation.  So here’s a quick reminder on what a writer should send for possible representation:

- Send something original

- Send something that is commercial

- Send your best piece of material

(You’d be surprised how many times I read something and then, after I pass, the writer will say: “Oh, that wasn’t my best piece of material. Can I send you something else?” The answer is almost always no.)

- Do NOT send something that was co-written by someone unless you ALWAYS write with this one person and you are seeking representation as a team

- Do NOT send a tv spec script of a show that is already on the air (we want to read something original)

- Do NOT send something that is based on material that you do not own or have not optioned

- Do NOT send a long list of all your available scripts and ask me to pick the best one (you should know your best and most commercial sample)

- Do NOT argue over the submission release (although I have talked about this one before, it is worth repeating)

Your goal as a writer is to make me want to sign you and to not give me any reason to pass on your writing.  If you follow these tips, you will be well on your way to making that happen.

Click here for more in-depth information on how to get representation.

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Rachel’s Quick Tips Guide on Sending Scripts for Possible Representation

At Tom Sawyer we primarily represent clients who do comedy.  However, as I recently re-discovered — you can get me to love anything if you have great characters.

This week I read a torture-thriller that scared me half to death.  While I normally don’t like that kind of genre, the characters were so in-depth and three dimensional that I just couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with the script.

Which goes to show you that writing great characters is the key to any great script  — whether it is comedy, drama, thriller or horror.

If you write great characters you can change your reader’s perception of what genre they are interested in.  You can even change the minds of studio execs of what they want to buy.

Take the time to perfect your characters so agents, managers, producers and executives will fall in love with your scrip

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Screenplay Characters: You Can Get Me to Love Anything with Great Characters

I was recently blind pitched via email for a high-concept comedy idea … and I actually said yes to reading the script.

Unfortunately, after the first 30 pages I had no idea what was going on and I hadn’t laughed once. This, of course, is not good if you pitch me a high-concept comedy and then don’t deliver. And this illustrates the most important aspect of breaking into Hollywood:

You must have a GREAT script.

I can’t say this enough. Because you could get lucky and get someone to read your script based on an email or fax or call you made, but what’s the point if the script isn’t good and the person just passes on it?

Simply having a high-concept idea or a title might have worked 10 years ago but not anymore. In an environment where studios and buyers are spending less and less money and making less and less movies, you can’t get by on an idea alone. The script has to be great too.

And don’t just take your family or friend’s feedback that it is good. Get professional feedback. It’s worth the investment because it will help you land that agent, manager or producer.

You can get more detailed information on “How to Write a Dynamic Screenplay” here.

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Your Screenplay: Great Concept — Bad Execution — Now What?

I recently read a script that was adapted from a play by the playwright and, boy, did the script read like a play. And this is a problem. Because a play should read like a play, a script like a script, a book like a book.

It is very important as a writer for you to understand what medium you are writing in. Every medium has its own rules, formats and styles. And just because you are a successful playwright does not mean that you can simply switch mediums without fully understanding that new medium.

A script should have a lot of action and move quickly. Remember, unless you are Woody Allen, most people don’t want to watch two people talking the whole time.

In a play, you can have a lot more character dialogue. In a book, you have the room to really delve into the characters’ backstories that you might not be able to include in a movie script or in a play. If it is a TV script, you need act breaks that leave a cliffhanger at each act break (commercial breaks).

Always know what medium you are writing and who your audience is.

And, if you are successful in one area but not in another, you might want to think about someone else adapting your work. Not only will someone else’s expertise help adapt your work to the best possible version, but, also, sometimes it is helpful to let someone else expand on your ideas and see what else that person can come up with.

For example, we represent several authors who would be happy to let screenwriters adapt their books because these authors know that a skilled screenwriter will make the best version possible of the adapted book.

In short, know your own medium well and be willing to say yes to having someone else adapt your work in a different medium. Who knows? Someone else’s adaption of your work might just be the key to getting that adaptation written and produced.

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Understanding What Your Medium Is: A Script Is Not a Play

A friend referred a potential client to me. The potential client had a book that he wrote and is interested in getting published.

While the potential client and I talked, I checked out the website for the book. I immediately noticed the home page announced the book would be out June 2010. Obviously, this greatly confused me.

Why if the book is coming out next month would the author need a publisher? I asked.

His response: He keeps moving the date back so that the visitors to his site will remain invested and check back for the book. This is a very good point — you do want viewers to keep coming back to your site.

However, the problem with his strategy is that when he sends the book to publishers, their first response will be to check the website. If they see the book is coming out, they will have no idea why they should even read the manuscript in the first place.

What should you do to keep your website audience coming back without listing inaccurate info — inaccurate info that could hurt your pitch to the very buyers you are trying to attract?

Simple. Keep adding new, original and engaging content.

If you have a website, than every few days you should be adding new content, whether it is blog posts, reports, pictures, a free chapter of your book, etc. By using this Internet marketing strategy, you can add all kinds of original content to to keep your audiences engaged and coming back for more.

No one is saying you have to do all this yourself. In fact, the social media marketing company Miller Mosaic Power Marketing (www.millermosaicllc.com) offers website and social media marketing services to help book authors consistently and continually engage with their prospective readers.

You can download the company’s FREE report “Twitter, Facebook and Your Website: A Beginning Blueprint for Harnessing the Power of 3″ at www.MillerMosaicPowerof3.com

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Use an Internet Marketing Strategy to Attract Your Target Audience

Many people have been asking about how the book trilogy STARCROSSED by Josephine Angelini (http://budurl.com/yatrilogy) happened; and it really is an incredible story.

It’s a story of fate, Facebook, and knowing the right people to work with on a project.

A couple months ago I received a Facebook email from someone I didn’t know telling me his friend had written a book and it was really good.

I don’t usually say yes to blind queries but something about this one got my attention.  I agreed to read the book and then sat on the manuscript for a week.  However, one day my lunch canceled and I decided to read a chapter.

The one chapter turned into another, which turned into the first 50 pages, which turned into me not doing any of my work for the rest of the day and instead reading this amazing book that had fallen into my lap.

(In fact, my business partner spent the day asking me what I was doing since it was so unlike me to sit quietly in a corner.)

The next day I called book agent Mollie Glick at Foundry Literary & Media and said I had a book for her. Mollie and I had been looking for a project to work on together and this seemed like just the thing.

She told me she would read it in a week.  However, the next day she called me to say she had read a chapter and couldn’t put the book down. She was going to stay up all night to finish it if she had too; which she did. And she loved it just as much as I did.

Then I met Josie (Josephine Angelini, the author) and we instantly connected. It turns out she was even close to a friend of mine from NYU!

Everything next happened very quickly. We spent a week doing some minor editing.  Mollie then took the book into HarperTeen, where the editors fell in love with it as well. They took the book “off the table” (which means before other publishers could bid on it) for seven figures for the book rights for just the U.S. and Canada. Mollie then sold Brazil, Russia, Poland, France, Turkey, Israel, Italy, UK, Germany, Spain and Catalon — with more territories still coming in.

With all the foreign territories going so quickly we have a very good feeling that this book, along with the other two books in the trilogy, is going to be a huge international blockbuster.

It all goes to show you that sometimes success is luck plus using all your connections to reach out to everyone you know plus writing the best book in the world so that executives with busy schedules and phones ringing off the hook will be so entranced that they will stop whatever they are doing to read your material.

(And if you want to get more insider knowledge on using your connections or writing the best piece of material – check out these insider reports: http://www.showmethescreenplay.com/special-reports-entertainment-industry-insiders/ )

P.S. The best part of the story is that thee guy who Facebooked me turned out to be Josie’s husband.  He just didn’t want to tell me as he thought I would be biased against reading the manuscript. Very smart strategy on his part!

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Finding the One in a Million Book – The True Story of How STARCROSSED by Josephine Angelini Came to Be

Having just closed our distribution deal with Hanover House for the indie film HappyThankYouMorePlease
(http://budurl.com/htympdistributiondl) there are a couple tips I learned from the experience that I wanted to share:

Take Your Time

It’s easy to go with the first person that makes you an offer, but really spend your time doing your research and analyzing the deal. Does the proposed deal make sense for everyone involved (investors, producers, actors)?  What’s the distributor’s reputation? How have the distributor’s other movies done?

It’s All About the Marketing

Don’t be fooled by a large upfront fee if there is no money for a strong P&A (Prints and Advertising) campaign. Especially if your movie is an indie you need a strong marketing campaign to spread the word.  Sometimes it’s better to go with a company that has a smaller upfront fee and a bigger P&A budget with a great split rather than go with a company that’s going to give you a large upfront fee but then will not really support the movie.

Carefully Study Your Release Date

If a company is offering you a deal and has offered a release date — do your research on the date. What else is being released that day? Is there another movie that is in direct competition with your movie? And, if yours is an indie movie and you are planning on doing a roll-out campaign, make sure to check what is being released in the next couple of weeks after the release date and analyze how those new releases will impact yours.

Overall, when picking the right distributor, it’s important to not just go for the most amount of money without really weighing all the other factors than can determine the success or failure of your movie.

P.S. And make sure to go see HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE August 27th in LA, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Dallas (it will then roll out to more cities over Labor Day).

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

Picking the Right Distributor for Your Film

Here is a tale of what NOT to do when trying to get your script read in Hollywood.

Let’s say you have written a great query that has somehow got my attention and I have asked to read your script (which is very rare but it does happen).

The next step is I send you a submission release form to sign and send back with your script. That should be the easiest part.

However, the worst thing you can do is send me an email saying you don’t want to sign the submission release as is and want to make changes.  When I get emails like that, it is very simple. I will not read your script.

It could be the best script in the world.  But if you are the type of person who is squabbling over the language of the submission release form, you are not the kind of client I want to work with.

Because at the end of the day, if you are worried about somebody stealing your ideas, you will never make it in this town.  Yes, there are unscrupulous people who might steal your ideas but they are few and far between. (Because the only way for people to get material is to treat writers well. Otherwise a bad reputation will result and these people won’t get any material.) Most of the managers, producers and executives treat writers well because that is the currency these people live and die on.

But, also, ideas are out there.  And every idea under the sun has been thought of.  What makes your project different is the execution and your voice.  No one can steal that.  So don’t be afraid of people trying to steal your work.

If you deal with people who have good reputations you usually have nothing to be worried about besides writing the best script you can.

Post from: Show Me The Screenplay

IMPORTANT TIP: WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN SUBMITTING YOUR SCREENPLAY!