You should put your novel on goodreads.
The Coli's Screenwriting/Filmmaking Thread [Share tips, etc]
- Thread starter CEITEDMOFO
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steadyrighteous
Veteran
Nah, he means it like this:
An executive probably won't read your script, even if you send it to them directly and leave it on their desk, but say they do and they say "meh", they almost definitely won't read it again if you send it back and say "It's better now! I've done some re-writes!"
You pretty much only get one shot at most of these people, so you don't want to waste it by sending them something that hasn't been vetted by other people or something that hasn't been passed up the chain.
So say you have HBO Exec. #3's direct email address, sending him your script, unless it's literally the greatest thing on the face of the Earth, probably isn't a good idea. It's not like you'll get blacklisted or something, but just on name recognition alone, if their first memory of you/your script was that initial "meh", it'll always be "meh" until someone changes their mind for them.
That is my very long way of saying "you never get a second chance to make a first impression".
These nikkas is busy.
I wanted to talk directly to an exec. who read one of my scripts because I wanted his feedback, but not on the script, but on how I can go about getting my ideas in the hands of producers/production companies (because it's more likely that you can get to a production company, get your script bought and put in their development chain, then when they're pitching in general, they bring your project up with the network execs)
We emailed maybe 2 or 3 times back and forth to set up a call...
He passed me on to his assistant to set a time to talk...
She gave me a time and date. Two months later.
Literally.
That's how busy these people are.
i used to reply to stuff like this with "b/c stupid people consume it" but now there are 5-6 big movies a year that don't even have an audience.
Who the fukk was Ben Hur for? Fans of the original? Fans of the remake? they're all dead. Sword and Sandal type movies suck recently, and that's not an iconic name with young people in 2016. it had zero chance.
who the fukk is Max Steel for? "Hey, Transformers makes billions, let's option this obscure toy." I heard it was from around the 2000s? Which means adults won't go see it as childhood nostalgia and any kid who played with it is probably a snarky 20-30 year old who doesn't give a shyt abotu some random toy they played with once.
why in the holy fukk did Tarzan need another adaptation? a big budget one at that? That wasn't a massive flop, but still. "Hey people seem to like those apes movies, we gotta capture that audience!" that's not an audience. unnecessary. "it's public domain, we don't have to pay the rights for it, that'll save us a mil!"
who the fukk was John Carter for? Fans of the 1905ish book? The less popular character from the Tarzan writer? the whole draw was Mars and they took it out of the title b/c they were afraid peole would associate it with some flop animated movie that came out a year earlier. if no one saw that, why would they remember it? And they said JC influenced Star Wars... yeah, 35 years prior. Star Wars came and blew the source material away. you're too late, no one wants to see what influenced Star Wars when Star Wars already exists and is better.
I'd rep you if I could.
Remakes and unnecessary sequels seem to be the norm, which I can't understand. I guess I can understand certain situations such as the Ghostbusters remake (a female version) and the continuous Texas Chainsaw and horro remakes for the Halloween season, but then like the movies you mentioned, I don't get it at all.
With all those big budget flops they could've make 5 good movies for the cost of one of those "blockbusters". Dope movies like Gone Girl, Nightcrawler, The Town, The Big Short, Foxcatcher, etc
PS - I haven't been in this thread for a while but you're still participating in it and heavy into screenwriting. You work a day job too?
Thanks for the upload. Very dope. The guy lays it out well for even the most novice person. I seen 2 more film channels after this and they were more geared to those who pursue PHD in film and have a "nerdy" (you get what I mean lol) perspective on movies
The cat has only 8 videos uploaded and has over 100,000 subscribers
thing is, you can justify a lot of remakes and sequels b/c you know damn well there's an audience. i don't get worked up about Transformers 6, they make a billion dollars.
they're just going out of control with it. whoever thinks Jack Reacher is a "brand" that they'd rather take a chance on then just letting Cruise star in a completely new property is a fukkin moron. that movie might squeek a profit for the studio. might. We don't need a fukkin Jason Bourne cinematic universe... which is a thing that's happening btw.
Meanwhile, i think the 2 biggest comedies of the summer were "fresh, original" properties - Bad Moms and Cental Intelligence. You think that's gonna stop them from putting out Mr. Mom starring a gay couple next summer?
... shyt, should i write that? that seems like catnip for these schmucks. make one white, one black and forget it. fast track.
btw, all that said, Bad Moms was a "hit" so they greenlit "Bad Dads."
every fukkin comedy ever is "bad dads." the whole angle for Bad Moms was that they were fukkin mothers. so ridiculous.And now this shyt is moving to TV. How good can Lethal Weapon be? MacGuyver?
I try to write when I can. i posted a pilot a page back. it's... ok i guess. i find it hard to get inspired when there's no light at the end of the tunnel. if someone told me they were interested in an idea of mine, i could fire a script out with tons of passion.... but i haven't really been trying to find said person. i will soon.
I agree with everything you said minus Lethal Weapon. That's actually good tv. Where or who they got the idea from to bring it back I have no idea, but it's a solid show.
MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
You guys got lanks to good sites that give info on how to break in? And the "how to" techniques for scripts?
I have a few, but I'd like to add more.
I have a few, but I'd like to add more.
The script I started writing I've been doing it all on my Iphone couple days ago. Find it easier and more productive 
Anyways , copy/pasted to Celtx to see how many pages I've written and when I try to format dialogue, action, etc. You can just select one dialog and make it dialog without the rest of the text becoming dialog as well
Could've sworn I did it this way years ago
EDIT: Did all the formatting. Came up to 22 pages. Not bad for 3 days.
Anyways , copy/pasted to Celtx to see how many pages I've written and when I try to format dialogue, action, etc. You can just select one dialog and make it dialog without the rest of the text becoming dialog as well
Could've sworn I did it this way years ago
EDIT: Did all the formatting. Came up to 22 pages. Not bad for 3 days.
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steadyrighteous
Veteran
J.R. Havlan used to be a writer on The Daily Show with John Stewart and has a podcast called Writer's Bloc that he hasn't done in a while (a year +), but theres 50+ eps from writers and showrunners that's definitely worth listening to.
You get a bit on their story, a bit on their process, and how they got their current and past jobs so you'll learn about pitching etc. Interesting and really takes the shine away from the business that scares some people - it's where I learned how random shyt can be.
Nerdist has one called The Writers Panel that I've only checked one or two eps but I wasn't really feeling it, but you might.
I'm sure there are tons more, and probably super popular, but for some reason I don't really like listening to writers talk. I don't know why, but I'd rather listen to comedians or even executives rather than writers.
J.R. Havlan used to be a writer on The Daily Show with John Stewart and has a podcast called Writer's Bloc that he hasn't done in a while (a year +), but theres 50+ eps from writers and showrunners that's definitely worth listening to.
You get a bit on their story, a bit on their process, and how they got their current and past jobs so you'll learn about pitching etc. Interesting and really takes the shine away from the business that scares some people - it's where I learned how random shyt can be.
Nerdist has one called The Writers Panel that I've only checked one or two eps but I wasn't really feeling it, but you might.
I'm sure there are tons more, and probably super popular, but for some reason I don't really like listening to writers talk. I don't know why, but I'd rather listen to comedians or even executives rather than writers.
Ever checked out these ones?
http://www.screenplaylists.com/blog/2015/4/22/best-screenwriting-podcasts
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steadyrighteous
Veteran
EDIT: Yeah Writer's Bloc is one I mentioned... Q&A I've heard an ep or two. The rest, nah
Which ones? Of the two I mentioned Writer's Bloc is the one I've listened to practically all the eps (if the writer/showrunner worked on or created something I liked I listened to them)
Writers Panel sometimes have "special" eps, targeted to something specifically like "Pitching" or "Development" and they'll have guests and stay on topic, so I listen to those one.
When it's just a writer or team from Show X that I don't watch, I don't bother. Like if The Walking Dead team is on or something I won't listen. Besides that, when it comes to "Hollywood", a podcast I like is Barry Katz's Industry Standard.
He's a manager of comedians and actors and he interviews mostly executives (sometimes current, a lot of legends) but sometimes showrunners and writers. I feel like I get more from that podcast because his angle isn't so much the creative angle and more about business, so instead of listening to a writer talk about where they got their inspiration from, I'd rather listen to the former head of FOX talk about what he's looking for when he's listening to a pitch or hear what the founder of Funny or Die thinks about the future of content or something.