Screenwriting

CONGRATULATIONS! That's such an exciting feeling! And yes, the unknown part is kind of nerve wracking, but for the most part, I get excited. I love getting feedback, and I love things moving forward. I also have the champagne problem of always having a story on deck that wants my attention. So for me, it feels like flow.

Congratulations on this big step, Mikel Jayden~ and I definitely get those tangled feelings whenever I share my work, doesn’t matter if it’s for coverage or a table read ^^; in my case it comes and goes in waves, often in quick succession. I can be super excited to share my work and then immediately after be like “wait, I shouldn’t’ve done that!” xD

Absolutely, Mikel Jayden, and it doesn't fully go away either!

Part of it is that a script in your drafts folder is still yours entirely. Nobody has misread it, nobody has told you the thing you were afraid was true, and every version of how it might land is still possible. The moment it goes out, all of those possibilities start collapsing into one actual outcome. That's genuinely a loss even when the outcome turns out to be good.

The other part is more practical. For months you had a thing to do every day, and now you don't. That gap is uncomfortable, and it's why so many writers start the next one immediately rather than waiting to hear back. Not out of discipline, but because sitting with an empty desk is worse.

But you're right that it means it's moving. A script nobody has seen can't do anything for you.

While you're in that waiting stretch, worth knowing about this week's Creative Army mission. Personally invite two friends or collaborators to join Stage 32, comment on the post telling us who you brought in, and you get a FREE Stage 32 Pitch Session. That's a live pitch to a working executive with written feedback, and the code runs through January 1st, so you could hold it until your script comes back polished and ready. Closes Sunday: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/producing/Why-Your-Creative-Community-Is-...

Congratulations on getting it out the door. Curious what you're going to work on while you wait.

I’ve never actually handed a script off for formatting and editing, as that’s something I do myself, but I definitely relate to the anxiety of sending one out. I’ve felt it sending scripts to producers and studio execs. The biggest thing that helped me handle that anxiety was my experience as an actor, because you can audition dozens of times a year, and dwelling on each one can eat you up when you’ve got another audition to prepare for. That taught me to move on once I’d done everything I could, and I think the same applies to sending out a script. When there’s absolutely nothing more you can do until you hear back with that script, fill your day with other things you love or start the next story. The waiting can have a little of your attention, but it doesn’t need a starring role.

Hard to say without knowing the details, but sending your script off for formatting and editing certainly sounds suspicious. I hope you're not getting scammed

I’m just going to post them here and take them down if asked.

https://www.stage32.com/media/4155637528826751952?ref=search

https://www.stage32.com/media/4155662259651095609?ref=search

https://www.stage32.com/media/4155669647657544776?ref=search

Mark Thomas Kelly, I used ChatGPT to create my movie title logo, and I used Midjourney to create my character images

Jurri, Your logo looked fantastic. I've been using PowerPoint because it's what I am familiar with. I started by searching for characters and world images on Pinterest. Then, to make them consistent in style and color, I used Canva AI. For me, it's a tab on the left hand side of the Canva home scene. I described how I wanted the character to be rendered, for example 2D Disney-like animation with a broader smile, longer arms, whatever. I uploaded the image. Canva then generated a new version of the image. You can ask it to make changes, and it generates more images. Using the edit features, I modified colors, saturation, etc. I then downloaded the image and use it in the Powerpoint slides. I hope that helps. It took me a while to realize what tools were available and how to use them.

Hi Max Wilcox Jr checkout The Scriptnotes Podcast with John August and Craig Mazin, as well as The Scriptshadow blog. Both were very helpful for me when I got started

Unless your name carries Hollywood Heat, I wouldn't waste my time with an agent. They might have the power to negotiate heavy freight, but they won't waste their time on anything less than a guarantee. For example: Quentin Tarantino has an agent. We do not. Leigh Whannell has an agent. We do not. Etc...

A literary manager is usually the better first target for an emerging writer because they tend to be more accessible and willing to work with writers who are still building their careers. Most writers get material in front of producers through referrals, not cold submissions, so relationships matter more than volume. What's the most important relationship you've built so far that has led to a meaningful read or connection?

Jordan Butler Think Sisyphus. You just need to wake-up before sunrise with a clear plan. Find literary managers at boutique shops who have clients in your genre. That's the easy part. Remember, these people get dozens, if not hundreds of cold queries each week. You have to find something that keeps them from bulk-deleting your email along with the other fifty that day. It's not the manager you want to reach, it's their assistant. Assistants want to find that hidden gem and show it off. Good luck!

I think your last point about building relationships is where I’d put the most emphasis, rather than treating an agent or manager as the next required step. A manager may make sense if you’re looking for someone to help develop your material and career, but I wouldn’t put everything else on hold while trying to find one. John August has talked about getting his first few writing jobs through his own contacts, even though he already had an agent. I’d look at producers and filmmakers whose work suits what you write, and build connections through shared interests, networking, finding out who the assistants are, taking them out to lunch, and having conversations where there’s a reason to connect beyond asking for a read.

Hi everyone, thank you for all the responses! I have been under the impression that getting a manager first would be the best step to move forward, but I also wanted to hear what others had to say! I think the only frustration I have come across with looking into Lit Managers is that most are open to novels/works of that nature rather than screenplays, and while I have projects that fit that category, I would love it if there were a way to find/identify managers who work specifically with screenwriters or both, since I have both! - I wish that there were something similar to QueryTracker but for screenwriting. @ashley - I will certainly look into that email option; I didn't realize that was something that I could do!

If I truly go the distance and get nowhere. I have a trunk it goes in, and when I'm done, I'm gonna bury it. Proof of life for AI robots after they wipe us out.

Shiyanne Davis “I wouldn’t throw them away. A script can sit for years and still become the right project when the right connection, producer, or opportunity comes along. The key is knowing which ones are worth revisiting, refining, and continuing to believe in.”

I have written and directed 3 TV-movies, which means that I have created no-budget projects because it is so difficult to sell. Other options is to turn your stories into plays for the local amateur theatre, novels, comics or use AI to create radio plays.

I would just put them aside for a year or two. Then go back and maybe you'll get a fresh perspective. Unless your gut is telling you the story is really bad, don't throw them away.

Shiyanne, I get the frustration, but let’s not hold a funeral for the scripts just yet. Speaking more broadly to any writers reading this, a great idea and a great script aren’t always the same thing. Receiving positive feedback or a few screenwriting competition placements doesn’t necessarily mean your script has nothing left to hone. In my work as a screenwriting consultant, sometimes the idea is solid, but the work lies in sharpening the dialogue, making sure the action lines suit the genre without being verbose or too sparse, and helping the audience discover the story rather than simply telling it to them. Also, sometimes the market just isn’t ready for your script, but that doesn’t have to mean waiting. It can mean trying other markets. If you’ve been trying the American market, explore the European market, or even us up here in Canada, before giving those scripts their last rites.

Robert Zwerneman not quite a horror in that genre. this one is more along the lines of a slow burn thriller designed to be creepy more so than scary. let me know if you’re interested in reading!

Haley Mary I haven't set up anything other than this yet. It's mainly just been a hobby up until this point, but now I'm trying to put myself out there. I'd love to connect!

Happy to read and give you honest feedback. How do you want to get it to me?

Dan Aronson hey Dan, I’d love to connect. I’ll pm you and we can swap emails.

Sounds like a plan Blake.

Interesting... what will it be about? Do you have a logline for your story?

Michael Dzurak Not quiet ready to share the full logline yet, but the glimpse is: a man struggling with a mental disorder tries to heal a world.

Prosit Ray Wait, that's one I've considered writing for quite a while. It's my Ought-To-Biography.

Tolkien didn't die until 1973. Have you received permission to use his work? That is one of the first questions you receive if you contact a production company.

Obtaining that permission would be one of the biggest hurdles to clear. There would need to be enough money and big names wanting to work on this version for the rights-holders to say, "OK, knock yourselves out." For now, it's just an unmonetized piece of fan fiction.

Hi Will,

The additional information you have shared changes the picture in an important way. A signed Life Story Rights Agreement, four years of research and direct access to Arthur Bea Williams’s daughter, friends and former colleagues are significant assets for a biographical project.

Your logline clearly communicates the historical setting and her remarkable journey. At the moment, however, it tells us primarily what she achieved over several decades, rather than revealing the central dramatic engine of the film: what she is fighting for, what stands in her way, what she risks and which decisive conflict carries the audience through the story.

For that reason, I would not automatically assume that another contest or script service should be your next step. The right sequence depends on the current condition of the whole project, not only the screenplay.

This is precisely what we are developing Project Pearl to do: diagnose where a project currently stands and create a personalized development roadmap before its creator spends more time and money.

If you would like, I can offer your project a complimentary Project Pearl mini-diagnosis. You could send me a detailed synopsis or treatment, together with any existing one-pager or pitch materials. Based on those materials, we would prepare a short roadmap identifying:

• what is already working;

• the most important gaps;

• the next three priorities in the correct order;

• the materials needed before approaching producers;

• and what you probably do not need to spend money on yet.

If you agree, we could later share a concise, non-confidential version of the roadmap in this discussion so that others can also see how a project diagnosis works in practice. Your story materials would, of course, remain private.

Feel free to contact me through Stage 32.

Congratulations on finishing your first screenplay, and the most important thing for a first script is to keep writing and have more than one project in your portfolio, because producers want to see you're not a one-script writer. What's the most important piece of feedback you received from your mentor that shaped the rewrites?

Will Berend This is such a powerful story to be telling, and it's clear why you felt the weight of being the right person to write it four years of research, interviews, and working closely with her daughter, friends, and colleagues is exactly the kind of care a story like this deserves. Writing "through the eyes of the closest to her" is the right instinct; that's usually what separates a biopic that feels authentic from one that feels like a Wikipedia summary in scene form.

And smart move having the Life Story Rights Agreement locked in early that's the kind of groundwork that makes producers and reps take a project seriously right away, since it removes one of the biggest risk factors before they've even read page one.

The logline itself is strong it has a clear arc (domestic laborer to justice of the peace) and a specific historical/social backdrop that gives it real stakes beyond just "person overcomes odds." Arthur Bea Williams sounds like exactly the kind of overlooked history that makes for a compelling watch.

Wishing you luck with Script Services and the logline contests sounds like you've already done the hardest part of the work.

Elena Saubanova Thank you. I'll reach out directly.

Samantha Rivera Thank you. That's a very good question. He helped me identify some gaps in the story which led me to simplifying things a bit. After going through effort and research it's easy to want to include so many little tidbits you learn. He helped me realize I need not force it.

Also, thanks for the advice to keep writing. I have started a few other scripts and plan to keep that going.

Hi Manoj how are you