I could've hit him over the head with a frying pan. The only one of my film friends who has a writing slant, like me, actually almost got a deal for his spec script, but his ego killed it-he refused to sell it to be directed by someone else or rewritten. I was feeling like a failure at 27, though all of my friends from school who are in LA (with larger production backgrounds) have failed to make it yet as well. I am not yet 30, LA guy, but it makes me feel better to know some careers start in those years. Other dreams have filled in where that one used to be. She had two pages of a Harlequin Romance based on her marriage I had a completed novel being sent to editors by an agent.Īnd that's what I mean by saying I got closer than a lot of people who want to be published, but not as far as those who succeed (well, duh). She was fond of giving me not only useless but tactless advice, and loved to say what she'd do when her book was published, and how she and I were in the same place with our writing careers. I had a friend during the time when I was "closer than I ever got again".
What some people who are giving advice (not the pros, obviously) don't realize is that sometimes it's kindest not to encourage people to follow that dream.Įspecially when the more they write/talk, the more it's clear they don't want to sacrifice anything to get there they just have an image of success that's half-formed and hazy. I got closer than many, too, but not close enough for it to count. Still, I'll always have what might have been. I'll always have the film in my mind and he'll always be cast in the lead. Sometimes you have to be grateful for even the tiniest bit of them having come true. Sometimes your dreams die and you have to watch them die slowly, one by one. Years on, that's my happiest memory of my screenwriting career. The only reason why he had offered to read it was he was interested in me sexually. He was kind enough to thank me for thinking so highly of his work. I told him I was grateful that he'd see the words that he had inspired. After a long hesitation, he agreed to read it. I told him I had written a character driven screenplay with him cast in the lead in my mind. I didn't mention I even wrote screenplays until he casually asked what my interests were. Then one beautiful day, an actor who I've always loved his work met me and we chatted. Like Bill Maher said, chances are overwhelming you're not the guy who it's going to happen to. I kept at it, then one day I slowly realized I had to give it up and find new meaning to give to my life. I wrote screenplays with the indie film market in mind. AVOID FAVORS!!! Soliciting and receiving. Avoid anyone who does not have a selfish stake in your success. These are the only people who have a stake in finding new baby writers and promoting their cause. The second best is the assistant of a motion picture lit agent at one of these agencies. The best friend you can make is the motion picture literary department coordinator of one of the big five agencies (CAA Endeavor ICM UTA Morris). the more interesting the premise and the shorter the log-line the better. That is the one encouraging thought - you can really open any door with a good script, and who says you can't write it? You can take a shit on a guy's desk and he'll buy your script if it's good. comedy is dead and flooded with super talented people).Īll you need is talent and a good idea.
#MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER SPACES AFTER PERIOD TV#
I would not go for TV unless it was really your passion and you had a very strong, good TV voice and a cluster of shows you love and could write for (either hard procedural or multi character soapy dramedy. There is nothing a screenwriting book can teach you that reading 100 scripts with an analytical mind cannot. That is the best training - working in the business, reading a ton of scripts, getting a sense of the tenor of the industry. You're too old to get an assistant job in the business. I'm a working writer in Hollywood and I have never met anyone who has registered or copyrighted a script in my life.
Please! Don't do anything you see other aspiring writers do. but I am guessing you are not a lawyer.ĭon't read screenwriting books. Lawyers are great candidates for career changes into writing. Usually the only people who succeed at it, in Hollywood or elsewhere, are the obsessed or those without alternatives. I can go a long lunch giving advice on the subject without stopping talking. OP here is my stream of consciousness advice.
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