|
Dear Screenwriter:
Happy Holidays to Script Market subscribers around the world.
Please don't squander the last few weeks of the year lamenting that
three picture deal which didn't materialize for you in 2001. Count your
blessings.
We hope you spend your holiday season with loving friends and family;
but take a few private moments to check out the submission opportunities
and script competitions in this issue.
Let 2002 be YOUR year to shine!
SCRIPT
MARKET
NEWS DECEMBER 10, 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
IN THE SPOTLIGHT ----> Holiday Script
Submissions
WHAT'S NEW ----> Screenwriter Q and A
MARKET TIPS ----> Film Festival Script
Competitions
TUTORIAL
----> Creating Bomb-Proof Loglines
------------------------------------> Don't Dress for Success
Find a New Career in Your Underwear <----------------
Your FREE career guide "Clothing Optional" downloads
instantly when you sign up for DREAM JOBS DIALOG -
a FREE newsletter on exciting careers in the Media.
Just Click------> Dream
Jobs!
Market Opportunities ---->
YOUR HOLIDAY
SUBMISSIONS
Opportunity #1 ---> Attention: Creative Canadians!
CBC Television needs *smart convergence-oriented TV pilots*! (If that
phrase baffles you, ignore this posting.) Contributors may submit
pitches or finished pilots of 5-15 minutes in length in a variety of
genres for a new late-night Web/TV programming project. Electronic
submissions preferred.
MORE GENRE INFO ---> jill_hrabrinsky@cbc.ca
SUBMISSIONS ---> pilots_vancouver@cbc.ca
Opportunity #2 ---> Boxed Wings
Independent Producer Helen Ferguson-Fritchen is looking for creative
writers to develop outlines into screenplays on a variety of projects.
Pay scale is negotiable.
Applicants may send an example of their work and a resume to Boxed Wings
by this email address ---> thechristmaslight@hotmail.com
Opportunity #3 ---> Experienced European Screenwriters
Moonstone International will hold a Screenwriters Lab in ITALY!
Experienced European screenwriters with well-developed feature film
scripts may apply. Deadline: January 10, 2002, the Lab runs April 29
through May 5, 2002.
INFO and APPLICATION ---> http://www.moonstone.org.uk
Opportunity #4 ---> Heads Up: British Script Writers
ScriptNaked offers a project development program for screenwriters who
reside in the Screen South region: Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Berkshire,
Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and the Isle of Wight. Those
chosen to take part in the program will develop their projects with the
support and advice of three experienced script development
professionals.
MORE INFO ---> http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/
______ IMPORTANT MESSAGE _______
Find other great email newsletters
and Ezines at the Cumuli Ezine Finder:
http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/
______________________________________
HOME
WHAT'S NEW
----> Screenwriter Q and A
QUESTION:
How can I hook up with an experienced writer at one of the
studios so we can develop some of my ideas into screenplays? Signed,
A.V.
ANSWER:
A.V., it takes so much talent and hard work for a screenwriter
to get a job writing at a studio that I doubt many of them would be
interested in working on the ideas of another writer. Perhaps that
sounds harsh, but I believe it is the reality. If they've gotten that
far, believe me, they have their own ideas. Or they have found producers
with ideas who are willing to pay them to develop these ideas into
movies.
I do have some other suggestions for you -- on a more modest scale.
Movie director Francis Coppola (GODFATHER, PATTON, APOCALYPSE NOW) created a terrific site where writers give other writers feedback on
scripts and movie ideas. Here's the URL --> http://www.zoetrope.com/
The site offers a Virtual Studio that mimics the process of developing a
story idea at a real movie studio. Once you sign up for the site (for
free) you can post your script or story idea. You offer feedback on the
ideas other writers have posted and they comment on the material you
post. I think this type of networking really helps -- both creatively
and emotionally.
If you'd like to collaborate on your story with another aspiring
screenwriter, you can use one of the many callboards for screenwriters
that exist online. I've written an article that lists where to find
these writers callboards. Here's the URL --> http://breakingin.net/tswboards.htm
These writers have writing experience, but not many produced credits. It
is important that you somehow teach yourself how to turn your outlines
and ideas into shootable screenplays.
For script format assistance, check out
this FORMAT TUTORIAL --->
http://breakingin.net/format_tutorial.htm
QUESTION:
Have you heard of Script Writer Sale online? They're looking
for writers with screenplays. Are they legitimate? Sincerely, D.M.
ANSWER:
I looked into the Scriptwritersale.com services, D.M. The
creator of the company - Joe Estephan - seems to have very thorough
credentials. Essentially he is offering a script registry service to
writers. For a small fee, you post your logline or synopsis on the site.
Scriptwritersale.com sends a copy of these postings to their
producer/agent subscribers by email.
This can be good exposure -- it all depends on the size and reliability
of their subscriber list. In this game, quality trumps quantity.
The more established script registries like Writers Script Network
<http://writersscriptnetwork.com/> have thousands of subscribers. If you
go to this site, you can read the experiences of some of the writers who
have succeeded in finding agents or optioning their scripts through
their postings.
I've researched details on other script registries and published the
results on my links page. GO DIRECTLY ---> http://breakingin.net/links.htm#registry
Create a dynamite logline -
the tutorial in this issue can help. Then try one of these services after you've found out how many subscribers they have and what they charge per posting.
Subscribe
to Script Market News
-
Free newsletter from
www.
Breakingin.net
-
Script Marketing advice:
Tips, Tools, Tutorials
-
Twice a month by
e-mail (text) or read it online ---> www.breakingin.net/tocscriptmarket.htm
MARKET TIPS --> Contests
---> CINESTORY SCREENWRITING AWARDS
The sponsors of this contest even IMPRESS me! Egg Pictures (Jodi
Foster), Debra Hill Productions and Sanford/Pillsbury Productions. The
winners receive prize money AND a 3-day retreat with the sponsoring
producers, agents and film executives.
Find the YUMMY DETAILS ---> http://www.cinestory.com/awards.htm
----> SET IN PHILLY SCRIPT COMPETITION
If you have a screenplay that takes place in the City of Brotherly Love
(Philadelphia, PA) -- this is your lucky day! The Greater Philadelphia
Film Office sponsors this script contest. Top prize: (USD) $10,000.
Email contact: sip@film.org
DETAILS ---> http://www.film.org/filmmakers/SIP.html
---> SCREENPLAY AS LITERATURE CONTEST
Something New -- to me at least. The winning screenplay in this contest
will be published as a book in hardcover, trade paperback and ebook
formats. A promotional website will be created to market the book as
well as registration with the prominent booksellers online and off.
MORE DETAILS ----> http://www.screenplaylit.com/
----> SCI-FI SHORTS (Brits Only Please!)
One script and one director will be chosen to produce a quality 10
minute Sci-Fi film for UK and US audiences. Deadline: December 19, 2001,
so get cracking.
GUIDELINES ---> http://www.firstfilm.co.uk/sci-fi
----> TOOT YOUR OWN HORN!
If you have had any luck with script contests -- let us know. We'll
promote you as best we can. Email ---> screenwriter@breakingin.net
TUTORIAL:
CREATE BOMB-PROOF LOGLINES
by Lenore Wright
All screenwriters use loglines to sell their scripts.
We use loglines in query letters to impress agents we've never met. We enter them in script competitions to entice judges to read our screenplays. We post them in script registries to attract producers who live 3,000 miles away.
We ask a lot of our loglines. We need loglines that ROCK!
THE FIRST STEP TOWARD A SCRIPT SALE
In some situations, loglines work better as a sales tool than screenplays do. Agents and producers look for easy outs when dealing with unproduced writers. Loglines provide LESS for them to say no to than a detailed synopsis or a complete script does. This can be a plus.
The logline introduces the story to them, offering a taste of the movie without forcing them to devour the whole script. As they become familiar with the movie idea, they exercise their own imaginations. This brings them a step closer to asking to read the script.
CREATING A DYNAMIC LOGLINE
Logline techniques vary among screenwriters but most will agree with this warning from the American Association of Screenwriters, "If you can't say it in three sentences, you don't know what your script is about."
-- Some writers simply summarize their movie: set-up, conflict, and resolution.
-- Other writers create a one sentence TV Guide style logline emphasizing both the external storyline and the internal one. An example would be this logline for E.T.: An alienated boy bonds with an
extraterrestrial child who's been stranded on earth; the boy defies the adults to help the alien contact his mothership so he can go home.
-- My suggestion: Don't limit yourself to the set-up or the plot, emphasize the unique elements of your script that enable audiences to connect with the situation and identify with the hero. Think of the logline as a commercial for your movie.
I'll show you what I mean by creating loglines for two popular movies:
LOGLINE FOR A CHARACTER-DRIVEN MOVIE: RAIN MAN
The set-up: A young, self-centered hotshot goes home for his father's funeral and learns he's been cut out of the will. The family wealth goes to an older sibling - an autistic brother he never knew he had.
Imagine we were making a commercial for RAIN MAN. What clips would we use?
-- To create IDENTIFICATION with the star we'd show moments emphasizing the contrast between the brothers and dramatize the star's frustration with this unexpected obstacle to his ambitions.
-- To create CONNECTION with the star's situation we'd show the
ACTION he takes to get what he wants -- the family money. How does he try to get control of the inheritance? He kidnaps the autistic brother. Since the brother is afraid to fly, they drive cross-country. They visit places (Las Vegas, fancy shopping malls) where the hotshot feels at home but which the autistic brother finds challenging - comically and touchingly.
-- To highlight the POTENTIAL CRISIS the hero faces, we'd focus on moments that dramatize the unexpected relationship developing between the brothers as the hotshot realizes how unusual his 'savant' brother is.
-- To emphasize what's at RISK for the hotshot, we'd hint at the secret that binds them and threatens the grandiose plans he has made.
LOGLINE FOR RAIN MAN:
A self-centered hotshot returns home for his father's funeral and learns the family inheritance goes to an autistic brother he never knew he had. The hotshot kidnaps this older brother and drives him cross-country hoping to gain his confidence and get control of the family money. The journey reveals an unusual dimension to the brother's autism that sparks their relationship and unlocks a
dramatic childhood secret that changes everything.
That logline would convince me to read the script.
LOGLINE FOR A PLOT-DRIVEN SCRIPT: SOME LIKE IT HOT
The set-up:
Two male musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day massacre. When the mobsters pursue them, they try to elude them by joining an all-girl band headed for a gig in Miami.
What film clips would we use to create a commercial for this classic comedy?
We'd want to emphasize the accelerating COMIC COMPLICATIONS that result from the cross-dressing.
-- The sax player falls so hard for a sexy girl in the band that he creates a new male identity so he can pursue her.
-- The bass fiddle player struggles to keep from blowing their cover as he dodges the comical romantic advances of an aging, nearsighted playboy.
We'd want to reveal the DANGEROUS COMPLICATIONS that the mob massacre promised upfront. We must reveal that the mobsters show up at the Miami resort where the 'girls' have a gig because their arrival complicates the love stories and pressures the heroes.
LOGLINE FOR SOME LIKE IT HOT:
Two male musicians accidentally witness the St. Valentines' Day massacre; and to elude the mobsters who pursue them, they dress in drag and join an all-girl band headed for Miami. One of them falls for a sexy singer and poses as a Miami playboy so he can woo her; he convinces his pal to dodge the amorous advances of the nearsighted Miami playboy he impersonates. Love conquers all -- till the mobsters show up at the same Miami resort for a convention.
Who wouldn't want to read that script?
CHECKLIST FOR YOUR LOGLINE
-
Reveal the star's SITUATION
- Reveal the important COMPLICATIONS
- Describe the ACTION the star takes
- Describe the star's CRISIS decision
- Hint at the CLIMAX - the danger, the 'showdown'
- Hint at the star's potential TRANSFORMATION
- Identify SIZZLE: sex, greed, humor, danger, thrills, satisfaction
- Identify GENRE
- Keep it to three sentences
- Use present tense
How can you pack all that into three sentences? If you think of your logline as a commercial for the movie you've seen in your head as you've been writing the script, you'll breathe life and personality into those three sentences.
Try it. Your logline will ROCK!
________________________
If this newsletter or the Break into Screenwriting website has been
helpful to you as a writer, please take a moment to nominate it as one
of the best 101 websites for writers.
Send your nomination to ---> wd-tools@fwpubs.com
Missed the November Script Market? It's
online HERE!
Need BACK ISSUES of Script Market News?
Find them
ONLINE -> Back
Issues
Finish that script -- we WILL find a market for it.
Lenore Wright, Editor
Script Market News
The Screenwriters Web:
Script Marketing Advice
http://breakingin.net/
---------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE
-------------------------------------------------------------
FEEDBACK: screenwriter@breakingin.net
----------------------------------------------------------
BACK ISSUES of Script Market News?
Click Here
----------------------------------------------------------
You may forward this newsletter
to friends or writing groups if it is
kept intact.
----------------------------
|
