If You Want A Producer To Read Your Screenplay Don't Do This - Carole Kirschner
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2023
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In this Film Courage video interview, Entertainment Career Coach, Speaker and Author Carole Kirschner shares the right and wrong way to ask someone to read your screenplay. Carole explains how etiquette in Hollywood is a must and how breaking from certain protocols can cost a writer opportunities.
Carole Kirschner spent fifteen years as a television development executive. A former Vice
President of Television for Steven Spielberg's first Amblin Entertainment and a Comedy
Development exec at CBS, she’s had the privilege of working with some of the most
respected writers in the industry.
Switching to the other side of the desk she became a consultant and created and runs
the CBS/Paramount Writers Mentoring Program, which has helped launch the careers of
more than eighty television writers of color, including 14 showrunners. Because of her
work with CBS she was asked to help writer/producer Jeff Melvoin as he developed the
curriculum for the WGA Showrunner Training Program and as the Director has been
running the Program for 18 years.
Ms. Kirschner, through her career coaching practice, Carole Kirschner Entertainment
Career Strategies (carolekirschner dot com) works primarily with screenwriters who are
stuck or need help navigating the political landscape. She recently launched the
successful online course, “How to Pitch a TV Show That Sells” and is gearing up for her
new online course, “Get the F Unstuck: Break Through and Create Your Ideal
Hollywood Career” in late spring. She is also an international speaker and her book,
Hollywood Game Plan: How to Land a Job in Film, TV and Digital Entertainment is
taught in colleges across the country.
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in reference to timestamp 2:29 - The first idea option might also be the best, if you have a truely original concept.
To be fair, she’s probably trying to describe a general rule of thumb here
Most truly original writers can surely brainstorm far beyond the obvious cliches anyone else can come up with
*Edit:* Maybe we can restate this lady’s advice by saying “original writers showcase more creativity at every single point of production”. So whether that’s when coming up with a premise (like you said), attacking an otherwise overdone premise with fresh angles, coming up with a plethora of dialogue branches for a so-called “cliche relationship” between characters etc., quality talent will always reveal itself
The first idea is just an idea, it's not a completely finished 120 page screenplay and Hollywood doesn't buy people's "ideas" they buy fully completed final draft screenplays. Your *idea* is nothing more than the seed - you still have to take the time to write out all of the plot points, emotional beats, scene by scene breakdown making sure that every component that's necessary for a great story is there: Routine, inciting incident, conflict, climax, dark night of the soul, resolution etc.
@@liquidbraino that's why I said that it might work if you have an original concept. A concept is not an idea. An idea is but 1 sub construct of a concept. A CONCEPT is far more complex. It is a structural organisation involving maps of nararive meaning, integrated to form a network of nodes.
@@liquidbraino @liquidbraino I didn't wanna get technical here, but your cold, calculated response unveiled your irreverence to the theory of relevance realisation and compelled me to feel the need to elaborate. Also, a complete story or full length feature film does not consist of 120 pages alone. 1 Page is equilant to 1 minute of screen time. Not all films end at exactly 2 hours. Nowadays most films end at just over an hour, because Movie lovers today 's attention span has devolded, due to the impact of fragmented ideology spanning across the multiple social cultural mediums that needlessly fight for our attention. We writers have adjusted our stories to accommodate this, without sacrificing any of the story's core fundamental narrative integrity. It's called "adaptation" true writers know and fully understand that a good story will never be determined by it's length alone.
but rather it is the depth of the of the story that determines its determine length. A depth that the writer has full control over. We control what you think you are seeing. On the contrary, surface writers tend to lean to the image of the script, having only an appearance of 3 dimensionality but lacking the integrative concepts that breed an evolutionary phenomina. In mathematical visuality, this can be identified as: length (script) times breath (industry standard) times height (depth)
Hi Film Courage, Can you please do a video on the recommended process for protecting your material by copywriting, registering with WGA before sending out to readers? I hear stories of people blasting out their scripts to numerous sources and then found out someone stole their story idea, replicated about 70% of the script, and re-packaged it as their own and got a film made. How do beginning writers protect their ideas and actual content from being stolen? Thanks.
Here are two videos on the topic - czcams.com/video/ARgZyWkkR2I/video.html & czcams.com/video/p9xSs7aXMek/video.html
Copyright.gov
Thank you for this! I needed to hear this. There is a producer that is interested and doesn’t want me to copyright the script due to him wanting to copyright it under his production company. I told my writing partner I don’t trust it. But my writing partner doesn’t understand and already optioned the script. I asked the producer the length of time for the option agreement and he said it’s open ended and that’s where I knew I can’t trust it.
WAAAAYYYY back in 2009, 2 of my screenplays actually finaled in the LA Femme Film Festival, (I'm a novelist by nature). I WENT to LA to be part of the festival and see what I could do about making some connections to begin building relationships. A couple weeks after the festival I emailed a couple people with whom there were engaging conversations, to say hello and ask them how things were going on their end. It was pure radio silence. A couple weeks later I emailed again with a gentle reminder that we'd met at the festival. Still nothing. I went back to writing novels and am halfway through number 12. This year will be the first time I will take a chance to submit any project again. The phrase "gun shy" comes to mind, but "the silence is deafening", can be more apt.
Their silence doesn’t mean your project wasn’t/isn’t good.
12 novels? Amazing. Sounds like you have a good system down for producing, but you really need to let go of being gun shy. You can have an objectively good and professionally done project that some industry people will go crazy for and some won’t be overly enthralled by. There will also be people who adamantly think the project is perfect as is and others who just as adamantly believe it should be heavily revised.
If you’re producing this much writing, you really ought to share it. Don’t worry about people who ghost you. If they do, they were never going to help you anyway. Just keep going.
Thank you for your encouragement, and you're right of course, my stuff definitely isn't for everyone, but there are very solid markets out there for them Hence the trying again in the coming year. After January. I'm in the process of adapting 5 of them to screenplays (and tidying up the ones that finaled), to pitch next month. With luck, good timing, and proper attention to coaching, maybe the window for my works wil finally be open. Again, thank you, I appreciate your encouragement! :D Best of success, all around I say. :D @@kyleconnor2759
I will publish my work as a novel, if it is any good, it will reach movie makers that see themselves filming my novel. However, I just don't trust Hollywood with it. They don't value quality, they value identity politics and box checking. If someone from that place comes to me to film my novel, they'd better bring a big cheque with them and be sure I vet the people behind it, going back till they were in freak'n diapers to make sure they don't fuck up my work as they fuck up everything they pretty much do these days, coz I don't even trust them with a roll of toiletpaper!
Great! Being an artist DOES make people think you’re selfish and i have to tell not only myself but my closest friends and family that time to work on my craft is IMPORTANT and those who want you to succeed understand that.
Remarkably optimistic
Very interesting but I have a question: if even the professionals in the industry reject your script, how to avoid saying to yourself: well, maybe it's time to give up? I mean even brilliant scripts in movie history have been rejected several times and yet become classics. I'm not suggesting your script would potentially be a classic (nobody knows) but how do you know it's worth it when even professionals tell you otherwise?
By writing and writing and writing and writing. Don't be stuck with only one single story and don't be so quick to give up. Usually when you pitch a story if they don't buy it they will at least give you some good feedback on where it's weak and that will help you to refine the story. Read Stephen King's book "On Writing" he started writing and submitting his stories when he was only fourteen years old and received rejection slip after rejection slip after rejection slip and he didn't give up. Each rejection slip had great feedback that helped him improve his story telling and each time he received another one he stuck it on the wall under a nail and he received so many rejection slips that it broke the nail but he still didn't give up. If you're looking for an easy path to success and you're ready to give up before you even get started then don't even get started. You have to KNOW that *are* a writer, not just want it and hope for it - hope isn't a method. Don't wish for it, work for it.
There are so many forces in play when it comes to production companies taking on scripts. The calibre of your writing or ability is rarely, if ever, the sole reason for rejection. It may be tonally, visually, stylistically or topically too similar to another project they've invested time and energy into on their slate. It may not be the right market. Timing dictates so much... and that is why, as you reference, rejected scripts can become success stories when the timing turns, becoming "right". So don't lose hope! As I have said to many writers in my career it is the way you see the world, your voice, vision and experiences that will get you paid work. Most of the time it's not the script you write: that is a demonstration of your ability and style, and will inform companies, when they're looking for writers on shows or for adapting IP, who might be a good fit for what the soul of that project requires.
Studios have their own personal agendas and are only looking for material that fits in with their plans.
@@_ScriptMaster Thanks a lot, ScriptMaster.
She didn't say anything about having an agent. Is that out of the question?
Most people are starting without an agent but if you *do* have an amazing story that's the first person/people you should be pitching - literary managers and agents but it's best to have several screenplays already done and polished before you pitch to anyone. Even if you have a great story the first question a lit manager or agents going to ask is "what else do you have?". They don't usually want to represent first time writers with only one story - aka "one hit wonder". They want to represent a prolific writer who writes because they *have to* write and they can't stop writing. Not someone who just wrote one story only because they want to *call themselves* a "screenwriter". The literary agents can help you get it into the right hands and a manager can help you navigate your career but if all you have is one single story that's not a career.
It's very hard to get an agent nowadays. You've gotta get noticed first.
@@Thenoobestgirl Sounds to me like you just want to call yourself a writer but don't want to work for it like everybody else does. If you thought it was going to be a quick and easy road to fame and fortune then you need to put in a little more effort - at least enough to read *one single book* and that book is called "On Writing" by Stephen King. He didn't get rich and famous overnight, he went through rejection after rejection after rejection before he finally sold "Carrie".
@@Thenoobestgirl and of course, you can't get into anything meaningful without an agent, manager or representative, but you can't get one of them without getting noticed, but you can't get noticed without an agent, manager or representative, it's hard to find a backdoor when you're going round in circles. Still... open Pitch fests are places to build hope! They cost, but as someone who's wasted tens of thousands of dollars on "contests" over the years, I'd rather INVEST my money on securing slots for a pitch fest. That way, you get to be face to face with contacts, you get to speak with them and learn what they're seeing in their heads vs what they WANT you to show them. It's a tremendous opportunity to learn so much right from the Source!
A great script should go to other writers first. They'll get excited about it, and people will want to work with you. Most contests go nowhere, but at least that's a few more people reading your script.
This makes eminent sense. 😊
Not true. Other writers are competitive.
@@DAMON409 True also. Send it to those with some solid success behind them.
@@DAMON409 plenty of helpful non-competitive yet highly ambitious writers are helping eachother, attracting he same like forces as they are themself, believing what they believe and seeing it manifested. So you just keep believing what you just said and see what manifests.
So there is hope for a "Great Script"!!! Thanks for this advice Ms 😊
I thought Jack Grapes and Corey Mandell were my favorite people to be interviewed on here but without question it’s her. This girl is THEE shit.
Scripts that get taken up will be so changed by the time something's greenlit theyll be a shadow of their former self, unless you're financing a film, tv show or game in some way yourself, or your best best friends with an executive. One thing you could try is making a mockup trailer using 3D characters, possibly using Unreal Engine or other 3d software that has a character generator, even a 1 minute trailer would work for pitching. Something visual with music, its about clearly communicating where the product would fit in store shelves. Have a store (or streaming platform) first mindset. Also, making money digitally in the movie industry is akin to getting a peice of art in a gallery. Streaming services have become like galleries these days.
She says send your script to a lot of screenwriting competitions, but there are only 2-3 that are actually legit.
What gives?
not to mention the comparatively exorbitant fees.
Contest screenplays NEVER get made into movies.
It's also the market. If the market isn't looking for your kind of story, hard luck. It's a money making industry. Not a charity.
Short answer: you gotta be rich and submit your script to many competitions and hope you win.
Not true, the implication is if its a genuine high quality script people are eager to work with you but most just arent like that
Not true at all. It only costs $75 to put your screenplay on the blcklst. I see more people with excuses than genuine passion and ambition to succeed. If you thought that being a screenwriter was going to be an easy road to instant success and all you have to do is put words on paper then you need to read Stephen King's book "On Writing", he got rejection slip after rejection slip after rejection slip and he never gave up and THAT'S the key - don't be a quitter. If all it takes for you to give up is one single rejection then don't even get started but it sounds to me like you want to give up before you've even started.
It's more so having the money to go to all the Californian B2Bs and festivals and meeting as many people as possible, it's not hard or a strain either, it's a people oriented business. Its much easier and calmer than youd think once youre there. I would say you need a year, make a nice LinkedIn account, make a personal business card, and get ready to mingle and chat and have a lot of drinks. Best way is to get a job at q production company or something. If you get jealous easily though it'll be really hard there are rich 25 year old millionaires making films and acting and all that. Gotta just take it with a grain of salt, become the drunken master so to speak, not a care in the world.
It becomes a strain or hard or impossible when you don't live near all the events, aka not in Southern California. All of the housing market is so bad, you'll need a solid job and roommates.
This is why so many people from rich families do make it though. They have that ability to go to each event.
Also, I wouldn't rely on luck like that and submitting Screenplays to competitions. So many things get made just from a group of people talking. The problem is when you want something specific done a certain specific way, but these days for that you'd be better off making a video game because the barrier to entry is lower even though the technical barrier is higher. Even with a video game though the same thing applies, you gotta be going to those events and being chatty.
@@liquidbraino saying that $75 isn't a lot of money is true, considering you're not getting by month to month. I have a disability that prevents me from being able to commit to a day job, as my condition changes in severity on a daily basis. I get allowance from my government (thank god I don't live in the US) and $75 is not a small amount of money to me. Besides, when you have more than one screenplay to list there, the prices add up, more so with contests.
And if you don't live in the LA area and don't have previous industry connections, it's much harder to get noticed, as you can't simply waltz into an industry cocktail party and introduce yourself face to face. You need to get your name out there somehow, and contests are a way to do it, but as I said - the costs add up.
Needless to say, I could never afford to live in LA with my current budget, even if I wanted to.
that rabbi anecdote ... 😝
I wish you guys would interview Ken Lazebnick and do an episode on the WGF's veterans writing program. (Writers Guild Foundation).
What do you like about this video?
I really enjoyed the honesty, as in all your other videos. But isn't it better to handle a treatment to the contact before giving out the script (and asking two hours of the person's time)?
@@suntzu7699It's better to pitch the story first and if they like the pitch they're not going to want a treatment or "concept" or "synopsis". Hollywood doesn't buy ideas, they buy fully completed and polished screenplays. A treatment or synopsis is something you write for yourself only in order to organize your ideas *before* you embark on the long journey of writing a full 90 to 120 page script.
There are people who do nothing but read screenplays all day because it's their job and one of the first things they do is called a "fan test". They fan through the pages and in two seconds they can tell if your story sucks by how it's formatted and if you can get past the fan test they *might* read the first five pages.
Every reader knows if your story sucks by the time they're five pages in so you'd better grab them by the balls from the first five pages and if it's really good - they *can't* put it down. And even if the formatting isn't perfect or the spelling and grammar is messed up *if* your story compels the reader to keep turning pages you're doing something right.
I liked the part about carving out thirty minutes per day for your craft. I think it's good to have a schedule and stick to it; no excuses. One of my mentors at the WGA told me that there isn't any one thing you can do that will guarantee success as a writer but there *is* one thing which if you're NOT doing it every day will guarantee that you'll never be successful and that one thing can be summed up in three words: Ass In Chair.
I *think* that was Steven Soderbergh who said that but we had twenty mentors in the program I attended; he was one of them.
@@liquidbraino Oh, I understand. Thank you for your answer. What you say makes perfectly sense. I only had a doubt because in another video of this channel, "Writing a treatment and synopsis for a screenplay - Shane Stanley", he advised to write a treatment because, most of the time, as these people whose job is to read screenplays don't have much time to read them all, you shoupd not abuse of their time and deliver a treatment, before handing the screenplay. Now I have to say I am kind of confused. The treatment is exclusively something for yourself?
Like most of what you produce, it gets better and better and better. Love it.
She is a w o n d e r f u l person
The elephant in the room: depravity and narcissism and godlessless keeps us from having good moral of the stories. So we get ambiguous morals because they are subjective moralists and that leads to weak story.
What? A sermon is boring.
@@donjindra
You can hold strong morals without writing sermons, but ok
@@corpsefoot758 The accusation was that "depravity and narcissism and godlessless" keep us from having a "good moral" in stories." The implication is that godlessness means a person drifts off into depravity and narcissism. But that's false. Plenty of "god fearing" individuals are depraved and narcissistic. The problem these days is too much of a moral POV is injected into most stories. It's practically a requirement. But it's a leftist morality being pushed. Neither you nor I might agree with that morality but the fact remains they think they have the moral high ground and their stories never question their worldview. I suggest those are thinly disguised sermons. If anyone writes de facto sermons that push any agenda I say they will do no better.
The most important thing that you can do as a writer: Know Thyself. That's not my words, it's the words of one of my mentors at the writers guild. If you haven't done much living then your stories are going to be boring. A lot of people have done absolutely nothing in their lives, haven't been through enough real adversity or adventures to write from experience and you can't write just from reading, you have to live your life and be willing to take risks in life. That's *exactly* why the Writers Guild started the veterans writing program because veterans have real life stories to draw from - they didn't just sit on their moms couch reading "Save The Cat".
Real adversity builds character and wisdom and if you haven't been through it then you probably have nothing original to say. I've been to college; decided that I didn't want to do what I went to school for; joined the military; earned two Bronze Stars; lost friends; saw a UFO while I was in training; threw up in a taxi and got kicked out far from the barracks and had to practically crawl back because I could barely walk; was in the military during 9/11; lost friends and family members to suicide twice; had multiple spiritual experiences; participated in parapsychology experiments with Stanford Research Institute; was homeless for a whole year; became an actor while homeless and acting literally saved my life. I've got some life experience to draw from and I've definitely got something to say, I have very strong opinions and a point of view on just about everything under the sun and I've barely even told you half of my story.
I didn't say any of that to brag because nobody here even knows who I am - said all of that to make a point: Know Thyself and write from your own experiences, your own authentic voice, the things that matter to *you* that you feel strongly about. This counts even if you're writing science fiction because when Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle get killed that's an emotional truth that we can all relate to. It's part of an emotional arc and it's those real emotional experiences from our own lives that we draw on as writers - no tears in the writer = no tears in the reader. If it doesn't make you feel something it's not going to make the reader feel anything either. That thing that you don't want anyone to know about you - that's exactly what you should write about. If you buried it in your past and don't want to think about it - write about it. If it keeps you awake at night - write about it. If you love it - write about it. If you hate it - write about it.
You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness or even despair - the sense that you can never completely put on the page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say this again: *You must not come lightly to the blank page*
wow... how do you feel about "Hamlet"? or "Othello" or "A Christmas Carol"? "The Count of Monte Cristo"? to name a few.