I’ve always enjoyed blending genres, even though many of the great tomes of screenwriting wisdom caution against it. “From the first few pages of your screenplay, the audience has to know exactly what genre it is.” I’ve come to learn that it’s not the audience that needs to know what genre it is – the [...]
Money? Fame? Love of the process? What is it? Why do we continue to write screenplays when aside from the outrageously arduous task of getting it even remotely right, the odds of then getting it sold and then made and then becoming a hit are…well, tremendously long and then… sustaining or repeating that success is, [...]
After twenty-five years of writing screenplays, always while working two jobs, an Ohio woman decides that she has had enough. Along the way, there have been nibbles here – producers who have taken a shine to a particular script, free options, partial financing – and bites there – mangers and agents who have promised the [...]
If you’re going to pitch your script you’re going to need certain materials: a killer logline, a short pitch that captures the essence of your story, and a two page treatment that shows how it all works in relation to your character’s journey. But often so much focus goes into figuring out the perfect pitch [...]
Yes, my specialty is marketing and publicity on behalf of film and television programs, but I’ve also been told that I have a flare for coming up with campaigns that are tailored to meet the needs of my projects. In this column, I hope to share some of my passion and expertise and provide you [...]
I get asked this question all the time: How (and where) should I pitch my TV show? As the Pitch Prep Coach for the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE)’s PitchCon and repeatedly getting up to bat myself as one of the qualified producers in the NBC/Universal partnership with the Independent Film and Television [...]
What do you call the guy from the 7th Cavalry regiment who, at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, said, “General Custer, reinforcements are on the way”? An optimist. I admit that when it comes to assessing another type of seemingly “hopeless” situation– a new writer’s chances of selling his script– I’m an optimist too. [...]
“Everyone thinks my film is great! You guys don’t know what is really good.” “I’ve seen the films you program and mine is so much better.” “My film won awards at four other festivals! I don’t understand why you didn’t pick it up.” I receive these complaints (and worse) daily from filmmakers of every level [...]
On February 23rd at 2 PM, The Writers Store presents a seminar by David Misch (Mork and Mindy, Saturday Night Live, The Muppets Take Manhattan; comedy courses at USC and UCLA; Funny: The Book / Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Comedy) called Understanding Comedy: The Rules. We asked David to sit down for a [...]
