Stop Querying the Wrong Way

I don’t like to bad mouth other companies or services too much – at least not in a public forum – but there is a not-so-new type of service out there that has grown in popularity and I’d like to stop all of your from being duped into wasting your money on it.

It’s the automated query letter services that promise to help you “BREAK IN” by sending your query letter to THOUSANDS of execs, agents and managers and getting your script read. They want to open up their Hollywood rolodex to YOU… 

What a load of complete and utter bullshit!!  These services – who are usually anonymous and do not tell you who even RUNS the company – are complete RIPOFFS! All they have done is re-typed the Hollywood Creative Directory or IMDB Pro into an email database full of email addresses that look like INFO@RANDOMCOMPANY.COM and they charge you anywhere from $50-$300 to “fix” your query letter and blanket the town with it.

And even for those companies who have their own more specific list of email addresses of real execs, I promise you – those companies and execs and agents are not waiting by the fax machine for the newest random query letter from these companies. You know why – because no one uses a fucking fax machine anymore. 

The letters they send are not personalized (to your project or to the specific company), they are not referrals, they are not recommendations, and they generally DO NOT GET READ! They are a constant annoyance to executives who go through hundreds of REAL query letters sent by referrals, reputable companies and writers every month.

These companies – and there are plenty out there including Scriptblaster, Sellingyourscreenplay.com, Equerydirect, Screenplay Writers Connection, etc – are based solely on the fact that you’re a lazy fucking idiot and incredibly desperate.

They are betting on the fact that you’re too clueless and stupid to figure out how to get in contact with anyone in Hollywood and they have convinced you that they have connections. They don’t. And if they did, they no longer do because those contacts are pissed that they have to deal with a constant onslaught of UNSOLICITED queries from these companies. That’s right, the letters they send out – are UNSOLICITED.

I was talking about this with my friend Zac Sanford from Suntaur Entertainment (and Scriptchat) the other day and he told me he had “unsubscribed” from at least two of these services, yet he keeps getting these query letters – which go right in the trash! That’s $50 you’re literally throwing out.

There are so many problems with using these services, the biggest of which may be that there is no quality control. They will send ANYONE’S letter out no matter how stupid, shitty, poorly written or just plain retarded your idea, story, writing, or letter is. Which means even if your query letter and project is FANTASTIC, the execs won’t read it because they’ve gotten SO much shit from that e-blast company already that they know the odds of it being good are slim to none. 

These services are NOT referrals. They are just leaches trying to take your desperate-writer money and making a promise to you that is impossible to keep. Now, is it possible that out of the 500 companies they send your query letter to, that 1 or 2 will actually request the script? Sure. Perhaps an intern got bored or an assistant was in a good mood that day. But the other 498 companies now think you’re a stupid, desperate amateur.

Now, there are sites that are different than these query letter blast sites that actually can be worthwhile. Sites like InkTip and Virtual Pitchfest for example are not query letter BLAST sites. These are sites that execs have actually signed up for and have agreed to read your query letter on (or synopsis on InkTip). They are not unsolicited or random query emails or faxes.

Through my No Bull Hollywood Connection Program, any script that gets a “recommend” from me has its logline and query letter sent out to over 40 companies (not 4,000) that have AGREED to read them. And it’s a personalized email from ME to one of my actual contacts that I know personally. And, I can count on two hands how many recommends I’ve given, so execs are not being bombarded every week with dozens of emails. Oh right – and it’s FREE!!

There are other consultants and companies out there that do similar services, some charge and some don’t, but at least they are making personalized direct contact with someone they actually know. Someone that might actually do something with your script. These query blast sites – are not.

You know what using these bullshit query letter services tell executives – that you’re lazy and you don’t know anything about Hollywood. It says you’re so far removed from Hollywood, that you don’t even know when you’re getting screwed by Hollywood. 

Breaking in and getting read isn’t easy and it’s not free either. But there’s no shortcut to getting read by 1,000 companies. These e-blast script marketing companies are just taking advantage of you, your project, and your wallet. Don’t be fooled by any company that says they can market your screenplay and get it in the hands of 500 companies at once. They can’t. They can only get their emails deleted by 500 companies at once – and then cash your check.

Creating Set Pieces for Success

By Danny Manus

Ever wonder what it takes to create truly memorable movie moments? Those scenes that just stay with you long after you leave the theater? Those scenes that, when someone mentions a movie title, immediately rush back into your mind? Those scenes that allow you to picture the trailer?

These scenes are often called set pieces. And this week, I want to share with your how to create them and automatically make your script more commercial.

While I had heard the phrase “building set pieces for your script” hundreds of times, I never truly thought about it until the recent panel/interview I moderated with A-List comedy writers Tim Dowling and Joe Nussbaum. Dowling has written Just Go With It, Role Models, the upcoming This Means War, and more. Nussbaum has directed Sydney White, Prom, American Pie: Naked Mile and has written some very hot scripts around town, two of which landed on the Black List.

I learned something so valuable from our chat about the importance of set pieces that it has changed the way I look at scripts. And maybe it will have the same affect on you. 

Set pieces are not just locations – they are a scene or a short, connected sequence of scenes that builds in a way that not only makes for a memorable and trailer-worthy moment, but also develops your characters, plot, increases emotion, and exploits and explores the hook of your story.  One of the keys to building great set pieces is building layers into your scene.  If your scene is not accomplishing all of the aforementioned things, then it is not a set piece – it’s just a scene.

Nussbaum and Dowling said that it’s their ability to brainstorm and picture these 3-6 major set pieces that tells them if their concept has potential.  If you cannot think of 3-6 scenes and moments that do all the things mentioned above, then you may not have a strong enough concept to write about. All the big comedy giants – the Farrelly Brothers, Judd Apatow, Weitz Brothers, etc – use these types of set pieces in their scripts.

And this is NOT only for comedy – action, horror, thrillers, sci-fi, and even drama – ALL should have some version of set pieces. When you come up with a concept and a hook, you need to brainstorm and ask yourself what kind of big set piece scenes could EXPLOIT this idea – where are the big moments within this concept?  What are the scenes that are going to get this hook across, connect an audience with my main character, and create big cinematic, iconic moments?

The difference between a scene and a set piece is in how it builds. Your set piece should build so that you’re not JUST writing or building a scene to hit that ONE joke line or have that ONE visual gag moment, but instead the comedy is constantly and continuously building and hitting throughout the scene. So basically, there are at least a handful of big laugh (or action, scare, suspenseful) moments within each set piece.

To create a set piece, I’ve come up with a basic formula for the scene. Though sometimes the steps are not exactly in this order and not every set piece is alike, this is a basic guideline:

1. Set-Up – This includes your location, setting up what your character wants to get out of the scene (so we know why it’s funny when it all goes wrong), and the situation your character has walked into.
2. Bring out the conflict of the scene.
3. First big funny moment/visual (or action, scare, suspenseful moment)
4. Payoff for first funny moment/visual which causes or increases an uncomfortable situation, tension, anxiousness, or other funny emotion. Changes your character or the way others view your character.
5. Regroup and try again hoping for different results – but unsuccessful.
6. Second big funny moment/visual that raises the comedic stakes.
7. Payoff for second funny moment/visual.
8. REPEAT steps until you have exhausted the hilarious moments and visuals of the scene and exploited your hook.
9. Last button on the scene which is the final, if not funniest moment or visual of the scene that makes it clear how the scene affected or progressed the story.

And just so you can see exactly what I’m talking about, I want to give you a few of the examples Dowling and Nussbaum used, which will help illustrate this perfectly;

-        The Zipper scene in There’s Something About Mary – Stiller gets to the house, is already nervous and wants badly to impress her and her family and seem like a suave guy. He sees Diaz in the window (first funny moment), her father isn’t too happy with him (conflict), Father goes into the bathroom to help – doesn’t work, raises humiliation (second funny moment), they regroup and wife comes in (third funny moment/line/reaction), cop comes to the window (fourth funny moment/reaction), then the memorable visual of what’s stuck in the zipper (fifth funny moment), then the button final action and reaction (fixing the zipper and Stiller’s hilarious scream). Then he’s taken by the paramedics – prom is ruined and he’s lost his chance with his dream girl.

-        The Dinner/Urn scene in Meet the Parents – the set up of the conflict was set up previously but increases in this scene as Stiller tries to impress and win over DeNiro’s character (his motivation). The scene builds with the “milking” dialogue (first funny line), the VISUAL of Stiller milking the invisible cat (first funny visual), DeNiro’s reply (the payoff and second funny line), Stiller regrouping and trying again unsuccessfully which makes him even more nervous and anxious, the revelation that Stiller’s girlfriend was engaged before (creates more conflict and affects the story later on), champagne cork hits the urn and smashes it (third funny moment),  the cat takes a shit on the ashes (the button on the scene).

-        The opening Masturbation/Sock scene in American Pie – it’s clear what Jason Biggs’ character wants. We have the scrambled porn and porn dialogue (first funny visual and line), mom comes into room and he scrambles to hide and excuse away what he’s doing (second funny moment, causes uncomfortable situation), more porn dialogue (third funny moment), father comes in (fourth funny moment, raises stakes of comedy), Biggs tries to regroup without success, reveal of the penis sock (fifth big funny moment/visual), and the father’s dialogue and look at Biggs’ humiliated face (button on scene).

And a few scenes I thought of which also exemplify creating great set pieces – you can watch them and do the breakdown yourself:

-        The Bridal Shoppe scene in Bridesmaids where they all get sick

-        The Beauty Pageant scene at the end of Little Miss Sunshine

-        The chase scene in The Departed that leads to Martin Sheen’s death (spoiler, sorry)

-        The opening scene of Scream.

Each of the above-mentioned scenes USE and EXPLOIT the hook of their story piece – a guy who can’t get laid, a guy meeting his fiancée’s family, a woman dealing with her friends’ wedding arrangements, etc. And they build from that hook with a visual, a set up, an action and/or dialogue, and a payoff – then another visual/dialogue and a payoff that builds the moment even more – then repeat and repeat until that scene leaves you in stitches, or crying, or scared, or on the edge of your seat, depending on the genre.

All of these scenes don’t just have ONE payoff moment or line or visual – but a constant build of big moments/visuals and creates those trailer moments. Memorable moments.

Even smaller personal private journey movies often employ this technique. For example, in Into the Wild, each of the important characters that help the lead character on his journey is a different set piece. 

Sometimes the first big set piece is in the first act, but if not, it could serve as a great scene to begin your second act. Just as your characters are starting their adventure, this is a great time for a big set piece because normally your set pieces also serve as OBSTACLES for your characters (look at all the examples above).

Another key to set pieces is that they must feel incredibly natural to the story and concept you are writing – they are not forced moments. They fit naturally within your story and structure and character arcs. Do not force a set piece – it will throw your story off completely.

So, take a look at your scripts and stories and see if you are creating set pieces for success. Good luck and keep writing!

Happy Halloween (at the Box Office)

It’s that time of the year again – where girls of all ages dress as whores, men of all ages dress as women, and offering candy to children on the street while asking them what they are wearing, is considered acceptable. That’s right – it’s Halloweeeeeeen! (insert spooky music here)

And it’s around this time of year that studios anxiously wait to see how horror movies are do at the box office to see if the trend is still holding up. And this weekend’s HUGE success for Paranormal Activity 3, ensured that horror (and this franchise) is around to stay. And it’s a much needed boost for the genre, as with only a few exceptions, horror movies have not been incredibly successful this year.

Fright Night, Scream 4*, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Rite, Priest, and The Thing all underperformed domestically. And there were some, like Apollo 18, Red State, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Attack the Block, Quarantine 2, and The Ward – that barely even graced the theaters despite having buzz around town.   (*To be fair, it should be pointed out that The Rite and Scream 4 made double their domestic grosses overseas, so they came out very much in the black)

However, I think the trends for horror films this year have been pretty clear;

“Found footage” projects – which all started with Blair Witch over 10 years ago – have made a nice resurgence lately and are a trend that will continue because they work well with micro-budget projects. The handheld camera direction style seems to connect with today’s younger demos, which makes sense because they are constantly making movies themselves and that’s how they look, so it feels more real to them.

Supernatural is definitely one of the biggest current trends, especially Demon Possession projects! The two biggest horror hits of the year, Insidious and Paranormal 3 (not to mention The Rite and The Thing), are both possession films, and another cool looking “found footage possession project” – The Devil Inside – opens in January.

In 2007, “evil children” projects came back in fashion. They still work, but now they have to be possessed. They can’t just be devilish little shits for the hell of it.

Franchises are still kicking – hard – and have been for the last 10 years.  Foreign language remakes are still popular, though attention has turned from the Asian Horror remakes (The Grudge, The Ring) to Swedish Horror remakes (Let Me In).  Torture porn is pretty much out, except in already successful franchises (Centipede, Saw).

Horror-Comedy can still work, but usually only in already established horror genre models where the straight scares have already been played out in 100 other movies – like with zombies, vampires, etc. And just in case you’re wondering, vampires and werewolves – are still out.

There are 6 Frankenstein movies in development, so I wouldn’t waste my time writing another one, and Zombies are still pretty fuckin’ cool – but there are SO many zombie projects still in development and production that writing another one right now – unless it’s REALLY original – would probably be a waste of time.  But, did I mention that zombies are still pretty fuckin’ cool?

Personally, I think slasher films are out at the moment. It’s hard to launch a truly new breed of slasher film as it feels like they’ve all been done before.

And 3D isn’t cool in horror because it makes everything feel cheesy, less gritty and less scary. I know having an arm fly at you is a good jump-in-your-seat moment, but it makes the story feel less REAL. And scaring people is all about connecting with what they are truly afraid of and them seeing someone ELSE go through that on screen in a visceral, emotional way. If you have a slightly cheesy, beaten-to-death concept, like the Final Destination or Saw franchises, then perhaps going 3D is the one thing left you haven’t tried, but I wouldn’t suggest it for new original horror material.

But the biggest overarching trend in the horror genre is that low budgets (and micro-budgets) continue to be the way to go. If you can make a good, scary, visceral, original horror movie for $1M or less, you will probably make good money back. And there are way more companies (including Paramount’s micro-budget division) that are looking for low, low budget genre movies! There is NO company that will make a $30M original horror movie – it’s not going to happen.

If you’re making a $30M horror movie – and it’s NOT something that already has huge brand recognition (like Nightmare on Elm Street or Final Destination, etc), you’re going to lose money. Period. And there was no reason to make Final Destination 5 for $40M, except they wanted to make it in 3D and bigger than the first four.

Paranormal Activity 3 made $55M domestic gross in its first week – and had a $5M budget (up from the original’s $15K budget). Insidious made $54M domestic gross on a $1.5M budget. This is how you make money in horror films if you’re not Wes Craven. 

Horror films can get made at micro-budget levels because, for the most part, you don’t need big stars to make them work. You don’t even need big effects. In fact, sometimes having big stars and big effects HURTS your horror movie – because we KNOW it’s not real. Hello – we KNOW Katie Holmes isn’t really dying. Not using big stars also means that ANYONE can die. You don’t NEED Neve Campbell to live anymore for the sequel just because she’s the sellable name. Names don’t matter. So it leaves writers open to kill their main characters at the end and really shock the audience.

And in films like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, The Poughkeepsie Tapes, etc – there’s that teeny, tiny bit of doubt (created by great marketing), that tells us – just maybe this IS real. I’ve never seen these people in movies before, so maybe they are just real people like me and this is real footage. THAT is why these movies do well. If Blair Witch had starred James Van Der Beek – it would have died a horrible movie death opening weekend. 

And the horror genre continues to be a great way to break in. Attack the Block was technically a bomb, but the industry loved it so much that writer/director Joe Cornish has become a hot item around town.  Tucker & Dale vs. Evil didn’t make any money, but it will have cult classic status – as will Human Centipede, Red State, and Hobo with a Shotgun. And for new or auteur filmmakers, this is the way to build your following and get noticed!

I saw Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend. And while it was certainly better than the cheesy second installment, the biggest problem with PA3 was that all of the really scary moments in the trailers and commercials – WERE NOT IN THE MOVIE! The Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror scene – not there. The little girl jumping off the ledge scene – not there. It’s like they shot all this cool, scary footage just for the commercials (or the blu-ray). I HATE when movies do that, and this may be the worst example of this practice I’ve seen in a long time. That being said, there were definitely a few really good scares and “grab your date” moments.  I won’t give anything away, but the ending for me left something to be desired. But go judge for yourself.

And as for what the next trend will be? Remains to be seen. But the best predictor of future (evil) behavior, is past (evil) behavior. Have a happy and scary Halloween! And stay away from that guy in the screenwriter costume – he’s probably just some unemployed psycho looking for ideas.

100 Day Challenge – Fave Video of the Week

By Danny Manus

This blog is especially for my 100 Day Challenge Program participants, but also applies to everyone else as well.

My favorite video of the week and one of my favorites from the whole series thus far, is not just about YOU but also your CHARACTER. And it’s the video about Comebacks, Second Acts and Redemption.

This is what your character arcs are all about. Characters that fall from grace in some way that must fight their way back. The themes that cause our real-life comebacks, obstacles and redemptions, are the same universal themes that can (and should) be worked into your story to make your character more relatable and your story more universal – meaning sellable overseas.

The 7 steps laid out in the video to stage a comeback are incredibly relevant to what your characters should be doing. And quite frankly, what YOU should be doing personally as you try to break in and work in this business.

1. Refuse to Die – this is the attitude your characters must have, that inner motivation that no matter what happens – they will not die. It’s what makes them a hero. They accept disaster and then go from there. You need to have this attitude in your own life as well!
2. Decide to fight – it’s the acceptance of the adventure we talked about and managing their (and your) fears through the adventure. Regroup and plot and plot again. This is what your character should be doing – and also what you need to do every time you get a rejection letter.
3. Get Mad – this is one of the parts of the 5 stages of grief your character experiences that we talked about a few weeks ago. Use the emotion as fuel for your story and character.
4. Get Creative. Duh! Hello! This means don’t JUST have your character do what’s expected – get creative with it. Stay natural to your story, but find creative and visual ways for your character to do what they need to. And, get creative in how you’re breaking in and forging new relationships and promoting yourself and your work.
5. Focus on Results – know the character’s motivation and what the ultimate physical and emotional result for your character is. But also for you writers yourselves – know what YOUR end goal is. Is it to sell your script, is it to break in, is it to get hired for other work, is it just to finish a script and say you did it? Is it to make this a career or just to have a creative outlet?   Know your goal and focus on your results. Because if you focus on your process, it’s probably going to be very hard to see the end goal and succeed.
6. Take a chance. Take a risk. This goes for your characters too. Your characters are taking a path they may not know.
7. Enjoy the ride. Not only should your character enjoy the journey, or at least how they get out of it, but the audience must enjoy the ride. And while the journey of breaking into Hollywood is not always fun or enjoyable, if you don’t find the business an enjoyable ride – then you won’t be in it for very long.

And as the video says, look at every obstacle, setback, rejection, and constraint as an opportunity to show your character’s true colors, make a connection between them and the audience, show emotion, flesh out their arc, and really make a compelling character and story.

And for you as real live people, the same should apply. Look at all the setbacks and rejections you get and wear them as badges of honor, because you can’t get rejected unless you’re in the game. So as long as you’re getting rejections, you’re still IN it. Maybe not in the way or to the degree that you’d like yet – but much like your characters and their goals, you’re working towards it.  Good luck and keep writing!!

Horror Film Trends & Tips

It’s that time of the year again – where girls of all ages dress as whores, men of all ages dress as women, and offering candy to children on the street while asking them what they are wearing, is considered acceptable. That’s right – it’s Halloweeeeeeen! (insert spooky music here)

And it’s around this time of year that studios anxiously wait to see how horror movies are do at the box office to see if the trend is still holding up. And this weekend’s HUGE success for Paranormal Activity 3, ensured that horror (and this franchise) is around to stay. And it’s a much needed boost for the genre, as with only a few exceptions, horror movies have not been incredibly successful this year.

Fright Night, Scream 4*, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Rite, Priest, and The Thing all underperformed domestically. And there were some, like Apollo 18, Red State, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, Attack the Block, Quarantine 2, and The Ward – that barely even graced the theaters despite having buzz around town.   (*To be fair, it should be pointed out that The Rite and Scream 4 made double their domestic grosses overseas, so they came out very much in the black)

However, I think the trends for horror films this year have been pretty clear;

“Found footage” projects – which all started with Blair Witch over 10 years ago – have made a nice resurgence lately and are a trend that will continue because they work well with micro-budget projects. The handheld camera direction style seems to connect with today’s younger demos, which makes sense because they are constantly making movies themselves and that’s how they look, so it feels more real to them.

Supernatural is definitely one of the biggest current trends, especially Demon Possession projects! The two biggest horror hits of the year, Insidious and Paranormal 3 (not to mention The Rite and The Thing), are both possession films, and another cool looking “found footage possession project” – The Devil Inside – opens in January.

In 2007, “evil children” projects came back in fashion. They still work, but now they have to be possessed. They can’t just be devilish little shits for the hell of it.

Franchises are still kicking – hard – and have been for the last 10 years.  Foreign language remakes are still popular, though attention has turned from the Asian Horror remakes (The Grudge, The Ring) to Swedish Horror remakes (Let Me In).  Torture porn is pretty much out, except in already successful franchises (Centipede, Saw).

Horror-Comedy can still work, but usually only in already established horror genre models where the straight scares have already been played out in 100 other movies – like with zombies, vampires, etc. And just in case you’re wondering, vampires and werewolves – are still out.

There are 6 Frankenstein movies in development, so I wouldn’t waste my time writing another one, and Zombies are still pretty fuckin’ cool – but there are SO many zombie projects still in development and production that writing another one right now – unless it’s REALLY original – would probably be a waste of time.  But, did I mention that zombies are still pretty fuckin’ cool?

Personally, I think slasher films are out at the moment. It’s hard to launch a truly new breed of slasher film as it feels like they’ve all been done before.

And 3D isn’t cool in horror because it makes everything feel cheesy, less gritty and less scary. I know having an arm fly at you is a good jump-in-your-seat moment, but it makes the story feel less REAL. And scaring people is all about connecting with what they are truly afraid of and them seeing someone ELSE go through that on screen in a visceral, emotional way. If you have a slightly cheesy, beaten-to-death concept, like the Final Destination or Saw franchises, then perhaps going 3D is the one thing left you haven’t tried, but I wouldn’t suggest it for new original horror material.

But the biggest overarching trend in the horror genre is that low budgets (and micro-budgets) continue to be the way to go. If you can make a good, scary, visceral, original horror movie for $1M or less, you will probably make good money back. And there are way more companies (including Paramount’s micro-budget division) that are looking for low, low budget genre movies! There is NO company that will make a $30M original horror movie – it’s not going to happen.

If you’re making a $30M horror movie – and it’s NOT something that already has huge brand recognition (like Nightmare on Elm Street or Final Destination, etc), you’re going to lose money. Period. And there was no reason to make Final Destination 5 for $40M, except they wanted to make it in 3D and bigger than the first four.

Paranormal Activity 3 made $55M domestic gross in its first week – and had a $5M budget (up from the original’s $15K budget). Insidious made $54M domestic gross on a $1.5M budget. This is how you make money in horror films if you’re not Wes Craven. 

Horror films can get made at micro-budget levels because, for the most part, you don’t need big stars to make them work. You don’t even need big effects. In fact, sometimes having big stars and big effects HURTS your horror movie – because we KNOW it’s not real. Hello – we KNOW Katie Holmes isn’t really dying. Not using big stars also means that ANYONE can die. You don’t NEED Neve Campbell to live anymore for the sequel just because she’s the sellable name. Names don’t matter. So it leaves writers open to kill their main characters at the end and really shock the audience.

And in films like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, The Poughkeepsie Tapes, etc – there’s that teeny, tiny bit of doubt (created by great marketing), that tells us – just maybe this IS real. I’ve never seen these people in movies before, so maybe they are just real people like me and this is real footage. THAT is why these movies do well. If Blair Witch had starred James Van Der Beek – it would have died a horrible movie death opening weekend. 

And the horror genre continues to be a great way to break in. Attack the Block was technically a bomb, but the industry loved it so much that writer/director Joe Cornish has become a hot item around town.  Tucker & Dale vs. Evil didn’t make any money, but it will have cult classic status – as will Human Centipede, Red State, and Hobo with a Shotgun. And for new or auteur filmmakers, this is the way to build your following and get noticed!

I saw Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend. And while it was certainly better than the cheesy second installment, the biggest problem with PA3 was that all of the really scary moments in the trailers and commercials – WERE NOT IN THE MOVIE! The Bloody Mary in the bathroom mirror scene – not there. The little girl jumping off the ledge scene – not there. It’s like they shot all this cool, scary footage just for the commercials (or the blu-ray). I HATE when movies do that, and this may be the worst example of this practice I’ve seen in a long time. That being said, there were definitely a few really good scares and “grab your date” moments.  I won’t give anything away, but the ending for me left something to be desired. But go judge for yourself.

And as for what the next trend will be? Remains to be seen. But the best predictor of future (evil) behavior, is past (evil) behavior. Have a happy and scary Halloween! And stay away from that guy in the screenwriter costume – he’s probably just some unemployed psycho looking for ideas.

Is Hollywood Racist? A Frustrating Chat with Screenwriter/Litigant Justin Samuels

About a month ago, I wrote an article about a screenwriter who is suing CAA/WME for their racist practices which were preventing him from breaking in as a screenwriter. The writer’s name is Justin Samuels and he found my article and wrote me about it, and we proceeded to have quite a back and forth about the topic. Below, in its entirety, is our email exchange. I know it’s long, but please read the whole thing and judge for yourself who you think is right and please leave a comment….

JUSTIN:

You claim the education system is what diminished the pool of non white screenwriters, but I have a degree from an Ivy League School.

So then, surely it’s not a matter of education.  A high school dropout could make a career as a screenwriter, IF he had the right connections (he’d have to read some book, do some workshops, etc but it could be done).

If you read what I said, the major agencies do not accept any unsolicited submissions including QUERIES.  If you read what I said, I was told I needed an industry referral to be read by the top talent agencies.   But how likely am I to get such an industry referral unless I have a relative in the business?   The prominent people in the industry, with a few exceptions are white, and unless you’re related to them or grew up with them, you just aren’t that likely to be close enough to get such a valued connection.

And for the record, I’m more than happy to bring attention to this issue.  It’s a basic issue of fairness.

As for the diversity programs, don’t make me laugh.   What diversity programs?   Has anyone ever launched a career from a diversity program.  I think not.  And I would be the first to say diversity programs would be completely unnecessary if the major agencies would deal with unsolicited submissions! 

DANNY:

Dear Justin,

I’m really glad that my article somehow made its way to you and I respect that you emailed me about it. But I have to tell you – I categorically disagree with your argument. And I’d love to discuss with you why…. (I know it’s a bit long, but please read this whole email)

First, an Ivy League education doesn’t guarantee anyone anything in this town – unless you went to Harvard. And it especially doesn’t guarantee that graduates know how to behave in the real world.  You went to Cornell I see. I went to Ithaca College – and I know many Cornelians, a couple of my best friends went to Cornell. So I know they have a great list of alumni – a wonderful resource for referrals and connections in the industry… But let’s put aside the education factor.

You’re absolutely right – a huge portion (not all, but much) of this business is about WHO you know. And you’re right, the major agencies do not accept unsolicited queries. But – they don’t JUST not accept them from minorities – they don’t accept them from ANYONE. It’s as colorblind a process as could possibly be.

And let’s examine WHY they don’t accept unsolicited material. Since I’m sure you have never worked at an agency, management company, or production company, you probably don’t know that a BOUTIQUE Agency gets about 100-400 queries per month.  So, any idea how many the large agencies receive? About 5,000 – a MONTH! From people just like you – writers too lazy to break in the hard way and instead demand the easy pass route to fame and fortune. Well, let me tell you – there isn’t one.  And if agencies DID accept unsolicited queries, the wheels of Hollywood would cease to grind because it would take too much time to go through them all and nothing else would get done.

Plus, the number of ridiculous lawsuits that would result would SKYROCKET and end Hollywood completely because litigious, desperate screenwriters would think – “Hey, I sent an unsolicited query letter about robots to an agent four years ago, so Transformers 17 must be MY idea that the agent stole and gave to his client.”  It’s not worth it – there are plenty of good ideas out there that the agencies don’t need the unsolicited ones.

The system is in place to keep people who aren’t made for this business, out. It is NOT in place to keep minorities out. Just ask the 4,500 WHITE writers a month who don’t get their queries read.

Of course, there are probably 40 OTHER agencies that DO accept unsolicited queries – have you looked into them? They are all listed on the WGA website. Of course, none of them will work with you now that you have sued the big agencies. But they would have. And since you know the business so well, I’m sure you know that the major agencies – ESPECIALLY CAA and WME -do NOT work with first time writers. They do not give people careers – they make people who already HAVE careers, into STARS! They do not work with baby writers and they do not take on people without any credits to their name. So, even if you DID get a referral to one of those agencies – it would do you absolutely no good. Instead of this lawsuit, why aren’t you spending your time working on your craft and trying to make connections at OTHER companies?

Speaking of which – ok – this industry is based on referrals. So – why don’t you have any? It’s not that hard to make them. And it is absolutely RIDICULOUS to think that everyone who has gotten a referral is RELATED to someone in this business. Bullshit. VERY few people actually get in through nepotism on the business side (actors, granted, are different). I certainly didn’t have any family in the business and neither did ANY of my friends who are all very successful in what they do in entertainment whether it be as an agent, writer, producer, etc.  To ask how one could have connections in any other way than familial relation just proves how little you know about this business.

It’s called NETWORKING, sir. It’s what this business is built on – and you clearly don’t do it, perhaps because you have told yourself that since you’re Black, no one will help you. Total bullshit.  You build your connections and relationships over time – through meeting and conversing – not through suing!

And there are plenty of minority executives and managers and agents by the way, not to mention African-American actors and directors who have their own companies and executives and are ALWAYS looking for new minority talent to work with and mentor. (Will Smith’s Company, Denzel’s Company, Tyler Perry’s Company, Spike Lee’s Company, Lee Daniels’ Company, Queen Latifah’s Company, Jewerl Ross, etc.)

And by the way, out of ALL the Disney Fellowship Winners last year- there was ONE white male. And he is one of my close friends – from Ithaca. Nickelodeon Fellowship winners last year? ONE white male. So, don’t tell me Hollywood is racist and there are no diversity programs.  PLENTY of people have launched careers from diversity programs in this town – and some of them – weren’t very talented.

And I’m willing to work with you – but first, I’d like you to answer the following questions I have:

1.      Do you live in Los Angeles?  (If yes, continue on. If no, then you have no right to complain because you’re not serious enough about the business)

2.      How many years have you been trying to break in?

3.      How many fully finished, polished scripts have you written?

4.      How many Cornell Alumni have you contacted and met with to develop those relationships?

5.      Have you looked at the WGA website for companies that WILL accept unsolicited queries and have you sent them your query letters?

6.      How many and which pitchfests have you attended? How many pitches have you given at these events?

7.      How many and what contests and fellowships have you entered? What contests have you been a finalist or winner of?

8.      How many classes and networking events in LA have you attended at places like Writers Store, Writers Junction, etc? How many WGA or Creative Screenwriting Mag or Script Mag events have you gone to?

9.      What screenwriting group are you apart of?

10.     How many and what internships have you had in the industry? How many agencies/ managers/production companies did you apply to work at as an assistant? Have you ever worked at any?

11.     What professional script consultants with Hollywood Outreach programs have you used to help work on your projects and query letters to make sure they are ready and professional?

If you can honestly answer all of these questions for me, I will make you a deal – I’ll read your script – for free – and IF it is good, I will pass it along to some of MY extensive connections at agencies and production companies (of course you’ll have to use a pseudonym because your lawsuit has probably gotten you blacklisted from most major agencies and studios). But if it’s really good – I will help you get to them. I don’t have a dog in this fight, and as you can see from my article and my website (www.nobullscript.net), I am honest and blunt – so if it’s good, I’ll be the first to say so! But…if your script is truly AWFUL – if it truly sucks and the talent just isn’t there at a professional level – you drop the lawsuit.

Deal?  I look forward to hearing from you.

JUSTIN:

Daniel,

Yes, the major agencies don’t accept query letters from anyone they don’t know.  However, the impact disproportionately affects non whites, since those who know major players in the industry are most likely going to be white.  According to the Guild, by 2011 only 5% of film writers were non white.  A low percentage compared to the general population.

In terms of there being many blacks who have their own companies in the industry, the most lucrative parts of the industry are summer blockbusters/actions films.  I can see only two black actors who have had significant roles in those genres in recent years, Will Smith and Halle Berry.  Queen Latifah, Tyler Perry, etc have yet to work on a film with top ticket sales like Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Iron Man, etc.  Basically, they are on the fringe of the industry.  A number of black actors, including Miss Oscar Winning Halle Berry, have said they were turned down for certain roles because of their race.

In terms of answering your questions, and letting you read my best script, and agreeing to drop the suit based on whether you think my work is good or not, the answer is no.   Because this isn’t about just about me.   This is about a process which has a disproportionate effect on non whites.   This needs to continue through the courts, and they will ultimately decide either in my favor or against me, or perhaps the agencies will settle.  But I simply cannot settle with you.

And I would never send my work out with a fake name.  I always use my real name out of principle.

For the record, I do not currently live in Los Angeles, but I have. Didn’t meet any people powerful enough to do an industry referral.  I did work, and even had a few marginal entertainment jobs, but again, nowhere near one powerful enough to do a referral. So I’m happy living in New York.

Would I live in Los Angeles again?  Sure, if I had a good job lined up.  Los Angeles is an expensive city (high cost of living, plus one must drive) Not joining the other wannabes downtown in skid row.  LOL

DANNY:

Justin,

While not surprised, your response not only disappoints me, but it tells me what was obvious from the lawsuit in the first place- you don’t take writing or this business seriously enough and you are only in it for a quick pay off. You really have absolutely no idea how this industry works and instead of LEARNING it and working hard like everyone else – you just crossed your arms, and said “It doesn’t matter – I’m Black.”

I think the people who would take the MOST offense to your lawsuit ARE the minorities working in Hollywood because you’re right- they probably had to work a little bit harder than everyone else. But they DID it – and now they reap the rewards. And you won’t.

It’s fine if you don’t want to take my deal, but I would love for you to answer ANY of the other questions I posed. Any contests? Any pitchfests? Any alumni? Any script consultants? Any screenwriting groups? Any networking events at ALL? If not, then you’re just not doing YOUR job as a writer and therefore, you don’t deserve to get read or have a career. And if you didn’t notice, I gave you 10 steps – 10 critical things to do to break in. And I’m willing to bet good money you have not done more than 2 things on that list.

If you lived in LA (or even NY) and you couldn’t/didn’t meet ANYONE – then either you’re just the type of person no one wants to be around, Or you’re just clueless about how to deal with people. Because it’s IMPOSSIBLE not to meet someone out here. There are 10 writers at any starbucks at any given time you could talk to in this city. You don’t have to meet SPIELBERG to break in – you just have to meet SOMEONE.

Who cares if only 5% of writers are non-white? Do you think the white people in this industry won’t talk to you because you’re black? If so, then you are just another self-defeating racist yourself and you don’t DESERVE to be in this industry.

Tyler Perry is hardly on the FRINGE of Hollywood – he’s one of the highest paid producers/ directors in town and his movies (even though they suck) have made a TON of money. And maybe you’ve heard of Oprah? Owns her own network? You’re only seeing what you WANT to see- instead of the truth of the situation. There are SO many people out there who would have been willing to help you, but you didn’t ASK for help – you wanted fame and fortune at the highest levels or nothing at all. Well, now you have nothing. And I can guarantee – the agencies won’t settle with you. So, the ONLY thing you have done is RUINED your reputation and made yourself a Pariah in this industry whom no one will touch. And your lawsuit will RUIN chances for equal opportunity for minorities.

And by the way…Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P Henson, Denzel Washington, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, The Rock, Vin Diesel, Ice Cube, Jamie Foxx, Martin Lawrence, Tyrese Gibson, etc have ALLLL been in huge blockbuster/tentpole movies. So, your argument holds no water. You are just uneducated about this business.  Yes, they are turned down for certain roles – but so is EVERY actor – it’s part of the business.

Eventually, you’re going to realize all have you done with this lawsuit is destroyed any chance you had at a career, and set back the movement of non-whites in Hollywood 10 years. If you can live with that, great. But realize this – a white person working IN the industry who has great contacts and reputation OFFERED to help you, offered to read your script and get it into the right hands, and you turned it down because of your “principles.”  So just MAYBE we’re not ALL bad, and it should make you think about what your principles really are.

JUSTIN:

Dude, when I was in Los Angeles I was working 10 hours a day, at times, and commuting 3 hours a day.

I had bills, including rent to pay.   Maybe because I had a job I didn’t have that much time to lounge around starbucks?   Yes, if you’re a rich white heiress like Paris Hilton who doesn’t have to work, I suppose you can go to the most expensive clubs, party all night, and meet all sorts of people in the business between gigs.  I wasn’t in that category, and didn’t have that opportunity.

DANNY:

Justin,

You’re not getting it – EVERYONE works 10 hours a day. It’s industry standard. We ALL have bills to pay! It’s those who work HARDER than that who make it. It’s those who work 10 hrs a day and then go home and read 2 scripts a night or write for 3 hrs a day that break thru. And I never said anything about clubs or partying – do I look like a hot, rich heiress to you?? Do you really think that’s all white people do? You went to Cornell – you should know better!

Please, let me post our correspondence – let’s open up the discussion you say is so needed! What do you say?

JUSTIN:

I never said all whites party all the time.  You were the one bringing up the networking, the meeting people, and living the fabulous life in Los Angeles.  You were saying I didn’t do those things, that I’m not a social person, and that’s why I didn’t meet anyone important.  So, from what you were saying, you seemed to have unlimited time to just meet people.

Some of us, after working 10 hours a day and commuting 3 hours, need SLEEP. Also, I didn’t have a job that deal with scripts, so why would I read two scripts a night?   I don’t know what you’re talking about.

DANNY:

Exactly, you dont. Listen, because I really am trying to help you – If you want to be a writer, you should be reading scripts constantly and writing as much as you can – that’s how you learn. Doesn’t matter if your job dealt with scripts or not. I never said anything about living the fab LA life – I certainly don’t. I’m talking about going to Business events where there are networking opportunities. Pitchfests, screenwriting groups, classes, screenings, etc. Some are even free or on the weekend. Networking doesn’t equal partying – that’s not how you meet people and forge relationships and maybe that’s where the misconception is. Of course we need sleep – I love my sleep. But when I moved here and got my first job, after working my producers assistant job from 830am-7pm, I then went to “drinks” with other assistants and execs and got to know them to build my contacts. And then I got home at 830 or so and would read 1-2 scripts a night. And that is what people do. There is no shortcut.

I’m sure commuting was a bitch – but this is LA – commuting sucks. You deal or you move closer to work. I’m saying, it seems like you have a very skewed idea of what Hollywood is and how it works and never really tried hard enough through proper ways before reverting to suing.

JUSTIN:

I have read scripts, produced scripts of films, I was an office pa for a film so I read that script.  I’ve read books on screenplays and done screenwriting workshops.  And I have participated in peer review exchanges of scripts, on triggerstreet, zoetrope, and on Amazon Studios.

You can read reviews of my scripts, my posted scripts, and other scripts on those forums.  My works went through different stages, so some things posted are early drafts, others are much later drafts in response to what feedback I got.

And yes, you can post our correspondence.

Why Ryan Murphy Must Be Stopped

By Danny Manus

I’m a Gleek. There, I said it. I was in my high school’s choir (which got redubbed choir cult our senior year) and I worked at the local community theater.  I was a NY kid, so I was raised seeing (and loving) Broadway shows. And I’m a child of the 80s. So, I get Glee. But there’s an evil force surrounding Glee that must be stopped immediately…and his name is Ryan Murphy.

When Ryan Murphy creates something, he’s a visionary. He has this twisted yet relatable commercial sensibility to him that connects to pop culture beautifully – most likely because he’s such a fan of pop culture himself. He has this ability to create a WORLD that most of us are aware of already, but take it to this whole other wonderful place…

But then he seems to lose sight of his vision and get wrapped up in his own self-importance and self-aggrandizing bullshit (or maybe just the gobs of money rolling in), and like the Godzilla of Showrunners attacking his own Japanese City, he ruins the world he creates for the rest of us.

I’m not saying Ryan Murphy is a bad guy per se…he’s just a really bad multi-tasker and it seems he doesn’t have the heart to truly care about whom he hurts as long as it promotes his own agenda. As soon as Ryan Murphy finds success with one of his projects, he immediately looks for the next big thing to put his name on – and that’s fine – that’s how Hollywood works. But unlike many, when Murphy multi-tasks, he falls incredibly short.

Case in point. I was a HUGE Nip/Tuck fan. And right before the last season of the show, I got to work as an executive on a movie with Nip/Tuck star Dylan Walsh. We all went out to dinner one night after shooting and I nonchalantly asked him about the show. As any fan will tell you, the first 2 seasons of that show were pure fucking brilliance. The third season was GOOD but started going off the rails, and by season 5 it was almost painfully unwatchable.

Julian McMahon, the Aussie star of the show, had completely forgotten he was supposed to be affecting an American accent. Joely Richardson had started banging the kid playing her son and likewise forgot that she was supposed to do an American accent and so she disappeared for a whole season (her pronunciation of Chris-chee-ann instead of Christian still haunts my thoughts), and poor Dylan Walsh looked so pissed that he had to read the inane melodramatic drivel given to him that it was pretty hard to watch.

So, I asked Dylan what happened to Season 5 (the penultimate season) and he basically said that everyone was unhappy and wanted off the show and hated the material, but they couldn’t leave, and that came across on screen.  Even Ryan Murphy himself has said that the last two seasons of Nip/Tuck were awful because he hated the actors and the actors hated him and the writers fucked it up.

And why? Because once Nip/Tuck took off, and Murphy got some acclaim, he used his stardom to write and direct the feature “Running with Scissors” in 2006 (which he began prepping for in 2004 – after the second season of Nip/Tuck). He took his eye off the ball.

Jump to 2009 as Glee becomes a ridiculous smash hit and despite a bit of unnecessary soapyness in the writing of the first season, it was FUN and original and smart. And the money, press, fame and accolades came rollin’ in. And once again Murphy used this to transition to a big film with a big star – “Eat Pray Love” with Julia Roberts.

And what happened? The second season of Glee jumped the shark, got silly and melodramatic and had more disjointed over-the-top storylines (like what happened on Nip/Tuck) and unnecessary tribute episodes that became more Murphy Masturbation than cohesive brilliant storytelling.  

And now this Glee Machine – which could have run for 7 seasons, will now be cancelled after 4 or 5 (mark my words). Why? Because instead of doing the smart thing and stretching the timeline of high school to keep the show and its stars intact (having each season being HALF a school year instead of a full year for instance or switching it up and fudging the timelines), he’s decided to get rid of most of the main characters of the show after season 3. Chord Overstreet was let go and Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith (so far) have already been given their walking papers a full season before their departure – which should make shooting this 3^rd season NOT awkward at all. Dead Actors Walking…

But he’s not done. I promise, many other actors are going to get cut from the show and they just don’t know it yet. There’s no way to keep the rest of them and NOT these 3 as they are ALL pretty much the same age. And his idea to keep Matthew Morrison (the weak link of the show) and make him the focal point instead of the kids is a big mistake. And then – just to show his polished and performed actors currently on the show that ANYONE can do their jobs so shut the fuck up and stop complaining – he launches the Glee Project Reality Show to find the show’s new star.

If I was a star on Glee, this would make me furious. And by the way, if you’ve been watching, half the contestants on the reality show are pretty bad or at least annoying, and it’s pretty clear that they aren’t casting new stars to ADD to the cast – they are casting stars to REPLACE the cast – because they fill the same roles. I get that Glee is about acceptance and becoming who you are – but do we really need a “little person” or ANOTHER bad boy or gay diva or moderately talented big fat chick on the show?

The reality show has just become a vanity project that lets Murphy get on camera and pronounce in his best gay baritone voice that “kids need to be themselves.” Unless, of course, they disagree with Murphy – then they better get in line and change.

And now, after the second season of Glee, Eat Pray Love and the Glee Project, Murphy has taken on another show – a new series for FX titled “An American Haunting,” starring Connie Britton, Dermot Mulroney and Jessica Lange.  Now, it sounds like a cool project and yes, I will watch. But someone needs to mind the store. And someone needs to stop Murphy from doing promotions because every time he opens his mouth, he RUINS something we love and makes his actors feel 6 inches tall – which is what he did on Nip/Tuck and it backfired horribly.

Murphy seems to have the showrunner version of A.D.D. He gets bored with his shows, he gets bored with his actors and he thinks HE is the center of the world and everyone must amuse him at all times. Here’s the thing – I get not caring if you’re known as a dick. Hell, I’ve based a business around it. But you don’t want to be known as The Guy Who Killed a Phenomenon and Ruined Children’s Lives Just Because He’s A Dick. There’s a difference.

So, in the name of all those Gleeks out there, for all the Nip/Tuck fans out there, and for all the fans of good TV out there – please, someone stop Ryan Murphy before he strikes again.

The Greatest Myth in Hollywood (And The Idiots That Believe It)

By Danny Manus

Welcome to Los Angeles – land of the rich and famous – where we all live fantastic lives dining with millionaires on the finest sushi in the world and snorting coke off the asses of Brazilian supermodels while our butlers and drivers wait outside in our Bentley convertibles and everyone gets their own reality show and three-picture deal and we all have Spielberg and Bruckheimer on speed dial.

Welcome to the biggest load of shit myth ever invented. And what’s more astonishing than the myth itself, is how many truly fucking stupid people out there believe it and judge us for it. Like if we DON’T live this life, we aren’t successful.

Yes there are people who live like that. But I can’t tell you how many people who live outside of Los Angeles literally believe that everyone here who is in the business, is rich and powerful. And more so than that, believe that ONLY the rich and powerful are adept at giving them career advice, notes or help.

Last year at a pitchfest, a woman came up to me after one of my classes, gave me a sob story and asked me for help. Not being a totally heartless prick, I gave her my card and told her to email me. After a number of increasingly infuriating emails, she wrote that she found out that I (and a number of other consultants and executives at the pitchfest) don’t even live in mansions and don’t drive luxury cars, so how much help could we actually give her and why would she take advice from us?

And then just this week, I got an email that made me so angry at the sheer stupidity and gall of the writer, that I’m going to post the email here….ready? I am reprinting this verbatim – typos and all!

“Most of the Judges in script contests got zero clue about film-making. Why are they judging screenplays. They are not super rich or well connected in Hollywood or understand the costly business of film-making, so why should we listen to them? When I google them, they are not famous or rich or power brokers like Jerry Briekheimer or Michael Bay or George Lucas or Zack Synder… Why are you using low-key Readers to judge amateur scripts in your contests? If you ask a top producer or director to read one your winning script from your contest(s), they would probably use the script as toilet paper. Really, they have said that behind closed door. I refuse to buy false dreams.”

This writer’s name is Bill. I truly debated about whether or not I should give his full name because I’m so tired of stupid fucking people writing shit like this and we should weed people out like this immediately…but I won’t give his last name here (I did on my Facebook and Twitter though!).

But he made me realize that some people outside of Hollywood think that only the rich and powerful are worthy of reading their scripts, that only the biggest names in Hollywood could possibly help them and be worth seeking out.  Anyone who thinks this – please – do as I told both of the above-mentioned writers – and get the fuck out! Turn around, go back to whatever US-Magazine-ridden-dumb-fuck-cave you crawled out of and stop trying to be a screenwriter – because it’s never EVER going to happen.

Saying that you won’t enter a contest because the people judging aren’t power-brokers and therefore can’t help you is like me saying, “Well, you’re not rich or famous so how could you be a good screenwriter? Good writers are rich and famous.” It’s INSANE!

Here’s the skinny on Los Angeles for those of you who don’t know…

-        Many producers, managers, consultants and writers (even big name ones) work out of their HOMES. They traded their big offices for low overhead.

-        A PA or entry level assistant at an agency or production company makes an average of $500/week.

-        A nice ONE-bedroom, ONE-bath apartment in a nice neighborhood in Los Angeles rents for $1200-1500 a month ($1300-1700 if really close to the beach).  We are probably the fourth most expensive city in the country to live in.

-        A two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house in COMPTON goes for $250,000!

-        An AVERAGE 2 or 3 bedroom house in an AVERAGE neighborhood – goes for $400,000.

-        Parking to go out for a night on Sunset Blvd costs $25. Two drinks – another $25. Dinner with friends when you’re NOT splurging or celebrating something special – $40/each. The parking ticket you get for parking illegally because you didn’t want to pay $25 – will cost you $60!

-        And a fucking Grande Frappachino at Starbucks is $4.85.

And what do we get as a payoff for being forced to live like this? Well, we can drive 10 minutes in most directions and be on a beach, we can smoke weed on the street without worrying about being arrested, and we get to see celebrities walking around and sitting at our local restaurants and movie theaters.  Worth it?  Your call.

So yes, many of us live in one or two bedroom apartments. If we all lived in some rural shack town in the Midwest, yes, we could probably afford a pretty nice fucking place. But in LA, we’re just scraping by like the rest of you! And many of us went to good film schools, which means we owe Sallie Mae a fuck-load of money every month.

Personally, I live in a one-bedroom apartment with a view of an angry cat next door who likes to MEOW at me through the window like I just stole his mouse wife – but it doesn’t mean I can’t help you, your script, and your career.

Everyone thinks it’s Los Angeles that’s superficial – and in some ways it is – but we don’t measure someone’s ability to help by what kind of house or car they have. And as soon as you forget about the MYTH of Hollywood and buy into the reality, the sooner you will be able to become one of us.

Writing Lessons Learned

By Danny Manus

Last week was my 100th Column for The Business of Show Institute. Two full years of writing articles every week. Added to my blogs and articles I’ve written for many other publications and websites, I’ve completed over 125 articles in 2 years. In case you’re wondering, that adds up to about 300 pages! So this week, I thought I’d tell you what writing all those articles has taught me and maybe you can relate with your own projects.

Writing that much has taught me to be consistent, persistent, and open to ideas. It has taught me to be equally reactive and introspective, because when you can’t find the answers (or even the questions) within, you have to seek them from outside sources.

They’ve taught me to set a weekly deadline for myself, which granted – I didn’t always make. I’m supposed to turn in my column tuesday morning – but sometimes it was wedneday night. Shit happens. Accept it, don’t beat yourself up, and look towards next week because it’s another chance to improve and hit that deadline.

It has taught me to write from both my heart AND my head. And if you’ve read all my columns, you’ll know sometimes I write from a place that’s even further South. But that’s okay – because they are all parts of you and they all have something to say.

It has taught me to do my research, know what everyone else is saying and teaching or preaching out there about the business and screenwriting, because it will only serve to inspire. It’s forced me to read others work and question it. It’s taught me that asking for help when you’re stuck or you have writers block or you think you’re just going back to the same well over and over again – is okay. And someone will be there to supply that help. In my case, it’s all of YOU!

It has taught me that inspiriation can be found in the strangest of places. Not just in pitchfests and meetings and on the page, but in life. So never be so focused that you aren’t seeing the bigger picture, and never think of the big picture so much that you lose sight of the tiny details in front of you.

It has taught me that not EVERYTHING I write is going to be spun gold. Some of it – is going to really suck. And that’s okay. I’d say out of my 125 articles, there are 25 or so that I’m not THAT proud of or that I didn’t think lived up to my standard. But it’s better to persevere and get it done than to pray for poetry every time. Because it’s not going to happen. Not everything works and not everything connects with the audience you are writing for. And that’s okay because the bad ones only make you feel THAT much better about the great ones.

And it has taught me to use what I’ve written to make other things happen for me. I’ve turned some of my articles into full-fledged classes and workshops and I turned many of them into my book, No B.S. for Screenwriters.

When I started writing my column, I told Marvin Acuna (who runs BOSI) that I didn’t think I’d be able to come up with more than 6 months worth of material.  I was wrong. And I have all of you to thank for that (take that however you’d like haha).  But I look forward to the next 100…one week at a time. And I hope this has helped you look at your writing in a different way.

For my 100th Column, I recorded a special video recapping my experiences at the recent Great American Pitchfest. If you would like to read (or rather watch) my 100th BOSI video column, please click here – http://bit.ly/klb0HF

Just Give Them What They Ask For

By Danny Manus

Today’s column comes from the “live and learn” files of Hollywood.  I recently had a client, who will remain nameless, who had sent her script to an executive, who read it and liked it and asked the writer to come in for a meeting. During that meeting, my client pitched the exec a couple of other projects she was working on and was also pitched BY the executive a couple of projects their company was looking to develop.

This is what normally happens in a pitch meeting. Most production companies have internal story meetings where they come up with and pitch (to each other) story ideas that they may want to develop and find writers to work on. When I was at Clifford Werber Productions, I’d say at least one-third of our projects were self-generated between the two of us. Some were winners, some weren’t. But since A-List writers don’t write on spec and they usually only pitch their OWN original material – this is where YOU come in!

So, my client was pitched this one idea (which will also remain nameless) and given a few specific (but basic) notes on what they were thinking. It was basically a “reversal” of a concept of a popular movie from years ago (and that is ALL the information you’re getting). Now, here’s what you need to know about executives – they usually don’t really know what they DO want – they just know what they DON’T want. 

I had this original project idea at CWP that I had written a 3 page pitch document for which basically had the set up, much of the first act, and premise to the story and characters.  We pitched this to tons of writers and had 3 or 4 (over a year’s time) come up with a nicely-fleshed out treatment and pitch, but for one reason or another – Clifford didn’t like them. They just didn’t match with his vision for the project, even though he and I weren’t sure EXACTLY what we wanted that vision to be.

But a good take on our story is like obscenity – we know it when we see it.

Anyway, my client came up with a take on the project and presented it to the executive – but it wasn’t right for them. It wasn’t what they were looking for. But she was given one more chance. So, she came to me and we re-worked it and re-wrote it (No, I do not take co-writing or story credit), and I thought the idea that resulted from our 3 hour in-person consultation – was pretty damn solid. If it came to ME as an executive, I’d probably be pretty happy with it, though it was only a 4 page pitch and not an extended treatment. There were still many story specifics not worked out.

Unfortunately, once again, the executive did not think it was what they had envisioned. And she’s right – it wasn’t. In my eyes, it was better. It took the one-line concept they had given my writer and (in my opinion) expanded it, gave a different twist to it, made it more castable, etc. But that’s not what the exec wanted.

All too often, writers try to do something totally new and different – when all the executive really wanted was for you to basically regurgitate exactly what they asked you to do but in a more stylized and interesting way.  Sometimes this takes great control on behalf of the writer, but it could mean the difference between getting the job and not.  If an executive tells you they want a 16 year-old female protagonist, don’t change it to a 25 year-old male because you think it’s better – just give them what they asked for.

What I tell my writers to do, and what I would have done with this client if we had more time (the meeting was in 2 days), is to come up with at least 4 or 5 different takes on the concept so that if the executive shoots down your first take in the meeting, you have fallbacks and options that you can immediately follow up on and pitch instead. They will be impressed that you gave it so much thought.  Perhaps in one, the focus of the story is on a different character, or it’s set in a different location, or there’s a different catalyst and inciting incident that sets up the story. It’s never a good idea to ONLY have one idea.

It was frustrating when I got the call from the executive, who was nice enough to give me a heads up because she is a personal friend of mine (yes, she knew I was working with the writer as a story consultant).  She didn’t love the pitch we had come up with – I was honestly very surprised. But it wasn’t my place to fight the points she raised – it was my job just to listen, smile and nod and hopefully learn a bit more of what they actually did want.  I could have argued, but I didn’t want to screw my client over, who was meeting with her the next day. Know your place in whatever situation you’re in.

But the phone call I received also illuminated a few things I did not know previously, including how my client had actually been pitched this project THREE months ago and was finally getting back to the exec.

Here’s the thing – if an executive tells you they want to hear your take on their project – they want to hear it SOON! Not the same week, of course, but probably about 2-4 weeks later. If you are taking more than 4 weeks to come up with a take, that exec is going to expect much more than a 3 page basic treatment. They will want a fully fleshed out story and characters and probably a 10 pg document.

Also, if it’s not an idea that you truly spark to – DON’T force it. I know you all want to make the executives happy and get on their good side and create that relationship. But they will respect you even more if you say “that’s a great idea, but I’m honestly not sure it’s an idea that’s right for me or one I can connect to enough to do a great job.” They would rather find something else you both agree on and have a vision for than waste their time hearing a take on something you don’t even like.

You need to know the politics and expectations of meeting with executives. You have to respect what they are asking you to deliver, you have to deliver it within an acceptable amount of time, you have to be incredibly prepared, and you have to know when it’s not a good fit.

How do you do this? Well, much like my client did, you live and you learn.