CS Expo

[kosmikgurl]

Who's going? What workshops are you going to? What are you most looking forward to? And most important is anyone interested in planning a DD meetup?

[EddieKaay]

heyyy Kosmik - I started a new thread above just for the Get Together.

As for the Expo, i'm booked solid with classes and pitches, starting with the CS Open first thing Friday. Last year I scored high but not high enuff (hint: they love STRUCTURE) so I want to get them while they're fresh.

And I can't wait to see William Goldman.


EK
Miami

[EddieKaay]

maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

could that closing ceremony be any longer?

i ditched some of the seminars-- some of those guys were NOT good speakers -- or just about selling their OTHER 200 dollar class

the panels were great - bare bones fact based talk from people in the know--

[adm612]

Agreed on the closing ceremony. And I won nothing.

Did anyone else make it to the get together at the Figueroa? Sunday evening might have been a better time-- I stumbled out of the convention center Fri night exhausted and starving and never made it.

Eddie, I'd be curious to know which speakers you liked and didn't like.

Anyone else enter the CS Open?

[jpfinn]

Interesting weekend.

The open was a blast - got quite an adrenaline rush as they counted down those last ten seconds.

For the rest of the expo, I thought some of the speakers were very informative while others missed the boat entirely. Hopefully anyone who went wasn't nervous about excusing themselves from those lesser classes.

I thought Rotcop (spelling?) was great first thing Friday morning. Informative and aggressive. He made it pretty clear that as a screenwriter, one must believe in their talent and sell, sell sell. "YOU are the one with the talent," he said. He made a great crack about the creative execs in town loving comic books because they get to look at the pretty pictures.

Dan Decker's class "Anchoring the authenticity of your character" was great. As a volunteer, I was lucky enough to be taking tickets for that one. Homeboy has mad skill at analyzing screenplays. Thank God someone was pushing the nuts & bolts and explaining how important it is. I missed many of the others, but this guy understands how to apply a method. It was like listening to my Harvard grad mechanic - when he explains what's wrong, I walk away knowing that things are being fixed.

Sat afternoon had a good panel of two writers (one was Adamn Schuster (?). I dunno. They basically reiterated what Rotcop was saying - you gotta make it happen on your own.

Sunday had an OK panel of literary managers and an agent from Writers & Artists. Here writers were asked to write their loglines on index cards then have them read and critiqued. Interesting. But the one thing I took away from this event was that I would never-ever-ever-ever-EVER want to be an agent. Wow. Just wow.

All in all, I think it was a success, as long as you were able to find your niche. But I thought the most hilarious thing about the weekend was the new buzz word that seemed to be just about everywhere - "heat," as in "you must have 'heat' in every scene you write." Or you have to have five, six or seven moments that create 'heat' throughout your screenplay." And finally my favorite, "you have to create some 'heat' around yourself in town when pushing your project."

Hilarious. I swear to god I'm sending a couple of copies around town with a bottle of Tabasco now. Or perhaps a matchstick taped to each scene that has "heat."
Or this guy :evil

J

[GregBeal]

I'd be interested in seeing someone's account of the whole weekend. From my limited perspective:

Compared to other conferences, the Expo seemed oh-so-large and slightly corporate (even though Eric and his cohorts are about as far from being corporate as possible). There were so many different rooms relatively far apart that moving about seemed a strain. Of course, my situation was different in that I would finish one session and then have folks to speak to for another fifteen minutes and then have to race to my next session. I had two back to back on Friday afternoon and then again on Sunday morning. I was only able to glance in passing at other sessions and just wasn't able to hang out due to other commitments.

Oftentimes, I distribute handouts, but as the Expo didn't let me know any projected attendance figures, I didn't bring any this year. I always feel better when I provide handouts, but could only send attendees online to gather material.

I did speak to various people who were quite happy with the event, having attended a number of good sessions. I couldn't stay for Bill Goldman's stint at the podium, but would like to hear more about it.

Seeing just the schedule, it did seem as if the Expo was overloaded with speakers who had something to sell -- books, seminars, notes and coverage, etc. -- so it doesn't surprise me to hear that some attempted to sell services rather than deliver information. Sad, but human nature, I guess. Though you would think they would realize that delivering good information would probably be the best advertisement for their services.

I didn't get a chance to browse the tables so I missed Bill Martel hanging out at the Script spot.

Comparing the two, I guess I like Austin better, if only for its personality and the Driskill bar. On paper, there's far more information available at the Expo.

[writeway]

I thought the Expo was great. It was my first time at an event like this and I left wanting to write and write and write.

After hearing William Goldman, I thought I was ready for anything....and then that 2+ hour closing ceremony. :x

[adm612]

Okay now that I'm back in NJ, here's my two cents.

It was definitely worth the trip. At the very least, it was nice to meet like-minded people. I found the speakers to be hit or miss, but I guess that's part of the deal at an event like this.

Loved Dara Marks. The three hours in her class validated my entire trip, and I learned more from her than in most of the other seminars combined. Liked Karl Iglesias and wished I went to more of his (only stumbled in after escaping Melody Jackson's query class).

Pretty good: Michael Hague and John Truby, although they were a bit guru-ish for me and there was no chance for questions.

So-so: Jim Rohm (ran a rewrite class aimed at "pros" that was just too basic) and Catherine Clinch (marketing rah-rah with no specific tips on how to break in).

Disappointing: John Rainey and Michael Ray Brown, two analysts rated good and excellent by CS, no clue how to be public speakers.

No grade: Greg's 8am Sunday morning session. I guess I went in expecting something different, because after an hour of brads and card stock and questions from the audience that could be found in the most basic of screenwriting books (there were several on putting music in the script), I left to go see if I advanced to the CS Open top ten. (I didn't). In terms of personality though, Greg was one of my favorites.

Thoroughly enjoyed hearing Shane Black and William Goldman speak. (It turns out Goldman wrote Butch Cassidy while living about a mile from my house. )

Overall, except for the lack of cheap food options, a very good trip.

[WinterMuse]

Here's a question for those of you who attended: for someone from back East who would have to sink about a grand in travel and hotel, is the trip worth it? I'm thinking about next year. I've read most of the books, have 7 scripts done and have a good grasp of the basics, so I'm wondering if the Expo takes it further.

[Supersquid191]

only stumbled in after escaping Melody Jackson's query class


Hahahaha. I escaped the same class. I lasted about 30 or 40 minutes. It was terrible.

WinterMuse-

I live about an hour from Chicago, so I had to dump some money into air fare and a hotel.

Plus, I'm in the same boat. I've read a lot of the books, and I have the basics down. But I still have a good time and learn some new things too. Some of the speakers aren't very good, but some make the whole trip worth it. For me, that speaker is Richard Krevolin. He goes beyond the basics and gives you some good info.

One of the best parts is the guest speakers. You can listen to people like Tom Schulman (he wrote Dead Poet's Society and was very entertaining) or William Goldman. Hearing the stories about the movies and the business is very fun and encouraging. Even though they sometimes talk about how tough and frustrating the business can be, it makes me want to come home and write.

There's also a screenplay competition, writing competition and plenty of opportunities to meet people. It's fun talking to people interested in screenwriting. I don't have that where I live.

I also enjoyed the closing ceremony. Some say it was too long (I had about 6 hours to kill before my flight so the length was great for me), but I found it very encouraging and inspiring to see people win awards for their work. Seeing people like me get recognized for their hard work made me want to come home and start working on some entries for next year's competition. That alone is worth the money to me.

I think it's worth going - at least once anyway.

-Squid

[adm612]

I've written 8 scripts and have all the books too.

My two goals going into Expo were a) learn something that I thought would elevate my writing and b) come out refreshed and reinvigorated about the writing process.

Both goals were acheived. Plus it was entertaining and fun to actually be able to talk live with people in the same boat (I'm from NJ).

I can't say I'd go back unless there were a lot of new and different choices next year, but I think the trip was totally worth it.

[GregBeal]

I'm not sure what grade I would give myself for that 8 am session. On the drive home, I knew I hadn't gone into enough detail on any script problems beyond that opening salvo of brads, etc. I even overlooked several transparencies listing a variety of script problems. I should have gotten to those ten minutes in rather than dallying.

My only excuse is that when I got to the room I had to spend ten minutes setting up the overhead projector and then another ten travelling to and from the green room as there wasn't water or an expo person in the session room. Those lost 20 minutes threw me off a tad.

Probably the only interesting element you missed was the extra five minutes at the end spent looking at some page ones on the overhead. Have you seen Terry Rossio's list in his Death to Readers column on Wordplay? It's exemplary.

The other three sessions I did (readers & page ones with Joanne Lammers & Kathy McCullough; Inside Nicholl; and Basic Formatting) went much more smoothly, in large part because each included a wealth of tranparencies shown and discussed.

Sorry that the one you attended didn't get into more interesting material quickly enough.

[adm612]

Greg--

Don't apologize, I've learned more from you on this board than most posters here.

Maybe I misunderstood what the 8am session was going to be about... I was thinking more of what the Nicholl (or any judges or readers) look for in terms of the story/characters/etc and not just formatting, white space, etc.

And I'm sure we'll meet again when I win the fellowship. :)

[RKBentley]

Coming in from Rhode Island and after being on the board and reading GiG's book along with others I have to say the Expo helped a lot.

The coverage class with Joanne Lamner and Kathy Mccullough, lawyer class Paul Levine, marketing class with Catherine Cunch and the brief pitching class with Ken Rotcop we attended (left after the Stripper and Pysco pitch) were great.

The only class I can say sucked was Melody Jackon's on Saturday which we walked out on early probably right before or after adm612 and Squid left. The paperwork she handed out was fine just the way she came across as public speaker didn't work out so well.

Pitching was nice and formal. They streamlined the queue so all the 1:45 pm were together and could talk. Some people were doing 17 pitches.

We got to the networking party late the first words out of their mouths were "You guys like Taquila Shots?" ha...

I'm glad we skipped some classes to see Hollywood. I would suggest anyone who hasn't been to Hollywood to at least take in some of the sights, take in a movie at Manns, don't chain yourself to the Expo for the entire trip. Catch a sporting event if there's one at the Staples Center and just enjoy the trip.

Definately Bring a hat, sun block, shades, shorts, t-shirt, comfortable shoes, a 4 liter bottle of water and a camera.

If Expo 3 is as good as 2 and if I hadn't gone to 2 I would definately plunk down the money for 3.

Suggestions for next year would be resturant locations in the Expo flyer, water pitchers in some of the seminar rooms and maybe a bulliten board if you're meeting someone from out of town.

And suggest to all the presenters with material to show on the overhead Powerpoint or Keynote presentations are allowed. ;)

The computer ordering system for registration was painless, the ordering system for Pitching dragged but if it happens next year and if you're thinking of going do this: grab 1 pitch and check out, go back in, grab 1 pitch and check out, go back in. Don't try to order all your pitches at once even with highspeed net I was lagging.

Definately write down when these pitches are and be prepared to walk from your hotel to the convention center.

The one last little thing that just irked me sideways was no highspeed net in the Hotel, sure it was the Holiday Inn, but that doesn't matter, spend the money on the upgrade, hell the rooms were big enough to sleep four more people take the plunge. I tried the webtv knock off they had but the wireless keyboard died on me and paying 0.69 a minute in the hotel "Buisness Center" was outrageous. Anyone at the Figueora have Highspeed net there?

The Internet Cafe next to the Figueora was worth the 10$ an hour for the highspeed net access.

Definately worth the money in my eyes.

[Carson Parker]

Okay, here's my own take:

Loved it overall.

I think over the lectures and panels the best part for me was networking. I met a few producers, writers and even one or two agents. Out of all the schmoozing I even mustered up some interest enough to get a couple script requests.

Got a couple from a few drunks at the screenwriting party as well on Saturday which if I may add was a blast. I chilled a table of strangers who eventually became a great group of guys that I hope to keep ties with.

As for the EXPO itself:

The Good: My first shot was at Gary Ross who definately kicked off a great weekend. He was powerfull and didn't mess around like so many to come (see, The Ugly:) The panel "road to oscar" was fun as well. And suprissingly I truly enjoyed Jeff Kitchens Screenwriting seminar. Normally these are the ones I avoided figuring, I'll just buy the book but it was recommended, and it was great. I enjoyed Hauge and Medavoy as well. Don't remember his name but the guy who wrote "Seven" kicked a$$ too. His approach was very down to earth and kept me intrigued

The Bad: Even though I loved 101 habits of highly successful screenwriters by Karl Iglesias I was terrebly dissapointed with his lecture. The guy literally just copied passages from his book and read them off a powerpoint presentation. Grrr. I thought the live script reading was extremely boring. Was anyone else dying from dehydration the whole time? The only water was these little bottles sold in the cafeteria for three bucks.

The UGLY: hands down for me it was the "Smart Gixxx" founder, Melody Jaxxxxxx, Query Letter Marketing lecture. Some of these speakers were obviously knowlegable but simply can't speak for $hit. So was the case here. It was off track, boring and filled with a bunch of used car salesman tactics, so we would buy her coverage, analysis and so forth.

In all I had a terrific time. I walked out of four lectures all together but out of 10, not bad.

Five stars.

-Alveraz

[writeway]

It was my first time at something like this and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever. I heard from someone that there were about 3500 attendees and, for me, being around so many other writers was invigorating.

I don't know that anything I heard was rocket science. In truth, I've learned so much from reading some really good books and this message board. (One of the agents even gave a DD plug during the agen's panel.)

I heard Truby - good. Dara Marks - good. Shane Black - honest and funny as all get out. William Goldman - inspirational. The best part, though, was making connections. I would recommend the Expo to anyone! But, I would suggest, if you haven't, write something first. I did meet quite a few writers who hadn't written anything.

I came in from PA and it was well worth the trip (albeit, I did mine on FF miles :lol ) It'lll either be this or Austin next year!

[soonergirll]

I did meet quite a few writers who hadn't written anything.
Writers who hadn't written anything? Oxymoron? The idea of going to a convention about a particular form of writing without ever having written anything in that particular form tickles my funny bone. Hello?

After having attended both expos, my take on the expo is this: if you haven't got access to a place like the UCLA Writers Program (though they do offer online classes) the expo is probably a great experience, overall. You can mix, mingle, learn *some* stuff, but more importantly, be inspired. If you are interesting in getting more down and dirty, I can't recommend UCLA enough.

[adm612]

The two funniest things at the expo:

1) Talking with another writer about the tough breaks of the screenwriting biz. "I've paid my dues," she said. "I just can't seem to get an agent." "How many scripts have you written?" I asked. "One." (But it's "really good"...)

2) Eavesdropping on a group at lunch who were coming up with query letter strategies and arguing how to best get an agent... none of the three them had actually written a script yet. (But one has his outline all done)

It sounds mean to say, but one of the many reasons I came back from the expo refreshed and inspired is because I know that of the thousands of people I'm competing with, some have written zero scripts, and plenty of them have only written one.

[Supersquid191]

...and many of them will return next year in the same position - no scripts, but in desperate need of industry contacts.

I had one guy tell me he went to one (Austin or Vegas - can't remember) and learned so much he couldn't write for a year.

[techwriter]

Like everyone else, I was a little disappointed that most of the presenters were hawking books. But a few of the sessions were eye-openers.

Marla White (Getting Your Script Read) said, "In today's market, you're extremely lucky to get a paid option on your script from anyone." You'll usually get a "free" option which is a promise to market your script for a period of time (e.g., 6 months) with a negotiated selling price of $$. Once it's sold, your chances of working as the writer are near zero and it's usually passed to a known writer the studio or prodution company is familiar with. So, your "baby" has to be cut loose and you no longer have any control over what's done with it.

Jeff Kitchen did two very fine sessions on structure - he also has a book.

And finally, the most unusual session (IMHO) was Robert Kosberg - no scripts, just one-line ideas. He pitches them, you think them up ($5,000 +). He claims to have been involved with at least 35 features doing this.

Just my impressions. TW

[filmcarver]

Can't say I have shaken hands with very many unknown but well paid spec writers.

Your goal is to write in a manner that will get you assignments and representation so YOU will be the one they hand the low option screenplay to for a nice sum for the rewrite.

[roscoegino]

It sounds mean to say, but one of the many reasons I came back from the expo refreshed and inspired is because I know that of the thousands of people I'm competing with, some have written zero scripts, and plenty of them have only written one.

I got some of the same feeling. Many of the folks pitching that I spoke to seemed to just want the big sale/their one story on the big screen. They didn't seem to think in terms of a career.

However we're not competing with no-names. We're competing with the Scott Franks, the Charlie Kaufmans, the Scott Armstrongs, Griffin Bros., and so on. That's something Shane Black alluded to that Sunday morning. By comparing we run the risk of falling into comfortability and it'll show in our scripts.