My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

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  • #46
    Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

    I think it's fairly safe to say that Andrew is not Amanda, though having the same first initial is a bit suspicious...

    Continue on with thread, but please let's not give air to the conspiracy theories.
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    • #47
      Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

      You misunderstood. After nojustice cleans up, you mean.

      ATB is always clean... so fresh and so clean.

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      • #48
        Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

        The least you can do is help him.
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        • #49
          Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

          I don't swing that way, lady.

          But I believe the Robotard 8000 was built primarily for this function.

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          • #50
            Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

            :d
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            • #51
              Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

              Originally posted by JeffLowell View Post
              So, a couple of years ago, I tried an experiment where I used a phony name and sent an uncirculated new spec to a couple of script coverage services that people were talking about here. (Thread here.)

              Andrew, the Script Mechanic, did a great job, and I gave him a plug - if you want to see what a professional with a great eye thinks of your script, he charges a fair price. (I'm not saying anyone needs to - but if you want to, he provides a good service.)

              Amanda's joined since then (http://www.scriptgal.com/), and has gotten a lot of attention, so I thought I'd repeat my experiment. I have a new spec, so I used a fake name and sent her my script for coverage.

              Her notes were really smart. She addressed some things that I'd meant to do but hadn't figured out a good way to fit in, and a some things that the producer I showed it to last week also mentioned. (And some other things as well.) Basically, she nailed everything in the script that I need to address, and had some good suggestions on how to do it.

              So, A plus in my book for her analysis.

              And then, as an unsolicited bonus, she offered the following: "if you are looking for representation, I would be happy to refer you to some agents and managers that I like and trust. I don't ask any fee for that - it's just a delight to help talented writers move forward."

              I came clean about who I really was, asked her if I could start a thread about my experiences, and here we are.

              A slightly off topic point, if I may: there are a few related memes that I've tried to stomp out for years. The first is "any deviation from industry standards on formatting/style/whatever from a newcomer will get you dinged by the gatekeepers."

              To give you an idea of how nonstandard my formatting is, I don't open with the words "FADE IN," instead, I open with an entire scene in italics to set it off stylistically from the scene after it. (Plus bolded sluglines!) Shots galore, asides to the reader, "we see"s and every variation thereof...

              The second meme is "sure that script by X got attention - it had a pro's name on it." The name I picked is purposefully one that has no credits, and without me asking, she offered her contacts to try and get the script out there.

              The third meme is related to the second - "it's impossible to get read by a rep unless you're a relative/friend/whatever." People in the industry are looking for good writing. When they find it, they're eager to pass it along - it's doing both sides a favor.

              So bottom line... Amanda does a great job, and don't worry about anything but the writing.

              Hopefully she'll chime in.
              Good stuff here, Jeff, cool of you to do this. At the same time, it strikes me that, as far as paying for notes and hiring consultants go, what you've done only explores half of the equation. Sending folks a good script answers one set of questions, but what about sending them a bad script? Fact is, it's so rare that a consultant will read something really good and professional grade that it's easy for them to get excited and dig in and give great feedback, i.e., it's fun to try and make something good a little better. But, most of the time, that's not what they get; most of the time they get crap. Then what do they do? My concern is that people may offer false encouragement in order to protect themselves against bitter customers who may spread bad word of mouth. I'd be really curious to know how consultants handle that.

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              • #52
                Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                No way was Jeff's script good. Have you read him?

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                • #53
                  Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                  Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
                  No way was Jeff's script good. Have you read him?
                  The dude will never break in.
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                  • #54
                    Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                    Originally posted by SBScript View Post
                    Good stuff here, Jeff, cool of you to do this. At the same time, it strikes me that, as far as paying for notes and hiring consultants go, what you've done only explores half of the equation. Sending folks a good script answers one set of questions, but what about sending them a bad script? Fact is, it's so rare that a consultant will read something really good and professional grade that it's easy for them to get excited and dig in and give great feedback, i.e., it's fun to try and make something good a little better. But, most of the time, that's not what they get; most of the time they get crap. Then what do they do? My concern is that people may offer false encouragement in order to protect themselves against bitter customers who may spread bad word of mouth. I'd be really curious to know how consultants handle that.
                    I sent Amanda two earlier scripts she really liked. Then I sent her a first draft of another project. Her advice was to drop it and work on something new. Of course, she also went over the problems she found with the script - it wasn't just a flat "forget about it."

                    I had a similar experience with Andrew on another couple of projects, one he liked and a later one he advised me to shelve because it was an overdone concept (though, like Amanda, he still provided detailed feedback on the concept and execution).
                    Patrick Sweeney

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                    • #55
                      Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                      Andrew told me that not only was my script awful, beyond redemption, but that I should give up my dream altogether and pursue a new dream -- like working at Walmart. I burned him in effigy in my backyard. But ironically, I now work at Walmart. Life is strange.

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                      • #56
                        Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                        Originally posted by jtwg50 View Post
                        Andrew told me that not only was my script awful, beyond redemption, but that I should give up my dream altogether and pursue a new dream -- like working at Walmart. I burned him in effigy in my backyard. But ironically, I now work at Walmart. Life is strange.
                        You know that effigy didn't even resemble me. I think you should give up making effigies. And the way you greet people at Walmart needs some polishing too.
                        NOTES / COVERAGE
                        15,000+ Screenplays
                        [email protected]

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                        • #57
                          Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                          Maybe so, Andrew, but I do take some satisfaction that now that ScriptBabe or ScriptHottie or whatever the hell her name is -- a script analyst of the female persuasion -- has been embraced by Lowell (figuratively speaking) and taken all your business, you too will end up in the employment of last resort -- the big W. And when I can afford better dentures, my greetings will get better, pal. Lighten up.

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                          • #58
                            Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                            By the way, I think I can safely speak on behalf of Amanda when I say we both appreciated your supportive words in that... ahem... "other conversation" this week.
                            NOTES / COVERAGE
                            15,000+ Screenplays
                            [email protected]

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                            • #59
                              Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                              SBScript wrote:
                              Sending folks a good script answers one set of questions, but what about sending ... a bad script? Fact is, it's so rare that a consultant will read something really good ...; most of the time they get crap. Then what do they do? My concern is that people may offer false encouragement in order to protect themselves against bitter customers ... I'd be really curious to know how consultants handle that.
                              I sometimes read scripts for pay. I have given very poor reviews to some scripts that were obviously defective. These were mostly (entirely?) on freebies that I was giving away to people, but then most of my work has been gratis anyway. Sometimes you can still find some good things to point out as examples of good writing or good dialogue in an otherwise bad script.

                              But I have also, on a number of occasions even with paying clients, sent the script back (no charge) and told the writer that it was not ready for me to read yet. I had made it through ten or twenty pages, and it was just a waste of time and money to continue. I did this with one of my two best clients, and he took the script back, worked on it, and sent it to me the next time in a much improved form.

                              Honesty really is the best policy. And you can be severely critical without being nasty.

                              "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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                              • #60
                                Re: My Plug For ScriptGal (Amanda)

                                JTWG
                                Are you talkin' to me?

                                He stares into the mirror and points the GUN. He is momentarily menaced by his mohawk and generally disheveled appearance in his depraved reflection. The methamphetamines have clearly taken their toll.

                                JTWG
                                You talkin' to ME? 'Cause if you
                                are talkin' to me, you're talkin' to
                                trouble, cowboy.

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