Does anybody read specs anymore?

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  • #16
    Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

    Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
    Move to LA. Start at the bottom. Work your way up. Get to know showrunners and staff writers. Write a spec and/or original pilot that gets you repped and being sent out for staff assignments. There is no "way" but there are thousands of writers already here trying to break in. But hoping that you can vie for a freelance assignment against the people who are already in the room is probably not one of them.
    this.

    or try the warner brothers workshop or the disney fellowship.

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    • #17
      Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

      Have both. It's really rare to get staff just on original work, but it does happen. When you write a spec, the last thing you want to do is send it to the show you created the spec for. Being "friends" with staff writers does not guarantee ya a job either. So really you gotta be a good writer. I'm friends with some staff writers, but the friendships are not for business. You have to be really careful about creating friendships just to get something.
      Last edited by lache; 04-29-2012, 06:47 AM.

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      • #18
        Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

        Wrote the pilot. Am about to start a spec. Am hoping a contest win/placement will lead to my getting the pilot into a show-runner's hands so I can be invited in to pitch a freelance.

        Need $ to move to LA, and right now there's just not enough to make the move. A freelance payment should enable me to move to LA, so I need that freelance gig first.
        "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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        • #19
          Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

          if you are fortunate enough to get a freelance on a show... you kinda have to already be in LA. Because you will be required to come into the offices for a few weeks to get up to speed on the season storylines and break the episode with the writers.

          Now some procedurals are more self-contained and don't require that as much, but those were usually the long-running ones (Law & Order) which aren't around as much anymore.

          Not to say it can't happen... just don't bank on it.

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          • #20
            Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

            Originally posted by JakeJackson View Post
            if you are fortunate enough to get a freelance on a show... you kinda have to already be in LA. Because you will be required to come into the offices for a few weeks to get up to speed on the season storylines and break the episode with the writers.

            Now some procedurals are more self-contained and don't require that as much, but those were usually the long-running ones (Law & Order) which aren't around as much anymore.

            Not to say it can't happen... just don't bank on it.
            I'm prepared for a trip out there to pitch some ep ideas for a particular procedural show. It's a new show and I've watched/DVRd most episodes. Some eps were stand alones while others involved a recently ended multi-ep character arc/storyline so I feel I have a good handle on the show.

            Gotta get repped first (details!). Am hoping for some contest mojo on my pilot.
            "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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            • #21
              Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

              Yeah. It pretty much seems like if you're trying to break into television writing and you don't already live in Los Angeles or New York, you're already starting with one strike against you. These people love meetings.

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              • #22
                Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                Just curious, how'd you get the meeting with the EP?

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                • #23
                  Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                  Originally posted by UnequalProductions View Post
                  Yeah. It pretty much seems like if you're trying to break into television writing and you don't already live in Los Angeles or New York, you're already starting with one strike against you. These people love meetings.
                  I already have a cell phone with 310 area code and my LA-based cousin lets me use his address on my scripts... so I'm already creating the illusion I live there. Call me crazy - no doubt many will - but if it helps get my foot in the door.... just have to hope I can squeeze in a bunch of meetings if I get a nod, then go off - way, way off ;-) - to write.

                  Hey, if they pay me to write some eps I just may make enough to swing the move for real.
                  "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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                  • #24
                    Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                    nothing instills confidence in a showrunner that they're making the right choice in a writer like deceiving them from the get-go

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                    • #25
                      Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                      Hey, if showrunners will only talk to LA residents what chance do the ones who don't yet live in LA have?

                      I'm not going to move to LA on the off-chance of some pipe-dream, work at Starbucks, live in a hovel in a dangerous neighborhood cause that's all I can afford, try to get some writing done and find the time to "make friends" with staff writers and show runners while I'm working 40-80 weeks in a menial job (yes, I know many do this).

                      Is it wrong to have my foot in the door before I actually move out there? Some save deceptive, but I (and I bet others will) say smart.

                      No one in Hollywood needs to know, or will ever know when I actually moved there.

                      All any show-runner needs/wants to know is: 1. Can you write in the voice of the show? 2. Can you get along with/collaborate with the other writers? 3. Can you break a story and finish your draft on time?
                      Last edited by JoJo; 05-04-2012, 05:06 AM.
                      "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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                      • #26
                        Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                        Originally posted by JoeBanks View Post
                        nothing instills confidence in a showrunner that they're making the right choice in a writer like deceiving them from the get-go
                        Or writes in all lowercase and doesn't use punctuation.
                        "Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again." -[/SIZE] James R. Cook

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                        • #27
                          Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                          Originally posted by JoJo View Post
                          Hey, if showrunners will only talk to LA residents what chance do the ones who don't yet live in LA have?

                          I'm not going to move to LA on the off-chance of some pipe-dream, work at Starbucks, live in a hovel in a dangerous neighborhood cause that's all I can afford, try to get some writing done and find the time to "make friends" with staff writers and show runners while I'm working 40-80 weeks in a menial job (yes, I know many do this).

                          Is it wrong to have my foot in the door before I actually move out there? Some save deceptive, but I (and I bet others will) say smart.

                          No one in Hollywood needs to know, or will ever know when I actually moved there.

                          All any show-runner needs/wants to know is: 1. Can you write in the voice of the show? 2. Can you get along with/collaborate with the other writers? 3. Can you break a story and finish your draft on time?
                          Why do you see yourself working at Starbucks? Why wouldn't you get an assistant job, preferably on a show?

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                          • #28
                            Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                            Your view of how to live in LA is pretty narrow. Yes, it's expensive, but you don't have to live in poverty to make it. Get a 9-5 with benefits and write at night or in the morning, find some roommates and network on the weekends.

                            I get what you're saying about wanting a fair shot like everybody else, but as somebody pointed out above you are engaging in deception. You should be upfront with people, because if they find out - maybe they move a meeting to when you're back home - they won't be inclined to trust you.

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                            • #29
                              Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                              And executives LOVE to move meetings. Your schedule needs to be flexible to accommodate all the moving around you'll do on somebody's calendar.
                              Chicks Who Script podcast

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                              • #30
                                Re: Does anybody read specs anymore?

                                Originally posted by JoJo View Post
                                I'm not going to move to LA on the off-chance of some pipe-dream, work at Starbucks, live in a hovel in a dangerous neighborhood cause that's all I can afford, try to get some writing done and find the time to "make friends" with staff writers and show runners while I'm working 40-80 weeks in a menial job (yes, I know many do this).
                                This is a time-honored tradition of how to break into to writing for film and television. If you can get around it, bravo. Just know you'll be competing against people who are developing connections, working as assistants, and able to drop anything and be at a meeting that afternoon.

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