Next steps on The Black List?

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  • #31
    Re: Next steps on The Black List?

    Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
    What can I say? I write high-concept, big-budget commercial comedies.

    If no one's interested in them, I guess this will just have to remain a fun hobby.
    Hey. There are exceptions. Damn few, but they happen. Don't stop trying. But maybe look at one of them and think how you can rewrite it to reduce the budget to make it attractive to more potential buyers.

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    • #32
      Re: Next steps on The Black List?

      Could be wrong but I believe studios are still buying specs. if they are based on true stories or book adaptations. Although... maybe that makes them not specs....

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      • #33
        Re: Next steps on The Black List?

        Originally posted by grumpywriter View Post
        Could be wrong but I believe studios are still buying specs. if they are based on true stories or book adaptations. Although... maybe that makes them not specs....
        That makes them not specs.

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        • #34
          Re: Next steps on The Black List?

          Originally posted by EdFury View Post
          That makes them not specs.
          Ok, still good then. Mine's an adaptation...LOL
          "Running down a dream, that never would come to me." Tom Petty

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          • #35
            Re: Next steps on The Black List?

            If you aim low, can't you get stuck in low paying indie and TV movie land? That would be my fear. I don't want to struggle to pay the bills because the writing jobs I get are basic cable movies or digital releases.

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            • #36
              Re: Next steps on The Black List?

              Originally posted by BillWilliams12345 View Post
              If you aim low, can't you get stuck in low paying indie and TV movie land? That would be my fear. I don't want to struggle to pay the bills because the writing jobs I get are basic cable movies or digital releases.
              Why do people act as if indie or drama are bad words?

              The movies that when academy awards are basically indie dramas that actors attach themselves to because it has the potential to put them up for acclaim or awards.

              Many of the actors who do summer blockbusters got those parts because they got critical acclaim earlier, and the same is likely true of writers.

              Last year and this year I've been involved in a couple of major film organizations and festivals and nearly all of the scripts or films that have been advancing are dramas. From what I see that's pretty much the only way to break in. Once you're in and proven yourself then you can go out for other things.
              Check out my videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/NyFilmmaker32/videos

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              • #37
                Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                Good drama and indie aren't synonymous. Most indie stuff is on the nose, and many successful big films have excellent dramatic conflict. It would appear the distinguishing factor (re:success) is budget. The budget of The Purge, for example, was 3mil.

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                • #38
                  Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                  Originally posted by BillWilliams12345 View Post
                  If you aim low, can't you get stuck in low paying indie and TV movie land? That would be my fear. I don't want to struggle to pay the bills because the writing jobs I get are basic cable movies or digital releases.
                  I have a few friends who have broader ambitions as writers but have gotten "stuck" writing horror features. It's not so much that they've been typecast as writers of that genre, but really that they lack the time and mental energy to push out an additional project that won't be guaranteed to result in a paycheck.

                  In the current environment, with The Black List and Virtual Pitch Fest, you can shift beyond your current circle.

                  Originally posted by EdFury View Post
                  Hey. There are exceptions. Damn few, but they happen. Don't stop trying. But maybe look at one of them and think how you can rewrite it to reduce the budget to make it attractive to more potential buyers.
                  Funny story: I have a big budget action-adventure story that I wrote simply to decompress after a number of depressing projects. The people who know me and read my material found out about it and asked to read it. Everyone had the same response: "We like this project, but please go write a book so we can consider it as an adaptation."

                  They literally wanted me to go out and write a book just so the original story would no longer be original. I understand the reasoning, but it is amusing to me. I don't have the time to write the book, though, so the project is stalled (not that it has any chance anyway).
                  Last edited by TitanCreed; 10-13-2014, 07:45 PM.
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                  • #39
                    Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                    Originally posted by TitanCreed View Post

                    Funny story: I have a big budget action-adventure story that I wrote simply to decompress after a number of depressing projects. The people who know me and read my material found out about it and asked to read it. Everyone had the same response: "We like this project, but please go write a book so we can consider it as an adaptation."

                    They literally wanted me to go out and write a book just so the original story would not longer be original. I understand the reasoning, but it is amusing to me. I don't have the time to write the book, though, so the project is stalled (not that it has any chance anyway).
                    I believe this completely. It's the state of affairs right now in the whole industry. Big budget? It better be something the public already knows. You look at next year's releases yet by the studios? All familiar stuff.

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                    • #40
                      Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                      Originally posted by BillWilliams12345 View Post
                      If you aim low, can't you get stuck in low paying indie and TV movie land? That would be my fear. I don't want to struggle to pay the bills because the writing jobs I get are basic cable movies or digital releases.
                      The future of original spec writing is cable, Netflix types, VOD, and whatever home delivered service pops up in the future. Those are the facts. That's where most of the writers who will be hired in the future for the studio tent poles will come from. I write for those entities right now and don't struggle to pay my bills at all. I just met with a big production company who does both TV and features. They told me they wanted to talk because of my TV resume. They asked to read three of my feature scripts at the same time they asked for my TV ideas. I go back next week for a formal pitch of one of those TV ideas.

                      My guess is they haven't even read the feature scripts yet. This is the future. You can embrace it and work as a writer consistently if you're good. As a new writer, waiting for giant payday studio films is an exercise in futility. You have more chance of being run over by a rhino.

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                      • #41
                        Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                        Actually, if I can play devil's advocate for a moment, the only thing anyone can predict about the future of film is that no one knows anything.

                        It's true that the studios have consolidated themselves into a corner, and are not really pursuing specs the way they did 20 years ago, but no one knows a thing about where the business is headed (my evidence to support this claim is that every single paradigm shift of the last 50 years-- the abolishment of the Hayes Code, the death of the studio system, the summer blockbuster, VHS, the 90's spec boom, the rise and fall of dvd, the defection of feature writers to cable, Netflix, etc., were foretold by NO ONE).

                        That being said, I would be happy to write for any budget or genre, either under a pseudonym or not, with an agent or without.

                        Re. The Blacklist (just to keep this post sort of on topic), my comedy feature showed up on the toplist 4 days ago and has not gotten a single view yet, not even by another writer, so you can tell me my logline stinks if you want to, but I get the impression that the professional traffic on the site is minimal at best (no offense to FL, I still think it's a good idea).


                        Edited: Site, not sight. Duh.
                        Last edited by kintnerboy; 09-17-2014, 07:49 AM.

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                        • #42
                          Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                          Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                          Actually, if I can play devil's advocate for a moment, the only thing anyone can predict about the future of film is that no one knows anything.

                          It's true that the studios have consolidated themselves into a corner, and are not really pursuing specs the way they did 20 years ago, but no one knows a thing about where the business is headed (my evidence to support this claim is that every single paradigm shift of the last 50 years-- the abolishment of the Hayes Code, the death of the studio system, the summer blockbuster, VHS, the 90's spec boom, the rise and fall of dvd, the defection of feature writers to cable, Netflix, etc., were foretold by NO ONE).

                          That being said, I would be happy to write for any budget or genre, either under a pseudonym or not, with an agent or without.

                          Re. The Blacklist (just to keep this post sort of on topic), my comedy feature showed up on the toplist 4 days ago and has not gotten a single view yet, not even by another writer, so you can tell me my logline stinks if you want to, but I get the impression that the professional traffic on the site is minimal at best (no offense to FL, I still think it's a good idea).


                          Edited: Site, not sight. Duh.
                          I agree with you that it's all a crapshoot in the long run. But trends are trends are trends. And the fact that people in the future are going to do their viewing at home and from multiple platforms is pretty much a fact of life. And right now, these are the people who are looking for original content. Well budgeted original content. Maybe I should have said it's the immediate future. Because that's what it is.

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                          • #43
                            Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                            Originally posted by EdFury View Post
                            The future of original spec writing is cable, Netflix types, VOD, and whatever home delivered service pops up in the future. Those are the facts. That's where most of the writers who will be hired in the future for the studio tent poles will come from. I write for those entities right now and don't struggle to pay my bills at all. I just met with a big production company who does both TV and features. They told me they wanted to talk because of my TV resume. They asked to read three of my feature scripts at the same time they asked for my TV ideas. I go back next week for a formal pitch of one of those TV ideas.

                            My guess is they haven't even read the feature scripts yet. This is the future. You can embrace it and work as a writer consistently if you're good. As a new writer, waiting for giant payday studio films is an exercise in futility. You have more chance of being run over by a rhino.

                            I don't know if your blanket statement is even half-true to be honest. Most writers who write studio films are screenwriters who probably broke in with a strong feature writing sample that either resulted in spec sale or meetings that led to OWA.

                            So while your methods have worked out for you, I don't think it's fair to depict your anecdotal experience as industry-wide trend or fact when that's been counter to my own experience and observation.

                            One thing I know to be true is that new writers need to have screenplays that get studio executives and producers excited. If writing for those ancillary markets gives you the tools to become a better screenwriter, great!

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                              Originally posted by Hamboogul View Post
                              I don't know if your blanket statement is even half-true to be honest. Most writers who write studio films are screenwriters who probably broke in with a strong feature writing sample that either resulted in spec sale or meetings that led to OWA.

                              So while your methods have worked out for you, I don't think it's fair to depict your anecdotal experience as industry-wide trend or fact when that's been counter to my own experience and observation.

                              One thing I know to be true is that new writers need to have screenplays that get studio executives and producers excited. If writing for those ancillary markets gives you the tools to become a better screenwriter, great!
                              That's def what I'm hearing and seeing out there. Studios aren't hiring people who write crap cable movies just because they have credits. They're hiring people who write specs that could be studio movies.

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                              • #45
                                Re: Next steps on The Black List?

                                Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
                                Re. The Blacklist (just to keep this post sort of on topic), my comedy feature showed up on the toplist 4 days ago and has not gotten a single view yet, not even by another writer, so you can tell me my logline stinks if you want to, but I get the impression that the professional traffic on the site is minimal at best (no offense to FL, I still think it's a good idea).
                                Right now is not a good time to attract development attention. Interns are hired based on the school year, so all of the studios are still transitioning their staff and can't read all that much. They might sneak out of their hole for something from a mailing list, but I doubt they're going to comb through the Top List to find a good project at the moment.
                                ****

                                I am a critic first and a writer second.

                                I have a background in development and currently provide low-cost coverage.

                                More info here: www.FourStarNotes.com

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