Personally I think the feature side of the business has contracted to the point that very few reps would make the effort to sell a writer based on a great but unsellable spec.
Pretty sure that those writers who managed to capitalize on a great unsold sample in the past (like Jeff) would find it much harder to pull off in the current climate. I'd argue reps are only looking for both the voice and the inspired commercial concept at the moment, since the difficulty of breaking a writer with anything short of that is overwhelming, even for well known reps.
Yes - the feature business is hurting, that's definitely true. Everything is harder. But I still think a great read, even if it's not obviously commercial, is the best calling card.
If it's a great read and commercial, obviously that's the holy grail.
So, to launch a career: (voice + commercial concept) > (voice - commercial concept) > (commercial concept - voice)
Re: ageism: a ten year career is probably twice the WGA average. If a rep thought they'd get ten good years out of you, I don't see why a smart one wouldn't take you on.
Re: ageism: a ten year career is probably twice the WGA average. If a rep thought they'd get ten good years out of you, I don't see why a smart one wouldn't take you on.
Good to hear. I think I got ten good years left in me.
The unpaid Black List Industry site and the paid Black List site is gonna confuse people. I know about the two sites and I get confused if it's mentioned because I'm not sure which of the two sites a person is referring to.
I'm sorry you had to read that, Jeff. Apologies on behalf of this 27 year old man.
Ah. Our own Benjamin Button.
Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-
It's important to clarify that voice and concept are not independent variables.
What you choose to write about is part of your voice. As are the decisions you make within that concept.
Young writers tend to think of "voice" as simply being witty asides in the action lines. But voice is EVERY decision you make as a writer, including where you start.
Every writer I know has that "uncommercial but well-written" script that broke them in. I do too (one script accounts for 70% of my meetings and work). But in every case, that "unsellable" script has a really, really, really cool idea at its core. And when you see the idea that they landed on, and how they handle it, you understand who that writer is a little bit. You get a sense for their worldview and their taste. You know what kind of worlds they're interested in exploring.
And as a rep, you know what kind of jobs they can win. And what kind of money you can make off them.
The unpaid Black List Industry site and the paid Black List site is gonna confuse people. I know about the two sites and I get confused if it's mentioned because I'm not sure which of the two sites a person is referring to.
they are one and the same. there is ONE site. what's different is the annual list vs the hosting section of the site. if you think of them, technically, it's easy to separate them.
the Annual Black List-- a once a year compiling of apx 250 industry professionals who cast votes on their favorite scripts that are, as yet, NOT in production and are associated with that calendar year.
The Black List website-- a site that connects writers to the industry via paid reader evaluations
FL was very smart to tie them together-- great marketing.
"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden
The rub is the annual list was first, so I can't see it the way you laid out which is very well written and smart, but my mind just goes to it being the same name.
It's like if The Oscars started a website giving out awards if you paid them $50 bucks to host your feature film.
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