"Your screenplay will NEVER sell... do you want to know why?"

[dmatthew]

Just saw some people talking about how true this is over at the Screenwriter Goldmine forum I check on from time to time.

http://olamfilm.blogspot.com/2012/03...ll-do-you.html

Pretty up front about how tough it is to sell material. And he's right. We are never taught what to write.

At least I wasn't.

Not once at the B.A. or M.F.A. level.

Damn.

D.

[TheConnorNoden]

I feel like I've wasted 5 minutes of my life reading that.

[Mintclub]

Lame... Guy needs to walk it off. Success isn't easy in any industry. Two surgeons - equally adept in their field - one rises above the other and why...? More than likely, he had something the other didn't. Thought outside the box, had a higher work rate, better people skills in interviews... Point is, screenwriting's HARD but it's not out there on its own, separate from other careers. As Churchill once said "Success requires one to fail. Get back up... And then fail again..."

[christopher jon]

sorry chief,

your account and this post are pure internet marketing spam.

A new new member here linking to a new blog with a video promoting a book followed up with a link to amazon.com with an affiliate link.

[Anagram]

Out of curiousity has anyone read the book he's promoting?

Has some good reviews on amazon, just wondering if anyone's read it.

[dmatthew]

Originally Posted by christopher jon

sorry chief,

your account and this post are pure internet marketing spam.

A new new member here linking to a new blog with a video promoting a book followed up with a link to amazon.com with an affiliate link.

Huh? I just checked further and that guy's blog has been around since 2010. Hardly makes it a new blog.

I simply thought it was a thoughtful post and thought I would share.

Whatever.

D.

[Shaken_Vesper]

Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Write something commercial and it might sell. Write something not commercial and it probably won't sell. Hollywood is a business, after all.

[dmatthew]

I really like the red funnel used in the video as a visual analogy. Really nails it on the head. I'm gonna keep that in the back of my brain whenever I start a new project.

And a first hand heads up on the book.

I did not buy it but it's in my local Barnes and Noble and I read it this morning. It's an easy and eye opening read.

People can talk "write a commercial script" all they want but nobody teaches you what a commercial script really is, because they don't know.

In the middle of the book there is a thing called "The Midas Formula" and it is a specific 9 items list about the elements a film needs in order to be able to be marketed wide.

And the writer of the book is correct. Every single big release studio film has most, if not all of these elements.

What's very interesting is this book is really about economics and has nothing to do with writing.

Whatever Mr. Olam's motivation for sharing his "secret find" with us, we should all be grateful.

At least those of us who want to sell scripts.

That book is going in my digital library.

I ordered the kindle edition when I got home.

D.

[McWriterson]

damatthew, thanks for the post, always interested in reading up on the reasoning behind the reasoning.

[zenplato]

Originally Posted by TheConnorNoden

I feel like I've wasted 5 minutes of my life reading that.

Thanks for the warning...I only wasted 3 minutes on it.

Gees, what a waste of cyberspace.