BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

[wcmartell Member Find all posts View Profile Close wcmartell]

[wcmartell Member Find all posts View Profile Close wcmartell]

BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 2: This Time It's Professional!

[vig Banned Find all posts View Profile Close vig]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

sweet posts, martell

Vig

[Jcorona Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jcorona]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Be on time . . . be nice . . . wash my a$$ . . . joke book, got it!

Seriously, thanks, Bill. http://scriptsales.com/boards/images/smilies/smile.gif

[wcmartell Member Find all posts View Profile Close wcmartell]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Exactly. It's all common sense stuff... but how often do we screw up on the common sense stuff?

- Bill (frequently)

[Steph76 User Find all posts View Profile Close Steph76]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Great stuff Bill-Thanks!

It sort of goes along the lines of...
You're not just selling your script, you're selling yourself.

Steph

[Jcorona Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jcorona]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Bill, I didn't mean to come across as if what you posted is common sense stuff that I already knew. I didn't know. I was trying to make a funny. Damn funnies. I'm grateful and I appreciate when you and others in the know post because it's the only view I get of what really goes on "inside." I appreciate your generosity.

Two taps to the chest, kisses two fingers, throws up a peace sign.

Corona

[tomasz1985 User Find all posts View Profile Close tomasz1985]

[English Dave Member Find all posts View Profile Close English Dave]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Just my 2 swedish öre.

Mmmmm ....2 Swedish ores.

Tomas, Bill is talking about the difference between earning a living as a pro writer and....not. That is not to say a better or worse writer but one who obtains regular employment through writing material which is in demand rather than difficult to market marterial which may or may not find a specialist buyer.

[kintnerboy Member Find all posts View Profile Close kintnerboy]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2


Tomasz-

You are actually helping make Bill's point for him. Part of your job on the business side of screenwriting is knowing the history of the market.

Before Francis Ford Coppola wrote the Godfather, he wrote horror.

Before Curtis Hanson wrote LA Confidential, he wrote horror.

John Sayles (Piranna, The Howling) uses his salary from doing genre re-writes to fund his own small films (Eight Men Out).

There are dozens of others.

It's easier to break in writing something commercial. I don't think anyone would ever accuse John Sayles of being a sell-out.

[tomasz1985 User Find all posts View Profile Close tomasz1985]

[English Dave Member Find all posts View Profile Close English Dave]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

Why not just write in the genre you like the most and wait for better days or send it to some indie producers?

I think you are missing the point of the post Tomas. EARNING A LIVING FROM WRITING.

Bill is not advocating everyone write in the popular genres if they don't want to. He is advocating that this is what you may have to do if you want you earn a full time living from writing.


If you don't require to make a full time living from writing then this obviously gives you the freedom to write anything you please. It can be a bit of a trade off.

[Rex V Regular Find all posts View Profile Close Rex V]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

I write horror.

But I don't write horror because I want to break in. I write horror because I love horror.

I also write psychological thrillers, supernatural thrillers, dark comedies, surreal dramas... all sorts of psychotic stuff.

Now, if horror and all of the other genres and subgenres in which I write were to suddenly become cold and, say, westerns and romantic comedies caught on fire, would I write a western or a romantic comedy?

No.

Why not, you ask? Because I don't know those genres as well as I do my favorites. I'm not in love with them. I wouldn't be able to write a decent screenplay in either (unless I wrote a horror western or a dark romantic comedy... maybe). I wouldn't WANT to write a screenplay in either. Leave the romantic comedies to Joan Easley and the westerns to Bill Marquardt -- people who know those genres and would shame any attempt I made at writing in one of them.

Because I sure as hell wouldn't be able to break in with either a western or a romantic comedy.

But I might with horror.

(This seems like common sense.)

So, yeah, I'm with tomasz on this one.

And Taotropics.

[Joaneasley Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joaneasley]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

I believe in writing within your genre comfort zone. Mine is, yes, romantic comedy and comedy, and I wouldn't try to write horror just because it's popular. I have no feel for horror, and I wouldn't be good at it. So we're even.

If you want to make a living at screenwriting, it's smart to look at the all the kinds of movies you love, all the kinds of movies you have a feel for, and write in the most saleable genre of those.

If you like period piece dramas and contemporary woman-in-jepoardy thrillers, the latter is more marketable. Dramas may win contests, but as a rule, they are not considered mass crowd-pleasers like comedy, horror or thrillers. And period pieces are more expensive to make than contemporary pics. So if you're chosing between the two, I say write the woman in jeopardy thriller that you also have a feel for -- the script where your taste intersects with the taste of the largest number of other people.

[English Dave Member Find all posts View Profile Close English Dave]

Re: BE INDISPENSABLE - Part 1 & 2

If you want to make a living at screenwriting, it's smart to look at the all the kinds of movies you love, all the kinds of movies you have a feel for, and write in the most saleable genre of those.

.

That's what I meant. But I had a headache.