Franklin Leonard

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  • GucciGhostXXX
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    BTW - I also want to point this out because it may seem like his advice conflicts with mine. I don't think so.

    He said up front to not ramble on about your personal life (agreed). But, later he says "if you have a compelling narrative, like, 'I was a Navy seal', cool that's great."

    Same thing I'm talking about with queries. I literally mean one short sentence essentially as a BIO logline. "I'm an ex-Navy seal." That's plenty. Different than rambling on with a full paragraph about it.

    It could be almost anything:

    "I was wrongly convicted of murder, did 20 years, pardoned." (Whoa, interesting!)

    "I'm an ex-stripper." (you know who I'm talking about).

    "I spent 10 years as a monk." (Hmmm, interesting.)

    "I'm an ex-homicide detective." (His friend, my ex's ex-client)

    "I was homeless and lived on the streets of LA for 10 years." (Wow, bet that dude's seen a lot!)

    "I ran a fortune 500 company for 10 years before the FBI raided it." (Cool. Bet this dude's seen some shady sh!t.)

    "I lived alone on an island in the South Pacific and didn't speak to another person for 5 years." (Holy sh!t, what was that like?)

    It can be almost anything. It's merely saying "this is an interesting fact about me that informs what I write." If it's interesting, and short, mention it in the query. People love unique stories, especially if they're one sentence. If it's not interesting "I went to film school." Don't waste their time. Because if it's not interesting enough you're outing yourself as not knowing WHAT qualifies as a great story.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bono
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Craig Mazin hates all contests. Scripts consultants. Final Draft software - which is fine really. I get it others are better customer service... anyway... 99.9% of that stuff. There was only 1 thing I recall him not making fun of on his podcast. And you can guess what service that is off this thread...

    I say that because sometimes we say things to help out our buddies... to be nice to people we see at kids birthday parties.

    So my point was, we you hear interviews with managers or agents or anyone be skeptical of all advice about the business given in a public way. Hell any interview from anyone. The truth is in the shadows. Ha ha ha ha ha.

    Leave a comment:


  • GucciGhostXXX
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Ps... correct date? Don't you mean June 2018 or did the link go to the wrong vid?

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  • GucciGhostXXX
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Ha!

    Watching it.

    [LONG. SORRY]

    Notice when asked what script competitions matter to agents he's like "Austin... ummm... The Nicholl... ummm, shoot, ya know... [snip] Ummm... God, there's not a lot of competitions, honestly, that people pay a heck of a lotta attention to. And if I can't think of them off the top of my head...?"

    There's the answer.

    Like I've said. When my ex was an agent she read exactly ZERO competition scripts in 15 years. But, notice he did say that if HE tells the agent it's good the agent will read it, that it means something coming from him.

    Agents generally see it like this (especially nowadays): "If the winner of some competition is really that good, a manager will find them, develop the script so that it's finally in sellable shape... because I'm not interested in developing, that's the managers job... and THAT'S finally when I *MIGHT* read it if it sounds cool and this manager swears it's not a waste of my time."

    But, that's still no guarantee you get an agent. My manager on my last script (or was it 2 scripts ago, I forget) took it to a friend at a particular agency... agent passed. Not quite passionate ENOUGH about the material.

    This business is tough and only getting tougher.

    I also agree with his comment about being utterly professional. Yes, I'm an idiot on here, but put me in a room and I'm all business. It's kinda like (but not nearly to this degree, obviously) my ex used to rep Lebron (yeah, that one), during events he likes to clown around and have a good time (same). But, the second you bring up money. CLICK! He's immediately all business/100% professional.

    Time and a place... I say.

    If we're at the bar. Fukk it, we're gonna rage. If we're "in the room", I'm gonna get down to business (work hard/play hard). I think it helps to have both sides. That way people want to hang out with you off the clock too. Meaning: professional doesn't mean stiff and rigid. I've seen that a lot with writers. Comes across as desperate and needy, and somewhat creepy. Gotta be relaxed. Puts people at ease. It's actually our JOB to do that.

    I used to suck at meetings. But, after my mono y mono with a Rudin-Type at SoHo house with Chris Hemsworth eavesdropping (we'll pretend he was), I'm not scared to sit down with anyone. That was definitely my scariest meeting.

    Advice for people who haven't done meetings with people that high up (and I know a lot of us have, not puffing up like I'm the only one, I'm a loser), but my advice is: DON'T PANIC! BE FUN! BE INTERESTING! BE ENGAGED FOR REAL! And know that you're gonna go off script if the meeting is going well, don't let that scare you. If you go off script RAD! That's exactly what you want. I can't stress that enough. Because now you're building a RAPPORT. If they smile, if they laugh at your joke, if they go the full hour, if they say "Shoot, I gotta run" but THEY keep talking. You're doing good! If THEY go supper OFF TOPIC and tell you personal sh!t or sh!t where you're like "should they be admitting this insider intel to me???", you're doing fukkin GREAT!

    Who cares about talking about the project if they're opening up about problems with their wife, or whatever. So what if they've veered way off topic talking about some completely unrelated subject. PERFECT! This is a really good meeting! Rapport is #1.

    I think brand new writers friggin' PANIC! when that happens "Wait... fukk!... we're off topic... I need to steer the convo back to MY PRECIOUS SCRIPT!!!" Don't do it, bruh! Not in your best interest. Stay on the topic THEY are most interested in discussing. This way, on your way home you'll get this call from your rep "Just got off the phone with ____. Said it was one of his best meetings ever." This is a dude who's sat across the table from Sorkin. No pressure!

    Still... fukk it. Stay calm. Stay loose. Stay FUN!
    Last edited by GucciGhostXXX; 08-20-2019, 01:24 PM.

    Leave a comment:


  • lostfootage
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Originally posted by finalact4 View Post
    so, i'm listening to a Scripts & Scribes podcast with John Zaozirny @Bellevue from June 2019. cool guy. sharp. great advice.

    he mentions a few ways he finds clients... but first, Bellevue 7 scripts on The Annual Black List tied with Kaplan/Peronne as #1 management company with the highest number of scripts on the black list.

    he has found clients off query letters but it's becoming less of a thing.

    his #1 suggestion is the black list website.
    and last August he found a woman on the black list website who wrote an amazing pilot that was recommended in an email from the black list. he read it. it was amazing. he reached out to her. she lived in new york but was moving to LA. met when she got into town. did work on the pilot.

    he was at a party in November for Variety "new leader" in and met an agent, mentioned her to him, he signed her. he met her, signed with him and went out with her and got her staffed on her first show in February. super talented. phenomenal in the room.

    he has found two clients from Austin Film Festival where he's a judge. one of his clients (Chris Thomas Devlin) his script COBWEB was on the 2018 Annual Black List and sold i think he said to Lionsgate.

    he had someone call him, email him, facebook messenger, and someone shows up with his mother in a wheelchair and he said, "i haven't been able to get in touch with you," yeah, no, don't do that. John took the address off his website to prevent this from happening again. his advice, don't be desperate.

    he looks for talent on the page and professionalism. NO ONE is going to reward bad behavior. he also admitted that he goes on Done Deal Pro sometimes.

    here's the link... https://www.scriptsandscribes.com/20...hn-zaozirny-2/

    props to Kevin.
    Thank you! Def listening to this one.

    Leave a comment:


  • Friday
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    I like it the most when they have managers on that show. They seem to have the most interesting things to say about the business.

    Leave a comment:


  • finalact4
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    so, i'm listening to a Scripts & Scribes podcast with John Zaozirny @Bellevue from June 2019. cool guy. sharp. great advice.

    he mentions a few ways he finds clients... but first, Bellevue 7 scripts on The Annual Black List tied with Kaplan/Peronne as #1 management company with the highest number of scripts on the black list.

    he has found clients off query letters but it's becoming less of a thing.

    his #1 suggestion is the black list website.
    and last August he found a woman on the black list website who wrote an amazing pilot that was recommended in an email from the black list. he read it. it was amazing. he reached out to her. she lived in new york but was moving to LA. met when she got into town. did work on the pilot.

    he was at a party in November for Variety "new leader" in and met an agent, mentioned her to him, he signed her. he met her, signed with him and went out with her and got her staffed on her first show in February. super talented. phenomenal in the room.

    he has found two clients from Austin Film Festival where he's a judge. one of his clients (Chris Thomas Devlin) his script COBWEB was on the 2018 Annual Black List and sold i think he said to Lionsgate.

    he had someone call him, email him, facebook messenger, and someone shows up with his mother in a wheelchair and he said, "i haven't been able to get in touch with you," yeah, no, don't do that. John took the address off his website to prevent this from happening again. his advice, don't be desperate.

    he looks for talent on the page and professionalism. NO ONE is going to reward bad behavior. he also admitted that he goes on Done Deal Pro sometimes.

    here's the link... https://www.scriptsandscribes.com/20...hn-zaozirny-2/

    props to Kevin.

    Leave a comment:


  • catcon
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    And don't forget the hobnobbing with the rich and famous. Counts for something, too.

    Meanwhile, ole' Franklin has talked about that script he wrote about 15 years ago, and how he'd "like to get back to it some day." Yeah, right. Ha ha.

    "Hey, BL readers, who among you wants to give an honest appraisal of the boss's old script?"

    Leave a comment:


  • finalact4
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Originally posted by lostfootage View Post
    Tou-f-ing-ché.

    I bet he clears $500k a year off the tears of aspiring screenwriters. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
    let's check some numbers... for shits&giggles

    ave hosted scripts = 3400 @ $25/month = $1,202,000/year. that's the low side.

    ave two paid reviews $75/read = $510,000

    now you also need to consider that this is a "rolling" average. writers come and go. plenty of people buy more than two reviews. you need four to get on the top annual list. so let's say those 240 ish writers spring for two more reviews.

    that's $42,000. this is bare minimum, i think. that doesn't even include the dropouts.

    i'm guessing its A LOT more than $500,000

    Leave a comment:


  • lostfootage
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Originally posted by Bono View Post
    23 pages. I bet FL comes here, laughs, counts his money and knows he's won.
    Tou-f-ing-ché.

    I bet he clears $500k a year off the tears of aspiring screenwriters. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

    Leave a comment:


  • Bono
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    23 pages. I bet FL comes here, laughs, counts his money and knows he's won.

    Leave a comment:


  • finalact4
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Originally posted by kintnerboy View Post
    A couple of days ago I noticed that the 2 most highly rated scripts on the BL were by the same writer.

    I also noticed that neither script had a reader endorsement or any written reviews. Instead, each script had only 3 identical ratings from industry members -- (2) 10's and a 9.

    I'm not really good at math, but the odds of such a sudden, simultaneous coincidence must be very many odds.

    Anyway, so this was obviously an instance of someone using their industry contacts to game the system, which happens more often than you think, but usually not with such balls out not-care-ity (why 10's instead of 8's??... why 2 scripts at the same time?? It's like they WANTED to get caught).

    I was all ready to come here and write an angry rant about the Blacklist scoring system (it truly is the only thing that bugs me about the service. Reader reviews should weigh much more heavily in a scripts rating than some random industry person)

    but then I noticed today that the BL has taken away all 3 ratings from each script, disappearing them into the oblivion that is the Blacklist script database

    and so I must instead commend them for doing the right thing, and doing it quickly.

    My faith in the BL is 57% restored.
    yes, if you have reps, they have every right to vote on your work as well. and think about it, they believe in their writer and the material, otherwise they wouldn't be repping them, and if they want to give them a 10, i'm fine with it. people who love my script, really ****ing love it-- so i get reps giving a 10.

    every writer that has reps has people who'll score their script. those scores are also weighted, they don't hold the same "scoring value" as a BL reader does.

    it also could have been an error in the system where something was mis-stated. i'm TBL has errors that have to be corrected and it sometimes takes a very determined customer to get it done.

    Leave a comment:


  • kintnerboy
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    A couple of days ago I noticed that the 2 most highly rated scripts on the BL were by the same writer.

    I also noticed that neither script had a reader endorsement or any written reviews. Instead, each script had only 3 identical ratings from industry members -- (2) 10's and a 9.

    I'm not really good at math, but the odds of such a sudden, simultaneous coincidence must be very many odds.

    Anyway, so this was obviously an instance of someone using their industry contacts to game the system, which happens more often than you think, but usually not with such balls out not-care-ity (why 10's instead of 8's??... why 2 scripts at the same time?? It's like they WANTED to get caught).

    I was all ready to come here and write an angry rant about the Blacklist scoring system (it truly is the only thing that bugs me about the service. Reader reviews should weigh much more heavily in a scripts rating than some random industry person)

    but then I noticed today that the BL has taken away all 3 ratings from each script, disappearing them into the oblivion that is the Blacklist script database

    and so I must instead commend them for doing the right thing, and doing it quickly.

    My faith in the BL is 57% restored.

    Leave a comment:


  • lostfootage
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    Originally posted by GucciGhostXXX View Post
    After hearing your approach, I agree with Bono. Doubtful it was TBL. IMO.

    I mean, why would he even need to request the script from you directly if it was TBL. Or do I not understand how TBL works?
    A couple of years ago, I posted a script on the TBL that had been an Austin finalist years ago. It got a couple of 8s (before it got lower scores) and was part of the email blast. A lower level producer read it and gave me some feedback. He said it wasn't right for him, but told me he thought somebody would pick it up and wanted me to know that. And that's where it ended.

    So producers do read scripts they find on TBL and do contact people, but it's a long shot. I think the Twitter blasts of Gary Graham are probably more effective. That guy has a lot of energy!

    Leave a comment:


  • GucciGhostXXX
    replied
    Re: Franklin Leonard

    After hearing your approach, I agree with Bono. Doubtful it was TBL. IMO.

    I mean, why would he even need to request the script from you directly if it was TBL. Or do I not understand how TBL works?

    Leave a comment:

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