Interview with 'tick, tick…BOOM!' Screenwriter Steven Levenson - Page 22 of 34

To Pitch or Not to Pitch? Top 10 Pitching Tips from Susan – the Screenplay Doctor

June 4, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

A pitch is exactly what the word implies — it’s a sales pitch. And since this is the movie business, otherwise referred to as the film industry, it’s all about selling your idea. The pitch should summarize your script, engage your listeners, emotionally move them — to laugh, to cry — (for all the right reasons), and convince them to spend zillions of dollars to produce your project.

Knowing when and how to pitch can make or break your chances of having your project considered by film industry folks.

Question: Is it wise to pitch treatments without having the full script written?

Answer: Generally, the answer is no. When you have the opportunity to pitch your project to industry folks and they are intrigued by your idea, they’re not going to want to hear, “Well, glad you liked the pitch. I’ll send you the script when I’m finished.” It’s going to be hard to capture their attention again. It’s challenging enough to get attention from executives at a pitch festival or pitch meeting so I would advise on having the screenplay written. Before you pitch your project, make sure that you copyright it and register it with the Writers Guild of America www.wga.org.

Top Ten Pitching Tips

Depending on what has been requested, a pitch can be as short as a single sentence or as long as a few paragraphs or more.
Your pitch should follow your main character’s journey and major plot points. Highlight your protagonist’s goal and the major obstacles in his or her path, including the antagonist.
The genre must be clear and consistent.
The pitch should be an accurate reflection of your screenplay, including the style, tone, and plot.
A pitch meeting is like an audition. You’re selling yourself in terms of professionalism, not only your story.

BLOG TOUR – SUSAN’S POST

June 2, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

My heartfelt thanks to Anne Flournoy for inviting me to participate in this blog tour; her timing was fortuitous. Anne is the powerhouse talent — writer, director, producer — of the comedy Web series The Louise Logs. It’s been over 25 years since we first met at festival screenings of our short films in New York City. Writing and life are coming full circle in many ways.

Find out more about Anne and her work: http://www.thelouiselog.com.

The format of this blog tour is to answer four questions and introduce two or three new writers. And so it begins:

What am I working on? I am writing poetic pieces again after a long hiatus. They are mostly short pieces. A few lines — sometimes a few pages. Mostly, the pieces share similar themes and even the same voice. They can connect as one larger work or not.

How does my work differ from others in its genre? Maybe it differs because I am not following any traditional or formal poetry rules or guidelines. I’m also thinking visually; how the words are placed on the page and how they would look off the page.

Why do I write what I do? It helps me make sense of the world, those around me, myself. It centers me — particularly because for a ‘living’ I do other types of writing (screenwriting, journalistic writing about films, and screenwriting articles and books), but poetry has always been a separate part of my creative brain. For a few years I couldn’t get back in that poetic-writing brain and I realized that in order to push through this was to acknowledge that at this point of my life, the only way I was going to find personal creative fulfillment was to write something short. If I wrote one line in one week, I felt good that I had accomplished this. Of course I agonized over every word in that one line, but I (eventually) put it down on paper.

How Does Your Writing Process Work?

There is no set writing process but I do find that the most productive time for me is before dawn. It’s quiet. My mind is quieter. (Sometimes it is not.) When I was a student at SUNY Purchase we did a writing exercise, taking words from book cover flaps and created poetry from that. A couple of years ago, I came across a box of those book covers and literal scraps of my old poems. It set me back in writing motion. It was freeing for me not to worry about originating a specific idea — I was so full of ideas I got in my own way as to how to start and then I got stuck and wrote nothing because I had no time. This prompted my process, which I continue today. I take words that spark me from whatever I am reading, type them up, rearrange them, sometimes I cut them out and collage them, and then I include my own words and make it my own. And from there, I keep writing. Listening to music also helps me. But not necessarily while I’m writing. Mostly when I’m driving. And it generally is something like Mahler or Brahms or Dvorak. Orchestral pieces I played as a violist. The structures used by these composers make sense to me in a way that organizes my thoughts, gives me peace, and challenges me. I listen just for the viola voice, the part I played, separating it out from the piece. The next part of my writing process is that when I feel that I have written a draft I’m comfortable with, I print it out and put it in a plastic sleeve and into a three-ring binder. Holding it in my hands feels tangible. Like a book.

And finally, here are two longtime writer/artist friends who are prolific, very smart, and generous of spirit. I have great admiration for them both. They inspire me. They will post blogs on this tour next Monday, June 9^,but you can read what about them now.

THELMA ADAMS is the Contributing Editor at Yahoo! Movies. St. Martin’s Press published her debut novel PLAYDATE, an O magazine pick. She was the film critic at Us Weekly from 2000 – 2011, following six years at the New York Post. She has twice chaired the New York Film Critics Circle, where she has been a member since 1995. She has also written for Marie Claire, The New York Times Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, Parade, Variety, The Huffington Post, More, Interview Magazine, The New York Times, The international Herald Tribune, Cosmopolitan and Self. http://www.thelmadams.com/

LAUREN STRINGER writes and paints picture books, scripts, and designs sets for circus theatre in a big, pink Victorian House in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she lives with her husband, her son, when he has not run off with the circus, her daughter, when she is home for the holidays, and three cats. Her first picture book, Mud, written by Mary Lyn Ray, won a Minnesota Book Award, IRA Children’s Choice Award, Crayola Kids Best Book of the Year Award and was declared a “Flying Starts” by Publisher’s Weekly. Since Mud, Lauren has continued illustrating many award-winning picture books, including Scarecrow and Snow, both written by Cynthia Rylant, Fold Me A Poem, written by Kristine O’Connell George, Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story, written by Lisa Westberg Peters, The Princess and Her Panther, written by Wendy Orr, and Tell Me About Your Day Today, written by Mem Fox. Her own Winter is the Warmest Season, was a Booklist Editor’s Choice and a finalist for the Minnesota Book Award. Her story When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky won the McKnight Foundation Fellowship for writing in Children’s Literature in 2012 and was a Booklist’s Top Ten Art Books for 2013 as well as an ALA Notable Book. Lauren’s latest illustrated picture book is Deer Dancer, written by Mary Lyn Ray. Read more about her books and circus life at: www.laurenstringer.com

Writing Diligence: Making Time To Write And Sticking To A Plan

May 29, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

Susan’s article for The Script Lab

Let’s face it — life can get in the way of writing. But when life isn’t getting in the way, sometimes writers are the ones getting in their own way.

Whether it’s fear of success or fear of failure — or not knowing where to start, continue, or end a screenplay — or feeling overwhelmed or underwhelmed — it can all be rather daunting.

There is no magic answer to making time and sticking to a writing plan, but the following are suggestions to step out of your own way and back onto the screenwriting page.

TOP TEN TIPS

1. Be nice to yourself. If you don’t achieve your specific writing goals — that’s fine, just keep writing. Don’t use this as an excuse that you have failed and therefore stop writing.

2. Find an environment that’s conducive to your writing. Maybe you work best in complete silence or listening to music, or sitting at a café eavesdropping on conversations. Perhaps visual prompts might help you stay on track; tack up inspiring photos and postcards on your corkboard.

3. Rid your distractions. Clear off your desk or at least organize the piles.

4. Unplug. This means turn off your phone and all social media during your writing time.

5. Write down your goals. For example: “I want to write one scene per week.”

SUSAN’S TOP TEN LOGLINE TIPS for SCREENWRITERS UTOPIA

May 23, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

“What is that script about?”

A logline is a one-sentence plot summary; it is also known as a written pitch. The first step in writing a logline is to ask yourself: “What is my script about?” and then answer the question.

A logline is not a tagline, as seen in a movie trailer or movie advertisement, such as in this example:

BAD LOGLINE EXAMPLE #1

Will Jenny overcome her demons before it’s too late?

WHY IT’S BAD

• It sounds like a movie trailer.

• It doesn’t tell us what the story is about or what the major conflict is.

• The phrase “too late” doesn’t tell us what’s at stake in your story.

• It includes the character’s name, which loglines should not.

• Jenny could be a child, a teen or an adult.

• It doesn’t tell us who Jenny really is.

Loglines must clearly and succinctly convey what the core of your story is about, using your story arc as your guide.

BAD LOGLINE EXAMPLE #2

It’s a story about a teacher who learned life lessons as she discovered the meaning of life.

WHY IT’S BAD

• It’s written in the past tense.

• “It’s a story about” is too wordy and unnecessary.

• We don’t know what type of teacher or person she is.

• “Learns life lessons” and “discovering the meaning of life” identifies the themes of the story, and it repeats the word ‘life.” (A logline must not include the theme of your script; it should be evident.)

• It doesn’t tell us what the story is about or what major obstacle she must overcome.

TOP TEN LOGLINE TIPS

Describe your story and setting, your protagonist, and his or her major goal and conflict/obstacle.
Use present tense.
Every word must do double duty. Less is more.
Indicate how your characters are distinct by using strong adjectives to describe them.
Show the reader how your story is different and unique, and what sets it apart.

Susan’s Ask the Screenplay Doctor: How to Pitch a TV Series

May 6, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

Jeff Greenstein (far left) with the cast of the new award-winning series Husbands.

How can you pitch a new TV series? Screenplay Doctor Susan Kouguell finds an answer to this question of the month with Jeff Greenstein, the Emmy-winning writer and producer of Dream On, Friends, Will & Grace, Parenthood and Desperate Housewives

Question: One of my partners and I have begun creating a pitch for a new television show. We’ve great faith in the idea, but I’ve never pitched for TV before. Is there a different approach to presenting our ideas when it is time? Besides a treatment, should we have a “pilot episode” teleplay at the ready? Should we also have a synopsis of several episodes? What do you recommend?

Susan’s Answer: Pitching for television takes skill, a lot of preparation, and some luck. Writers must know the company to whom they are pitching and the types of projects they are seeking.

For television, it is generally recommended to…

Susan’s Ten Top Tips On Marketing Your Screenplay – The Script Lab

May 6, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

Ten Top Tips On Marketing Your Screenplay

QUESTION: How do you capture a film executive’s attention?

ANSWER: Write a brilliant screenplay.

QUESTION: I wrote a brilliant screenplay. Now what?

ANSWER: Gain entry past the film industry gatekeepers. Here’s how…

1. Only submit your screenplay to a company when it has been requested.

2. Research companies producing in your genre and query them.

3. Learn the company’s script submission guidelines and follow them closely.

4. Use up-to-date resource directories. Development executives come and go; someone who is working at a company today may be gone tomorrow or may have a new position and title.

5. Write an attention-grabbing query letter that has the executive’s name and correct spelling. Do not address your query: To Whom It May Concern.

6. Write a scintillating one-page synopsis that accurately reflects your screenplay.

SUSAN’S TOP TEN TIPS FOR WRITING DYNAMIC DIALOGUE for SCREENWRITER’S UTOPIA

April 28, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

TOP TEN TIPS ON WRITING DYNAMIC DIALOGUE

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Who else but Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind could have said this memorable line?

Characters’ voices must be distinctive and not interchangeable with other characters. Readers must be able to identify who is speaking without needing to look at character headings. Always make every word count; sometimes less is more and the less said can prove more poignant.

Ten Top Tips to Writing Good Dialogue

1. Dialogue must clearly convey emotions, attitudes, strengths, vulnerabilities, goals, and so on, while revealing the details of your plot and advancing your narrative.

2. Every word of dialogue must be true to your character. Always consider your characters’ behaviors and motivations when they speak.

3. Consider silences and pauses your characters might use, or another character’s interruptions, to further convey tensions, actions, moods, and emotions.

4. In real life, most people do not always speak with flawless grammar in complete, formal sentences. Dialogue must not sound wooden or stilted.

5. To make your characters’ dialogue more identifiable consider using contractions, colloquialisms, slang, and so on, when true to your characters.

Susan’s The Script Lab article: The Pros, Cons, and Tips about Screenplay Competitions

April 3, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

The Pros, Cons, and Tips about Screenplay Competitions

Whether your goal is to sell your script to Hollywood or to have your work considered for production by an independent film company, getting your screenplay read and into the right hands is just one step of the journey to seeing your vision on the silver screen. There is no right or wrong way to embark on this voyage — it all depends on you as a writer (your style, your voice), your screenplay, perseverance and luck. What is an absolute — and there are no shortcuts to this — you must only submit your screenplay when it is absolutely the best it can be. Submitting a draft that is not truly ready to be considered is a sure way to get rejected.

Winning or placing as a finalist in a screenplay competition is a good way to open the doors to the film industry. Getting your writing recognized and drawing attention to you as a writer is imperative in this highly competitive field. However — you must be realistic and examine the pros and cons of what you are (literally) about to enter. Some contest winners receive interest from the film industry, which has helped them to launch their careers, while others receive little or no attention from winning. Sometimes it is just the luck of the draw, but you can take some control into your own hands.

There are hundreds of script competitions — and it seems more and more each day — that offer a variety of enticements to attract screenwriters.

Be discriminating and do your research:

· Submit to a contest that is respected by the industry and has been around for several years. The more established the contest, the more attention you’ll get if you win or place as a finalist.

· Reputable script competitions must have judges who work in the film industry otherwise there is no point in entering.

· Find out what types of prizes the contests are offering and make sure these are legitimate. These offerings can include agent representation, meetings with film industry folks, announcements in the trades, and prize money.

In my experience as a screenplay competition judge and when I interviewed colleagues for my books (The Savvy Screenwriter and Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays!), the consensus is that judges are not necessarily looking for scripts that have the potential to be blockbusters or even have commercial appeal; they are looking for the best written screenplay. Specifically, judges look for scripts that are well-crafted and attention-grabbing, demonstrate a strong and unique voice and writing style, and a screenplay without formatting errors, typos, or grammatical mistakes.

SUBMISSION TIPS

1. Always register your screenplay with the Writers Guild of America before submitting it to a contest.

2. Submit to contests that are the right fit for your project, such as. genre and subject matter.

Susan’s Script Lab article: Rejected: Top 10 Screenwriting Pet Peeves

April 3, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

Rejected: Top 10 Screenwriting Pet Peeves

Why Your Script is Getting Rejected

There are many reasons why a script is rejected by industry folks — often the script is just not a match for the company in terms of budget or genre, or it’s not a fit for what the producer or director is seeking at that very moment. Sometimes it’s just a matter of luck. But sometimes, well very often, if not most of the time, it’s because screenwriters are not taking the needed time to fine-tune their scripts and submitting screenplays before they are truly ready to be considered for production.

Here are ten universal pet peeves from film industry executives and story analysts, with whom I have interviewed for various screenwriting and film publications, and for my book The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! This list is in no particular order — however I do admit that I share all these pet peeves with my colleagues.

Screenwriting Pet Peeves

1. Incorrect industry screenplay formatting loudly demonstrates to the reader that the screenwriter is an amateur, and doesn’t have respect for his or her work — or for the reader’s time.

2. Inclusion of camera angles. Directors do not want to be told how to shoot their movie. Period.

3. Overuse and/or unnecessary usage of voiceovers, dream sequences, and flashbacks. This is a red flag for story analysts because these devices are often included when the writer does not know how to craft a screenplay.

4. Typos, grammatical errors, photocopying lines, smudges, coffee stains, and blank and/or missing pages. This type of carelessness and sloppiness is a clear strike against the writer.

SUSAN’S ASK THE SCREENPLAY DOCTOR COLUMN – SCREENPLAY ETIQUETTE

April 1, 2014 / sucity / Comments Off

Ask the Screenplay Doctor: Submitting Your Screenplay Etiquette

When I began writing this Ask the Screenplay Doctor monthly column about four years ago, the NewEnglandFilm.com editors had noted that this is not a column where writers can post their loglines synopses of projects, or submit queries – or even their screenplays. I know how challenging it is to get your query, synopsis, and scripts read and considered, but you are wasting your effort by sending them to someone who doesn’t want them. If you want to post those, feel free to do that through the Screenplays Available/Wanted page on NewEnglandFilm.com.

Of course, if you need advice about screenwriting, the business of screenwriting, then by all means, email me your question — but leave out the logine, treatment, or script. So, with this reminder, here is some advice on this topic.

Top Five Pointers for Submitting your Project

Confirm that the company you are querying is indeed accepting unsolicited material. (Unsolicited is defined as work that is not submitted by an agent, manager, or entertainment attorney.)
Follow the company’s submission rules. For example: If a company requests only a one-page synopsis, send them only a one-page synopsis. Nothing more.
Only submit your logline, synopsis and/or script to companies who have requested it. When you submit work to a company that is not seeking unsolicited material, your work will be rejected. You are wasting your time and you are wasting the time of the person to whom you have submitted your unrequested work.
Research the companies, film executives, and agents to confirm the spelling of their names and their titles. Film industry folks don’t appreciate seeing their names misspelled. Executives’ titles frequently change — the industry person who is there today may not be there tomorrow. The Hollywood Creative Directory and IMDBPro are two suggested sources (among others) to find extensive contact information for film executives, production companies and studios.
Never submit a logline, query letter, synopsis, and/or script that has not been proofread. For screenplays, it is critical that you follow industry standard format.

To read more of my column: http://www.newenglandfilm.com/magazine/2014/04/screenplay

Su-City Pictures East, LLC

Screenplay & Film Consulting By Susan Kouguell

Page 22 of 34

To Pitch or Not to Pitch? Top 10 Pitching Tips from Susan – the Screenplay Doctor