MOVING FORWARD

Way back in the mists of time, well 2013 to be precise, I was commissioned to write my third feature screenplay. Over the last five years, the project has gone through several drafts, has been to Hollywood and back, was shelved, has stalled and been reborn. And today I handed in a treatment of the latest version ready to be sent to potential investors. It's been quite a journey.

There have been many frustrations along the way but we've always known the idea was worth investing our time in. The downs have been worth putting up with to see the project move forward and the version we have now is a great deal better than the original idea. What I have learned from the process is that an idea improves with age, much like a great single malt. A project may falter along the way, it may even be abandoned at some point, but ultimately the opportunity for the project to move forward will eventually come around again. No project is ever truly dead. At some point or another, there will always be an opportunity to resurrect it.

What was originally a thriller has now developed into a dark drama exploring what it is to be a child, the loss of innocence and more importantly examining what it is to be a parent dealing with loss and the responsibility that comes with it.

There's a saying, 'too many chefs spoil the broth'. In my experience, three heads are better than one. You may think that with one writer and two producers there might be some disagreement on direction, but the beauty of our project is that we've all been on the same page from day one. When one person suggests a new change the others have always agreed. Quite often someone has come up with a way to take that new idea to even greater heights. Between the three of us, we have developed a cracking idea that has already got people lined up to read the treatment.

I guess my message here is, don't give up on an idea or a screenplay. Revisit them now and again, see if they fit in the world at that moment. You may even surprise yourself.

Happy writing!

INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE

I was chatting with a friend and fellow graduate of the BA (Hons) Screenwriting for Film and Television at Bournemouth University and was surprised when he mentioned that when he graduated a couple of years ago the university still didn't include an industry training module as part of the course. There wasn't one when I graduated in 2001 either, but I would have expected them to have introduced one since then. After all knowledge of the industry is a vital part of a successful screenwriting career. Without it, you're floundering in deep water with nothing to cling on to but your writing skill.

When I left university with my screenwriting degree I thought I knew it all and it was only a matter of time before my work was recognised and my career took off. I couldn't have been more wrong. It didn't matter how good my writing was, my lack of knowledge of the industry held me back. It took me nearly nine years and a lot of wasted hours to finally discover this. You guys have it much easier though. There's so much more information out there on the internet than when I started out. All you have to do is hunt it down.

Industry knowledge is just as important as your writing. Without it, you'll be sending your work out blind and that will never do you any good. Remember, first impressions count. It was only when I realised this that my career started to go somewhere.

It's not even enough to occasionally check what's going on in the film and TV world, you have to spend at least twenty-five percent, if not half of your time on this. It is equally as important as writing. Writing isn't enough on its own. You might be the world's greatest writer but if you don't know where, when and how to send your work out, you are going to fail.

So what do I mean exactly by 'industry knowledge'? Industry knowledge is:

1. Networking - meeting and forming relationships with other media professionals.
2. Approach - how to conduct yourself so you will be remembered for all the right reasons.
3. Social Media - how to use it to your advantage and what mistakes you should avoid.
4. Trends - knowing what producers and broadcasters are working on and looking for and how to approach them.
5. Knowledge - making sure you read industry publications such as Broadcast and Screen International regularly.

Unfortunately, very few people or courses talk about industry knowledge. Maybe that's because as soon as it's written down it's already out of date. There are several posts on this blog that cover all of the points above. Why not have a look and see if any of them can hlep you. I would also be very interested to know from my subscibers which degree and masters courses now do feature an industry knowledge module. Luckily though, there are a few books out there you can buy that cover this subject. The best of the bunch are:

THE UK SCRIPTWRITER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE

by

TIM CLAGUE & DANNY STACK

and

WRITE, WRITE, WRITE

by

DANIEL MARTIN ECKHART

Those who are knowledgeable about the industry have a far better chance of being successful in it. Those who can't be bothered, or think it'll take up too much time... well, that's their problem.

Happy writing!

BLOG REWIND: ONE PAGE PITCH

As I'm currently churning out eleventy billion one page pitches for my agent to pimp, I thought it might be an idea to jump back in time and take a look at a blog I published on the 5th November 2014. So here goes...

One Page Pitches are an art form, difficult to write and get right and probably the most important and powerful selling tool at a writer's disposal. So how exactly do you write a great One Page Pitch? Here's how I do them.

FONT:

The font you use is just as important as everything else. Get it wrong and your pitch will be a difficult read, or at the very least not inspire much enthusiasm in the reader.

I used to use FINAL DRAFT COURIER for everything I wrote until I came to the realisation readers spend their entire lives staring at that font. Your font doesn't need to be fancy, just clear enough to read. I wanted to give readers something different to look at, easier to read, which is why these days I use ARIEL in all my pitch document and treatments.

LAYOUT:

At the top of the page, centred, in bold, in capitals and font size 14, you need to put your TITLE - ALIEN. Below this (non capitals) you need to state the format and genre of your pitch - a sci-fi/horror feature proposal. Then below this 'by (your name)'.

The next line should be your Tagline, written in ITALICS, in font size 12 and captured in quotation marks - "In space no one can hear you scream!"

Then below that your Logline (written in a plain font size 12).

And finally below that your pitch (written in a plain font size 12 as above), containing a brief outline of the conflicts, characters and plot.

GENRE:

Your pitch will be selling your genre, so if your script is a comedy then your pitch should also be funny, a horror then your pitch should be tense and full of scares, etc. If your script is a comedy and you pitch isn't funny then it's not doing it's job.

CONFLICT:

The most important aspect of the One Page Pitch is to show conflict. Your protagonist must be in peril and you have to show this, especially the conflict with other characters. If you don't your pitch will be dull and flat. Show your protagonist bumping up against problems and obstacles, and make the reader really feel for his/her plight.

THE ENDING:

I've been guilty of this myself on many an occasion, but you should never end a pitch with a question - Will Ripley be able to defeat the Alien and escape home? You want your audience to ask this question, but not your reader. The reader needs the full picture, what happens and how the film or TV series plays out. If you don't tell them they'll think you don't know yourself and it'll go against you.

FOOTER:

Add your NAME - EMAIL - PHONE NUMBER (or your agent's details) in the footer at the bottom of the page. It's OK to do this in Courier font as it's not part of the main document.

Here's an example of one of my pitches (copyright me of course) for reference only.

“SIDEKICK”

a 6 x 60 minute comedy drama TV series proposal

by

Dominic Carver

‘Second best.’

A middle aged man, disillusioned with being the sidekick of superhero Captain Cosmos, struggles to find himself as he juggles his family life and his secret identity, while looking to get the credit he thinks he deserves.

DAVID TUCKER has just turned 45 and he’s already smashed head first into his midlife crisis. By day he works as a traffic control officer and by night he becomes The Gnat, sidekick to the superhero Captain Cosmos. His landmark birthday prompts him to reevaluate his life, his job, his friends and family. It’s only then he realises he's completely lost.

David hates his job... both of them. He constantly struggles to keep his secret identity from his wife LUCY (42), who’s obsessed with aerobics, fad diets and is desperately trying to reclaim the body she had when she was twenty, and his son ALFIE (17) , who is uncommunicative and embarrassed by his parents on a daily basis. David’s trying to find himself again and thinks coming out from under the shadow of Captain Cosmos to become his own superhero is a much better idea than buying a powerful motorbike, falling off it at high speed only to watch it be totalled by a passing manure truck. But even branching out on your own can have its mishaps - like not being recognised by the police and being arrested for exposure when you’re trying to suit up in a phone box.

Millionaire IAN BAINES (44), aka Captain Cosmos, doesn’t understand and is too ignorant and self absorbed to notice his crime fighting partner isn’t happy with his life. Lucy doesn’t have time for her husband to give him the love and support he needs, and Alfie is too wrapped up in his raging hormones and his own burgeoning super powers to spend any time with his father.

The only one who claims he understands David is PROFESSOR DOOMSDAY (56), aka estate agent MARCUS WAINWRIGHT, turning him against Captain Cosmos, his wife and his son, taking him out drinking and generally leading him astray. But Professor Doomsday’s motives are far more sinister than simply turning David evil - he wants to destroy him, to bring him down so that he’s in no place to rescue his son Alfie. It is Doomsday’s dastardly plan to have Alfie become one of his minions and to join him in the crime of the century - stealing the Royal Family and replacing them with robots.

This is David’s journey to find himself once more, make it as a super hero in his own right, rekindle the romance with his wife, reconnect with his son and save him from the evil clutches of Professor Doomsday.

Happy writing!