tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post2885196193214680176..comments2023-09-09T14:28:57.480+01:00Comments on The Scriptwriter: No Unsolicited Material WelcomeDominic Carverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10148603580719526847noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-81791533506140506672007-12-01T17:12:00.000+00:002007-12-01T17:12:00.000+00:00Dom - if you're looking for lists of companies to ...Dom - if you're looking for lists of companies to send unsolicited submissions to, there's a very good post on Danny Stack's blog which gives a stack load (so to speak). If you mosey on over to my blog as well, there's a complimentary list to Danny's, which has a few more that might be worth looking at.Chip Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10703857102434828100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-87807211176630184532007-11-30T20:17:00.000+00:002007-11-30T20:17:00.000+00:00There's always been competition, Dom. There always...There's always been competition, Dom. There always will be. But anyway, it's a skewed argument IMHO and I'll tell you why: even taking your point that scripts were somehow worse before all these courses, there was still competition - on that level. Now there's competition - on this level. What's the diff? Still competition. Still gotta get past it. End of.<BR/><BR/>In any case, though: we might be seeing less scripts with bad formatting or curious foibles with structure. That's true: people are listening to others who've gone before and that's good. <BR/><BR/>But are the stories improving? Are there new ways of telling them? Or are writers falling into the same story traps they always did?<BR/><BR/>Plus that ol' chestnut --<BR/><BR/>You can't teach talent.<BR/><BR/>So courses: made loads of difference to getting through that big spec pile (or not as the case may be)?<BR/><BR/>Not in my view: it's as hard as it ever was. Difference is, it's probably easier to hear how others got through it courtesy of the blogs etc and perhaps that's what some (not nec you) find dispiriting.Lucy Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15576008511353143019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-26128666918877230122007-11-30T15:22:00.000+00:002007-11-30T15:22:00.000+00:00I think what I was trying to get at is that some p...I think what I was trying to get at is that some people (not you Andy) think that the BA or MA is a fast track into the industry. Of course it isn't, we know that, only hard work and effort can get you the career you want. But there are those who think qualifications are the be all and end all, which is why the market is being flooded with scripts, and these degree courses are actually doing their job and increasing the amount of good scripts out there we have to compete against.Dominic Carverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148603580719526847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-81322962509562762472007-11-29T20:14:00.000+00:002007-11-29T20:14:00.000+00:00Hear, hear Pillock. Courses do not a writer make -...Hear, hear Pillock. Courses do not a writer make - all they do is help you to focus and GIVE YOU practice. Some might help you get a portfolio together though I junked all mine from Bournemouth 'cos they were shite. 3years of practice for me, excellent time, learned loads about myself - but it's been by working with others that I've learned the most about actual writing and actually now you come to mention it, working with others has been like a "chain reaction" in that I've got other stuff off the back of other stuff. From small acorns come great oceans. Or something.Lucy Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15576008511353143019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-48126979679867800232007-11-28T19:45:00.000+00:002007-11-28T19:45:00.000+00:00I'm about to embark on an MA, but I'm under no ill...I'm about to embark on an MA, but I'm under no illusions that it's going to somehow get me a commission. I look at it as a chance to focus on improving my craft, and maybe make some contacts. <BR/><BR/>The competition's always been fierce. It's allways been hard to break in; always will be.Andy Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12462842599334822134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-72312945060033054982007-11-28T16:13:00.000+00:002007-11-28T16:13:00.000+00:00This is not a new situation, Dom. Last time I chec...This is not a new situation, Dom. Last time I checked the Writers' Handbook or whatever it is called it wasthe turn of the millenium and I had purple hair and rings in unspeakable places. Most said then, "No unsolicited material".<BR/><BR/>You make your own opportunities and to do this you have to make contacts. Shitloads of them. Sometimes they'll take years to come to fruition but you have to water them with coffee and meetings on trains and bacon sarnies and pints of beer and script reads and parties at bizarre agent's houses when one of you is being sick in the bathroom and holding up the toilet Q.<BR/><BR/>It's true.Lucy Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15576008511353143019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-61548058650568909692007-11-27T18:34:00.000+00:002007-11-27T18:34:00.000+00:00Either that or they have a wonky table to prop up....Either that or they have a wonky table to prop up.Dominic Carverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148603580719526847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-6408146250979341642007-11-27T16:47:00.000+00:002007-11-27T16:47:00.000+00:00That did come off like I'd had a bit of an irony b...That did come off like I'd had a bit of an irony bypass, didn't it? When people <I>do</I> welcome unsolicited material, do you get the nagging feeling that they must not be very good?Olihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03302441388002744047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-57879675034444821012007-11-27T11:55:00.000+00:002007-11-27T11:55:00.000+00:00That was my plan, I was just pretending to be toug...That was my plan, I was just pretending to be tough in my post. In reality I'll be groveling on my knees so much they'll bleed.Dominic Carverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148603580719526847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23732661.post-90586311073661697492007-11-27T11:44:00.000+00:002007-11-27T11:44:00.000+00:00I'd suggest you call the companies/agents and poli...I'd suggest you call the companies/agents and politely ask?Olihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03302441388002744047noreply@blogger.com