I know, I know. We’re all sick of talking about COVID. It’s the pandemic that just won’t go away. Unfortunately, that may be doubly true for the world of professional screenwriting. The impact of COVID has, for better or worse, changed much of Hollywood’s old reality, and many of those changes look to be with […]
How to Create and Pitch a Television Show
/ 2020-07-17Series programming continues to be a desirable source of content for buyers around the world, even as the entertainment landscape shifts and evolves. And the proliferation of newer platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others means more places for writers to pitch their shows. In the marketplace of ideas, a good one will rise to […]
What Are the Best-Selling Screenplay Genres?
/ 2020-03-09As a screenwriter, working out the crux of your story is a daunting enough task, but let’s rewind even further. How do you determine what genre to work in? After all, this is a crucial component to creating material that Hollywood wants to buy, right? So, how do you know which genres have the best […]
Blinkered by Books
/ 2019-12-14So there I am, the young unpublished writer in his 20s working on his novel, Such Lunatic Gods. What genre am I writing in? Science fiction, of course, because that’s what I like reading about. It’s a natural progression, obviously, because I’ve sold a few articles and short stories so it’s time for a full-length piece. […]
Best Practices for Working with a Producer, Agent or Manager in Film & TV
/ 2019-10-11Producers. Agents. Managers. Oh my! As a writer looking to make a living in the world of entertainment, these enigmatic creatures will be an integral part of your journey from unproduced novice to sought-after scribe du jour. Learning to work with them in a way that proves mutually beneficial means creating a winning environment for […]
How Film Producers Analyze Your Screenplay
/ 2019-03-15When an actor reads a script, he’ll think about how to approach his character, his motivation, his arc. When a cinematographer reads that same script, he’s thinking about lighting, camera angles, and what cinematic style to employ. The art director thinks about how to use design principles and visual techniques, while the editor assesses how […]
Optioning Your Screenplay to a Producer
/ 2019-02-02Congratulations! Not only did you finish writing your 120-page cinematic opus, but you have a motion picture producer interested in bringing it to the silver screen. You’re ready to sell. Ready to see your name on the back of a director’s chair. Ready to chow down on craft service while Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams […]
Entertainment Writing Jobs You May Not Have Considered – Part 2 of 2
/ 2017-04-21In this follow-up article, I put more of an emphasis on the feature film world. Thanks to the proliferation of “prosumer” technology like HD cameras and editing software, more films are being made now than ever before, offering increased accessibility for writers who are willing to attempt a more non-traditional approach to their careers. Write […]
Entertainment Writing Jobs You May Not Have Considered – Part 1 of 2
/ 2017-04-15As a former literary manager, I represented film and television writers for the better part of eight years. Many of the talented but less experienced writers who hadn’t yet made a living at the craft were solely interested in creating original screenplays that would be shopped to production companies, studios and packaging agents. They never […]