I'm 33 years old and I live on the east coast. I bought the Screenplay software last year and am working on my first screenplay. I haven't read the book that came with it in its entirety yet, but wanted to ask a question. I have a full-time job, pay a mortgage but my passion is writing. I want to live out on the west coast-California, Arizona, etc. for a variety fo reasons. I just cannot do it at this time. What I want to ask is can you be a successful, in-demand screenwriter and not be living in California?
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Need advice for screenwriting career
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 beatlejuice1972 |
Need advice for screenwriting career |
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Posts: 6 (09/20/05 17:01:56) |
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doc thompson |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 1161 (09/20/05 18:17:19)
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see below |
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doc thompson |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 1161 (09/20/05 18:37:24)
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Quote: Absolutely. But, consider that this answer is coming from a not in-demand screenwriter, though he happens to live near the epicenter of such activity. Your question is an intriguing one that doesn't get enough attention, so I'm going to try to play the guru in answering it. Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will follow-up. Please ignore/forgive me if I do this poorly - in bullet-point form. 1. There's nothing wrong with living on the East Coast, having a full-time job, and a mortgage. You are the envy of many. 2. Living on the West Coast totally rocks and kicks the East Coast's butt in all ways imaginable. 3. Buying screenwriting software and having a passion for writing doesn't make you a screenwriter, let alone a successful one. 4. So what does it mean to be successful? Can we set aside the screenwriter part of the question? Yes, we can. We'll address the more basic question of what comprises a successful career in any field. Here goes: - be competent, if not talented at your job/skill - to varying degrees, be well-connected/networked 5. So, let's assume you're a competent, possibly talented, writer as part one of being a success. Then, your question becomes one of whether living on the West Coast (Los Angeles) would improve your connections/network? um.... I hear they do some pretty spectacular things in Vancouver, Toronto and New Zealand, among others. Anyway, let's summarize: 1. Buying software with starry eyes and wondering if you'll have to move immediately might be jumping the gun. (though such worries are astoundingly effective at crippling creativity). 2. The description of your current situation sounds like an excellent opportunity for fun and exploration (passion) in figuring out whether you're any good at screenwriting and whether you enjoy it. [you might also consider the production route and speak to a couple of the regulars here as to their experience on the dismal... er East Coast] wait ... did you say "Arizona"?! doc 
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ReidWrite |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 1434 (09/22/05 04:44:40) |
I'm 30-something (I can still say that for a few more months
 ) and I live on the East Coast. Where we have 4 seasons, just like god intended.I don't think, nearing the completion of your first script, that this is the best time to move. You still have a lot to learn about writing and the industry in general. We all do. If you head out now you'll be an unemployed writer with one finished script. Any Starbucks within 100 miles of LA has 10-12 of those at any time. Yes, the industry is in LA and you can greatly increase your chances of exposure by moving there, but what will you be exposing at this point in time. All first scripts, as dictated by fate, suck. I think you'd stand a much better chance of success by working your ass off now and honing your craft. Do whatever you have to do to become a better writer. Join a writers group. Attend seminars and watch movies. Read scripts. Take a creative writing class at the local community college. Get on Mandy.com and find out what indie productions are going on in your area. CAll them and work for free for a weekend or two doing any damn thing they ask. Networking is very important. So in lieu of being in LA, learn to network remotely. Take yearly trips to LA to attend functions, stick your hand out and meet people. Contact anyone of the million festivals in LA and offer to volunteer for the weekend. Fly out, work your ass off, meet people. Repeat. My three best friends live in LA and I met through my writing and through the internet. When I head out there I have a pick of free places to crash and good friends to hang with. Being in LA doesn't guarantee success as a writer. (See starbucks reference above). Several people on this board live in LA, are damn fine writers, and still haven't broken through. It's no disparagement (sp?) on them, it's the nature of the business. READ THE TRADES! Learn how this business functions, how and why deals are made, and who is making them. The best way to learn about the business side of things, without being directly involved in it, is from the trades. READ THE TRADES. Read either Hollywood Reporter or Variety. Yes, they can run $200 a year for a subscription, suck it up. If you were in LA you could flip through it at....Starbucks or attend one of the many lectures around town. But you're not there, so get out the check book. Watch Sunday Morning Shootout and Inside the Actors Studio. Get involved with whatever is going on in your area that may even remotely teach you something about writing or the movie making process. I live in a small town about 50 miles outside of DC. I just sent off my last short to Sundance and am shooting another in about a month. I'm a SAG signatory producer. I have two interns from the local university working with me for free. I have at least 50-75 people who have offered to work (for free) on future shoots. My last shoot some of my actors drove over 100 miles to do it and all are asking to do it again. This weekend I'll finish the script for the next short while I finish the query letter for my latest feature length which we (my interns) will be marketing to Hollywood. Last year I picked up a small award for a short. AND I"M A DUMBASS. Ask anyone on this forum. I never went to film school. Have to rent lights and sound equipment. My camera is good but not the fanciest thing. And I fund everything out of my own pocket and have never seen a dime from my writing or movie-making. If I can always have something going on, anyone can. Stop worrying about your age, geography, or anything else. Write a damn good script, get it out there, and Hollywood will come looking for you. |
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harvp46 |
Moving To LA | |||
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Posts: 143 (09/22/05 09:21:23)
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Yeah, the west coast kicks the east coast's ass----except during earthquakes, blackouts, waves of illegal immigration, municipal bankruptcies, rampant crime, grime, smog and gang warfare. At all other times, however, it surely does!
That aside, the key implication of the previous posters is that in your enthusiasm, you've gotten way ahead of yourself. Do things in this order (it'll take a couple of years): 1) Don't quit your day job; don't sell your house; don't move. 2) Learn how to use your sceenwriting software. 3) Write 3-4 screenplays that you're satisfied with. Show them to people whose judgment you trust and ask for their reaction and suggestions. Consider same. 4) Rewrite till your ass falls off. Till each screenplay is under 120 pages and as damn near perfect as you can make it. 5) Enter contests. Pay for professional evaluations (decent ones can be had for as little as $50 a pop). 6) Read books on how to sell your screenplays. 7) If after all doing of the above you feel you have marketable material, try to market it as directed by the books. Most particularly, to prospective agents.  Make lots of trips to L.A. as advised by prior posters. Present your best work at paid quickie look-see conventions.9) If you still feel, based on reactions to your work, that you do indeed have appealing, marketable material, consider moving to L.A., but first--- 10) See opening paragraph. |
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doc thompson |
Re: Moving To LA | |||
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Posts: 1161 (09/22/05 19:33:37)
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To quote our own R "Dub"...
*pause to blink and stare into space* thought bubble [if only it were still "talk like a pirate day" then it would be "arrrgh! Dub. - more piratical, less fanatical" That's how I'd pitch him if I were his agent... instead of just a rabid fanboy] Anyhow, to quote the "old man": Quote: Written like a true East "Coaster" flaunting their precious sentence fragments. WE on the reality-based coast are more efficient, having just two seasons called "Gorgeous Summer Afternoontime" season and "Preowned Gorgeous Summer Afternoontime" season (word to the wise - this means slightly less gorgeous). Also, we know how to deal with those pesky Thetans. And, as for this even more precious followup post by another old and bitter screenwriter (notice his scandalous yet shameless use of my enumerated (sp?) format?) Quote: Grime??!?!?! My only response to that is to quote the immutable riff of the venerable David Lee Roth: Quote: Like him, I was once "Hot for Teacher" and it was this urge that passionately fueled my mind during the writing of my first screenplay and that passionately precipitated my move to El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora le Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula. but I digress... doc |
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Megamoze |
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Posts: 763 (09/22/05 22:31:45)
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Quote: One little note: Arizona is not the "west coast." If you move there thinking you're going to be any closer to the entertainment industry, you're going to be sorely dissapointed. Quote: Yes, it's possible. Is it going to happen to you? Probably not. In fact, if your ultimate plan is to move out to LA anyway, for whatever reasons, chances are you'll make that move long, long, long before you ever have to worry about being an "in demand" writer living out of town. |
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harvp46 |
West Coast | |||
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Posts: 143 (09/23/05 08:27:25)
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Allow me to summarize:
If you stay on the east coast, the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against your ever making it as a successful screenwriter. If, on the other hand, you move to the west coast, the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against your ever making it as a successful screenwriter. Arizona, too. Also Oregon. There you have it! Nonetheless, better to write and leave something creative in your wake, albeit unsold, than not. But it's still much too soon for you to worry about. |
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beatlejuice1972 |
Re: Moving To LA | |||
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Posts: 6 (09/24/05 07:42:36) |
Thank you and another thank you for being supportive. I appreciate honesty, but it helps when someone else out there in the same or a similar situation is supportive and encourages you. Quite the opposite of someone who discourages you and tells you that you won't make it so why even bother. Which only motivates me more to prove them wrong.
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beatlejuice1972 |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 6 (09/24/05 07:50:40) |
Thank you for your honesty and support. I hate to sound like a Bartles and James commercial there, but seriously I thank you. I've been reading some of the comments made by the 2 other people on this board and all I can say is I hope you aren't parents or teachers. I realize that this career is not easy and that there will be failures and setbacks along the way. That is to be expected with anything in life worth pursuing. However, if people can learn from their failures and setbacks they usually come out of those experiences with success. Because you learn more from your failures than your successes.
I don't expect nor do I want anyone to bullshit me and tell me what I want to hear. I would rather someone be honest. However, dismissing one's goals and dreams while simultaneously attacking them because they make a grammatical error hardly endears anyone to them. You don't know me. What I may lack in grammar at times I more than make up for in my desire and ambition. I WILL succeed. You just wait. |
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doc thompson |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 1161 (09/25/05 20:25:45)
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Quote: Beetlejuice, if you came to this BBS seeking a parent or a teacher, you'll be sorely disappointed. Quote: That is a patent falsehood. Learning "what works" is rather more fulfilling that mucking around in the dark and finding out what "doesn't work." Quote: Being a critic is not a process of endearment and to criticize the critic for this is a little silly. Quote: Grammar is important. Spelling, likewise. Don't discredit craftsmanship. But, it looks like you've got a good handle on speech-writing... hip-hip HURRAH! [got some good feedback here... good on you!] doc |
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us8ball |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 7 (09/28/05 04:29:52) |
I agree with what the others said. When I was 16 I thought I was "the man" because I bought the Screenwriter's Bible. Years later, and many, many books later I am still not "the man," because I haven't sold anything.
It takes a lot more than books or software to create a feature length script. For me, writing is the most painful process I could imagine. It is not enjoyable for me to write, but I do it because I love film. It would be foolish for you to give up your career and move out west. Again, like the other replies, it's really unrealistic to expect to sell your first screenplay, or your second, or third for that matter. I don't see why it is necessary for a writer to move west. That's a bit beyond me, if you are not a working writer. I live very close to NYC so I might stay here in NJ. a bar walks into a dyslexic
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ReidWrite |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 1434 (09/28/05 05:46:40) |
Quote: Who was it that once said "I hate writing, but love having written" 
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beatlejuice1972 |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 6 (09/28/05 18:11:01) |
I don't think of myself as "the man." I am not giving up my career. I know that this career isn't easy. If it was then everyone would do it. My plan is to keep working at my current job while writing.
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ajaxblu |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 85 (10/14/05 06:53:56) |
Everyone is doing it - therein lies the problem. A change of tactics, perhaps?
Good luck, beatlejuice. We all need it. |
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Robbnn |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 535 (11/02/05 12:40:43)
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Screenwriting is a blast. I've got several scripts I think are saleable, BUT, I've got no one to sell them to. Bummer.
I'm concentrating on book writing at the moment. At least, worse comes to worse, I can self-publish (and by golly, I have!) and sell a few copies here or there. With a screenplay, you can self-publish, but who will buy it? My plan, garner more success in writing books and parlay that into contacts for my scripts. Can you do it, B-Juice? Sure. Why not? Others have. Not many, but if you don't have contacts, all it takes is luck, and there has to be plenty of that around since I haven't been using much of mine. Let me note something odd, though: in almost all forms of writing "outlast the buggers" pays off, but not in screenwriting. Quality matters in almost all forms of writing, but take a look at what's filmed; it's not necessarily true in screenwriting. Screenwriting is an odd duck. Your marketplace isn't consumers, but producers who are more interested in staying employed than they are in a quality script (quality ain't necessary to sell in the box office, after all). So you're selling to an itty-bitty market (on the other hand, you only have to sell one copy). Only you know if you've got the fortitude to stick with it. And not even you know if you've got the luck. Only one way to find out, though, so CHEERS and GOOD LUCK! |
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beatlejuice1972 |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 6 (11/02/05 17:49:57) |
I'd just like to say that I'm sorry for losing my cool in an earlier post. I really appreciate all of your advice, everyone here. I'm just going to do the best I can and never give up. Even if it takes 20 years, I won't quit. And to me, that's the only bit of advice I could give to anyone in any profession. Don't quit.
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pbljn |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 5 (04/22/06 19:53:18) |
I may be new here and maybe classified as "just another ambitious writer" but I have to agree with almost everything written here.
I hope to be one of those "in demand" writers one day but when you look at the facts of 50,000 submitted scripts last year and only 1,000 bought (1 in 500 chance) the odds are against us from the beginning of being "in demand". George Lucas is not "in demand". However, I am doing much of what has already been posted here. Writing and revising several ideas. Most of which is in several stages of completion. Yea, it sucks but I'm not going to move just thinking it will improve my odds. I'll move when I have to, not before. |
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Scotland Miles |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 22 (05/11/06 04:11:04) |
Hey Pbljn,
You wrote "50,000 submitted scripts last year and only 1,000 bought (1 in 500 chance)". I hope you're not a math teacher! Your figures equate to a 1 in 50 chance. But that's not exactly true either. It would only be true if a blindfolded person reached into a huge drum of 50,000 scripts and pulled out 1,000 at random. Remember, it's your writing that counts. It's your writing that gets you sold. Cheers, Scotland www.ScriptRepairman.com |
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MAEllsworthScribe |
Re: Need advice for screenwriting career | |||
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Posts: 13 (01/10/07 18:33:08) |
I just got to this post on ezboard and read through the thread you started. Boy, if you can wade through the supurfluous commentaries, which I find very confusion, there are some really great suggestions here! First one... don't quit your day job!
Writing a great screenplay is easy... compared to selling it! After you've written several, pay for a professional critique (all educational endeavors are costly... just spend the cash!) and then start the rewrite they suggest! If you are lucky, you will find someone who wants to represent you. Look under www.agentquery.com/ for one that handles whatever you write, and send them an intelligent, SHORT inquiry letter or e-mail, whichever they say they prefer. Then, work with them to sell it! They do their part, you have to do yours. With any luck, you will sell one in less than 20 years! But know this. The competition is fierce out there, and every open producer is swamped with submissions as soon as their script call goes out. Learn how not to waste their time and they will remember you! Marilyn mae07@rock.com |
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