How to land a top star and the BBC with one treatment
Most people hate writing treatments. Not me, I love them. This is how I used a treatment to hook a top star comedian and the BBC in just five pages – and how you can…
Want to succeed? Maybe do the opposite.
Have you heard of Kelly Marcel? If not yet, you soon will. You’ll probably, if you’re like me, be deeply and painfully jealous. And something she said recently might teach us something important.
Just one trick for screenwriting success
How can the most successful video on YouTube help you find screenwriting success?
If you want to sell your script, don’t get stuck on the bridge
IS YOUR SCRIPT STUCK ON THE BRIDGE? Back from holiday, I’ve been thinking about a massive underpublicised reason why far too many writers don’t sell. If you’re a writer, then you want to sell your…
One question that will help you sell your script
What is the key question you need to ask to sell your script? The right question follows soon. First here’s the wrong question.
Write as a Professional
I’m busy planning the Euroscript Professional Screenwriting Mini-Summer School (June 24-26), which is devoted to helping TV and cinema screenwriters develop their skills to a higher professional level – and I’ve been asking myself: what…
Get it rite, not written
Most people understand if a few typos or stylistic solecisms slip through in an email or (perish the thought) in a blog post. These are informal media. But a treatment or script is different. Unlike…
Nothing beats the lessons of production
You can’t beat what you learn when your script actually goes in front of the camera. Check out Tom Williams’ blog article on the filming of his script Chalet Girl – http://tomwilliamsscreenwriter.blogspot.com/2011/01/lessons-from-production.html Great article.
Plan now for Cannes
Cannes is the biggie: a week at Cannes is worth a year at film school. And there’s things you’ll learn there that you’ll never learn at school. But if you’re going this year, you need…
How to be Visible
You’ve finished your big “this will make your fortune” script and you start sending query letters to agents, producers, production companies, commissioning editors, all the biggest names you can find and… Well, maybe they aren’t…
How not to sell your script
Last night I got a call from a company who I’d bought from before. The previous time, I spent good money with them – this time I put the phone down after a minute. What…
A Sure-Fire Way Not To Sell Your First Script
I see loads of well-written scripts (and a fair load of badly written scripts too) and I’ve seen just about every fault that writers have ever invented. But there’s one flaw that stands out as…
Power Pitching Tips 2
Here’s a strange thought. When most people pitch their projects, the question they never ask themselves is why.
Tip: Writing for Low Budget
Here’s a crucial tip for writing low budget scripts: Quality actors cost. And of course you want to have the best acting. So, how do you write parts that can be played well by the…
Recycling Oscars is a CROC
Let’s all join CROC, the Challenge to Recycle the Oscar Campaign by Paul Bassett Davies. The plan is to limit the number of Oscars in circulation. If a previous award-winner makes a really atrocious film,…
Money, Money, Money…
I want to talk about a small strategy that may seem simple and yet if you use it has the power to push the sales of your scripts/films/novels/etc through the roof. It’s one that’s so…
Ultra-short Pitching Competition – The Answers
A few days ago, I wrote about the industry’s most famous pitch – a mere three words – “Jaws in Space.” It was the original pitch for Alien. And I promised to tell you about…
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