I'm hoping to manage to split the difference: I'd have no problem with spending time in LA pitching ideas and in meetings, but would prefer to live (and write) outside of LA.

I don't know if that is practical or possible, but that would be my ideal.

Of course, I have to sell a screenplay before any of this matters :-)

Damon

Once you "strike it big", you can live just about anywhere you want. Personally, if I could live outside of LA, I would. (For at least half the year, anyway.) But until you really have a solid career, this is the place to be.

Yeah I know Hollywood is where all the movies are "suposedly" made. More are probably made in India and all those places. Anyway I assume that you don't know the history of the "western" film industry as America was not always the "biggest" movie power. Anyway there are heaps of great movies made that don't get Americanised. In my oppinion a lot of people tend to think that because there film is American and is made in hollywood it is great, but not all american films are great. I mean they just completely messed up the matrix, and American film has become a little cliched. Well at least down here anyhow. A lot of my friends felt that after the Matrix revolutions, I mean the producers complete screwed us over with 2 and Americanised it. That really upset me. Anyway lets not get into how annoyed I was with the matrix. (bloody waste of money that was) Anyway I'll stop now or else I'll get angry and say things I'll wish I hadn't. I don't mean to offend anyone by what I say so if I do i'm sorry. Please feel free to email if you want to discuss my feeling futher or if you want to discuss anything that i have said that offended you. My email is Gemma_Hockman@hotmail.com
Gemma

Hi. I guess I'm introducing myself. I feel like I'm choking, especially when I read about those of you who have made it - actually completed scripts and have either won contests or sold them. I am absolutely impressed and feel as though all of you who have made it somehow are my mentors. I've loved creative writing since grade school. Back then, it was just essay contests, but I'd win them all (big whoopdeedoo). In high school, I'd write my own version of tv scripts for series such as "James at 15"...remember those? A guy in our school had his own local mini production going on called "Charlies Jr. Angels" and I would bug the hell out of him by following him around campus like a lost puppy, make him read my ideas and rough drafts for scripts and then be on cloud 9 if he gave an inkling that they were interesting. LOL...and now I'm in my midlife...raising two boys and still dreaming of if and how and when I will ever get a real story done. I know that it flows in my blood because I can feel it. Kinda like an 'antsy' 'eager' addictive kind of feeling when you just think about the possibilities of writing...and having people get something out of it - even if it's just entertainment. I can almost taste it - the end product - something out there in the future but I know that at the fork, I have to either just do it or make the mistake of drifting off and I will regret it for the rest of my life. Personally, I feel that nothing else will make me feel complete, except to write either a book or screenplay...I feel as though the 'book' form flows better with me, comes more naturally. But for some reason I am drawn intensely to the screenplay idea and have bought books on it and studied it - fallen in love with the idea. I feel addicted - and have already sipped from the goblet and can't let go of the dream. The only problem is, I get tired of my rough drafts and ideas so often and want to trash them. Maybe I lack the confidence? Maybe I am a perfectionist without knowing it? Maybe I'm doomed...Damn. But hats off to you all...wow...I now have tons of mentors here. Meanwhile, I sit here and feel the nausea of desire, oh you know that feeling - the one that creeps up from deep within you like bad digestion?!

For Gemma: America was not always the biggest movie power? Not sure how accurate that is. Look, as I stated in my previous post: Movies are made all over the world. Some fantastic movies, in fact. (I just watched the Australian film "The Interview", starring Hugo Weaving, and thought it was pretty great.) But the fact remains that movies made in "Hollywood" are the ones that reach a world-wide audience. Personally, I'd like to entertain as many people as possible. I agree that the USA makes a lot of garbage. A LOT of it. They took the fabulous French movie "Le Femme Nikita" and made it into the awful "Point of No Return." It happens all the time. But other filmmaking countries around the world make garbage, too. It's just nobody ever hears about it. Only the cream of the crop gets through to a larger audience. Movies made in India usually stay in India. But if that's where you want your career, that's fine. If you want your career in Poland, that's fine too.

But don't let all this "get" to you. Just do your job -- write movies you care about... and work to get them produced and seen by the largest audience possible.


For here2there:

Welcome! Now it's time to stop choking up and feeling out of place and GET TO WORK. C'mon, this is not brain surgery we're talkin' about here. Nobody's gonna die if you write a lousy script. Sit yourself down, sketch out an idea you really like, do an outline, blaze out a 100 page script, then shove it in a drawer. A few weeks later, pull out the script, take a red pen to it and start your rewrite. Easy, eh? (Well, maybe it's not quite that easy, but you get my point.) Look, either you're someone who can write a completed screenplay (and do all the work necessary to bring it up to the level of a submission draft) or you're not. If you're not, find something else you're good at. But if you CAN write and you truly enjoy it...you gotta do it. No excuses. None. And yes, if you need some support, we're all here to help ya. Good luck!

Alright I'm sorry I got so upset about the whole LA thing, I just get upset, and I know a lot of people who think thats the only place. So sorry. I'm glad that you accept the fact that it isn't the only place. I guess what I really want to do is show that people can make it without going to america. Which will be kindda hard seeing as it is almost expected you'll go to america. We only have about 3 or 4 film schools/uni course in Australia, and I am hoping to get into one. So i'm sorry I got upset it's just that I believe that I can make it without going to America and I want to get a bigger film industry here, and stop people think that u have to go to america.

Here2there welcome to the group. Don't get intimidated by the others here. I was when I first came onto this board, but you start to realise that were all here to help eachother and share our experience. It is good to have people who have had some success as they know what people are looking for and can help those of us who haven't.

For everyone I have 1 question If i were to enter a screenwriting competition which is run in America but is a worldwide one do I need to use America words rather than Australia words.

Gemma

I'm in.
Thanks guys. No more woe is me. I'm off to go "clickity click" for awhile.
You guys are the greatest. See ya. :-)

I have an inkling that unless your story is about someone in Australia, or takes place in Australia, you would want to go main stream and use standard American English. That is, if you're not trying to show a character for his or her ethnic/cultural background which is essential to the storyline. Am I right, everyone else?

Hey Gemstone,

As you said yourself, a lot of films get made with no connection to Los Angeles whatsoever. It's really not much of a novelty, But before you vow to boycott Hollywood, decide what kind of films you want to make. If you want to make nonHollywood-type fair, then Australia seems about as good a starting point as you can get, especially if you throw New Zealand in as kind of a Kiwi/Downunder symbiotic film industry. But, if a Hollywood film is what you want to make, vowwing to never set foot in LA is a bad idea. Like JV said, all the tools for a career in Hollywood are at your disposal here. Consider it a convenience that the Hollywood film industry has a nicely compact epicenter. It makes for a hell of a lot of serendipitous connections.

Good luck with whatever direction you take.

Hey thanks edas. Yeah as I said before what i really want to do is create a stronger film industry here in australia. So I really don't want to make much stuff with a hollywood conection. Plus I really don't like America it scares me. I don't think I could live there. So although I might do some stuff with Hollywood I'll probably never live there for long.

Gemma

I'm all for alternative film industries opening. From what I understand, Hollywood is actually coming to YOU rather than you having to come here. Am I right? I thought there were several American film studios operating in Australia already. Or, at least there are plans for Hollywood studios there.

Incidentally, why are you afraid of America? 290 million people are living here with relatively little trouble. :)

My sister went to school for a year in Melbourne and she said that it was a lot like Los Angeles, but smaller. Maybe you'll get here and find it's not as different as you think.

But anyway, good luck with your efforts to boost an Austrailian film industry. I sincerely hope it take off for you guys.

Hello everyone! It's great to know there are others out there like me...struggling. =)
I've had this passion for film writing for the last 5 years. I'm a tech writer by day, and film student by night.
I'm currently working on my first feature. Has anyone had a script produced in hollywood? I should have my script ready for production in at most 6 months. Where do I go from there? I'm on yahoo im if anyone cares to chat sometime.
Take care all!

-CN

Yeah we have Fox studios in Sydney but thats about it. I don't think we have any other hollywood type studios. We might have a universal somewhere too, but that would be it. Most of them are australian. There is one about 1/2 and hour away from me, and their trying to get people to appreciate the fact that we do have a film industry in Australia. I guess it's probably them who sparked my enthusiasim for the Australian film industry. Yeah I probably do have a sterotypical view of america, but you guys have so many different laws and things to here and I just don't agree with a lot of them, so thats essentially why I don't want to live their.

Thanks for telling me to write the story in American english. I'm not very good at knowing the american word for things so do you guys mind if occassionally I ask you what a few words are in america.

Oh and thanks for the support everyone you guys are great.

Gemma

cnowocin,

Welcome aboard!

gemstone,

Another thing to consider about Hollywood is that it's a great place to drum up money for a project that is not nescessarily a Hollywood-type production. I have a friend who is producing a film to be shot in Australia. It was written by an Australian playwrite name Peta Murray. While Australians have contributed some money to the project, the majority of the budget was raised in Hollywood through partnerships with indie companies. I'm not sure about the U.S. to Australian currency rate, but my guess is you can get a lot more bang for your buck with American dollars if you shoot in Australia. Somnething to consider.

BTW, Australians don't need to worry about American laws. The Patriot Act targets groups from a certain other region of the world. :D

Hey thank edsas I hadn't thought of that. The exchange rate is kindda crap though but I guess so. Thanks for the tip about American laws I'll remember that in future and possible look into it. Although I think there are still things that scare me about america that that wouldn't protect.

Gemma

Well I am a newbie to the board so I Guess I should pop my head in and say hello to every one............Hello every one........

While I have been writing for many years now I never gave it much thought to actually go out and make money from my passions....until now.........

This puts me in a bit of a spot.....what does a 30ish year old do to become noticed?

I have dragged my tired eyes across many a web site and magazine...finally to come to an understanding that its bloody hard to do it......

Should I pursue the Agent factor? or go with a Manager?.......I am lead to beleive that I stand more of a chance contacting a Manager than I will an Agent is this a correct assumption?

Your thoughts would be most welcome.........

Also....are there positions out there in Hollywoodland for just writing Synopsis?

Just wondering as I bash them out by the dozen without fail......

Thankyou once again.......and I look forward to spending more time on this board.....

Hello seeker.

The best thing you can do right now, if you have some scripts complete, is to develop your query letter. This will be the single hardest page to write in the entire process for each script. Believe me, I've written queries for 7 scripts and I'd much rather write the 800 some pages of those scripts, than the 7 accompanying queries. But it has to be done. Research query letters online and buy at least one book on the subject. One book should be sufficient, BTW. After you've perfected the query, you need to get a list of agencies looking for new talent. A directory is published twice a year with the most current names and phone numbers for agents. A new one is due out in February. Then start mailing out your queries to those agencies which seem most compatible with your material.

If this sounds like a lot of drudge work. It is. And I hate doing it. But securing an agent is one of the first steps a new screenwriter must take from a business standpoint.

That said, I've been far more successful through personal networking. I have two scripts under consideration for production right now through contacts I've made on my own. I can't stress enough the importance of building as many relationships in Hollywood as you can. A floundering career can turn on a dime because of a conversation you struck up with some guy at a bar. A friend sold a script in that exact way. In five years of networking in Los Angeles, I feel that I've finally made it to the doorstep of success. Of course, deals are always precarious in this town so I'm not counting my chickens. But networking has definitely moved my career a lot further than anything else I've done.

RE: Synopsis writing. The only good a synopsis is to a new screenwriter is as an outline for a complete spec script. You are selling to the suits in Hollywood that you are able to write a complete and fully fleshed out screenplay. No one will pay attention at all to a mere synopsis, unless you've built a friendly relationship with someone who has the power to purchase a concept.

Are their jobs for synopsis writing? Yes. Readers. But they synopsize other people's screenplays, not their own.

So good luck, seeker. And welcome to the board.

Thank you Edsas.......your words of wisdom are a great help.......

One other question.............

With regards to submitting a synopsis.......

While I can write (Not wanting to blow my own trumpet) and what I write is in most cases good.....my punctuation tends to.....well.....reek.....

Would any Agent/Manager take my lack of ablity in that department as a reflection of my writing skills?

Or do they look past that and concentrate on the story?

As it seems no matter how many times I proof read my work there is always issues in that department...and proof readers are hard to come by around here.....

Thanks.....

Seeker, glad I could be helpful.

RE: Punctuation.

There are plenty of scripts that have sold without being letter perfect and, of the sample scripts I've come across, more have had grammatical problems than not. But...

You don't want to give people an easy reason to say "no". Readers in Hollywood are paid to say "no'. Much better to reject a marginal script than to say "yes" to one that proves to be an embarassment to the studio. If your script is teetering on the line between "yes" and "no' for a reader, gramatical errors could be the thing that breaks the deal. So do your best to get the punctuation fixed. I'm lucky in that my wife is a copy editor for the LA Times. My scripts always go out letter-perfect because of her. I often save my first drafts to compare them to the ones my wife edits and you know what? My wife-editted scripts are so much more enjoyable to read, because you don't have grammar or punctuation errors to jar you out of the moment. Even though you are reading the exact same story, the letter-perfect drafts make the experience so much more enjoyable. Keep that in mind when you consider the effect your punctuation might have on somebody with the power to write you a $100,000 check.

There has to be somebody amongst your circle of acquaintences that knows their grammar. Sometimes, all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to spot a glaring mistake. I miss things while proof reading that should be obvious. But you're so used to your own story that you completely read past it. And don't be afraid to ask somebody to edit your script. Most people outside of Hollywood get excited when you tell them you are writing a screenplay. Many of them would be flattered if you asked them to take a look at it.

So good luck. And, bottom line, keep on writing.