HOW TO WRITE MONEY MAKING SCREENPLAY’S

Sharpen The Ax
Hone Your Craft

The best Athletes in the world have a Coach for a reason. But not only do they have a Coach; the best Athletes in the world train long and hard under the best Coaches in the world.

Profoundly talented and immensely humble people, like myself, have a tendency towards being blinded by their strengths with little capacity for seeing their own weaknesses. What is of paramount importance to our breaking into the Film Business, and once we are in, sustaining career growth, is that we are continuously about the task of expanding ourselves; educating and reeducating ourselves; --- that we hone our craft.

The best writers in the world have an editor for a reason. Publishers, in our business Producers; Editors, and in the Film Industry Readers, know better what reads and what does not, what will sell and what will not. We need to learn how to write, not to please ourselves, but to please those who have the capacity of turning the written page into a Finished Film.

SIDE NOTE: I’m one of the most radical dudes you’ll ever care to meet. In addition to the obvious, I’m also a Painter of extremely Radical Abstract Paints; create radical Digital Art like the example you see above; and as well, I create extremely radical electro-ethereal music and soundscapes. So, if anyone would think to make a radical Film, it would be me. But my goal is to have a long enduring career in the Film Industry, I am not interested in making Film's that only a few thousand people would pay to see, I am interested in making Movies that attract tens of millions.

As much as it is true that every now and then a Blue Moon doth shine down upon some whacky, radical Filmmaker who has been greenlighted to make some whacky, radical Film; and even goes on to blow everyone's mind by doing great at the Box Office. Nevertheless, if you want to succeed in the Film Business - Bet the odds, is more than just sage advice. For every radical Film that has ever been made, there are countless many more radical minded Wannabe’s out there, who still are just that, --- Countless Wannabe’s out there. They are not in the Film Business, because the people who finance Film’s – Bet the odds.

My advice again - Bet the odds (by this I mean make Film's based on proven models of success); give those who turn a written page into a Finished Film what they want; what they are shopping for; what they buy; what they finance. Write Screenplay’s and Produce Shorts and even Features on Spec that fit within the model of what sells well in today’s Film Market. If swimming against the stream is more important to you than making money, you really should be making Art Film’s and would do well to quit any notion of breaking into the prevailing Film Market.

As a writer, your worst enemy for success in the Film Biz will most likely prove to be yourself. The curse of the Wannabe Screenwriter is that they tend to be completely enamored with their own style of turning a phrase. Point of fact dear Film Freaks; if you cannot write to please the people who make things happen in the business, you’ll most likely never make it into the business.

With regards to our working towards improving our skills at Screenwriting, there are as many useless opportunities out there today as there are the genuinely useful. In today's market you can avail yourself of many fine books that have been written by seasoned professionals offering useful guidance. Certainly, if you are so inclined, you can go to Film School and take courses on this and any number of subjects. Attending Seminars and participating in a Screenwriters Association might prove beneficial (but depending on any number of factors, could prove to be a royal waste of your time). But I have become more than just a little convinced that the best way for an already good writer to learn how to write Scripts that sell, is to read Scripts that have already been made into money making Finished Films; Films you have more than likely paid to see yourself.


WHERE YOU CAN GET KNOWN MOVIE SCRIPTS

An excellent resource for Scripts can be found at a website called “ScriptCrawler.” Not the most attractive site I’ve ever come upon, but a truly excellent resource for Scripts to Films that did well at the Box Office. You’ll find quickly a rather extensive list of Scripts for Movie titles you recognize. You’ll also notice that these Scripts do not live on ScriptCrawler’s Server. To the right of the Screenplay title and Poster Art thumbnail, you’ll see that these Scripts are located on sites all over the place, making ScriptCrawler something of a Directory for the location of Scripts that are available (for FREE) Online. Some you read Online, some are available in PDF Format for you to download.


ATSA RAP

Just an FYI: ScriptCrawler was good enough not to trouble us with Pop-Up’s or Under’s, but they do display Banner Ad’s at the top of their page. Once you click on the Link below, I’d recommend you save ScriptCrawler in your Browsers Favorites file so you can return there time and again with ease.

So - go get ahold of one of your all time favorite Movies Scripts, and read it. Study it over and over again. Then get another, and another. Read, read, read, read, read. --- Let these successful Script's be your guide to writing Screenplay's that can, if you possess the talent to craft an origial story, make you not only some money, but set you on a path to an enduring career.

SCRIPTCRAWLER.NET

KICCASS

THE DIGITAL DILEMMA

Will Your Digital Film Survive 100 Years of Storage?

This article is unique in two significant ways. First, I am not the author of what you are about to read; and secondly, this is very important information to anyone interested in a Film career in this present Digital Age.

The publication I hope to convince you to read is titled THE DIGITAL DILEMMA, which provides what in my estimation amounts to a Film School level education regarding Film Media with an emphasis on Digital Film Media and what it will take in cost and equipment to Archive our Films for a hundred years without loss or corruption of data or quality.

Quite frankly, if you are just getting started on your path towards a Film career, you will learn a great deal about a large body of things relevant to the industry by reading this document, information that could have otherwise taken you many years to obtain. Though it was released in 2007, the information contained within this publication is current and pertinent to this very day, and will remain pertinent for decades to come.

THE DIGITAL DILEMMA is the result of a study performed by The Science & Technology Council, a branch of the American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, the Oscars people). A printed version would cost you $20.oo, but if you click on the Link I’ve provided for you below, it will take you to a page on the AMPAS Website where you are given there the opportunity to Download a colorful book-quality PDF version at no cost.

When you get to that page you will see that you have to Register in order to Download a copy. The Registration process is immensely simple, taking me less than twenty seconds to accomplish. This is a truly rich document, providing detailed information mixed with Film Industry History important to any Filmmaker no matter how long they’ve been in the business.

Here is just a sample of what you will find there:

“.....the goal of a digital preservation system is that the information it contains remain accessible to users over a long period of time. The key problem in the design of such systems is that the period during which such assets need to be accessible is very long – much longer than the lifetime of individual storage media, hardware and software components, and the formats in which the information is encoded.”

“Archiving of digital assets is a new challenge for the studios.”

“There is also much concern about the trend to create digital masters at 2K (only slightly better image quality than HDTV), which contains significantly less visual information than the film masters created today, or even those created 40 years ago. The fear is that projection and display technology will continue to improve, but the archived source material will produce nothing better than what can be seen on today’s display technologies.”
Excerpts from “The Digital Dilemma,” pages 13 & 14, The Science & Technology Council

THE DIGITAL DILEMMA

KICCASS

SHOULD I COPYRIGHT MY SCRIPT?

A Brief Tutorial

It’s Sunday morning here Film Freak’s; been raining for the past three fuck’n days; freezing ass cold at night. It’s supposed to be Spring; maybe all that cold came down from all those damn melting Glaciers and shit; I don’t know. Man, after the Millennium Bug thing passed without a glitch, ya gotta wonder if you can trust anyone out there to shoot straight with you on anything anymore; you know what I’m saying? I’ve thought for a long time now that our Presidential Candidates are picked for their ability to lie and feel all noble about it and shit. --- Anyhow; I’m seeing a bright, warm sunny day out my window and want to get out there and snatch me some. So; I’m speeding through this pretty damn important topic for purely selfish reasons.


IF YOU CREATED IT, YOU ARE PROTECTED

Many have themselves believing that in order for your work to be “Copyright Protected” you have to take some kind of action and lay out some kind of money to “obtain” a Copyright. POINT OF FACT: If you are the original creator of anything, that thing, be it Audio, Visual, or Written Material, is automatically protected under Copyright Law.

Repeating; you do not have to file your intellectual nor creative property with the US Governments Copyright Office, for your work to be protected under Copyright Law.


IF SO, WHY WOULD ANYONE BOTHER?

Excellent question. You may, especially as you become increasing more successful in your creative career, want to have every move you make Registered with the US Copyright Office. What Registering your work does accomplish is to provide the original creator with proof dating. Thought it may seem like a high improbable thing, it has happened throughout the history of creative man that more than one person created the same or similar thing during the same period of time.

Registering your creative and intellectual property provides you with evidence that you created it, and you didn’t steel it yourself.


SHOULD AN UPSTART COPYRIGHT?

If the expense won’t break you bank account, go for it. But truthfully, you could send your Script out to a thousand Agents and Producers, if you could, and there isn’t a one of them out there looking to steel a Screenwriters work. Agents and Producers are looking for Screenwriters that can count on to be productive for years on end.


SHOULD I REGISTER WITH THE WGA?

Why not; at a minimum it will make you feel like you’re in the business. And it really does provide you with a proof date of creation if you ever need it. Keep in mind that the WGA is not a Government Entity, it’s a Union. I’m not saying that’s good or bad, I’m just laying out the facts here. Also, the WGA doesn’t hold your Script on file for time immemorial; they hold it for all of five years. Weight this against the fact that many Inde Spec Scripts have taken over 5 years to get into Production. So, you re-register. Registering with the US Copyright Office has you covered for 70 years; long time before others can Publish your work for their own gain and give you not a piece of the action.

But, check this out.


WHAT ISN’T PROTECTED

I trust you are actually going to go the Copyright Office site and study this out for yourselves; but let me tell you here what is not protected under Copyright Law.

<> The Title
<> The Idea

Hell, if you pitch your idea and Title to someone who was so inclined they could go out and write a Script for a Movie of the same concept and title, and cut you out altogether. They don’t need your original Script, just the idea and Title, if they like it enough to run with it. No protection, nothing you could do. But, how often do you thing some upstart, wannbe Script Writer has had his idea and Tile ripped off?

I wouldn’t go Paranoid over the off chance that this would ever happen to you. Do everything in your power to make yourself and your talents known to Industry People. It’s a who you know business, and what they’re looking for more than a one shot Script or Finished Inde Film are Writers and Directors who can get the job done again and again consistently.


BEST PLACE FOR COPYRIGHT INFO

There is no better place for copyright information than from the people who do the copywriting. At the end of this article you will be provided the Link to the US Copyright Office.

It is, of course, the Federal Government that handles these matters. If you’ve ever tried to find information on a Government Website, you will be absolutely astonished at how easy it is to find what you’re looking for on this website.

US COPYRIGHT OFFICE


ATSA RAP

If you want hook up with more information on who the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are and what they do, including registering Scripts and how to do it, I have their Link posted on this Blogs Home Page on the right hand column. Just the same, here you go:


WGA EAST (Califonia)

WGA WEST (New York)


Now go:

KICCASS