Sharpen The AxHone 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.
KICCASS
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