News From The Web - Industry Archive
20 Hollywood Literary Management Companies You Must Know About
Industrial Scripts
Figuring out how to get a bona fide literary management company to represent you is complicated, especially if you’re new(ish) to the entertainment industry. Unlike most things, Googling “literary managers” won’t instantly answer your questions. It’s a confusing marketplace, due, in part, to the semi-collapse of the full-time script development job market in LA in recent times. Coupled with the rise of the snakeoil/peripheral manager who’s turned to management as a sort-of last ‘throw of the career dice’, the sheer volume of “managers” out there can be bewildering.
The Impetus to Produce
Terry Rossio
TheAFW.com
You have a project that is clearly above average and worthy. There are people who need projects to film. So, how to get them to decide to film this project?
The key has to do with the ‘impetus to produce.’ Stuff gets produced that carries with it the ‘impetus to produce’. If you lack the ‘impetus to produce’ the project won’t happen.
Galloway on Film: Lies, Damned Lies and (Hollywood) Statistics
Stephen Galloway
The Hollywood Reporter
The numbers that really matter are kept secret — the ones made public distort the full truth.
The numbers never lie. That’s one of Hollywood’s more egregious myths, along with “The camera never lies” and “You’ll get a cut of the profits,” both liable to draw howls of disapproval from anyone in the know.
1.9%, TV Scribes’ Slide 2%
Dave McNary
Variety
Hollywood screenwriters’ earnings rose 1.9% last year to $362.1 million — the third straight increase — while TV writers’ pay fell 2% to $803 million, according to the Writers Guild of America West.
ALT-SCRIPT: How Digital Filmmaking Destroyed Screenwriting
Clive Davies-Frayne
Script Magazine
Anyone who knows me knows that I am, and always have been, one of the main advocates of digital filmmaking. I’ve made a career, as a columnist, largely by writing about the digital revolution and how radical changes in production technology have opened up a world of opportunity for writers. However, just for a change, I want to use this article to explain how the digital revolution has single-handedly destroyed screenwriting as a profession.
SUBMISSIONS INSANITY: How To Get Your Screenplay Solicited
Lucy V. Hay
ScriptMag
This is the thing. We hear all the time that “nobody” has time to read screenplays anymore. There’s just too many of them around. Most of them are no good, for whatever reason. So put like that, is it any *wonder* it’s so difficult to get read?? NEWSFLASH: Yeah it’s difficult … but not impossible!! But I bet you reckon it’s a Catch 22, ie. you need an agent to get a producer (and vice versa)? OH NO YOU DON’T.
Thinking about making the big move to L.A.?
Jim Vines
The Working Screenwriter
OK, so...you're giving some serious thought to making that big move to Los Angeles. Great, you're gonna love it here. Pretty girls, lots of sunshine, movie and TV people everywhere you look...it's gonna be great! But...be prepared to pay a hefty bit of cash for a place to live.
What Is Amazon’s New Storywriter App And How Will It Help Unknown Authors?
The Writer's Circle
Amazon has an interesting strategy in carving out a path in the every expanding media marketplace: supporting the creativity of unknown authors. Amazon has launched helpful programs in the past such as Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), which helps authors self-publish their books. But in our screen-obsessed culture, Amazon is looking to help the authors compete. On November 19th, Amazon launched their new Storywriter web application. But the app isn't just a publishing platform, it's a composition tool too!
TOP 25 MOVIE PODCASTS…. (All FREE…Click, Read, Listen, Learn, Produce, Write, Direct…)
Dov. S-S Simons
No Bull Blog
25 Free Filmmaking Podcasts from experienced film pros, with solid filmmaker – writer – director – producer information, are a super inexpensive way to learn how to succeed in Hollywood as an Independent Filmmaker.
The list (Top 25 Movie Podcasts) was first aggregated by JASON BUFF, who’s Podcast, “INDIE FILM ACADEMY”, is listed as #4 and you should definitely listen to.
Peak TV: Surge From Streaming Services, Cable Pushes 2015 Scripted Series Tally to 409
Cynthia Littleton
Variety
A surge in orders from streaming services and basic cable outlets pushed the number of original scripted series available in the U.S. this year to 409 – a staggering volume of programming spread across broadcast, cable and digital outlets that is up 8.7% from 376 in 2014. Research by FX Networks has found that streaming services — defined as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Crackle and Yahoo – carried 44 scripted series this year, up from 27 last year. Basic cable orders grew to 181 from 169 in 2014.
Blake Snyder And The Real Reason Hollywood Makes Bad Movies
Stephanie Palmer
GoodInARoom.com
In a recent article in Slate, Peter Suderman complains about Hollywood movies and how they’ve become more formulaic and, as a result, worse. His argument is thatBlake Snyder’s Save the Cat structure is part of the problem. Suderman’s article is well-written, and his perspective is shared by many. But, in my opinion, he’s putting the blame in the wrong place.
How the Business of Hollywood Has Changed - VIDEO
Mellody Hobson
Vanity Fair
Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and CAA’s Bryan Lourd reveal how the movie and television industries have changed for audiences and actors. Moderated by Mellody Hobson, of CBS News and president of Ariel Investments.
CAN BUDGET-SLASHER JASON BLUM PROVE THE WAY HOLLYWOOD MAKES MOVIES IS HORRIFYINGLY WRONG?
Amy Nicholson
LA Weekly
If you want to meet the smartest man in Hollywood, head east from Grauman's Chinese Theatre until the Walk of Fame fades into a barren stretch of dental clinics and Filipino restaurants and enter a tasteful, almost camouflaged midcentury office that, until recently, was the headquarters of Cat Fancymagazine.
What Screenwriters Really Make
Ken Miyamoto
Screencraft.org
We’ve all read the stories of Shane Black selling The Long Kiss Goodnight for $4 million, Joe Eszterhas selling Basic Instinct for $3 million, Tom Shulman and Sally Robinson selling Medicine Man for $3 million, etc. Those are lottery type numbers to behold. Even the more “run-of-the-mill” deals that are featured in the trades on a more regular basis are awe-inspiring to most screenwriters. $400,000 against $200,000 (meaning that the writer gets $200,000 first and another $200,000 if the film gets greenlit) or any variant as far as six figure deals go.
Looking at Summer 2015 Box Office
Doug Eboch
Let's Schmooze
I know it’s more than a month past summer, but this feels like a good time to look back at the summer movie box office with a little perspective and see what lessons we can take away. This was one of the more successful summers for Hollywood in a while, up significantly from summer 2014 (which, admittedly, was one of the worst in a while, making the comparison easier.)
Why Writing For Movies is Officially Dead
B. O'Malley
Screenplay Readers
If you’re like me, peering out at the ruins of what was once a cultural juggernaut, blending the highest art and the basest commerce for over a century, dominating the world in sound and vision, wonder and spectacle, head and heart, you perhaps notice that the vast majority of movies this once great factory seems to be manufacturing these days? They’re movies they’ve already made. Or are “intellectual properties” with “built-in” audiences.
Budget Breakdowns: What a Typical Movie and TV Pilot Really Cost to Make Now (and Why)
Austin Siegemund-Broka & Paul Bond
The Hollywood Reporter
THR crunches the numbers on two budgets revealed in the Sony hack: The canceled CBS series 'Battle Creek' and the 'Annie' reboot, where music rights proved as expensive as Jamie Foxx.
Scriptnotes Episode 217: Campaign Statements and Residual Statements
John August
johnaugust.com
John August and Craig Mazin discuss recent WGA elections, take questions on visiting Los Angeles, backend payments and residuals, and what an unrepped writer should do if there is interest in their project in this latest edition of the ScriptNotes podcast. A link to a transcript is also available.
The Unfair Truth About How Creative People Really Succeed
Jeff Goins
Hackerpreneur
For years, I heard people talk about their influential friendships and subsequent success, and I would seethe with envy. It seemed unfair. Of course those people were successful. They knew the right people. They were in the right place at the right time. They got lucky.
The Greatest Openings in Film History
Johnathon Paul
The Beat
The opening of a film is the hook that sets the tone for the rest of the film and gives your audience a look into what the narrative is all about. You can win or lose your audience with how you open a film. A great opening will capture the audience’s attention and keep them engaged, while a poor opening can cause the audience to disengage.
What Makes Matty Run? The Essential, Surprisingly Controversial Reboot of ‘Project Greenlight’
Mark Harris
Grantland
Before I explain why I’m grateful for the return of Project Greenlight, let me admit up front that I understand why it went away for 10 years. Through three seasons that ran between 2001 and 2005, HBO’s reality series, which was conceived at a moment of peak optimism about independent film and was intended to show that talent could come from outside the system, did not yield a good movie, or a director or writer whose names anybody who is not a Saw aficionado would recognize.
Podcast: Screenwriting for Studios with Corey Mandell
Corey Mandell
Indie Film Academy
IFA talks with screenwriter Corey Mandell. Corey got his start when he was still in school and ended up pitching the script for Metropolis to Ridley Scott. IFA aska Corey what it’s like to write at the studio level and how other screenwriters can break in.
Should You Pay to Pitch
Biaggio
Producing Unscripted
You already know you can pitch to us for free. But what about attending pitch fests or pitch pits — places that charge you a small (or large) fee for access to industry professionals who will consider your pitch? Are they worth it? Can you use them to your advantage?
The Martian: How a self-published e-book became a Hollywood blockbuster
Sheryl Garratt
Script
In 2009, Andy Weir, a computer geek with a chronic fear of flying, turned his musings about a human mission to Mars into an online book that became a phenomenon. Sheryl Garratt travels to Northern San Francisco to find out how it changed his life.
Are All Screenplay Services Bullshit? The Black List Might Not Be
Beejoli Shah
Defamer
Obvious statement of the day: screenwriting is not an easy profession to break into. Because of this truism, a cottage industry of screenplay services has popped up to help Hollywood hopefuls get notes, learn how to market themselves, and—most lucrative of all—have their material exposed to someone who might actually get their passion project made.
PRIMETIME: Why You Shouldn’t Use a Script Coverage Service
Chad Gervich
Script
Stop using professional coverage services. They’re a waste of your time, your hopes, your creative energies.
Not because they’re no good; their “readers” and “consultants” may be literary geniuses—it doesn’t matter.
They’re a waste of time because, by design, they can almost never give you what you actually need to succeed.
The New Spec Market -- and 13 Genres NOT to Write
Jim Cirile
Coverage Ink
The Aug 31 2015 Scoggins Report just streeted, and to no one's surprise, things pretty much suck out there.
So far, 2015 is the worst year for spec sales in the past seven years-- a full 30% lower than average.
Now that's pretty ghastly, but when I say to no one's surprise, what I mean is: as writers, we all need to be aware that the old model just doesn't work as well as it used to.
Top 10 Screenwriting Books You Need to Read
David Flores
Indie Film Hustle
1) Screenplay by Syd Field
The first book I ever read about screenwriting. Field is the forefather of the how to for screenwriting. He cracked the code of the three act structure and paved the way for all others screenwriting gurus that would follow. As far as I know he created the terms like “turning points,” and “pinch”, and much of the language that screenwriters use to describe elements and devices used in their scripts.