As I mentioned in my Expo Survival Guide, I would be making a list of  ‘qualifiers’ necessary to make it as a Hollywood screenwriter.  Some speakers said “anyone can do it if I can”, while others were more inclined to believe that “only the sane and dedicated have a shot”.  Honestly, not just anyone can [...]

Erik Bork – Throwing Rocks at your Characters Erik was another highly effective seminar leader.  Most of his material dealt with structure and came from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, which is a really helpful book on structure.  The one problem I had with Snyder’s book was that after reading it, I found it screwed [...]

Continued from yesterday’s article on Danny Manus’ guide to the pitchfest. Pitching Do’s and Don’ts: What not to Pitch: The period piece. Anything before 1970 is considered a period piece.  It’ll be hard to sell, but if you have a solid story and rockin’ script, pitch it. The mega-budget sci-fi fantasy epic trilogy No production [...]

Ever wonder what it’s like to attend a screenwriters’ pitchfest?  Courtesy of Tim Coyne’s The Hollywood Podcast, here’s an excellent audio clip of real pitches that work and a lot that don’t.  See if you can tell the difference.  Thanks, Tim!

Continued from yesterday’s post on Danny Manus’ seminar on pitchfests. Preparing for the Pitch: This was a tricky section because as useful as it was to first-timers, it was totally pointless for those who just spent a lot of money to travel to the Expo preparing to pitch only to be told they’re not ready. [...]