well - great to mentioned in the 'ones to watch' section on movie scope...flattered to be in such strong compnay...
check it out...
http://www.moviescopemag.com/tag/one-to-watch/
Thursday 22 October 2009
Thursday 15 October 2009
Independent article
check this out.... Kelly Marshall who runs the LCC Screenwriting course holds out a little bit of hope.... and it seems it's in the US...x
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/screenwriting-masters-how-to-write-for-a-soap-1802642.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/screenwriting-masters-how-to-write-for-a-soap-1802642.html
Tuesday 6 October 2009
was it worth it?
So - was it? Well, I've met face to face the execs and got script samples on the desks of Mandate, Madchance Goldcircle, Summit, A Band Apart, Bone Fide, Oddlot, Rob Evans, River Road, Sanitsky Ent, Groundswell, Shed US and 19 and met two managers, a script website creator and top execs from ICM and United Talent. None of which I would've done if I'd have stayed at home. Now it's just a matter of me waiting to hear, whilst writing my next film. At least I know the one they all seemed to like the most, so back to the office so I can get a new first draft on their desks by Xmas.
Film council bunch
really welcomed by the gang and encouraged to contact them when having meetings. They even printed up a copy of my script i needed for the next meeting. Talked about how things work in LA - what we're all up to and how we can make the most of the American market's need for content. Basically - write global and be ORIGINAL. Don't guess the market. Not something we didn't know but good to keep in the consciousness.A manager joined us and talked about how she worked with her clients -you submit log lines to her and she helps you chose which one to work up to a treatment and script giving you creative pointers as you go..
Friday 2 October 2009
the amazing little miss sunshine gang
met the two companies that produced my two favourite films of all time JUNO and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Good meetings, upbeat and positive... pitched my rom-com and my slacker road movie to both.. went well, left the script and the pitch now off to an ex LCC student's house for a porch party.. he's got the best job in the world moving from summer intern up to assistant at ICM.
Tomorrow I'm off up to Lois's to stay over and we're going to an avocado festival(!) and then on to moonlit dinner...
Driving up the PCH in my convertible...does it get much better than that?
Tomorrow I'm off up to Lois's to stay over and we're going to an avocado festival(!) and then on to moonlit dinner...
Driving up the PCH in my convertible...does it get much better than that?
AGENTS
Yesterday we met the men in suits at ICM - Shan Ray (Motion Pictures) and Eric Hornie (TV ) who generously talked us through the system in the US for an hour and today we had a meeting with the gorgeous Irish agent (there are only two in La apparently) David Flynn at United Talent who was very open about how things work.
Points to bear in mind..
In this hard market, films most likely to be picked up are four quadrant films. Films that work for families, men, women and teens .
Keep writing spec scripts ALL THE TME - even if you're a staff writer on a show - get up early; keep writing your own material.
Staff writers - the first rung of the ladder on a series won't get to write a script for a year but can be on $10,000 dollars a week.
We also got a pretty bleak run down of the figures at Toronto of 650 films in the market, 620 didn't have a US distributor and only 6 were sold.
Toronto film festival Film guardian.co.uk
25 Sep 2009: Adam Dawtrey: The Darwin biopic has finally secured an American distributor, but its very limited release suggests it is time the British film industry stops being so ...
www.guardian.co.uk/film/torontofilmfestival
Over with United and one important change in the US is they now get THE BRIT LIST which is a list of top twenty unmade scripts (rather like the BLACK LIST in the US) that agents/dev execs think are the best scripts out there. We asked who chooses and they're a mysterious gang a bit like the mystery shopper....
Another tip was to enter festivals with your work - a reccuring theme here - and the good ones will get found - not necessarily made - but will get you work and representation..
He also recommended writers be more hard working about getting their own stuff out there. See all the BAFTA short films and contact the directors of the ones you like and take them out for coffee and talk about what they want to do next. See if they're a good fit...
Points to bear in mind..
In this hard market, films most likely to be picked up are four quadrant films. Films that work for families, men, women and teens .
Keep writing spec scripts ALL THE TME - even if you're a staff writer on a show - get up early; keep writing your own material.
Staff writers - the first rung of the ladder on a series won't get to write a script for a year but can be on $10,000 dollars a week.
We also got a pretty bleak run down of the figures at Toronto of 650 films in the market, 620 didn't have a US distributor and only 6 were sold.
Toronto film festival Film guardian.co.uk
25 Sep 2009: Adam Dawtrey: The Darwin biopic has finally secured an American distributor, but its very limited release suggests it is time the British film industry stops being so ...
www.guardian.co.uk/film/torontofilmfestival
Over with United and one important change in the US is they now get THE BRIT LIST which is a list of top twenty unmade scripts (rather like the BLACK LIST in the US) that agents/dev execs think are the best scripts out there. We asked who chooses and they're a mysterious gang a bit like the mystery shopper....
Another tip was to enter festivals with your work - a reccuring theme here - and the good ones will get found - not necessarily made - but will get you work and representation..
He also recommended writers be more hard working about getting their own stuff out there. See all the BAFTA short films and contact the directors of the ones you like and take them out for coffee and talk about what they want to do next. See if they're a good fit...
Thursday 1 October 2009
knackered
apologies these postings are coming so erratically but by the end of the day after talking and driving back and forth I have something to eat and I'm asleep in bed... only to be woken by my roomie at 3.30 typing away trying to finish her script in time for her meeting..
Wednesday was a fantastic day with a meeting with an LA manager who talked us through how they work as opposed to an agent. They sound very hands on - almost your own editor - with a sales head attached. He's already taken on one of the ex-students and got them a deal and a commission for asecond feature. He advised keeping in a 'box' of genre for a year or two so the town know what you're good at before branching out to your Zombie Rom-Com. He takes 10% but is as hands on as you need...He was also a rare species that take on writers who don't live in LA.
I then had a wonderful lunch with the producer of A PALACE DIVIDED that was shown on ABC years ago with Catherine Oxenburg and Roger Rees as Diana and Charles and me as Fergie.. (weirdly another of the writers on this trip played Fergie in a Fergie and Andrew biopic for NBC). Larry cheered me up no end by getting excited about my projects and saying 'okay Tracy, show me what you got..' It was also pretty exciting that Angelica Huston came to say hello to Larry and we had a chat...
This was followed by a couple of meetings at Century City. I was shocked at the first one as after the pitch the exec offered me a book, saying they were looking for someone to adapt it and if my script was any good, we might talk. I then went down the corridor to another company with a totally different mind set and had to pitch my political stuff rather than comedy Rom-Com...gear change...! He seemed interested and asked for samples and treatments. Keep the faith. Meanwhile back to my chick-lit...
Wednesday was a fantastic day with a meeting with an LA manager who talked us through how they work as opposed to an agent. They sound very hands on - almost your own editor - with a sales head attached. He's already taken on one of the ex-students and got them a deal and a commission for asecond feature. He advised keeping in a 'box' of genre for a year or two so the town know what you're good at before branching out to your Zombie Rom-Com. He takes 10% but is as hands on as you need...He was also a rare species that take on writers who don't live in LA.
I then had a wonderful lunch with the producer of A PALACE DIVIDED that was shown on ABC years ago with Catherine Oxenburg and Roger Rees as Diana and Charles and me as Fergie.. (weirdly another of the writers on this trip played Fergie in a Fergie and Andrew biopic for NBC). Larry cheered me up no end by getting excited about my projects and saying 'okay Tracy, show me what you got..' It was also pretty exciting that Angelica Huston came to say hello to Larry and we had a chat...
This was followed by a couple of meetings at Century City. I was shocked at the first one as after the pitch the exec offered me a book, saying they were looking for someone to adapt it and if my script was any good, we might talk. I then went down the corridor to another company with a totally different mind set and had to pitch my political stuff rather than comedy Rom-Com...gear change...! He seemed interested and asked for samples and treatments. Keep the faith. Meanwhile back to my chick-lit...
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