
Lessons Learned from Trying to Break into Professional Screenwriting - 6stringmerc
https://medium.com/@6StringMerc/lessons-learned-from-trying-to-break-into-professional-screenwriting-7a9153890df9
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CM30
On a related note, I love this quote from the article. Because it also sums up
entrepreneurs and startup ideas perfectly:

"You could post your life’s work online for the world to see, read, and
download, and you’d still have better odds to be killed by a lightning strike
than be ripped off and cheated out of millions of dollars."

Same goes for startup founders and creators there. The chance of someone
'stealing' your ideas and turning them into the next Google or Facebook are
pretty much non existent. Enough with the pointless NDAs and paranoia before
your company's even started.

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slm_HN
>The chance of someone 'stealing' your ideas and turning them into the next
Google or Facebook are pretty much non existent.

Of the companies you listed fully 50% were founded as the direct result of
ripping off someone's idea and starting a company.

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shshhdhs
And the other just created a better version of already existing ideas.

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innocentoldguy
I'm not sure I understand the author's vitriol regarding The Black List. I
think a lot of untalented people try their hand at fame without going through
the pains of education, study, practice, and mastery. This has been made
painfully obvious on reality shows, like American Idol, for years, hasn't it?

To me, paying $20 a month for The Black List to tell you that you're not ready
seems like a reasonable investment in one's dreams. How could you possibly
know where you stand if you never subject yourself to failure and criticism?

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troyinjapan
It's not just $20 a month, but you need to pay for 2 script reads, $50 each,
so the first month's total is $120. Realistically, it's $140, as it takes a
while to get the 2 script reads. If you score high enough, you get put on the
highlight email list. If you don't, you're just available for discovery.
Basically, if you don't score high enough, you're wasting your money.

The author didn't understand that you're paying for access, if your script
scores high enough.

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innocentoldguy
Are you really wasting your money though? Having someone read and critique
your work is extremely valuable, even if you rank low (well, it is if you're
willing to listen). I cannot emphasize the value of constructive criticism
enough. My degree is in creative writing, and by far the biggest value I
received from college came through both offering and receiving criticism.

I've never received an evaluation from The Black List, but if you actually get
what their FAQs promise, _" Your evaluation will include an overall rating and
ratings on premise, plot, characters, dialogue, and setting, all from 1 to 10.
It will also include brief answers about the script's greatest strengths,
weaknesses, and commercial prospects."_ I think the price-to-value ratio of
their service is quite good.

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otoburb
>> _I think the price-to-value ratio of their service is quite good._

One almost wishes a similar service for scientific papers exists along the
lines of a "paid dry-run peer review". Unfortunately this probably wouldn't
take away from the need/burden of unpaid paper refeering for journals, but at
least it's an idea to make another revenue stream available to staff doing the
actual work that doesn't get co-opted by Elsevier or their non-open access
ilk.

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nickgrosvenor
The script coverage of Boogie Nights is a great example of the problem with
script readers in general.

[https://screenplayreaders.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/03/boo...](https://screenplayreaders.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/03/boogie-nights-coverage.png)

The fact is, a 24 year old that's paid 25 bucks, doesn't really have a good
barometer for what makes a good movie.

It's all just so subjective.

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ideonexus
I entered a Google-Blacklist screenwriting contest last year to promote non-
stereotyped tech characters in media.* I wrote a pilot about a couple raising
a family while running a makerspace. The reviewer didn't like it because it
was too tech-focused and most people wouldn't get it. Then they got really
hung up on the fact that my couple was mixed race, and said that it was not
only wrong of me not to draw more attention to this fact, but that the whole
first episode should have focused entirely on it. The review was so obtuse,
and knew so little about my audience and the subject matter it was
astonishing. It reminded me of an English teacher friend who did away with
peer reviews, arguing that having other students who are as inexperienced as
you critiquing your work will only hurt you.

*I'm fairly certain now it was either a scam or another one of those Google side-projects they fund and forget about because winners were never announced.

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valuearb
Not sure I understand his criticism of the Blacklist. Does he only want
scripts to be formulaic?

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laughfactory
His criticism is that The Blacklist is built on the idea that their are shit
loads (hundreds of thousands, millions?) of really crappy scripts written
every year by people with a dream. These dreamers are a lucrative business for
many service providers in Hollywood. It's not that no service is provided in
exchange for the money paid, but when you offer a service which explicitly
sells the dream (when the reality is that a miniscule percentage actually
"make it") then that is what is smarmy.

That said, I don't personally have a problem with it myself, mostly because
you are getting something for your money. You'd almost certainly be better off
going about things differently (sitting around waiting for Hollywood to call
just because you put your script on The Blacklist--or anywhere--is a
distinctly ineffective strategy).

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6stringmerc
Nail on the head, re: the criticism. I just think it's important to be up
front about the odds. By comparison, Script Revolution basically says "You
probably won't make it, so join us to show there's merit in not buying into
the old system" and that, to me, was a point of inspiration. The idea that the
money paid could be a "Who Knows?!" type black-box of critical integrity just
rubs me the wrong way.

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6stringmerc
Thanks to all who read the piece and contributed. I stepped away for a day to
rest and came back to a piece that caught fire in this arena and others (re:
screenwriting audiences). I'm going to respond as able with honesty because
that's how community works. I do appreciate your time.

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vogt
I am not a writer, but I am a long-time movie fanatic, and I have a screenplay
I want so badly to write but don't know where to begin. Any tips on that?

I wrote, I think, ten pages just going in blindly and think they probably
suck, but wouldn't even know who to ask if that was true.

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criddell
If you like podcasts, give Scriptnotes a try. It's John August and Craig Mazin
and they cover a lot of material.

[https://johnaugust.com/podcast](https://johnaugust.com/podcast)

One thing that comes up again and again is location. If you are in the US and
are writing for film, you pretty much have to be in Los Angeles if you want
screenwriting to be your career.

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vogt
Interesting. I wonder if Las Vegas would cut it, since it's so close
(reasonably speaking).

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laughfactory
IMHO, yes, as would any other city within a few hours. You just need to be
close enough to pound the pavement and take meetings. Of course it is
marginally better to be able to list a Los Angeles phone number and address on
your contact info.

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andrewfromx
there was no mention of zoetrope.com I thought for sure there would be

