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Writer's pictureJanet Elizabeth

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others



I'm in a weird mood this week. I'll explain.

I've been looking at ways to get my work in front of eyes that will read my script(s) and say "Hey, this is good, she's good, lets talk to her about working on a project!".

And there ARE ways to do this; networking (events both irl and online), query letters to managers/agents/production companies, contests/competitions. BUT, there is a huge hurdle to all of these ways and means.

Networking in real life means you have to find, then attend a networking event with producers, managers, agents, etcetera. Now if you live in a large metropolitan area, or sometimes even a smaller city or town with an active film community, all you have to do is find out the location and show up. If you don't live near an active film community, you can either try to create one yourself or you have to travel to where the event(s) are or you are out of luck.

Online networking is a little more difficult and a little surreal. A networking event online usually takes place on a Twitter feed or a chat room, sometimes a webinar style thing, but mostly, you have to engage with words, which you might think would be easy for a writer but not so. Personalities are still personalities and it's hard to show your winning charm and wit with a few lines of text. Not impossible, just very difficult.

Query letters have a low percentage of working. Most managers, agents and prodcos (production companies) don't accept unsolicited material, and with some good reasoning; they get hundreds if not thousands of queries per day. They can't afford a whole department of people just to wade through the queries and weed out the no's.

Then we come to contests/competitions. There are a few that are legit and also do help writers get effective exposure, but there are many that are shady and get you nothing. Every competition costs money to enter, and that's understandable too as there are costs to running one of these things. The entry fee isn't usually too high, but some writers might not have the means to even afford a $50 fee, plus, your odds are pretty slim, no matter how good you are.

So, what am I leading up to with all this information?

Let me digress.

The script is where every project starts (actually it's the idea but that leads to the script and so on ). The writer, while not the most important, is where it starts. Without a script, you have reality television or a documentary (though even those projects have "scripts" of a sort).

Without the screenwriter, there is no need for a director, producer, actors, director of photography and so on and so on.

And that brings me to my next point.

It is easier, though some might disagree, for an actor, director, producer, and so on to get their foot in the door of the Hollywood (read establishment, meaning non-indie) film making community.

An actor, reads the trades goes on cattle call auditions, makes an impression, gets more roles, gets an agent and so on. They still have to work at their craft, but we aren't talking about the work required, we are talking about access and opportunity.

A director can get a job as a production assistant, and work their way up, just by applying for the job.

A producer needs money or access to money, a business sense and an ability to get stuff done.

The technical people such as camera operators, sound, make up and so on, all they need is education and they usually get experience in school for that. Again, they apply and they can get a job.

The screenwriter though, they can have a degree in English, or Journalism or even a screenwriting degree and yet, they still are treated like the outsider. It is more difficult for a screenwriter to storm the ramparts, than for anyone else in the business, regardless of talent or ability.

Just to get an opportunity is like looking for the Holy Grail. Getting to people who can buy your work is this weird hybrid of game of telephone (having a friend tell two friends and they tell two friends, and so on) that episode of M.A.S.H. where everyone does a favour for someone else just to get something for themselves.

There are exceptions, Diablo Cody for instance, got in because she blogged about her life as a stripper, then she wrote the book and got published and then got invited to write a screenplay. But lets be honest, being a stripper and writing about that life is a heck of a lot more interesting than what most people do. Do you want to read about the life and times of an administrative assistant? Let me tell you, I have some scary interesting funny stories, but there isn't any nudity or hot girls. *lol*

Anyway, those opportunities are rare.

It's also come to my attention that most screenwriters still have to have day jobs to support themselves. How crazy is that? You have this amazing job in an industry that has enourmous wealth and the person who starts the ball rolling still has to be a greeter at Walmart of flip burgers or tutor students.

It's frustrating and disheartening at times.

But I can't give up.

Writing is life and life is writing.

So, to end this rather dismal post on a positive note, let me say this.

If you believe, and you work hard at your craft, you can and will finally make that sale.

To quote one of my favourite movies; Never give up, never surrender!

(points for whomever can name where that quote is from).

Back to work.

Ciao!


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