My First Trip to L.A.!

So at the end of March, I took my first trip to L.A. It was a combination ScreenwritingU event, plus meetings of my own that I had set up. One of my key goals is to become a better networker, and these past two months have actually been jam-packed with great meetings - and the development of a new approach to such meetings.

But first, L.A.

I was a bit shell-shocked. I’d never been there before, and it was very different from NYC - and the industry people I met were a lot less schmoozy, which I would have expected to be the other way around. 

(Random note - for some reason, L.A. hardcore reminded me of an upscale India? I think it had to do with the open-air markets, the temperature at that time of year, the colors, and, sometimes, the dust.)

I think I was more unsettled about the trip than I let on, even to myself. On one hand, I was going to learn, to make connections... but on the other, there was that nagging inner voice insisting that I sell a screenplay ASAP.

It was an incredibly worthwhile trip, all in all... I have one producer who wants to see a treatment for an idea I have when it’s ready, and I connected with several others, a few of which have now even become Facebook friends. I had a fantastic lunch with the screenwriter of the last Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, the wonderful Andy Knauer (a former student of my dad's!), and got a great inside look at what his life’s been like since going through the process of making The Last Stand.

But still, the trip left me with this nagging, unsettled feeling.

I came back a little disheartened. (Of course, this was heightened because it was promptly followed by some hard times. Not to digress too much, but my husband and I had been trying to buy a place which fell through last-minute, and we lost our old apartment in the process... Don't worry, we found a new home! But that was a terrible week - even though the producers I met never would have known it by the bubbly messages I was sending them after our meetings!) 

Anyway, back to L.A... not one person I met there (and all in all, I met about 20) wanted to do an action film, which is what I was peddling. (Despite the fact that action right now is the genre in which the most scripts are being sold.) 

I learned an important thing: the success of your story is very much dependent on who you’re talking to and what they need at that moment. If they've done a particular genre in the past, it doesn't mean they'll want to do it again. While I’d mostly arranged meetings with ScreenwritingU folks and also with producers that I’d previously heard speak or had some other connection with, I hadn’t specifically sought out the right people for the project I’d just completed. It was no wonder I left feeling unsatisfied.

If you get in a room with a person looking for your type of project, you’re set - they’ll want to read it. (Then hopefully the writing's good enough that they'll want to see it made.) I saw this happening with friends of mine that week in L.A., who had quirky, very niche-audience indie scripts - and happened to meet with people specializing in just that.

The other important thing I learned is that, no matter if you meet someone who isn’t interested in a particular project at that time - they might be interested in something of yours later, or in developing a new idea with you (as is the case with me right now). So just make an amazing contact, be laid back, and be realistic. Look to the future.

To wrap this up before it gets too long, my new approach is all about #1. Assuming that you will be rejected most of the time, expect it, and then just keep moving forward (and always having new things to suggest) - and #2. Approach each and every meeting like you’re meeting with friends. It’s a very social business. People want to work with someone they can see as a friend - even to the point of creating something to work on with that person.

I read a fantastic article on Stage 32 recently (if you’re not on that yet, get on, it’s excellent) that said just those two things: embrace the rejection part. Put yourself out there 1,000 times without any expectations and approach all these meetings like you’re meeting friends.

This is what I’ve been doing now back in New York, and I’ve had one of my best months ever in terms of making connections with people and developing new working friendships. I don’t know when my next trip to L.A. will happen. It might be as soon as this fall, or it might be way in the future. But next time I go, it’s going to be an entirely different approach. :)

YouTube vs. Vimeo

Exactly two weeks ago, I posted a short, funny video based on the character Javert from Les Miserables. It was, actually, a Public Service Announcement where Javert denounced Jean Valjean in a message he ‘paid for and approved.’

Please check it out here.

This was a fun experiment for me for a few reasons (not the least of which was that it was impossible not to keep laughing while making this). Number one, in terms of knocking off a quick project, this was super easy. Since all I needed was a voice-over artist, I was able to audition actors over the phone.

Second, recording a voiceover is a lot easier than trying to record an actual scene or even a documentary-style interview like I did with Otherworldly Encounters. There’s no lighting to rig, no picture to set, no making sure your mics can actually pick up the voices of your subjects as they move around - there’s just a guy in a sound booth talking into a mic that’s directly hooked up to your camera.

But my reason for this post really has nothing to do with debating the pros and cons of video vs. voiceover. What I really want to talk about is YouTube vs. Vimeo.

Javert’s PSA was the first video I ever posted on YouTube. Prior to this, I was putting everything on Vimeo. This was mainly because I’d been influenced into thinking Vimeo is the site for ‘serious’ film-making professionals, and I grant you, there’s some truth to that. While just about any kid with a cell phone can and will post video clips on YouTube, on Vimeo you’ll find actors’ reels and serious attempts at short film and animation. Without a doubt, the people who see your work on Vimeo are the people who tend to really care about film.

BUT... when you think of things going viral, do you ever think of Vimeo?

Most likely, no. And now I understand why. 

Your Vimeo video will not link to any other videos on Vimeo. They won’t link to you. You can choose to ‘join’ someone’s page, but that’s only if you somehow first find them and become a fan of their work. It’s great if you fall into ‘staff picks’ and get featured on the home page, but with a ton of people vying for that honor each week, chances are slim. You do sort of get a feed of videos that might interest you, but apart from the title and cover image, it’s usually hard to know what they’re about without taking the time to click into each.

YouTube, on the other hand, offers links to other options at the end of and even during videos, so if anyone watched something similar to mine, mine would pop up and maybe intrigue them enough so that they’d watch it. Within the first few hours of Javert’s PSA being posted, it got 20 views - and I hadn’t yet sent it to one person in the world, tweeted it, or put it in my Facebook status. So, doing nothing, people had already begun to find it and like it.

“But No MFA Project,” you might say, “It’s not a fair contest. This video was based off of Les Mis, a movie that was up for an Oscar last week. It had built-in buzz.”

That may be, but in the case of Otherworldly Encounters, a collection of interviews with people who had had supernatural experiences, I released it just a few days before Halloween. It was also timely, with some built-in holiday buzz.

That was 4 months ago, and Otherworldly Encounters, even after my getting the word out, has had 97 views on Vimeo.

Javert’s PSA has been up exactly 2 weeks as of today and currently has... 461.

If your film is still in the festival circuit and you want to keep it mostly under wraps, yes, use Vimeo. If you only want other film people to be the ones checking it out, as opposed to the masses, yes, Vimeo.

But if you want sheer number of views, I’d go YouTube all the way.

How to Pitch Like a Pro!

At last - a post about how to pitch!

Pitching is presenting your script’s concept to someone in a position to help you. This might be a producer, director, manager, agent, or even high-profile actor.

You should be able to pitch in a very, very short period of time. Granted, if you get an actual meeting with a production company, you can discuss all elements of your script… but most of the time, you’ll need to get people’s attention ASAP (think pitch-fests, being introduced to an industry contact at a party, etc.) You want to be able to present your idea in under a minute – and, ideally, in just one line. (Referring back to an earlier post, most production companies want ideas that are ‘high-concept,’ and one criteria of high-concept is that you’re able to see the entire movie in just one line.)

I have some background with sales, so for me, pitching is just applying sales skills to a conversation with an industry professional. This means describing your product in a way that shows them why it is valuable.

I’ve had a great amount of success with pitching thus far – everyone I’ve ever pitched to has requested to read my scripts. Now, it’s time to pass that knowledge on to you! Below, I’ve listed out my basic guidelines for what you should do:

1. Know how much time you have and work with it. If you’re going to a pitch fest, they’ll tell you in advance how many minutes you have. However many it is, try to leave one or two (at least!) at the end for answering questions about your idea and exchanging contact info. At a pitch fest, when you’re out of time, you’re out of time, and if you don’t have their contact info, it was a waste.

2. Say the genre FIRST. I’ve heard this complaint a jillion times from people in the industry: a writer will launch into their pitch without telling the genre. Since you’re very involved with your script, it’s obvious to you if it’s comedy, drama, horror, or what-have-you. Not so for someone who is unfamiliar with your work. Nowadays, there’s lots of darkly humorous dramas, or serious storylines that are still considered comedies because of how witty the writing is. In fact, having a unique spin on what makes a ‘comedy,’ or any other type of movie, might just make your idea interesting enough for professionals to request. Do everyone, especially yourself, a favor by telling the genre first.

3. Open with your one-liner. Right after you sit down, say “My script, (insert title), is a (insert genre),” and give them your one-liner. Ideally, this one line should show off your high-concept idea and make them see the entire movie. It should be as interesting a hook as possible so you win them over for the rest of the meeting.

4. If time allows, summarize the story. Once all this is done, do you still have any time? If this was a chance introduction at a party, then you don’t – unless your audience is so fascinated they keep asking for more info. If it’s a pitch-fest, you have just a few minutes – enough time to give a very short synopsis of your story. I repeat, VERY SHORT. It’s not the time to get into a scene-by-scene breakdown. Instead, you just hit a few key points that tell the story, again making it all as juicy as can be.

5. Giving the ending – gauge what they want. Some people will tell you to never give the ending, since curiosity will make people request the script. Others say always give the ending because the person you’re pitching to can’t judge what they think about your story without it. I say, pitch without giving the ending – but then gauge whether or not they want it. Figuring this out doesn’t take a mind-reader: end your pitch at the end of your second act by saying something like “And then things really get interesting,” or “Which brings us into our final showdown.” You get the idea. End with a cliff-hanger. If they say, “Wow, I’d love to read it,” you’re done. Otherwise, they might ask what happens. If they do ask, tell them! You may feel like if they want the milk they have to buy the cow, but really, refusing to share the end will make you look uncooperative and will make them unsure about whether or not the whole story lives up to the great first two acts you pitched.

6. The obvious. Public speaking is harder for some than others and pitching is, in essence, a presentation. But practice. Have people you trust watch your pitch. You want to make eye contact, cut out the ‘umms’ and the stutters, use animated language and tone of voice, and be sure to move around a bit. I don’t mean flail your arms wildly, but show how exciting this idea is by, well, being excited – and excited people don’t sit perfectly still with stiff arms by their sides. Use your body language! Lean in, gesture, be enthusiastic!

I hope this helps you! If you have any other advice on pitching or have had an experience with pitching (good or bad) then please share what you’ve learned in the comments!

Two Years! (Part Two: Successes and Failures)

When pursuing a creative career, it’s difficult to define success and failure… just getting into a known person’s network is actually a great accomplishment, but not one that registers on anyone’s radar but your own. Selling a screenplay or making a film is obviously a success, but then if they bomb, you might have been better off if no one had ever seen them.

In school, it’s easier to define success – they give you grades. On your own, in life, you set your own benchmarks and have to honestly grade yourself.

In my not-so-unbiased opinion, I consider my No MFA Project a success. Of course, though, there are things I would have done differently. So here we go, part 2 of my two-year summary: what was great, and what I would have done differently.

What Was Great:

I feel short and sweet bullet points suffice for this section. The things that worked well speak for themselves. One thing I do want to especially point out though, for anyone pursuing a career in this industry – and that includes actors, who have a harder time than anyone else getting work – learn filmmaking skills. Being able to produce yourself is the key to showing yourself, getting attention, and having a real conversation starter with other people in this business.

That being said, here’s my list of "great":

-The amount of writing I got done

-The contacts I made (best found attending a film festival and taking a few one-off courses)

-The films I completed, and winning two awards for my first short film

-Learning filmmaking.

-Getting paid filming jobs (another place to meet people)

-Now being brought on to a few major writing projects 

What I would have done differently:

1. I pushed myself a lot, but would have pushed myself even more, particularly with completing more short films this past year. My issue was indecisiveness in choosing the script for my next short. A producer gave me the advice that, with two shorts under my belt, I was ready to do a short version of a would-be feature-length film, and to find a “name” person to star. His reasoning was that the piece could then be shopped around to studios, who would pay attention because of the star, and quite possibly opt to make the feature. This was great advice. However, I got so hung up on finding the “perfect project,” I stalled and didn’t make a third short. Looking back, I should have just kept on filming whatever I wanted to film so that I had ever more on my reel and learned more about the craft.

2. Maybe this sounds presumptuous, but I would have quit my job even sooner. I was there for more than three years and the last year and a half contributed very little to (or perhaps even took away from) my personal growth, development, and confidence. The sooner I got out, the sooner I felt like I found myself, started churning out more and more projects, and learned the things I needed to learn.

3. Networked more. It’s only been in the past three months that my networking has really exploded – and in the past three months I’ve been brought on to a TV series, asked to do the script for an independent feature film, and found interest in some of my stage play ideas. My recent status as social butterfly is owing to several factors: meeting people at the film festival; being lucky enough to connect with a supportive producer who then introduced me to a wide variety of film and broadway professionals; the fact that there have been a ton of industry holiday parties I was lucky enough to hear about, and the decision not to miss a single one. If I was starting all over, I would have sought out networking opportunities every week.

4. Overall, being more structured. The challenge to working at home and not being in school is the fact that no one is giving you structure and no one is checking up on you. It’s easy to procrastinate by running errands, watching TV, etc. While I was actually rigid about working every day, I still feel there was more time that could have been used productively. I would actually write myself out a daily schedule with weekly goals in the future.

The good news is, even though I’ve passed the two year mark (the length of an MFA program and technical end of the No MFA Project), my progress isn’t going to stop. I can take all of the above and apply it to my future. Which brings me to…

No MFA Project for Life.

Education shouldn’t stop with the end of school, and of course, it’s not going to stop for me at this point in my life. Doing this project has opened my eyes to all the possibilities for making a creative career a reality. The career is creative – the approach needs to be, too.

I’m going to keep going, keep learning, keep meeting people, and most importantly… keep writing. And sharing all my progress with you, up to the moment when, finally, I see my work on the big screen and my books in a bookstore.

Hope you’ll stick around for what’s to come.  :) 

Two Years! (Part One: Four Original Goals)

Well, actually, two years and a week… on December 1^st, 2012, I hit the two-year mark with the No MFA Project (which, in theory, means it's completed, since a typical MFA program is two years long.)

I’m willing to argue that in the past two years and one week, I’ve made as much progress as I would have if I’d been in an MFA program – if not more.

I want to look waaay back at the four key goals I set for myself in December 2010 to see how I’ve stacked up.

1. LEARN FILMMAKING SKILLS. 

Done! Nowadays, if you’re aspiring to be a screenwriter, this is essential - you need a calling card. Top dramatic writing MFA programs agree, which is why they give screenwriting students the option to take filmmaking courses and require short films (often by partnering them with film students) to be completed before graduation.

I learned about filmmaking in a course at the Digital Film Academy that cost $3,000. An added bonus was being able to use their film equipment for free for the next year. I used it for paid film gigs and personal projects alike.

I had hoped to finish a short film in the first year of the No MFA Project, which didn’t happen, because I did need at least minimal training first. Once I took this inexpensive and fabulous class, I completed two shorts within the second year of my self-made program.

2. CONNECTIONS WITH ALUMNI AND OTHER INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.

Even people who think school is stupid will often cave and apply when they decide they need an alumni network to get ahead in life.

What I found is that, just by attending networking events and taking several one-off courses, I’ve amassed a network that’s as helpful if not more so than what I would have expected of an MFA program. I hold an MA in publishing – and after $50k left that school without any real community to speak of. I now have passionate people wanting to collaborate on projects and move our careers forward. Earlier today, I attended a table reading of a sizzle reel for a TV series. (I wrote the sizzle reel script.) A producer I met through the DFA created the series and is working to get it picked up by a network. He brought me onto the project as lead writer.

3. PITCHING SCRIPTS.

This was something the Tisch MFA career center claimed to do for students.

Granted, the school has connections, but isn’t the best person to present your idea you? I tried to get practice doing this by attending the Screenwriter’s World Conference last January and pitching to different production and management companies. Four out of four went ahead and requested my screenplays, so I’m confident in my pitching skills. (I’ve been planning to do a post on how to pitch for a long while, and promise it’s coming soon!)

4. SHEER TIME TO WRITE/COMPLETE PROJECTS.

A huge plus of going back to school is that your time will be devoted to writing and not sucked away by a crappy job. In my first year doing No MFA, I completed one screenplay while also working full-time. Things sped up in the second year when I left that job. I’ve now completed a second screenplay, a novella, a bunch of articles and short scripts, and a major revision of a screenplay I’d written years earlier. (Also, the two short films.) Yes, I had to quit my job to get all that done… but I would have had to quit to do an MFA anyway, and then I would have been buying time - literally.

This past week, I was offered a job at a cool film, art, and fashion publishing house. I’m grappling with whether or not to take it since, now that I’m doing so much writing, I don’t want to screw it up by having to re-adjust to a fifty-hour work week and, essentially, be too exhausted to write. (Of course, it would be nice to have the extra income for buying film equipment, since my DFA membership will expire in two and a half months!)

More on this crossroads to come, but if I do wind up taking the job, that ‘sheer time’ element will be out of my equation, and I’ll be blogging on how to strike a balance between pursuing a creative career and having a day job.

Check back soon for Part Two of this post, where I’ll talk about the No MFA Project’s greatest successes and failures, what I would have done differently, and what’s yet to be accomplished!

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So, tomorrow, it will have been an official two years since starting the No MFA Project - and this past month has been the busiest yet in terms of who I've met and deals that are in the works. I fully plan on giving all readers the total low-down on the No MFA Project, what it has been from start to finish, and what lies ahead...

But first, friends - it's been a busy, busy week, so the two-year update will actually be coming in on 'two years and two days.' In the meantime, enjoy the weekend, and remember - there's no excuse for excuses! Get out there and follow your dreams, MFA or No MFA.

Documentary Encounters

It was a fast and furious five days, but I was able to edit down hours’ worth of footage into a 13 minute, 33 second ‘ghost-umentary.’ At least, a ghost-umentary is what I’m calling it… ‘Otherworldly Encounters’ started as a collection of true ghost stories and ended as more of an argument that an ‘otherworld’ does exist all around us.

I loved every minute of working on this project, despite the time crunch. During the month of October, I interviewed real New Yorkers – including one professional medium – about supernatural experiences they’d had within the five boroughs. Despite not sleeping much this past month, I was thrilled with how sincere (and sincerely bone-chilling) these interviews were. Rather than simply present a series of ‘ghost stories,’ as had been my original intention, I instead wound up piecing together a mini-documentary whose goal, really, was to convince viewers that experiencing something supernatural is actually pretty natural in the grand scheme of things.

My aim had been to finish this video right before Halloween, which, incidentally, also wound up being right before Hurricane Sandy struck New York. That being said, the focus this week definitely shifted away from releasing this short under the most perfect possible conditions.

I’ll be doing what I can to try and drive up the number of views in the coming weeks, though, and while I’m at it – feel free to watch, comment, share, like, and enjoy:

http://vimeo.com/52363683

A few final notes on the experience of making something in the documentary style…

This was my first time doing something in this genre, and right off the bat, I can tell you that in the battle of documentary vs. narrative, they both have their pros and cons. With documentary, it’s ok for the editing to be a little choppy. You don’t have to stick to a perfectly planned-out script. You also have an easier time filming, since setting up one chair with lighting for the interviewee is typically sufficient.

On the flip side, though, without a script, a documentary can be very hard to nail down. The ending of ‘Otherworldly Encounters,’ in particular, gave me a lot of trouble. The ending I finally used was the third one I created. Likewise, there were a lot of great stories and one-liners that didn’t make the final cut simply because there was no good way to include them without going off on big tangents.

Overall, though, I learned that I loved working in the documentary style. It’s amazing the kind of emotion and history people will give you when talking about their real lives. I loved feeling how I used to feel when I was working on a paper in college and had a ton of great sources to pull from: like I had the power to piece their most valuable insights into one, super-valuable final product. 

I definitely see more documentary in my future.