Sold it! My screenplay--finalized deal this week!

this is another awesome thread on DVXuser. Success story and advice column all wrapped into one. I love this place. Congrats on the screenplay, look forward to hearing more :)
 
Dear Kyle,

Congratulations for your screenplay sounds like you truly deserve your successes!!!! But most of all thank you dearly for this fantastic thread, it has been a genuine inspiration, and meant a huge step forward for me. I want you to know, that your "Story Element" Screenwriting field guide has been neatly put in to a folder and is with me every day as i write and i have read it over and over. The love and dedication you have put in to it is evident and shines through every page. I think i have ordered most of the DVD's and books you quote so i got quite allot of reeding to do, but in the meantime the guide is a invaluable tool for quick referencing and to get the juices going when stuck. This thread is a testament to how great this forum can be.
And to put i in a vice virtue way -

"Selfishness leads to isolation but selflessness leads to community"

To anyone that downloaded (as i did) the "fixed" (for mac preview) version of the story guide - there are several pages missing in this version and makes for a confusing read. I solved the problem by downloading the original version and opening in it in photoshop and printing from there. Should be 41 pages.

Also in my research i came across this kind of cool calculator for the Blake Snyder beat sheet.

http://www.rareform.com/screenplay-editor/beats.php

And some of his tools -

http://www.blakesnyder.com/tools/

Anyways i found the Blake Snyder technique very helpful to me.


As for the questions, maybe Kyle has some time to chime in -

What if you are writing a story, like Michael Clayton or Pulp fiction, Sunset Boulevard, that are not linear, as in the start with the end, or the middle or wherever. Would you start by considering the story in a "linear" fashion, and make a beat sheet as if this was continues time, happening in sequence, and than when actually you start to write you break it up? I ask, because in the beat sheet it says it should start with the "before" or opposite image of the "final image". But somehow i find it more interesting to either start with the action (the hero is already in the "special world") or start with the ending shortly before the final image. What are your thoughts on that? Should i do a beat sheet for every major character or for each plot A,B,C?


What is meant by "Keep the press out"?

The page 30 B story (traditionally the love story). What if the A story is a love story what does B become? (i know this question is somewhat flawed, but would be interested in your thoughts)

The premise - I had a hard time with this, cause i understand the concept and in a film like the The Incredibles or the traditional genera film it seems quite easy to apply, but what about more modern characters, that don't only have one goal. What about the jaded middle class character that already has all the material wealth and love interest, but still is unhappy. He lacks something, but he does not know what it is. Maybe it is not a thing or a place. Maybe its nothing that can be put in one sentence. For example what does Michael Clayton really want? Yes at some point in the story he wants to find out who killed his friend? But is that really what he wants? What does the writer character in Sunset Boulevard want? I just saw the Maltese Falcon last night for the firs time and really loved it allot, 10 out of 10 stars. But and this is why it wont make make top 20 list next to Baby doll And Sunset Boulevard, somehow the end seemed forced, reduced, in a matter of 10 minutes the complex character of Humphrey Bogart was distilled to a simple one sentence "He did it to revenge his partner, cause thats what you do", it somehow seemed heavy handed. I say this tong in check, cause it was a truly an amazing film. But i have noticed this a few times even in the best films that when trying to adhere to this kind of rational cause effect, formalistic way that somewhere the characters get short changed. Even in a fantastic film like "All about Eve", it has a little bit of that. Is this simply where formula, breaks down? Or am i just seeing this in the wrong? I worry that my brain is tricking me in to avoiding to deal with my story on those core values because while easy to apply to films that have already been made it seems very difficult when the story is not written.

I read that Blake Snyder is even suggesting dealing with your story in just three sections. Opening image, mid point, Final image. And that one should not proceed before having those down.

I actually am curios how you work. Do you write a synopsis than go back to the beat sheet and refine and change and than back to the synopsis and maybe than switch to refining the premiss. I am having a problem with this linear approach as suggested in many of the screenwriting guides. I am even continuing on my screenplay that is missing its 3 draft because it feels, just writing (i guess in random draft mode) sometimes helps me find new ideas that i can than bring back to the beat sheet, or vice versa. What i found to be great help is regularly to write a 8 minute synopsis or treatment. Just to see what i think the story is about, it sometimes brings new ideas and refocuses me.


About the Vice virtue pairing and the story premiss?

What about about the story where virtue leads to downfall and vice to success. Is that just as valid or are you setting it as a prerequisite that a successful genera film must have a happy ending. How does this relate to "universal truth"? Did the Maltese Falcon have a happy ending? What about the Titanic?

I am well aware that there may not be direct answers to this rather broad questions, so i just dump them out there to encourage the debate.

In any case Kyle, you are my hero.
 
Last edited:
There has been so much useful info in this thread it really should be a sticky.

I started writing my first "feature" about 2 weeks ago, have already read Save the cat but will now definitely check out these other books, sites, and most importantly read those screenplays.

Well done Kyle. - I can sorta imagine how you feel, today I got a letter from Uni saying I got a 1st class BA Honours degree in Digital Music & Sound Arts which I've been studying for the last 3 years. It certainly feels good when hard work pays off :)
 
Wow, I bet someone is (still) out celebrating. You must have been crazy excited when the phone rang or the fedex came or however you found out it was a dead, done deal. I'm honestly not sure I could contain myself. Congrats!
 
OceanZen said:
There has been so much useful info in this thread it really should be a sticky.:)
Click to expand...

It's a great thread, for a lot of reasons. The only problem is the meat is buried under a lot compliments and casual comments. Can threads be leaned out so newcomers can get straight to t he good stuff?
 
Missed this thread somehow... congrats, that's great! Very inspirational! :)

Makes me want to dive back into my feature first draft for its much needed revision.
 
brianluce said:
It's a great thread, for a lot of reasons. The only problem is the meat is buried under a lot compliments and casual comments. Can threads be leaned out so newcomers can get straight to t he good stuff?
Click to expand...

God point -
Perhaps Kyle - you wouldn't mind editing your first post to add the links and book suggestions, so new people see it on the first page.

Oh and Thanks again for the inspiration :)
 
My friend, that is amazing! We don't truly know each other, but being part of the same, filmmaking family, I cannot be happier for you.

I was trying to download the story structure from FileFront but it keeps saying that there are no servers available for my request. Quite a shame.

I can host it for you on my FTP account if you want, this may help other fellas. :)
 
add another congrats to the pile.

hope that 300 doesn't pan out to the 30 cents on the dollar i've heard about. taxes, agent, atty, etc... but tbh, who gives a crap. you crossed over to being a paid screenwriter. kudos. thanks for sharing. is an encouragement. bol
 
Congratulations! It's awesome to see a fellow Chicagoan find success. One question: Sox or Cubs? :)

A few thoughts on the thread.

I too found that theme is the easiest way to cure writer's block. I always ask myself at the beginning of a script: "What am I trying to say with this movie?" And whenever I run into character problems, scene problems, story problems, etc., I go back to that question and usually find a way through the problem.

My thoughts on Rossario and his writing partner (and their articles): I hate those guys. I really do. First because they base their writing almost exclusively on the concept of: "What's marketable?" While I of course understand the reasoning for this, I think first and foremost you should write about what moves you - as it is almost impossible to write anything good that you're only writing to sell.

And second because they wrote one article - and I truly believe this - to eliminate a lot of their competition. Those who read their site regularly know this article. It is the "You should give up" article. It spends countless paragraphs explaining the odds of success as a Hollywood screenwriter and every reason why it is impossible for you to succeed. It is regularly interrupted by them saying, "No seriously. This article does not have a happy ending. You really do have no chance." Over and over it explains why you'll never succeed. And then at the very end, half-heartedly to say the least, they conclude with, "And the reason you should ignore all this is because these are all the things we were told."

I'm convinced that that ending was not authentic and they really were trying to scare a lot of writers away. I still think about that article and get depressed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top