I have a story idea and I would like everyone's thoughts on it....

Kid_Filmmaker

Kid_Filmmaker

Active member
I'm going to post a story idea, it's based off factual events and it's one I've been thinking of doing ever since last night and I want someone to tell me if this has ever been done before because I'm seriously thinking of doing it. Here's the story - this young girl, let's call her - Daria, she lives with her mom in the poorest of the poor neighborhoods, abandoned by her father, hated by her family members, her two, cruel, mean step-sisters included, she had no friends at all. No one likes her no matter how nice and sweet, kind and friendly she is, They don't like her because she's been so sheltered all her life by her mother and because she's so naive and innocent to knowing what life really is about and how people really are. She sees life and people through unrealistic, rose colored glasses. She thinks everyone is her friend and treats everyone as such, which is why she's so disliked by everyone. It is because of this that the girl has no self esteem about herself and because she has no self esteem about herself, she starts believing that she's ignorant and ugly as so many who disliked her have said about her and called her - although at times, she hides all this and the that fact that she has no self esteem very well, her ego and feelings becomes as fragile as porcelain. People disliking her makes her easy to be hurt by those in the world. Her and her mom go from place to place, never being able to find a real job in a crumbling economy no matter how hard they try and despite the fact that the girl has graduated from high school and is extremely smart. This girl and her mom often end up in shelters and living on the streets. they've been this way since the girl was born. All this girl has is a dream, one dream of being a filmmaker, She has written over fifty scripts of which she plans to turn into films, the girl has plans of being a star - however, every attempt at her trying to break into the business fails, no one wants to help her, no one gives a damn about her or likes her to even care about her wanting to reach this dream so she can get her and her mom out of the poor situation they're in but the girl keeps trying, she keeps trusting people during her trying and they keep letting her down, failing her, breaking her heart and her trust. They keep hurting her. Soon as she continues to go through this sad journey to break into the business, she goes into a raging, deep depression which makes her lash out at others, including herself. Despite her depression, she continues on trying to become a star and as usual, every attempt is a dead end, pushing her deeper into depression.



So one day, as a last ditch effort and attempt, she send her script to one of her favorite actors, an actor whom she has looked up to for years, an actor who was the sole reason and motivation for her even wanting to become a star, this actor means everything to her, in this girl's mind, the actor is her daily living inspiration for living. She feels if she can get interest in him with her script, she can possibly get to become a star. While he's not an A-List star, his name can pull a LOT of clout in the Hollywood world, which would be a plus for this girl - also getting the interest of this actor and getting to work with him would be the ultimate dream of this girl's (besides the dream of her being a star). Well when the actor doesn't respond after several weeks, she feels that she's even more of a worthless failure and that her work must be horrible because she can't even get the interest of the one and only person who was ultimately her greatest and deepest inspiration. She feels there's no hope for her and she commits suicide after leaving a heartbreaking letter for her mother. Her mother of course is heartbroken and then just days after her suicide, the actor contacts the girl's mother and tells the mother how he must talk to person who wrote the script he just read, the actor says the script is awesomely great and he's interested in playing the lead role, etc.....The mother is heartbroken because the daughter is now gone but the mother works to make her daughter's dream a reality - in memory of her daughter. The mother works with the actor to turn the script into a film. The film is a box office hit and the mother turns the daughter's other scripts into films which all do successfully well....The daughter becomes a successful filmmaker - only after her tragic, sad death......The daughter never lives to see her stories become successful films for the world to see...
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
The daughter never lives to see her stories become successful films for the world to see...
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You are attempting to extort emotional response from your audience. This sort of style has gone out of favor for quite some time.

I'd recommend watching "Requiem for a Dream"(1999) and see if that rings 'truer' than a story line where a now dead 'could have been a contender' gains fame.

There are also a number of 'Hollywood Insider' type films, some of which have the 'rags to riches', but a more accurate film is where the protagonist is chewed up, spit out, and left broken for life.
 
....I think maybe I'll just leave filmmaking and screenwriting to the smart people and get another career. It's obvious I can't create an original great story idea at all but thanks for the response to my post....
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
....I think maybe I'll just leave filmmaking and screenwriting to the smart people and get another career. It's obvious I can't create an original great story idea at all but thanks for the response to my post....
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Don't be so quick to abandon your ideas my friend. Success is best achieved with relentless drive and uncompromising will. If you can see it in your mind...and believe it...you can create it.

Why not go for it. Its inevitable that, in a few years, you'll look back on your early works and see how much you could have improved on them...but you have to create them to learn, experience, and grow.

Why not go for it? Right?
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
....I think maybe I'll just leave filmmaking and screenwriting to the smart people and get another career. It's obvious I can't create an original great story idea at all but thanks for the response to my post....
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No. My advice is to make short films. Maybe 100 or 200 short films... there is a large number of current popular directors who have started off their careers doing 'commercials', that is 30 second 'short films', or perhaps a whole 60 seconds worth of story time.

After about 100 or so short films, one would have a good idea about how much effort a type of film may take, then move on to longer format films...

Going for a 'feature' is sort of like buying one lottery ticket and expect to win the 100 Million Jackpot... and I think one time big jack pot lottery winners out number successful Hollywood careers started by a one shot deal, by an order of magnitude.
 
I'm confused.

Do you want people to just say, "What a great idea! Go for it! You'll be rich!"?

Or do you want the truth, and get advice that can help you turn your idea into a great idea that might stand a chance -- against admittedly huge odds -- of being successful?

I kind of get the feeling that you believe you have a great story and you can make a great movie from it that will be a big success, and you just want the support and encouragement of people who will agree with you in order to motivate you to go for it. I've been there. It's not really realistic. I wish it were.
 
David W. Richardson said:
I'm confused.

Do you want people to just say, "What a great idea! Go for it! You'll be rich!"?

Or do you want the truth, and get advice that can help you turn your idea into a great idea that might stand a chance -- against admittedly huge odds -- of being successful?

I kind of get the feeling that you believe you have a great story and you can make a great movie from it that will be a big success, and you just want the support and encouragement of people who will agree with you in order to motivate you to go for it. I've been there. It's not really realistic. I wish it were.
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No, I could care less about being rich or winning awards. I just want to work around actors like Goldie Hawn and Victor Garber and great known actors like that, that I've been watching for years...However, I honestly am finding myself second guessing every idea I have....Every idea I have may sound good to me but then after a while, I start thinking the idea is not good at all because I know it's an idea that has already been done by Hollywood several times over before and is in fact idiotic and I'm back at the drawing board again. I don't know, I just want to have the story that people read and thinks "damn, that's a good story", but I don't know if I have a story that's like that.....It seems I don't...
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
No, I could care less about being rich or winning awards. I just want to work around actors like Goldie Hawn and Victor Garber and great known actors like that, that I've been watching for years...However, I honestly am finding myself second guessing every idea I have....Every idea I have may sound good to me but then after a while, I start thinking the idea is not good at all because I know it's an idea that has already been done by Hollywood several times over before and is in fact idiotic and I'm back at the drawing board again. I don't know, I just want to have the story that people read and thinks "damn, that's a good story", but I don't know if I have a story that's like that.....It seems I don't...
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The question is what do you want to DO.....not who do you want to be around. If your only motivation is to get to work around famous people, then writing, producing, directing are probably some of the hardest ways to get there, and take the longest time to achieve. You could be a PA, a grip, do craft service, or any number of other jobs on a Hollywood production -- even be an extra. Of course, there's lots of competition for those jobs too, but I have to believe it would be easier to accomplish that than to be a filmmaker and rise to the level of working with that class of talent. I know several people personally who have worked as extras, PA's and grips, as well as gaffers, on shows like 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Banshee' and 'Homeland'. Heck, I myself was a background extra in a Hollywood movie -- 'The List' -- and did a scene standing right behind Hilarie Burton and Chuck Carrington, and alongside veterans like Malcolm McDowell, Will Patton and Pat Hingle. A girl I know got a gig being Jason Alexander's assistant when he was shooting "Shallow Hal". So it can be done.

On the other hand, I don't know personally a single filmmaker -- producer, director or writer -- who has achieved the success of doing a film with any actor of that caliber.

You don't pursue producing, directing or writing in order to meet stars. You do it because you have a passion for it. If your goal is to meet and work with stars, there are other paths that are much more likely to get you there.
 
David W. Richardson said:
The question is what do you want to DO.....not who do you want to be around. If your only motivation is to get to work around famous people, then writing, producing, directing are probably some of the hardest ways to get there, and take the longest time to achieve. You could be a PA, a grip, do craft service, or any number of other jobs on a Hollywood production -- even be an extra. Of course, there's lots of competition for those jobs too, but I have to believe it would be easier to accomplish that than to be a filmmaker and rise to the level of working with that class of talent. I know several people personally who have worked as extras, PA's and grips, as well as gaffers, on shows like 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Banshee' and 'Homeland'. Heck, I myself was a background extra in a Hollywood movie -- 'The List' -- and did a scene standing right behind Hilarie Burton and Chuck Carrington, and alongside veterans like Malcolm McDowell, Will Patton and Pat Hingle. A girl I know got a gig being Jason Alexander's assistant when he was shooting "Shallow Hal". So it can be done.

On the other hand, I don't know personally a single filmmaker -- producer, director or writer -- who has achieved the success of doing a film with any actor of that caliber.

You don't pursue producing, directing or writing in order to meet stars. You do it because you have a passion for it. If your goal is to meet and work with stars, there are other paths that are much more likely to get you there.
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Well I'm doing it because I have a passion for it too. Having great stories in my head is the only thing I'm good at and have an actual talent for. Working with actors is a big plus though that is also my passion. I think what I ultimately want is to tell my stories to the world....Have people see the world through my POV.....I'll get there eventually I'm sure....hopefully.....
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
Well I'm doing it because I have a passion for it too. Having great stories in my head is the only thing I'm good at and have an actual talent for. Working with actors is a big plus though that is also my passion. I think what I ultimately want is to tell my stories to the world....Have people see the world through my POV.....I'll get there eventually I'm sure....hopefully.....
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Then I'd suggest writing this story as a series of episodes, shoot it with a group you form in your area, get it to youtube/vimeo, perhaps submit some episodes to fests, and get 'the world' to view your work.

I've seen various estimates of Hollywood's 'film per year output', and it ranges from 500, consisting of independent and major productions, with Studios producing perhaps 50 or 60.

There's more competition between writers for these few productions, than a pack of coyotes bursting into a small chicken coop.
 
"Every story was told already" is an illusion that doesn't take in consideration time. How time affects our perception of issues where all the sudden collection of thoughts becomes an issue and certain collections become non-issue.
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
I want someone to tell me if this has ever been done before because I'm seriously thinking of doing it.
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there may be similar stories, but you are the only one that can tell it from your perspective. no one else has had your experiences, memories, relationships, etc. you don't need us to validate your ideas.
 
Kid_Filmmaker said:
Ok but everyone is not cut out to be a writer/filmmaker, that's what I'm trying to discover. I still haven't discovered that yet. I mean, I feel like I am cut out for it but in the back of mind, there's always that doubt. So how about I just post my screenplay here and you all decided for yourselves if it's work that shows I'm cut out for this or not....

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxI_I0fBVkf2MGlMSEduZnl4b2c/edit
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Rather then letting others decide, why not do it yourself? Learn how to judge for yourself. Put your screenplay against 5 others in similar genre. Then read up on how people who have accomplished something significant got to that stage, what drives people and gives them wisdom to keep on going? Educate yourself about how others have accomplished it and then decide for yourself.
 
Hmm. Should I, or should I not? OK, this is a site for sharing, so I will. I'll do you a solid. Take this advice and you're golden:

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/309485-nobody-tells-this-to-people-who-are-beginners-i-wish

You have a million questions and doubts about yourself. But that's irrelevant. Because there is only one question - only one. You can do really bad work, or come up with really poor ideas or whatever, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is that one question.

The question is: "Do you have good taste?"

If the answer is "YES", then it doesn't matter how bad your work is right now, how tired and unoriginal your ideas... for now. Because with time and work, you WILL get better. Yes, you will. No matter how bad you think you are right now.

On the other hand, if the answer is "NO", then nothing else matters - you can work until you bleed, and waste your whole life, and you'll never accomplish a single thing in any creative field. May as well give up now.

So don't worry about the million questions you have and the self-doubt. Answer just that one question instead.

Take this board. There are very, very competent and knowledgeable people here. Extremely talented DPs and so on. But... many (I'm being kind) lack good taste. Which is why you see them discuss cameras and things in incredibly knowledgeable ways, and then one day they post some creative work they did, and you're just floored at how bad they are. They're super competent, and far more knowledgeable than f.ex. I can ever hope to become in many fields - sound, DP, etc. - but I have one advantage... I have good taste (he said modestly)... if I fail, I have no excuse, none at all, it will be my fault 100%. That's why people become DPs and so on. There are many very talented DPs, and many think they'd be great directors, and they regularly get chances to do a film - and they're most often disasters... for some reason, being a DP translates very poorly into being a director, while it translates better from being a writer or editor. So don't worry if the other guy is a 1000 times better than you are in this technical aspect of filmmaking or that. Ask only one question: Do I have good taste? That's all that matters - the rest is just hard work and a bit of luck (and honestly, we make our own luck most of the time). Cheers!
 
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