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

Thanks Popcorn Flix for confirming the Mac compatibility. And in response to your question, unfortunately a pdf (or any version) of Lemon cannot, as of yet, be displayed publicly... or I will be subject to swift and decisive legal action. The whole process is strange. A smiling face purchases your product, but if you, in any way, display or damage that product (real or perceived), then they'll have your liver for dinner (with a smile, of course, and a nice chianti).


As far as being listed on donedeal or scriptsales, I'm not sure. I'll check.


Great comment c.g. eads--I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment on the purpose of that article.
 
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Kyle, what suburb do you live in? And did you grow up there or move from somewhere else?

My main question to you though is - you are obviously big on structure. Do you ever break the rules? If so, how often and under what pretense?
 
Live in Wheaton, moved a few years ago from Geneva. Lived downtown Chicago for about 10 years. Originally from Rockford. Please no jokes.

Yes, I view structure as a way to direct the audience to various target emotions throughout the story. I ask myself what emotion I'm trying to engender, then design scenes and sequences around that target, always being true to theme. I'm a firm believer of breaking the rules if it suits the story and/or theme.
 
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kylekmd,
When you made the deal for The Lemon Tree, did you have to fly out and visit L.A. to finalize the deal, or were you able to stay in Chicago? I ask this because I always hear people saying that you have to visit or move to L.A. when becoming a screenwriter. Thanks.
 
My Chicago-based entertainment attorney (through LA contacts) was able to shop the screenplay around. I travelled to Vancouver and LA for meetings, but all the paperwork was finalized/signed here in Chicago.
 
c.g._eads said:
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. .
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On the other hand, those guys have helped a lot of people. Their site is a gold mine of information.

Another way of phrasing "What's marketable" is that they understand the value of a great idea--because coming up with a great idea is the only thing harder than writing a great script. If you look at most A- list writers, they don't have a lot of original credits, it's mostly assignments.

And come on, it's borderline cynical to suggest that article was intended to discourage competition since that article exists within the context of a huge website devoted to sharing information about screenwriting. And in reality, the sales numbers are daunting no matter how you spin them. WGA registers 30,000 to 40,000 scripts per year and there about 200 script buys--which puts Kyle's accomplishment in perspective.

An interesting note about Rossio is that he seems to be moving towards the type of filmmaking practiced here at dvxuser, I think he already got a RED and learned Final Cut. So here's a A-list Hollwood screenwriter with titles that have grossed literally billions a stone's throw away from what goes on here. Don't be surprised if he enters the next Zombiefest.
 
fantastic, kyle! great inspiration.

I'm trapped in the grimy stickiness of this thread :) I've copied and pasted the best portions into a single doc. Thanks guys.
 
Follow up info--

The powers that be have asked for a fairly simple rewrite: to change the main character's backstory and ghost, to reflect more closely the actual historical records and events. No problem. In my original version of the story, characters were combined for dramatic effect.

That's a relatively easy fix.

Kyle

My current project--a horror script--will be put on hold for a few weeks.
 
I'm bumping this because the first link in the original post doesn't seem to work anymore - I keep getting directed to the filefront homepage. can the link be updated? I'd really like to reference that PDF file.
 
Barry_Green said:
Ten years? Find some way to invest that in something that'd pay 10% interest and that'd be $30,000 PER YEAR -- a lifetime of income in one sale! :)

(and yes, this comment is ill-timed since it's hard enough to find an investment that pays anything at all, plus there's taxes to consider, and inflation and blah blah blah, but -- dude, when $300k lands in your lap, you can do a LOT with that.)
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Actually I believe Washington Mutual were advertising a special account that paid about 7% but you had to leave the money in there for a year.

-Nate
 
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Sorry if this has already been covered earlier in the thread, but I just downloaded the manual and there's something funky going on with it. Some of the text has been replaced with what look like gradient lines...
 
Big Bad said:
Sorry if this has already been covered earlier in the thread, but I just downloaded the manual and there's something funky going on with it. Some of the text has been replaced with what look like gradient lines...
Click to expand...

i had that as well. are you using adobe reader? upgrade to the latest version and you can read it.
 
Back to the subject. Received a question by e-mail asking how to use (to best advantage) the produced scripts file I posted a few months ago.

As everyone else says... read as many scripts as you can. Okay, we all know that.

But, I would add one more thing.

Pick two or three dozen great screenplays and style copy them. What I mean by this is re-write them by hand--verbatim. This will help you see how the pros do it VIA YOUR OWN WRITING MECHANISM: your frontal cortex, your hand, your pen.

In 2004, after reading an article by Rob Tobin I did this exercise. I decided to make an investment in my writing career by "wasting" two months on style copying. Believe me, it works. The end result is that you take the best features of each script and create your own distinct style. Okay. Enough said.

And, of course, don't forget to write from theme!
 
thanks for that tip. i never ever would have thought to do that. i picked up inside story and am loving it. i was going to start writing my next script after finishing, but may spend some time style copying first.

thanks!
 
"Inside Story" is one of the best books I've ever read on screenwriting.

And Kyle...you are one hardcore student of the trade... : )
 
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