Writing a biography
I’m submitting a script to a screenplay competition and to an agent that accepts unsolicited material. Both ask for a biography. Common sense says to keep it short and sweet–and spell everything correctly. But I’m finding it very hard to write anything other than a two or three sentence summation of my education and career (none of which is entertainment related and all of which is surely boring). I suppose I could add something about my interests or goals as a writer, but does anyone care? Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
–MA
Here’s my all-purpose screenwriter bio. Change the relevant details to match.
Mark Anonymous hails from Osh Kosh, Pennsylvania, the zipper capital of the world.
The son of average suburbanites, he found escape
from the crushing sameness of early-90’s America through the films of Pedro Almodovar
and Lars Van Trier. Inspired to become a rule-breaking filmmaker, he
dedicated himself to learning the rules so that he might break them more
fully and artistically. To this end, he earned a bachelor’s degree
in communications from Oberlin, where he made stylish and inscrutable
films. Forced to take a slave-job at The Gap in order to repay monumental
student loans, he turned his attention to screenwriting, hand-scribing
his first feature-length screenplay during
slow periods in Men’s
Wear.
That script wasn’t very good. However, his second screenplay, A SWIFTLY
TILTING DOUGHNUT, turned out great. A light-hearted riff on Joseph Conrad’s
HEART OF DARKNESS, DOUGHNUT tells the story of a Krispy Kreme manager
sent to close an unprofitable store in the Florida panhandle.
Mark is 25 and lives in Pittsburg.
2 Responses to “Writing a biography”
Writing a biography
I’m submitting a script to a screenplay competition and to an agent that accepts unsolicited material. Both ask for a biography. Common sense says to keep it short and sweet–and spell everything correctly. But I’m finding it very hard to write anything other than a two or three sentence summation of my education and career (none of which is entertainment related and all of which is surely boring). I suppose I could add something about my interests or goals as a writer, but does anyone care? Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
–MA
Answer is here.
Articles
September 11th, 2004 at 11:28 am
I am SO stealing that!
February 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Citing ‘Lars Van Trier’ as a source of inspiration and release is a smashing idea! Especially considering his name is Lars von Trier (the one being Scandinavian nobility, the other just random Dutch) and you will have proven yourself an ignoramus.