We were at a party talking about a short film festival we had just been to and I was asked by him what I thought of the films (of which one of his was featured). I always try to offer constructive comments so I said that I could see what each film was trying to do but I felt that the filmmakers needed to take more care in the construction.

(Basically what I was saying was that the editing was poor, the films were photographed badly and there was a complete lack of sound design, blah blah blah)

The response…

‘Well these are amateur films! That’s not fair, you’re a professional, you get paid to do this kind of stuff.”

What I liked about your article John is the idea that we are always judged. The idea of the amateur is thrown around as an excuse for poor work. Well the professional world has no excuses.

When my commercials get played on air they either work or don’t (hopefully the former). It would be great if there was a little disclaimer saying ‘Sorry, I didn’t have much time to prepare’, at the bottom of the screen. But there isn’t. Your work just sinks or swims and then you move on. But the great thing about that is you learn from it.

What this guy didn’t realize is that he had made an excuse for his work. Which meant to me that in some way he wasn’t proud of it. But he should be.

So I guess my point is that, acting professional actually helps you in your career as an aspiring (insert profession here). It means that at the end of the job you can say that you did your best.

Which is all you can do.

Keep it up John.

Oliver

I enjoyed reading “Professional Writing and the Rise of the Amateur” it was very thought provoking. In the article you state:

“The barriers to entry have never been lower. You can make a short film with a $500 camera, and post it on YouTube.com, and be a worldwide sensation the next day”

I am an armchair director and it seems to me that you are almost throwing up a challenge here. I wonder if I could trouble you to elaborate more on the “$500 camera” — model/type etc. I am a complete ignoramus. Would greatly appreciate it.

John Marsden, Chicago IL

I know…it’s late. Over a year. But after reading your speech. Thank you. John. Thank you. Thnak you.

Can’t talk you how many debates (not really) I had at UCLA and after, breaking into the industry where I was the only one who stood for professionalism having nothing to do with money or getting paid for it.

Guess it’s all on the roads we choose.

So…

Thank you.

MARK

That explains why writers such as Joe Eszterhas, Billy Wilder and Ben Hecht were so well paid and had access to so many paid assignements: They all came from a journalist background and already spent years understanding (and practicing) the importance of:

Deadlines. Logic. Accuracy. Accountability. Consistency. Presentation, a.k.a. “Giving a shit.� Meeting Peer Standards.

I doubt that a script sale or option will suddenly make a person a professional. I tend to think some of the reasons for the one-hit wonders and for the massive of amount of rewriting that is done on spec scripts by script doctors (and not by the spec writer himself) is becasue the spec writer is suddenly under pressure to be professional… ie., to meet the demands of a deadline.

If we want to be paid like a professional, we need to be treated like a professional. And we’ll only get treated the way we act.

Thanks for the article and website, John.

That explains why writers such as Joe Eszterhas, Billy Wilder and Ben Hecht were so well paid and had access to so many paid assignements: They all came from a journalist background and already spent years understanding (and practicing) the importance of:

Deadlines. Logic. Accuracy. Accountability. Consistency. Presentation, a.k.a. “Giving a shit.� Meeting Peer Standards.

I doubt that a script sale or option will suddenly make a person a professional. I tend to think some of the reasons for the one-hit wonders and for the massive of amount of rewriting that is done on spec scripts by script doctors (and not by the spec writer himself) is becasue the spec writer is suddenly under pressure to be professional… ie., to meet the demands of deadline.

If we want to be paid like a professioanl, we need to be treated like a professional. And we’ll only get treated the way we act.

Thanks for the article and website, John.

But I would rather read a good story with spelling and grammatical errors, than a boring, formula-clone story professionaly written.

All too often the RULES are the end-all, be-all of the untalented. It’s something to cling to. A way to knock a better story. When I was in school, I had teachers ding my work, then passing it around because it was worth reading.

When I watch a movie, I catch a lot of the screenwriter’s misspelled words, but I won’t walk out unless the movie sucks.

With all the people talking in “blogs”, I wonder if that means we become a society of people who don’t know how to listen?

Federico