In a recent episode of Scriptnotes, we shared stories from screenwriters who managed to build careers while living outside of Los Angeles, New York or London. Here are additional tales from writers who got their start without moving to the big city first.
Gina Ippolito writes about how she got staffed on her first TV show.
Craig Mazin wrote in to respond to criticism of his remarks in last week’s Scriptnotes.
Nick Rheinwald-Jones agreed to write up his recent experience making a short, providing useful illustrations of what happens when screenwriters get behind the camera.
For a writer, being jerked out of the process by a ringing phone or car alarm or a question from a well-meaning spouse can be devastating.
A screenwriter sees a trailer that matches the premise of something he wrote ten years earlier. Was it idea theft, or just a good idea.
Doug Karr’s new film Art Machine is available on demand and through iTunes. I asked him to write up a post about his experience finishing it. Nearly three years ago John watched my ambitious and rather complicated short film Ten for Grandpa and liked it enough to not only post it, but also ask me […]
Emmanuel Denizot works as a translator in Paris, subtitling US and UK films and TV series for release in France. Some of the films he’s worked on include Puccini for Beginners, Project Nim, Keep the Lights On, Queer as Folk and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Global Edition. Since subtitlers are often the final […]
Billy Ray shares a screenwriter-themed Christmas tale.
Director Michael Mohan writes about the process of making Save the Date, his bigger-budget follow-up to One Too Many Mornings.
On a recent podcast, Craig and I discussed press junkets from the screenwriter’s perspective. Tim from London wrote in to offer the view from the other side of the roundtable.
A reader shares his notes on a Amazon Studios panel at this year’s Austin Film Festival.
A reader named Gerry wrote in to share his screenwriting workflow using Fountain, which includes Scrivener, iA Writer, Dropbox and Highland.
Adam Davis wrote one of the original First Person posts for the site back in 2007, when he first moved to LA. Five years later, it’s time for an update.
A working screenwriter shares his frustration with how difficult it has become to sustain a career.
Jay Faeber writes in with an update on his earlier First Person post, this time detailing his first year on the writing staff of Ringer.
In response to the discussion Craig and I recently had about the perceptions of nepotism and wealth in the film industry, a listener wrote in to share his experience of being quite literally a trust-fund screenwriter.
Matthew Watts, a producer on both The First 48 and Swamp People, discusses three kinds of producers in reality television.
Jamie Jensen recently wrote and co-directed her first feature with Nadia Munla. I asked her to talk about her experience taking a project from graduate school thesis script to finished film. In 2007, I moved from New York City to Los Angeles to pursue a screenwriting career. I did it by way of the Peter […]
Melissa Rossi won a Student Academy Award for her university thesis film. That success prompted her to move to Los Angeles to begin a career as a writer/director. But she wasn’t ready.
Kiyong Kim sacrificed time and money to write before becoming a Nickelodeon Writing Fellow. Now, writing is a full-time job.
Matthew Hickman was born and raised in rural Georgia. After dropping out of law school, he started working an hourly-wage job at a UPS store, and saved money for a year in hopes of moving to Los Angeles to begin a screenwriting career.
Gabriel de Jesus is a screenwriter living in Puerto Rico. It’s hard enough to make it in this business living in Los Angeles, but trying to make it from thousands of miles away is even harder.
Justin Marks argues on behalf of literary managers.
By the time I entered college in my tiny Florida town, I’d already decided I wouldn’t be moving to Los Angeles. While my friends shared fantasies of $2000 two-bedroom apartments and lives made of ramen noodles, I’d been infected by the Rodriguez disease, and I felt a furious, indignant independence. I wanted to make my own path, outside of Los Angeles.
