First Person

Kiyong Kim spent ten years working a day job as a web designer while he wrote and made short films on the side. Things came into focus for him when a friend of a friend got into the Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship.

You can read more from Kiyong on his [blog](http://kiyong.wordpress.com/).

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I didn’t major in screenwriting. I didn’t go to film school. I went to art school in Boston and studied illustration. I can draw you a picture of the zero connections I had to the entertainment industry.

Despite that, I wanted to be a writer.

I had written short stories in high school, and in college I learned what a screenplay is. I read some books on the subject, and then wrote my first script, Brobot, which I submitted to the Slamdance Screenwriting Competition. It came in 4th. This was before they had a separate short script competition, so my short beat out feature scripts, and got me some attention from managers and producers. I completely squandered that opportunity because I had nothing else to show, but it gave me the confidence I needed to take this whole writing thing seriously.

Trying to write while having a day job
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Even though I wanted to be a writer, I had a full time job as a web designer. It’s really depressing to be good at something you don’t like. Had I known better, I would have started out as a PA and tried to get a job as a writer’s assistant. Instead, I paid the bills by pushing pixels around in Photoshop, and wrote on nights and weekends.

I was very disciplined with my writing and made a lot of sacrifices to hone my skills. I took jobs that paid less but had better hours, had more flexible vacation days, were closer to my house, or had any other factor that would give me more time to write. I would write during lunch breaks, and save up my vacation time to work on scripts. I also wanted to become familiar with the production process, so I took classes in directing, editing, and animation.

While I spent all this time writing, I was painfully aware of the opportunity cost of what I wasn’t doing. But I kept at it, because my shorts would get into festivals, or my scripts would place in contests. I had to continue.

Then one day, a friend of a friend got into the [Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship](http://www.nickwriting.com/). I knew the odds were ridiculous—less than 1 in a 1000—but actually knowing someone who succeeded made it seem within the realm of possibility. I decided to apply.

Rocky, I & II
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In order to apply to the writing programs, you need a television spec script. I had written several shorts and a couple features, but never a spec. So I read some books on TV writing, and wrote an episode of The Office.

In the fall, I heard I was a semifinalist for the Nick Fellowship. I had a phone interview, an in-person interview, and ended up as one of four finalists. That brought three days of interviews with executives, writers, and show creators.

Only three fellows were chosen that year, and I was the only finalist who did not make it. I had gotten too nervous in some of the interviews. During those interviews, they don’t even look at your writing; they look at your personality, and at how well you sell yourself. I was horrible at selling myself; writing ability alone isn’t enough.

When Rocky fought Apollo Creed the first time he didn’t win, but he didn’t lose either. Just getting to that point was a personal victory for me. It was validation that I was on the right track, and that all of the hours spent writing hadn’t been a complete waste. If I could have another shot, I could make it.

Cue the music for a Rocky training sequence.

I immediately went to work on another spec, this time for 30 Rock, and applied again. I took an improv class, a TV writing class, and made another short. That fall, I was a semifinalist again. I was prepared for all those interviews this time.

In Rocky II, (spoiler alert) Rocky wins. I made it into the Fellowship.

Hello, Fellow
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The Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship is a full-time, paid program. We started out writing new specs as well as rewriting our application specs. We usually have six weeks to write a script, which includes researching a show, pitching premises, outlining, and doing multiple drafts, and we’re usually working on several scripts at once.

I was used to writing in short bursts at nights and on weekends, not for eight hours a day, and I used to write scripts leisurely over the course of several months, not in six weeks. My writing muscles were quickly whipped into shape.

After writing several specs for network shows, each of us was given the opportunity work with the EIC (Executive in Charge) and write a spec of a Nickelodeon show. I got the new animated show Robot & Monster, which hasn’t aired yet, and has no finished episodes to watch and study. I had seen some of the character art and was given the show bible and a bunch of scripts, but I didn’t know how the characters would look or sound, or what the show’s timing and rhythm would be like. It was a challenge, but the EIC provided guidance along the way.

Besides just paying us to write, the Fellowship opens doors by setting up meetings with people at the studio, including current and development execs, line producers, coordinators, writers, and Fellowship alumni. We’re working on more specs as well as a pilot, and I’m about to sit in on the writers’ rooms for Robot & Monster.

Ideally, I would love to get staffed on a Nickelodeon show before the Fellowship ends, and then at some point, I’d like to put my art school education to use and pitch my own animated show. We’re halfway done with the Fellowship, and it has already been a life changing experience.

Gabriel de Jesus is a screenwriter living in Puerto Rico who is trying to forge a Hollywood career from 3,000 miles away. A strong showing in the Nicholl Fellowship competition has helped.

On Twitter, he’s [@gabedejesus](http://twitter.com/#!/gabedejesus).

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I live in Puerto Rico. It’s hard enough to make it in this business living in Los Angeles, but trying to make it from thousands and thousands of miles away is just asking for it.

So maybe you’d think it’d be best to move. Make it easier on myself. Yes, in fact, it would be. I would’ve moved to LA in a heartbeat if it weren’t for just one problem: I don’t know a single person in the whole state of California who I could bunk with.

Oh, and I am unemployed with zero savings. So no California for me. Not for now.

Being a screenwriter in Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico is a hot destination for films and TV shows given that it has some of the most favorable tax credits in the world (40% tax credit for payments made to PR residents and 20% tax credit for payments to non-residents, including actors’ salaries), but in terms of a domestic film industry, Puerto Rico isn’t as developed as other Spanish speaking regions. Although it has a promising future, the Puerto Rico film industry is not the answer for what I want to achieve at the moment.

What’s great about being a writer in Puerto Rico? Inspiration. Even though it is a US territory, living in Puerto Rico feels like living in a whole other country. Be it a rainforest, a coastline, or mountainside, it’s all there to provide inspiration.

What’s not so great about living on a Caribbean island? The damn heat. It’s freaking killer. Seriously. But, alas, it is from this tiny island at the edge of the Greater Antilles that I will have to try and make it in a town where iron walls seem to rise hundreds of feet into heavens, and the gates seem to be guarded by Cerberus himself.

Thank God for the Internet
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I took every book on screenwriting I could find and chewed it up. Every blog. Every article. Every screenwriting magazine. The trades. Everything. Read it all. Concerning blogs —get ready for some major ass kissing— John August’s is truly a lifesaver. When you have so little contact with the industry, blogs like John’s provide an insider’s look to a world that seems so alien to the rest of us Earth people.

Looking to expand my knowledge in screenwriting and the business, I flew a couple of times to LA for seminars, workshops, and pitch events. I did everything I could to learn my craft and get to know the town, and these events all proved invaluable in helping me get rid of the jitters of meeting high profile people.

There is no doubt that watching movies is essential to becoming a good screenwriter, but what ultimately helped me develop my own voice was reading as many screenplays as possible, and then, writing as many screenplays as possible. There are no shortcuts; I learned that the hard way. To become a good writer I had to write and write and write, and when I was done writing, rewrite and rewrite and rewrite some more. There is no way around it.

The Nicholl Fellowship
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Although I had entered a few screenwriting competitions and placed, nothing much came of it. I knew about the [Nicholl Fellowship](http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/index.html) but had never entered; it intimidated the heck out of me and I thought I wasn’t ready for it. But in May 2010,  I sent in my script. Knowing thousands of writers from all over the world would be entering, and knowing that since the ‘80s several screenwriters from Puerto Rico had entered the competition but none had placed, I didn’t really think much would come of it.

Two months later, I received an email from the Fellowship director congratulating me for becoming a quarterfinalist. A month after that, another congratulatory letter came my way for making the semifinal round of 114. I couldn’t believe it. Just getting this far was a great feeling, especially with what I heard about many past semifinalists having careers in Hollywood.

A month later I got my last letter. I hadn’t made it into the finals. I was a bit sad at first, but the pain was quickly lessened when I was informed that I had made it to the top 30 out of more than 6,300 writers, and I was the first writer from Puerto Rico to do so. I could live with that.

And then it happened.

The emails. Dozens and dozens of emails. Over fifty, actually. Agents, managers, and top development people. After so many years of querying and pitching and sending loglines, this was quite a different feeling for me. People actually querying me for my script. And that’s how I met my manager.

Based on my own experience, I could not recommend the Nicholls more. The competition is fierce, but the prestige and respect is unmatched.

Having a manager
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I couldn’t agree more with [Justin Marks’ First Person](http://johnaugust.com/2011/get-a-manager). A manager can be critical in having a career and staying afloat in the turbulent waters of Hollywood. It’s a collaborative relationship that helps you work better with others, and helps you learn how to deal with different points of view concerning your story.  With his help I went through several rewrites and was able to get my script into tiptop shape, strong enough to attract one of the town’s most legendary producers.

I have no idea what the future holds for me, but after slogging through it for so many years, it is a true joy to have some form of success. Having the delight of seeing my script and my hard work acknowledged is a dream come true in itself, and now, going through those first steps of seeing my script being made into a film is truly a gift.