John August

Film Industry

Pay-for-mentoring, part two

Film Industry, QandA

Many of the questions I answer on this site also show up in the [“Ask a Filmmaker” section](http://indie.imdb.com/Indie/Ask/) of [IMDb](http://imdb.com). Heather Campbell, who edits that section, forwarded me an email concerning programs where you pay money to be matched with a mentor in the film industry, an issue I had [ written about here](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/the-get-a-mentor-program).

Here is one guy’s experience. I don’t know if this was the same “Get a Mentor” program I wrote about, but it sounds similar:

A couple of weeks ago someone wrote you about mentoring
programs. I happen to have some experience with the one
they’re referring to. I own a very successful film and
video production company in Connecticut now for over 15
years.

A couple of years ago this company called and asked us if
we would let one of their students hang around a couple of
hours a week and let him assist us. It would not cost us a
cent and if we would do this for them they would send us a
check for $1000.

Well low and behold we never got the check for a thousand
dollars and the poor kid had paid them like 2 or 3 grand.
Needless to say I would of hired the kid as an intern
anyway and he could of saved the money he gave to these
people.

— John Michaels
Connecticut

Once again, caveat mentor.

His name is my name too

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkI am interested in screenwriting and would love to break into the business. My problem is that John August is my real name. Will I have to use a different name?

I have many scripts I’m working on. Any advice on the name situation would be great!

— John August
Oakland, CA

A quick Google search will reveal there are a bunch of us John Augusts. One guy wants to abolish the Australian state governments, and has been active on the internet since Usenet days. [John August Swanson](http://www.johnaugustswanson.com/default.cfm/PID=1.2.11) is a painter, while another John August does guitar instruction books. And one specializes in [interlocking pavers](http://www.geckostone.com/pavers.html).

My favorite non-me John August has a site dedicated to [diabetic foot problems](http://members.tripod.com/~JohnAugust/). And here I am just answering questions about [bad catering](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2003/craft-service).

Unlike the [Screen Actor’s Guild](http://www.sag.org), which forces actors to use a unique name, there’s no prohibition in Hollywood for multiple writers having identical names. As a practical matter, though, it’s quite inconvenient. But there are a few good solutions.

1. Use your middle name or initial. On [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com), there are at least eight David Steinbergs. But the one I know, a screenwriter, is David H. Steinberg, and he’s doing very well. He writes “David H. Steinberg” on his scripts, and no one gets confused.

2. Use your first and middle initials. Tom Smith is a pretty common name, so my friend’s scripts are marked [T. C. Smith](http://imdb.com/name/nm1049340/). He got the [Nicholl Fellowship](http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/), so something worked. Initials are also a good way of concealing your gender.

3. Do you like any of the variations on “John?” Jonathan, Jack, Juan, Johann? I was a week into pre-production on Go when I realized that the familiar-looking gaffer was actually a college acquaintance, John Lampassi. He was now going by [Giovani Lampassi](http://imdb.com/name/nm0483828/) — “Gio.” People are much more likely to remember his name because, frankly, how many Gios do you know?

4. How do you feel about your mother’s maiden name?

5. And remember, despite what you read on this site, there are other rewarding careers out there beyond screenwriting.

Any other ego-surfing John Augusts out there, please leave a comment so we can get a headcount.

How wide to take your spec script

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkAssuming you have an agent, manager, lawyer and all the other must haves to sell a spec, do you think it’s wise for your reps to take the material wide (20-30 producers) or for them to slip it to individual producers three or four at a time in order to sell the piece?

— Alexander
NYC, NY

There’s no right answer. It depends on the script and the market, and even then you’ll get conflicting answers.

By targeting a few select producers, you hopefully put the script in the hands of the people who are most likely to (a) love it and (b) get it set up at a given studio. For a script that deals with challenging subject material, or which lacks obvious commercial appeal, this might be a smart move.

For instance, say you’ve written a sophisticated romantic comedy with leads in their 60’s, maybe a blue-collar version of [Something’s Gotta Give](http://imdb.com/title/tt0337741/). It might be smart to look at what producers (such as Scott Rudin), directors (such as James L. Brooks) or hyphenates (such as Clint Eastwood) would be natural fits for it. Target them first, so that they can take it to the studio with themselves attached.

On the other hand, if a script is just flat-out commercial, you can sometimes sell it for a lot of money by going to all (or most) of the studios at once. That was the case with [The Island](http://imdb.com/title/tt0399201/), a thriller that’s now in production.

The downside of going wide is that if your script doesn’t receive a great reception, it’s over pretty quickly. You don’t have a chance to change strategy mid-way through, such as targeting a specific director or piece of talent.

My best advice is to trust your instincts, but listen to your representatives.

Big Green Envelopes

Film Industry, Projects

One of the less-documented joys of being a working screenwriter is when you open the mailbox to find a big green envelope. It’s a very distinctive shade of green…

…which is only used for one purpose: a WGA [residual](http://johnaugust.com/site/glossary#residuals) check.

You never know quite when these envelopes are coming, or how much will be inside. Half the fun is guessing before you rip it open. If a successful movie you wrote has recently come out on DVD, the check could be for tens of thousands of dollars. Or for a movie like Go, it could be a few hundred, for showing on Cinemax. Regardless, it’s found money, and cause for jubilation.

Recently, I’ve been getting a bunch of little checks, on the order of $425.60. They’re payments for D.C., the staggeringly unsuccessful show I created for the WB in 2000. Although it only ran three episodes in the U.S., apparently all seven episodes ran in Europe.

Unbeknownst to me, the WGA did an investigation, and figured out that I was owed residuals for this. So they got Universal to pay me.

It’s not a lot of money, but strictly on principle I’m very grateful for it. Accountants are rarely lauded as heroes. So here’s a shout-out to the WGA collections department, and David DelVecchio in particular, for tracking down every last cent writers are owed.