John August

Film Industry

WGAw screenwriter survey

Film Industry, WGA

WGAw screenwriters should have received an email yesterday about an online survey the Guild is conducting. Please find the email — it might get stuck in your spam filter — and click the link. ((Each email has a unique link to the survey, to ensure that the participants really are WGAw members.))

The survey takes five minutes, and will help set priorities for the Guild.

I was one of the beta testers for the survey, helping revise some of the questions about economic conditions and industry practices. It’s your choice whether to include your name or do it anonymously, but please participate. It’s important to let the Guild get a sense of what’s changing for screenwriters.

Generally, it’s much easier to get feedback from television writers — you can visit a show’s writers’ room and ask. Since screenwriters tend to work alone, each writer might think her situation is unique, when it’s actually become common.

This survey will help put numbers to hunches.

How to handle a meeting

Film Industry, Follow Up

questionmarkI’m a twenty-five year old aspiring TV writer living in LA. After a friend of mine sent my spec pilot to a few people, one (who works at a cable channel) said she’d like to set a general meeting with me to discuss my writing and the upcoming pilot season.

This will be the first time someone is acknowledging me as a writer rather than as an assistant (my boss is kind enough to let me take off work for the meeting). Do you have any advice for how one should conduct oneself in such a meeting? They’ve already passed on picking up the pilot, and staffing season hasn’t started yet, so it appears that this is just a “get to know you” meeting. Should I prepare pitches for alternate projects? Do I dress casual or professional? What should I do as far as follow-up goes?

— James

I have much more extensive answers to your questions in two previous posts, [How to Meet](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/how-to-meet) and
[What to do in a general meeting](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2009/what-should-i-do-in-a-general-meeting). But for newcomers, I can offer a bit of a summary.

Your goal in a general meeting is to figure out what they might be able to hire you to write — if not now, then at some point in the future. They want to put a face with the name with the words they’ve read.

At a certain point, they’ll talk about the kinds of projects they have in development, and the things they’re looking for. If anything sparks, pursue it. Talk about it in the room, then follow up the next day, and the next week. You’ll be chasing a lot of half-baked projects, most of which will never come to be. But one or two might. And that’s what you need.

Your advantage at this point is that you’re cheap and available. A producer could likely hire you with discretionary funds to rewrite a mediocre project she has sitting on the shelf. A show might bring you on at the lowest level of staff writer. And if that opportunity comes up, take it. Do an amazing job, then let that momentum carry you into your next assignment. And your next.

You don’t have to put on a suit. In fact, it’s better to be [the worst-dressed person in the room](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2004/the-not-so-well-dressed-screenwriter).

My overall advice is to not freak out over any given meeting. Pretend it’s just having coffee with somebody who went to your same school. Unless you’re pitching a specific project, don’t approach it with any particular expectation — simply enthusiasm — and it’s likely to go fine.

Hulu is not dead to me

Film Industry, Rant

CNET has good [interview with Eric Garland](http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10383572-261.html), the CEO of media measurement company [Big Champagne](http://bcdash.bigchampagne.com/), talking about file sharing and the future of film and television.

Most of his points aren’t new, but they’re delivered in less-hysterical terms than you often see.

> The music people used to say, “How can you can compete with free?” And now you ask anybody in digital music and they’ll tell you, “I’m just trying to compete effectively with free.” They’ve embraced the very condition that up until very recently they said they would reject. I’m telling you, you are going to compete with free. Sometimes you’re even going to win, once you make the commitment to living in the marketplace as it is and not as you wish it were or as it once was.

Garland [shares my sympathy](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2008/more-on-the-torrents) for international viewers, who are often told to wait months for movies that the U.S. gets on day one. If you don’t give the audience a convenient and legal way to watch something, they’re going to find a convenient and illegal way. And it’s hard to blame them.

I have much less sympathy for users outraged that [Hulu is going to start charging](http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/10/22/hulu-to-start-charging-in-2010/). “Hulu is dead to me” is the common refrain on messageboards and Twitter.

But here’s the thing: you don’t have a god-given right to free shows, just as you can’t walk into Barnes and Noble and start shoving books in your backpack. We’ve conflated the ideas of intellectual liberty and zero cost into a big bundle of entitlement.

While I disagree with many points in Chris Anderson’s Free
, he makes a useful distinction between flavors of “free.” I’d argue that movies and television need to be free as in accessible — by a global audience on their timetable. But you can have that kind of free without setting the price at zero. In fact, charging for something often makes it more accessible, by making it economically worthwhile to keep the systems running.

Right now, Hulu competes very effectively with free torrents on price. But if it chooses to move to a subscription model, it can ultimately offer more content at higher speeds, allowing it to compete better with free torrents on access.

Netflix is often seen as a tremendous bargain, offering a vast selection of movies and TV on demand for a low subscription price. That’s what Hulu may morph into, and that’s not cause for alarm.

Making Christian movies

Film Industry, Genres, Indie, QandA

questionmarkWhat is your take on the Christian movie scene?

I am new to all of this and just finished up a treatment for a Christian movie. I have been doing some research now on a few specific things and trying to read as much as I can on screenwriting. I just wonder if given the climate we are all living in if this is a good genre to focus on?

— Kimberlee
Denver, CO

It’s absolutely a valid niche/scene. Every year a few capital-c Christian movies — some starring Kirk Cameron — do serious business both theatrically and on video. But there are many more Christian films made that find an audience, even if they don’t make millions. So if that segment appeals to you, go for it.

A few points of advice — which could apply to almost any specially-targeted film:

1. **Pick your sweet spot.** A “Christian audience” is too broad a category. Are you making a film for teenage youth groups, or moms who sing in choir? Both are valid, but there’s not a lot of overlap. Know your target viewer precisely.

2. **Follow the examples.** Christian films are notable both for their themes and their omissions (sex, profanity, drug use). Study the successful movies of the past few years and figure out what your audience expects from this category — and just as importantly, which elements are deal-killers.

3. **Figure out the players.** Specialty films have specialty distributors. In the case of Christian films, you’ll likely find companies with a track record of marketing films through religious channels. They’re the people you’re going to want to release your film. You may even find a specific director just right for your script.

4. **Aspire to be the best in your category.** Films targeted at specialty audiences — Christian tweens, Latina lesbians, extreme skiers — can sometimes find success simply because they exist. These audiences seek them out, even if they’re not particularly good, because they want to see their lives and values portrayed on screen. But don’t let that be an excuse for making a mediocre movie. In the long run, quality always counts.

You want this to be your first movie, not your last. Be sincere and smart. You never want it to seem like a stepping stone to “real” movies — but of course, with success, those opportunities could come.