QandA

Don’t send him everything

February 22, 2011 Film Industry, QandA

A friend showed a few of my scripts to an agent friend of hers, including one written with a partner. I spoke with the agent on the phone; he’s seems very excited about the co-written script, and lukewarm on the others. He wants to meet with the both of us, but before that meeting, he asked me to send him “absolutely everything [you’ve] ever written.”

I’m sure he doesn’t mean it literally; I’m not going to send him my fifth grade book report. But I’ve already sent him my top-tier stuff. (Obviously; when my friend said she could send my scripts, I sent my absolute best work.) I’m not sure why exactly he’s asking to read “everything.” Is he hoping there might be other good scripts? Does he want to see if I had good ideas that were poorly executed (definitely true)? Does he want to see short films?

It’s such a weird request, and I wasn’t prepared for what to give him.

— Matt Price
Los Angeles, CA

He may be asking for more material because he’s worried you only have one script in you. Agents want clients who write. A lot. A big stack of scripts shows you have a work ethic.

But your first instinct is correct: you’re much better off showing him a few great things than a lot of mediocre ones.

An exception might be non-screenplay writing; if you have a great play or funny short story, put it in the pile. A lot of aspiring screenwriters are terrible writers who’ve seen a lot of movies. Showing actual facility with words might distinguish you.

Once you’ve sent him your best stuff, you’re done. You may have older writing in the trunk that was pretty good when you wrote it — it may have been the best thing you’d ever written back then — but it’s not who you are now.

I’ve buried the script that got me an agent. It’s not terrible or embarrassing, but I’ve gotten a lot better since 1994.

Married and moving to Hollywood

February 18, 2011 Los Angeles, QandA

Through a very unlikely contact I was able to get my spec script read by a Hollywood producer with a strong track record. We spoke over the phone a few times about my script, and more specifically about what it is I want to do career-wise. I guess I chose my words wisely on our phone conversations because he’s hired me to be his assistant. I am beyond ecstatic that once his current assistant leaves in two weeks I begin my employment. So my bags are packed and my wife and I are driving across the country this weekend to chase my dream.

And I’m a little anxious about this transition. Once I get to Los Angeles my life is going to become very busy very fast. I am more than prepared for that. However I find myself stressing over the inevitable stress this is going to put on my relationship with my wife.

Any tips on being able to balance a 25-hour work schedule and a spouse at home? My wife has been MORE than supportive, and we’ve discussed the reality of the amount of time I’m going to (not) be around. But I still feel this is a cause for concern. Especially given the fact we are not going to know anyone when we first get there.

Giovanny
Miami, Florida

First off, congrats on the new gig.

You’re right: you will probably be working your ass off, both in the official components of your job and all the peripheral aspects — meeting folks, learning the landscape, and of course, writing more screenplays.

But I don’t know that starting your new job in Hollywood is much different than getting hired as an investment banker in New York, as a coder at a start-up in San Francisco or as a fighter pilot for the Air Force. It’s long hours and a lot of stress, regardless of the actual field you’re working in. It can take its toll on relationships.

So this advice applies to anyone moving somewhere new with a loved one.

You’re getting a shot to do what you dream of doing, and while it’s great that she’s joining you, she shouldn’t simply be +1 to your ambitions. So I’d encourage your wife to make a list of what she’d most want to do if time/money/geography weren’t a factor. And then do them.

If she wants to teach karate, she should teach. If she wants to travel through Europe, she should probably travel through Europe — as inexpensively as possible. At some point, you’ll probably have kids and everything will get twenty times more complicated. If there are things she wants to do, she should do them now-ish.

Moving to Los Angeles isn’t like moving to a small town in Kansas, where there’s pretty much one experience. LA can be a vastly different place based on where you choose to live. But there’s one commonality: almost everyone here moved from someplace else. It’s a city of dreamers — though I feel a little nauseous just typing that.

When I hired Ryan as my Director of Digital Things, he moved from Missouri. On the blog, we talked about [where he should live](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2010/where-should-ryan-live) — and that’s a factor for you and your wife. You want an area that matches your goals and interests, filled with people roughly your age. Upon moving in, knock on doors and meet your neighbors. My experience is that LA people are generally friendly, but shy to introduce themselves. Take the initiative. Don’t just make passing eye contact on your way to the car. Get a grill. Make burgers. Borrow someone’s stepladder.

Your wife should get a job with people she likes. I know that in a tough economy any employment can seem like a luxury, but a shittier job with cooler people is absolutely worth it when you’re new to a place. A few work-friends will inevitably become actual-friends.

Finally, don’t build a giant wall between work and home. If you have to stay late at the office, she can bring dinner to eat together. Read scripts together. Quality time isn’t as important as face time.

Hollywood isn’t the CIA. Let her know what happens at work, and include your home life in work conversation. I’ve known all my assistants’ husbands and wives, girlfriends and significant someones. I’ve met most of their parents. Your wife won’t feel as isolated if you involve her in your work life.

Getting clearances

February 16, 2011 QandA, Rights and Copyright, The Nines

I’m working on a series of web films that I fancy to self-produce and distribute through Youtube, etc. I’m curious: is there an easy (i.e. free) way to confirm I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes with the names I’ve chosen for characters, companies, products, etc in my story?

I know there’re entire businesses dedicated to tracing and checking this information for those in the industry, but I’m limited to typing the names into Google and hoping no results appear.

Is this worth worrying about, and is there an easy way to go about it?

— Russell Gawthorpe

What you’re talking about are called clearances. There are companies that do that for you (the [de Forest Report](http://www.deforestresearch.com/)™ is the best known), but for smaller projects it’s not hard to DIY.

As an intern at Universal, one of my assignments was handling clearances for the art department on the Kevin Costner film The War. They had a bunch of vintage signs, and my task was to figure out whether any of the brands or companies featured were still in business. This was pre-internet, so I ended up making a lot of phone calls.

When checking clearances, you’re hoping for one of two outcomes:

1. There’s nothing/no one with that name. You’re clear.
2. There are so many items or people with that name that no reasonable person would assume you’re talking about it/him specifically. ((But location and job might be a factor. “Bill Smith” is generic and ubiquitous, but if the character is a police sergeant in San Diego, and there is a real William Smith working for the police department there, you have an issue.))

But when you’re checking clearances, you often find yourself in a middle ground. There’s somebody or something with that name, or close enough to it that it might be a problem. If that happens, you can talk to the person and ask them to sign a clearance release. It’s a pretty generic “we won’t sue” form that your producer (or attorney) will provide.

In other cases, you’re presented with a logo or artwork that may or may not be someone’s trademark. To the degree possible, you avoid it. But a sizable percentage of clearances really come down to a judgment call: what are the odds someone has the rights and will care?

The Amway-like pyramid marketing company in Go was originally called American Products. We couldn’t clear that name, so we came up with a list of alternatives and checked each one. I picked Confederated Products, which I loved even more.

Clearances are standard procedure for making movies and television shows. Your “Errors and Omissions” insurance requires it. [Bad things can happen](http://www.piercelawgroupllp.com/articles/clearance-procedures.pdf) if you miss something.

But that’s for features and television. For your web shorts, you’re already doing more than most folks would. I wouldn’t stress out about it. If you feel like a little more due diligence, take screenshots of your Google results. Keep a file of everything you researched. The more documentation you have showing that you acted responsibly, the better protected you’ll be in the very unlikely case someone protests.

Finally, a word about YouTube: Thanks to the DMCA, corporations can get your stuff yanked without warning. It happened to me.

A Very Big Corporation felt the first trailer to The Nines infringed on their copyright to A Piece of Intellectual Property, and got it pulled from YouTube in less than an hour. They didn’t have to prove anything. AVBC and I have since hashed out that disagreement, but it was sobering to see that as the creator of the video, we had almost no recourse. If you attempt to appeal, YouTube repeatedly reminds you that you’re [an idiot for even trying](http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=185223).

None of this should scare you away from making your shorts. Avoid the names of real companies and real people — especially classmates from junior high. But you don’t have to make your films in a hermetic, brand-free bubble in which everyone is named Smith. Unless that’s the idea for your web series. Because that’s not a bad idea.

Talking over a black screen

February 9, 2011 Formatting, QandA

I want my screenplay to begin with a short statement from my main character, just over the black screen prior to the film beginning, then cutting to that specific character already in action. I’m unsure how to format this.

Currently I just having his statement in quotation marks prior to any actual formatting:

EXT. BLACK SCREEN

“Something Important”

INT. HOUSE – DAY

Character stands in his home, exclaiming things.

I don’t like the looks of that, because it doesn’t state who is speaking. I’m unsure of how I should handle this, which is disconcerting as it is my first sentence.

— Ben
Saginaw, MI

A black screen is a black screen. It’s not INT. or EXT. Whether you start the film with a black screen, or you create one mid-way with a CUT TO BLACK, you can simply have your characters speak over it.

Dialogue always has a name above it. Always.

Even if we haven’t yet been introduced to the character speaking, it’s okay to use the character’s name. Depending on the situation, you might use a descriptor instead, e.g. “NERVOUS WOMAN” or “BOY’S VOICE.”

In your case, the intro might look like this:

A black screen.

MAX (O.S.)

What I saw today was failure. No, worse than that. I saw surrender. I saw someone taking all the opportunities they’d been given and throwing them in the trash.

FADE IN:

INT. DOG SHOW – DAY

MAX HERNSHAW (33) is on his knees, berating an adorable YELLOW LAB PUPPY.

MAX (CONT’D)

Do you know what I sacrificed to get you here today? A personal life. Girlfriends. Drinking buddies. Do you know how many times Andy got to see Inception? Four. How many times did I get to see it? One-and-a-half.

The puppy begins to lick its crotch.

You don’t have to say “black screen.” Until you’ve shown us something else, we’re going to assume it’s a black screen. But it’s not a bad idea to call it out anyway.

I used (O.S.) after Max’s initial dialogue, but one could make an equally good argument for (V.O) or (PRE-LAP) — or using nothing at all. It’s your preference. The reader is unlikely to get confused.

Learn more about formatting dialogue here!

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