Screenwriting for profit… and fun!?!

Few can build a better mouse-trap, but everyone believes they can write a better screenplay. Something about the visual medium — its accessibility? its alleged formulas? — drives otherwise sane folks to delusional fantasies that she or he could be the next Shane Black, the new Joe Eszterhas. (Presumably, wannabes want the 7-figure paydays, not the addictions so common amongst the flickerati.)

Of course, there are some who may just be ambitious enough, talented enough to sweet-talk a studio into funding the aspiring scribes’ champagne wishes and caviar dreams. But even with a solid story and shark-skin capable of deflecting rejection, these Hollywood hopefuls will still need a few more tools, not just breaks. That’s why TheFilmSchool will inaugurate its Substance and Sale seminar next weekend, February 6th-8th, 2009. Here’s the deal, in TheFilmSchool‘s own words…

SUBSTANCE AND SALE
TAKING YOUR SCRIPT AND YOURSELF TO THE NEXT LEVEL

This workshop focuses on two essential questions: how can I improve my script to get it to a level judged professional by professionals, and how can I develop the business skills to market myself and my material?

One of the most dangerous pitfalls for writers is the belief that their scripts have been fully realized, when in reality they remain obscure or not dramatized to their fullest potential. Failure in this area is perhaps the main reason so many screenplays get passed on by industry story analysts or “readers.”

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

This course takes you through an in-depth development process, asking the same questions that a good producer would: does the screenplay have the underpinnings of a compelling premise? Does your original vision shine through a masterful working of the three-act structure? Does your lead character’s personal journey drive the story forward? Are there key turning points, a powerful scheme for the antagonist, and a number of other specific narrative elements which will catch the reader’s eye? Over three intensive days, we’ll work and rework through these craft issues at a professional level. The end result is to learn how to make your script’s key dramatic intentions come across as strongly as possible in the finished work, and at best, this process helps move your material to the next level at the right production company.

For more information, including location, class schedule, tuition fees, instructor credits, please visit TheFilmSchool website.

And, if you would like to learn why you should trust TheFilmSchool, click on the link below, for a remarkable article penned by Mark Waldstein that was just published in City Arts Magazine: The Film School

In the meantime, I am going to tinker with my own invention, the Pneumatic Mouse-O-Matic (patent pending).