by Voyage | Feb 4, 2016 | Blog post, Entertainment Business, Pitching, Presentations, Screenwriting Tips
Writers create screenplays to be viewed. At least theoretically, no movie script was ever written for the purpose of being ‘read’ by an audience. Actors, producers and directors, of course, read scripts all the time, and they are a key audience for young, up-and-coming screenwriters, but these professionals are also viewers too, right? They, like general audiences, want to see, view or watch a script, not be forced to read it. We all want it visualized for us, largely, because it’s just easier. There’s less work involved. It takes time, concentration and energy to read a screenplay, but anyone can collapse on a sofa, turn on a movie and watch it… just kind of skim through it. So doesn’t it make sense that a script should share that essence and be designed for skimming, and not reading? I think so. Especially since we’re talking about an industry that’s famous for not always reading material cover-to-cover. When any written document makes for a skimmable read, it rolls off the page. It’s digestible. You see it in your mind and understand it immediately. Ironically, it’s kind of like watching a movie. Yet a large majority of scripts, even those by working professionals, are constructed in a way that hinders the visual flow of the story, and I’m not just talking about using more active, visually potent language. Although it’s rarely written about in the best screenwriting books, avoidable words, grammar and even punctuation often obstruct both clarity and dramatic impact, yet screenwriters go back to them time and again because that’s the tradition. Why? Why create a screenplay using the tools...
by Voyage | Feb 1, 2016 | Book to Film, Entertainment Business, Font Page, Pitching
Your guide to choosing the right people to be on your team If I had a dollar for every time an author asked me, “What’s the difference between Agents vs. Managers vs. Producers?” I would have a ton of dollars! Seriously, I could go on a tropical vacation 🙂 But instead of going on vacation, I’ve decided to break it all down for you right here… So I’ll start off by saying that each of these types of dealmakers exist in their own way to make arrangements that kickstart the process of creating movies, TV shows or webseries from conception to completion. But that’s pretty much where their similarities stop… Agents I like to think of the Agents as the gatekeepers to Hollywood… They control what projects high-end talent take on… They also do all they can to protect / improve their clients’ value by making it tough for a newcomer to break in. Typically, agents work for actors, directors or writers and are highly transaction focused. As a rule, Agents only seek out known talent with pre-existing track records. They are interested in sales and final-products which means that they very rarely take risks on ideas that ‘aren’t a sure thing.’ And while this mindset is necessary to keep Hollywood running smoothly, it can be frustrating to newcomers like self-published authors who don’t have a preexisting reputation. Managers Managers are ‘in it for the long haul’ in terms of their clients’ careers. They are generally more focused on the long-term overall career development of their clients (whereas agents are more short-term-transaction focused). The good news for you is that...
by Voyage | Feb 1, 2016 | Book to Film, Entertainment Business, Pitching, Uncategorized
What does gorging on sugary cereal have to do with loglines? The last time I strolled down the cereal aisle, bold lettering, bright blue coloring, and Tony the Tiger himself jumped off the Frosted Flakes box and grabbed my attention. Why would I choose the Safeway brand lamely boasting “Sugar-Coated Corn Flakes” when I could have a cereal that tasted gr-r-reat? Cereal boxes and loglines are both pitches, advertising themselves to win over the hungry shopper or potential script buyer. The purpose of a logline is to succinctly and clearly convey what your script is about to a producer, studio, executive, etc. who is looking to buy scripts to make into movies. A badly written logline (no matter the quality of the script) can turn away buyers. There are lots of tips for writing a good logline, but these are the ones I found most applicable as I noted which loglines sparked my interest…and which ones stayed on the shelf at Voyage. These tips, along with our logline template found below, can help any writer assemble an appealing logline. Attention To Detail If you saw a box of Cocoa Puffs where ‘Puffs’ was missing a letter, would you still buy it? Maybe. But you might be less confident about the integrity of the product, whereas a grammatically sound competitor will instill trust in the buyer. It takes as little as a misplaced comma to take the reader out of the pitch and away from the story. Find the “Shiny Object” Every kid’s cereal brand has that shiny object, whether it’s Tony the Tiger or “Trix are for kids!” A...
