Still Raging

By Mary J. Schirmer

I seem to have pushed a lot of buttons with the previous column, Screenwriter's Rage, so I'd be nuts not to continue.

I'm getting lots of e-mail-- more than I've ever received from any column-- from frustrated screenwriters like these:

--  The screenwriting mom who witnessed her son and a friend oversleep, go into a pitch market hung over, and yet get several reads.

--  The woman who's thinking of throwing in the towel because of overt ageism and sexism.

--  The well-educated man who's been screenwriting for 20 years but whose agent (his fifth agent, no less) screwed him on a DVD distribution deal.

--  The 30-year-old black female who fears she's over the hill.

--  The woman so anxious for human contact with a film executive that she's thinking of booby-trapping her sidewalk in hopes that a producer'll sprain his ankle and be a captive audience for a pitch.

Is the situation this desperate? 

YES! (Jeez, capital letters and an exclamation point. I'm getting worked up again.)

Look, the only way to break into Hollywood is to find the way that's right for you.

For some people, that will be winning contests. Others might have to wait tables in LA until the perfect movie stars for their screenplays just happen to sit at their stations.

Some will take an industry job, any job, just to get near the game.

I was talking with a producer friend who told me that, when he raises funds for films, the first question potential investors ask him is: WHO'S IN IT?

To further discourage new screenwriters, he said that you have a greater chance of being hit by a meteor and surviving than you have of selling a naked script in Hollywood. (Naked means without any attachments. Attachments are big-name directors or actors.)

In other words, the lowly screenwriter is expected to put together a package before approaching a production company or studio. That makes you a producer, by the way, but that's another column.

So think, think, think. How can you get attachments for your screenplays? Remember helpful websites like www.imdb.com and www.filmstew.com. Remember that the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild will give you contact information for their members.

Work on that query letter. Make it sparkle. Remember the helpful website www.breakingin.net for advice on writing a logline, synopsis, and query letter.

Turn your screenwriting rage into creative energy. This is the perfect time to take stock of your talent, your drive, and your interest in furthering your own career. Are you willing to take the steps to "get there"? 

Best wishes.

Mary J. Schirmer is a professional writer who writes screenplays and teaches screenwriting. Her e-mail is awarenessprod@yahoo.com.

To read past Film Fuss columns, click here.

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