Mark Lysgaard
Hi R.J., Nice to meet another midwesterner. I lived in Madison, Wisconsin for 10 years before escaping the frozen tundra. A former "Midland Maniac" as Steve Winwood would say. I'll check out your website. Best, ~Mark
Thanks again for a real EYE OPENING experience of what a professional screenwriter may go through in the course of producing a movie. Leave it to the French to treat the writer like a king. I get an overall impression that Europe puts more value and respect on the creative arts than America. Do you know if there is the equivalent of the WGA in any of the European countries and how foreign writers are treated? Can you speak to that? I'm also curious if you or the WGA has a position on the Chris Dodd lobbied legislation on PIPA and SOPA? Good luck in having more positive experiences in Hollywood and elsewhere.
Okay, last question. Have you ever considered writing for TV? The quality of TV writing seems to be getting better and better.
No last questions. Happy to take all comers. Contests? Anything that gets you noticed by somebody who can open a door to opportunity, I'm all for it. I blogged about this on my site with a piece called ROADKILL. www.http://www.stage32.com/blog Very entertaining. Very true. As for which contests, I truly do not know. Never entered one. Though there is plenty of advice out there on Twitter. As for television, I agree. The better writing has moved to TV as many pictures have turned into vessels for marketing schemes. And yes, I'm written a few pilots but none have been picked up yet. Currently stumping a cable show. Pitched it out just yesterday at A&E.
Hey Doug...I think this was the link you were looking to post: dougrichardson.com/2012/roadkill
So what's it mean when RB knows my site better than I do?
I've been enjoying this series. Thanks again for sharing your story. The dramatic arc of your story reads like a Hollywood movie. I'm curious if you have heard of any cases where financing fell through after more than half of a film was produced and in order to keep the crew together, an incentive profit sharing system was set up with the crew to give them a share of the film upon completion?
Can't say that I've heard of that particular situation, Mark. Though your idea seems awfully reasonable for a highly unreasonable biz.
One more question. I see you've written both Action/Thriller screenplays as well as comedies. Are production companies more inclined to hire a writer who is focused in one particular genre or someone like yourself who crosses over different genres?
Unfortunately, yes. They will put you in a box and try and keep you there. It's the writer's job to bust out of the box and prove that he/she is not limited to a single genre. The good news is once you've proven that your can write in other genres, more doors will open. Very good question, Mark.
I agree...Great question, insightful answer.
Thanks so much for connecting with me. I'm always looking to connect with other fellow Portlanders.
Hi Mark, I'm looking to connect with other Portland screenwriters.
I have a Portland Screenwriters and Film Critique meetup you are welcome to join and check out. We discuss everything from genre to structure to character development and the dramatic arc. We do readings of our scripts, watch films together, discuss marketing opportunities for scripts, contests, etc...
Thanks, I'm a member already. Just haven't made it to a meeting yet!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your honest story. This is something that all writers need to read. I wish you much success in "Vertical" and would love to see the play adaptation to "Sideways." I ordered both "Sideways" and "Vertical" and expecting them very soon! Thanks again, Rex!
Thank you, Mark, for reading the entire series, including the lengthy postscript. I thought it would make for an honest, real-life, fact-based piece that would certainly, if nothing else, interest other writers and filmmakers. I'm sure I could expand it to book length -- and there's talk of my doing so. Got to thank Rich and Curt for how they rolled it out and the very fact that they elected to go with such a lengthy blog. Kudos to them. And thank you for your kind words. Means the world to me.
Looking forward to reading Vertical. Maybe a story about a writer who has been Slighted by the industry that reaped the writer's rewards. Slighted may be a good title. Thanks for sharing your story. It is good to know what kinds of obstacles you encountered for a great work of fiction.
I actually held back on some things because I feared it would alienate certain people. "Slighted" is a good title. I'll let you write that book! One-word titles are often the best.
I am asking everyone in my network to at least check out my project and watch my pitch video for my new film http://www.indiegogo.com/exorcism You can donate as little as $1 but even if you don't want to donate you can help spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to hear from you soon. All the best.
About Mark
- Gender: Male
- Height: 6'
- Weight: 195 lbs.
- Body type: Average
- Hair: Short, Brown
- Eyes: Hazel
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
Education
College/University
- Portland State University (Portland, OR) (2008-2011)
- University of Wisconsin Colleges (Madison, WI) (1990-1994)
Mark's Desert Island Movies
Hi Mark, great to meet you! MIDWEST---->WEST COAST...funny how that works:)