Screenwriting : Trying to Figure it Out by Maurice Vaughan

Securing representation

I’m honestly trying to figure this whole thing out ^^;

Hi, Darrell Pennington. Reach out to the Success Team at success@stage32.com. Geoff and his team can help you connect with reps. And have you thought about entering screenplay contests and searching IMDbPro?

I know what you mean, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh. What's one of the things you're trying to figure out?

Maurice Vaughan I have entered 3 contests so far. I think I did make Quarterfinalist in one. I do use ImdbPro quite extensively. It could be my pitch letter is off or that the flood of them buries mine never to be read, not sure. I feel like I present a very attractive candidate for representation for a number of reasons but so far no dice. Onward I slog haha....

Congratulations, Darrell Pennington! The pitch letter could be the issue. I started getting more replies after I made my letters shorter and catchier.

Stage 32 has a webinar called "How To Write A Query Letter That Gets You Past The Gatekeepers." www.stage32.com/education/products/how-to-write-a-query-letter-that-gets...

Maurice Vaughan I guess the biggest thing I'm trying to figure out is how to think like an extrovert because I've noticed this industry overwhelmingly prefers them and how they operate lol. I often get critiques on my characters not being conventionally active and driving the plot forward, and really much of the advice I get on how to fix this would make my characters and stories unrelatable (not to mention unrecognisable) to me, their creator. So I'm wondering if there's a way to make my existing voice stronger so it doesn't risk getting drowned out in the noise.

Hi, Maurice Vaughan, thank you for this thread. I don't use IMDb a lot; I have my own profile, The Misstep short profile, and I use IMDb Pro. But I'm not sure how to make the best of it. Do you and Darrell Pennington have any good advice based on your experiences? Thank you.

I'm an introvert, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh, and I pick up how to think like an extrovert from movies, shows, social media posts and videos, other people, etc.

"I often get critiques on my characters not being conventionally active and driving the plot forward, and really much of the advice I get on how to fix this would make my characters and stories unrelatable (not to mention unrecognisable) to me, their creator." I personally don't mind if changing things makes my characters and stories unrelatable and unrecognizable to me (since I'm writing to sell scripts and I don't have that connection with my characters), but I wouldn't force my characters to do those things if it'll hurt the stories.

Hi, @Sandra. You're welcome. I haven't used IMDbPro a lot, but I just found some videos that might help you (https://m.youtube.com/results?sp=mAEA&search_query=how+to+use+imdbpro).

Thank you, Maurice Vaughan, I will take a look at. You are the best :))

That's cool Maurice Vaughan, I'm way more attached to my characters and stories lol, so much so that I'm okay with nothing of mine ever getting made. I write for myself first and foremost, after all lol

Nonetheless, I do feel like I can learn a thing or two about being more extroverted.

You're welcome, Sandra Correia. Hope the videos help!

And that's great, Banafsheh Esmailzadeh! Being so attached to characters and stories can help writers write. Besides picking up how to think like an extrovert from movies, shows, etc., being more extroverted comes with practice in my experience.

Sandra Correia I'm not sure my experience offers anything productive haha but I scour dailies online and websites to compile names that align with my goals, enter them into a spreadsheet and use IMDBPro and Rocket Reach to gather contact info.