Screenwriting : Kate Danaher by Kate Danaher

I wouldn't mess with a great screenplay just because some people don't think teenage boys will watch it. Keep on sharing it while you write another screenplay. There are several people who were in your same position. Breaking Bad was rejected by several networks, if I remember correctly. All you have to do is find the right person.

Thank you, Lisa!! Good one. I'm only just getting my head out of the sand after multiple revisions!! Thanks so much for the leads!

Thanks, Zachary. I love hearing "I wouldn't mess with a great screenplay!" I love it the way it is. I have been looking for a long time for the right person, but I will keep looking!! Thank you very much.

Thanks, Dan. I will look into those things. Didn't know I could seek WGA representation based on screenplay wins.

Wow!!! Maybe shoot it in Europe? Tax shelter.... Belgium ... ?

Europe would be awesome. Europeans like these kinds of movies! (I think Americans do, too. Hollywood needs to get convinced!)

What happened with the heat and reads that all of those contests produced? Did you do a round of meetings or two? Were you offered to pitch your take on other projects? Nicole Perlman wrote a script about the Challenger space shuttle disaster which won some contests and ended up on the Blacklist and that lead to a pile of meetings and a deal with Marvel to write one of those comic book movies (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY). But scripts can open all kinds of doors for all kinds of assignments. If people tell you that you have to produce it yourself, that is either a pass (subject matter) or the project is something that no one will buy but someone might fund. You'd be better off continuing to shop it around town (focusing on producers who have done similar things before) and crank out a stack of new scripts... which might appeal to those teenage boys who rule the market (teenage girls, too: movies like DIVERGENT and HUNGER GAMES). Basically, people who go to the cinema every week (which ends up dating age).

Thanks, William! Two more festivals coming up where script was a finalist, so we'll see if they help in any way. The first one was a wash. People have also told me to stop wasting money on script competitions, that the only thing that matters is a Nichols Fellowship or a win at Sundance. I get such conflicting advice. I would rather, as you say, continue shopping it around town--that, too, is an uphill battle as producers will not look at your work unless it comes through an agent with which they have a relationship. I've tried pitching to producers her on Stage 32, but at $40 a pop, that ads up. Guess what one producer from Paradigm said about my script, "Well, women didn't even have the vote back then, so isn't it kind of frivolous?" Good grief. Victoria Woodull was fighting for so much, including her own life. It is a great story, and it's funny, too. People always say, take it to HBO, but how to get past the gatekeepers? Looking forward to going to the Beverly Hills Film Festival and learning how people starting out can get their foot in the door. Thank you again! All ideas welcome!

HAH I've been told the same thing about my period screenplay about the 1st civilrights lawyer being a woman (fiction) but still.

What steps are you taking in the direction away from the naysayers??