Screenwriting : Finished Screenplay by David Rupley

I was just looking at Happy Writers. I have a prepared written pitch, although I kind of got scared away by the price tag.

I've been looking for consultations. The better ones cost more, naturally.

On Stage 32, $299. I found a good one on the ISA site for $475, 14 point consultation.

For that kind of cash you can apply to 4-6 of the pricier competitions that include a few pages of pretty good feedback. If you thereby get consistent IDs on weak points and read similar suggestions for improvement, that'd be pretty compelling stuff.

I haven't been here long enough to know. I think I'm going to save for a consultation.

Consider the Levi Strauss company serving the hordes of '48ers and '49ers during the Great Gold Rush. Strauss's San Francisco company made a great deal of money selling dry goods, tents, and novel riveted-denim trousers to the miners, who themselves may never have made much in prospecting and panning. Notice the parallel? How about the explosion in the number and variety of paid-entry screenplay competitions? And then there's the attendee-paid pitchfests, not just for screenwriting but across the entire writing industry. Somebody's making a great deal of money indeed.

Okay, one more time: the point is that Levi's made a bundle whether the miners struck it rich or not. The coverage industry, specifically services offered through competitions, inktip, black list, happy writers and the like are all cleaning up, whether writers "strike it rich" by getting produced or even gaining representation— or not, not being the keyword here. They're all servicing the motion-picture industry by sieving the tidal wave of stuff coming from tens of thousands of hopeful screenwriters, and providing (occasionally) useful feedback to paying writers with the (stated) intent of improving the writers' craft. Not wrong or evil, it's just Payment For Services Rendered in a solidly buyer's market: pretty $$$weet deal, no?

You get what you pay for. + The best three hundred bucks I ever spent - other than the time I got in on the ground floor of the pet rock industry - was when my first script consultant (Donie Nelson) told me "read Aristotle". I did - Poetics and Rhetoric. Hell, the dude invented the terms "plot", "character", "theme', "reversal", "catharis", "reversal", "recognition", "melody", etc.etc. It was the best knowledge dump I've ever received in any line of art or science theory. + I work as a business consultant in a specific line of business, and give great value to my clients. For $2,000 - $15,000 bucks, they get an opportunity to not only learn from me, but to make money forever from what I've helped them understand and gett better at. And they get to share that knowledge with their sales teams. They also get to buy the products I sell where they get to make 2,000% - 3,000% of what they paid for it when they combine it with the knowledge I share with them. Just like in every line of business, in my line there are people who portray themselves as consultants, but are nowhere near as talented and skilled as I am. I wouldn't even call them consultants - I'd call them "snake oil salesmen," because they truly are con artists. + I've had good success with my purchased services from Stage32. All of their services present to me a great value proposition. Even when my pitches are passed on, I still view it as an opportunity because I receive good feedback. That's value to me. Stage32 is a great website for my needs. Of course they are trying to sell stuff. That's what makes the world go around, and that's what keeps their doors open and people employed. They should be trying to sell as much stuff of value as they can. I'm all for them providing the services that they provide; with the subject matter experts they provide; and at the prices they request. But if Joey ever starts offering pet rocks for $50 bucks a pop, then I'm going to have to shoot him an email about that one, because I wouldn't think that would be a good service or present enough value - unless he's willing to look at the pallets of pet rocks I still have, and would be receptive to an offer. Mine are aged, authentic, all natural, globally-produced, enviromentally-friendly, make great paperweights, and have 100's of other uses. Who could turn that deal down? Take the deals, David, and get business smart.

Bill, I'm straight onto Aristotle, West End bookstore on Saturday. Obviously I already know about him, but didn't realise the significance to formulating script ideas.

That's true about the gold rush. The ones who made the real money were capitalizing on the greed and gold lust of the majority. I guess the same goes with websites that promise you access to VIPs for a fee.

There are pitch fests on the Happy Writers section. You can also look into contacting production companies that make movies in the genre of your script. Make sure your log-line, synopsis, and script pitch are up to par. You can also submit to agents. I'm self-producing my one script because I want to star in it and it's low budget ($200,000 about). How many people have read your script? You might also have script reading series in your area. I'm part of a group that has a monthly meet up where screenwriters can submit 15 pages of their script and have it read by actors. Afterwards, audience members can give the writer feed back. I had my script read at one a while back and I got some great feedback that really made the first part of my script make sense. I personally don't have large chunks of money to give to people for script coverage or their business consulting. You want to make sure not to get scammed. Chances are, you might have a friend who is also a screenwriter who would be willing to read your script. d I have a large amount of contacts on Stage 32, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, so maybe starting with people you know would be a good step. That way you know that they will help you produce your script in a manner that makes you happiest. Don't spend money that you don't have and make sure all business agreements are in writing. You don't have to pay thousands of dollars for advice.

I'm happy to help as well over at No BullScript, where we also have a number of execs and managers you can work with. Just throwin it out there...im happy to answer any questions you may have.

Hi David, my Stage 32 Next Level Class will cover several topics that are relevant to you. If you want further details, please check out the class page and PM me for more info: https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers/classes/How-To-Hook-Your-Reader-In...