I just thought I would give an example.
The entire world works this way in all aspects of your life. You wanted to find a good restaurant you ask the friend that knows good restaurants. People say the film industry isn’t about talent, it is about who you know. Like they is a panel of people handing out careers and you only get one if you know the right person.
I have a few things going at the moment. One of the production companies has a schedule of four films coming up with a financier. They contacted me and told we to send them screenplays. They need at least one by the end of April for evaluation for an August kick off (could be years after that). They are happy with my style and how I work. So they came to me. Because they know me.
I have this opportunity, not because they know of my existence. But because they know my work and the type of film that can be made from it. So I suggest that it is NOT who YOU know. It is WHO KNOWS YOU. So what are you doing to make yourself the type of writer worth knowing. Let’s not all answer “writing great work”, that is a given.
Here is what I bring. I write limited location, small cast, dark drama. Something that lends itself to horror as a style I have turned into a machine to produce drama. Cop dramas, drug stories, mental health issues. I compress stories. This makes them a cheap starting point and gives the production team places to expand it into what their visions are and how they want it to feel. I also rewrite fast.
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Craig, best of luck...
The director I've pitched my short script for Elevation 404 (he produced and filmed it) rejected me on my last three shorts plus my recently written feature. He knows me, knows my work, we even sit on a drink and play our kids occasionally... so wtf??
Well, the thing is I write mostly dark themes, while he's into satire and comedy...He did like my dark script but that was just one instance...so I conclude it's not only who you know...it's not only who knows you....it is both + do you have the right type of material for them :) Lotta chancelogy all in all...
Kiril same thing happened to me with the UK producers. They wanted scripts. I sent them stuff based in the UK. Same thing, a polite no. Too dark. The Valley, which they are making, is dark and moody. They must full.
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Hi Graig, interesting insight, I love your aproach and I think I could learn a thing or two from you. Could you tell me more about how in your body of work you've expanded your own brand for people to know you? Did you for example churn out script after script after script or did you focus more on finding the right director? Or maybe something entirely different, of course. What do you think helped put you on the map as a professional screenwriter?
I wrote a few things and like everyone entered some competitions (I don’t anymore, but I hold the opinion they are fun). Nothing was happening. So I decided to write something so attractive from a money POV it would sell without question. I needed an ultra low concept that was horror or a roommate dramedy.
Two people in one room. Add a third to give options. For me that is a Police interview. How to make that interesting? Make them as bad as the criminal. So they abduct him to beat a confession out of him. That was the thought process of The Hostage.
This was optioned twice by people that had more ambition than capability. Love those guys because that was the start of credibility. Third person bought it. It went into production.
This led to the sale of The Valley a film of bigger scope I wrote earlier.
I blog, chat and interact only in my name Craig D Griffiths. This was a decision I made early so I don’t fragment my persona.
I was realised what I am comfortable writing. So everything I write is in my wheelhouse.
Once I have a script half finished I put it up on Scriptrevolution.com. This is we’re I have made my sales. Plus people message me and ask when a script will be finished. This is an indicator of what I should focus on.
I hope this helps.
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Craig D Griffiths Thank you so much for sharing these insights, Graig. I really liked reading the thought process behind both the creative and the practical parts of getting your script sold. Have a great day!
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You make a good point about networking.
Who you know empowers you if you're proactive.
Who knows you empowers you if you're reactive.
As a wise producer often says to me "Either it's chasing you or you're chasing it" and the latter is rarely a good look.
My whole approach over the past decade has to been to draw people in which is part networking and part marketing.
What I think a lot of people miss is just how much work you need to do to raise your profile high enough that industry members come knocking. It's unlikely to happen because of winning some unknown competition, making a short, or having a lot of likes on Facebook. It's also why having that conversion from interest to reads is so critical with a decent bio and obvious contact details. Far too many writers sitting on forums with BS profiles waiting for the world to come to them.
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CJ Walley you are right. I heard a marketing/PR person once say, “to be remarkable, you must be worth remarking about”. There are only two things that work “Reach” and “Frequency”. You must put yourself out there to be discovered [reach] (YouTube, blog, podcast, writing, publishing etc..) and you have to do it often [frequency].
Reach would traditionally mean advertising in a business context. But we don’t have that tool at our disposal. So we must be an ubiquitous as possible and wait for people to notice us. This means we have to be consistent and persistent.
The main people between “It is who knows you” is that people don’t sell script because of relationships. They sell because they are known to produce good work. But this all comes down to, as you say, hard work.
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CJ, now you tell me! I spent years hanging out in a coffee shop plunkin' away on my laptop; just waiting to be discovered. If not that, how else could I be discovered and offered million$?
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Doug Nelson I know I am not CJ. But is it a coffee shop that producers looking for coffee drinking writers visit. That would be the “Reach” part of “Reach & Frequency”.
If I am to believe the myth, aren’t all coffee shops in LA full of writers with laptops. The sound of keys sounds like a plague of locusts. Be where the customers are. How visible you can make yourself when you are there is an art.
Doug Nelson, sounds like maybe you weren't using the coolest looking laptop and forget to wear your "ROBERT MCKEE ROCKS!" baseball cap.
Craig D Griffiths, plenty of people sell scripts because of relationships. Everyone working likes to believe Hollywood is a meritocracy. Famous people also have publicists and that's a hell of a coincidence.
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Well I must say, after reading this thread I'm off to work on my Script Revolution page!
CJ Walley yep. A relationship is two way. Writer knows what producer expects, producer has faith in writer due to previous experience.
If the excuse people use “it’s who you know” held true. A producer’s garden could sell him a script.
I am hoping to get people to realise that they are in control.
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History is rife with relationships built off the back of circumstantial proximity. There's no getting away from that.
What's powerful is understanding that there's proximity within the digital realm. Being welcome within someone's inbox, social media feed, group chat, blog subscriptions, news feed, is huge.
Who you know has become who you're connected with.
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This is all ringing true with me. Now, I haven't had a feature script optioned YET, but, all of the above has connected me with people and I've written a Short in collaboration which was produced and continue to gain momentum. Recently, I have hit the right note with a producer in LA who recently interviewed me for her podcast! There's plenty on my table and I write and network hard. In this digital / social networking age, you have no idea who might catch a glimpse of you and push the snowball down the hill!
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Sounds like you're on the right track to me Johnathan Burns. Make sure to keep a simple log of these little wins and the dates they happened on. It all builds up and it can be remarkable to look back at it all, especially when things go a bit quiet.
The number of writers who don't leverage their writing skills to standout online is just bizarre. If you are good in interviews/podcasts then all the better.
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Nice work, Craig D Griffiths. Love to hear these kind of stories. My take away is you have to network (otherwise how do people know you), write great work, show that you can write efficiently and quickly.
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One thing I have learnt is that I always learn something from these chats. They make me reflect on my own thoughts and metabolise the views of others.
I am on control of my career, which is something I have always believed.
That networking is important, I do it in some form if I know it or not. But I am not a person that maintains relationships (I have very tolerant friends).
The more I understand what I write and understand my strengths the better I get at them and the more success I have with them.
Thanks everyone for the comments. I am not saying we have exhausted this topic. Just thanks.