Screenwriting : New screenwriter by Jo Gomesh

My 2 cents, go native first...shout out to Portuguese actors, directors, producers, check out you country film fund possibilities, make local shorts enlist them into native FF....UK can be filmed anywhere....even in Portugal...

Kiril Maksimoski I understand what you mean and I have nothing but love and respect for the Portuguese film industry. I really enjoy writing and creating dialogue in English and I have lived in the UK. I also consume a lot of films written in English, so I kind of get some influence from them. I think it would be more time consuming for me to start writing in Portuguese, but I agree that UK can be filmed anywhere.

Congratulations on your first screenplay! I actually get writing in English, since English is not my native language but I find myself most creative in English. Go figure.

As far as where to go from where you are it kind of depends on what you want to do.

For myself it has always been very easy, I only write stuff that I want to direct and have my team work with me, so I only look for ways how to get my projects funded.

Vital Butinar Thank you! That happens to me too, it must be because we watch films spoken in English. I should invest in directing in the future. That way it would be easier to get the film going. Are you self taught or did you take courses to learn more about directing?

Derek Reid Aw that's awesome. Thank you!

Jo Gomesh well I guess partly it's true that I watch stuff mostly in English but apart form my native language I also speak fluently another four languages and about two not so fluently.

But in my defense I spent most of my childhood in English speaking countries and this is probably a result that I prefer thinking in English, which I do a lot. I catch myself talking with myself in English instead of Slovenian my native language.

I am actually completely self-thought in most aspects of my knowledge because I could never afford to take courses or pay people to teach me something, so it was teach myself or nada.

This goes for filmmaking, screenwriting to cooking and working on my car, but it's just the type of person I am and it's served me well over the years because the more I learn the easier it is to learn something new.

Funny fact, I would have laughed at someone about 15 years ago if they said that I would sit down and write something like a screenplay because I hated writing and reading so much. But then when I figured that I needed to do it in order to shoot something, that's what I did and I actually even enjoy it a little.

The thing is that I do write like a director and not a screenwriter if that doesn't sound weird. I always like to know the whole story before I write it and have to spend a lot more work playing with characters to make them feel right.

I am also self-taught in screenwriting. I think I know what you mean when you talk about writing like a director because there seems to be a rule of thumb for screenwriters not to refer to camera angles. So you kind of have to write from the perspective of the character like "Character x looks at the door". Sometimes it can get difficult to avoid camera angles especially if there are things going around the character that don't necessarily involve the character interacting with them.

Jo. Better to write is from the audience prospective.

Hi Dan Guardino! You mean writing like this: "We see the door."

Welcome Jo!

Jo. That is definitely not what I meant. You don’t need to say, “we see” and you don’t tell the Director where the camera moves. That is up to the director and the cinematographer.

All you need to describe is the relevant information and only what the audience will see on screen.

Here are some tips for writing action lines. Briefly describe the action as it is happening in the present tense. Try to keep descriptions under 3 lines and 4 at the maximum. Don’t try describing every single detail in the scene. Paint your scene with broad strokes and let the Reader’s imagination fill in the rest. Avoid describing a character’s every movement. Extraneous character movement is distracting. Do not write thoughts or anything intangible such as emotions. You should only write the physical manifestation of their emotions.

Keep a single event, shot or sequence within one description. Have the sentences that compose your description all related to one another then if the action changes you should start a new paragraph.

Maybe this will help you or someone else out there.

Welcome to the community, Jo Gomesh. Congrats on completing your first script. What's your plan for the script?

Dan Guardino Thanks for the tips :)

Thanks, Maurice! I'll just dive into the rewriting phase. After that, I'm not sure. I would appreciate some advice!

Learn to write in your audience's native language. You say you write in English (as in the UK), or American English or Australian English? There is a tremendous difference; especially since none of theme are your native tongue in Portugal.

Hi Doug! Yes, I write in English (UK).

You're welcome, Jo Gomesh. Are you planning to produce the script or pitch it?

Congratulations! Unless you're a complete perfectionist, there's nothing more gratifying than finally coming to the final draft of your screenplay. Next step is to share it around; hire readers, script-swap, or such. Get as many opinions on it as you can. What works, what doesn't work. Etc. Maybe the pacing is a little off. Maybe it needs a little more white space. Maybe there are grammar or continuity errors. Who knows?

@Maurice Vaughan I am planning to pitch it.

Thank you so much Mason! It still doesn't feel real to me! I have given it to 2 people already, one of them is a producer and the feedback was really good. I didn't know about the script-swap, but it sounds interesting! I have to get into the swing of things when it comes to getting feedback from others so that I can get a better sense of what works or doesn't.

Olá Jo. Well done on finishing your debut screenplay. Feels good, doesn't it? Feel free to message me directly if you'd like to talk further.

Welcome, Jo. You mentioned appreciating advice. I'd check out Stage 32's script services. Lots of options for getting advice from actual industry professionals. Also you can email Jason Mirch at jmirch@stage32.com and he can recommend which professionals best fit your goals (genre, location, etc.).

Ok, Jo Gomesh. Since you're going to pitch your script, I suggest getting feedback on it (either a script swap or purchase script coverage from www.stage32.com/scriptservices/coverage/buy?id=23). Then make a treatment and a pitch deck for your script (or get someone to make them for you). I use treatments and pitch decks to pitch my feature scripts and TV projects, and they (the treatments and pitch decks) help out tremendously.

Olá Phil! Thank you!! It feels so good. Will do. Thank you.

Thanks Cara! I'll look into that :)

Thanks, Maurice. That's really helpful!

Where do you intend to pitch your project?

Welcome Jo Gomesh

Thanks MB Stevens! I'm glad to be here!

I haven't decided yet Doug.

You're welcome, Jo Gomesh.

Jo Gomesh. Don't try to market your screenplay until you are positive it is really ready. Most screenwriters start out making the same mistakes. So, get someone besides me to look at at least the five or ten pages and let you know if you are doing some things wrong. I am self-taught and not doing that was one of the biggest mistakes I made and I made them all. Also, the first thing you should be doing now would be writing your next screenplay.

Thanks for the heads up, Dan!

Royer Franck.This is the screenwriters lounge. They don't allow people selling.