How to Start a Career in Screenwriting
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Webinar hosted by: Ashley Berns
Manager and Founder at Leigh Hill Management, Executive Producer of Showtime's WORK IN PROGRESS
Ashley Berns is a long-time literary manager who worked at respected management company Circle of Confusion for 15 years before opening his own company, Leigh Hill Management. Ashley also serves as executive producer for the Showtime comedy series WORK IN PROGRESS. Over his career, Ashley has worked with a slew of talented writer and helped them find success and build their creative career, and will share what he knows exclusively with the Stage 32 community. Full Bio »
Webinar Summary
Learn how you can begin your career as a screenwriter from the founder of Leigh Hill Management, a top literary management company with clients who have worked at AppleTV, Showtime, and more.
It’s the dream of many to have a career as a writer for TV or film, to be able to make a living creating worlds and telling stories. However finding success as a writer is rarely easy, no matter how talented you are. Once you’re able to get your script into the hands of someone who can do something real with it, your script can speak for itself. But until then, you have to strive to get your work read and make sure it stands out from the others. This can be very tough. Without a professional, targeted approach, you could have the talent and the drive for a successful and sustained career as a writer but never get the opportunity.
Once you’ve worked on your craft and put the finishing touches on a script you’re proud of, it’s important to remember your job as a writer is not yet done. You still need to get your script into the right hands and make sure you stand out from the crowd. There’s no singular blueprint to get discovered and find success as a writer. Every writer’s story is different and often involves a bit of luck and happenstance. That said, there are many paths available that working writers can take advantage of. Making use of opportunities like notes services, coverage and scores, competitions, script hosting services, festivals, networking, queries, and more, can help get you on the right track as a writer and help attract the attention of busy managers, agents, and producers.
Ashley Berns is a long-time literary manager who worked at respected management company Circle of Confusion for 15 years before opening his own company, Leigh Hill Management. Ashley also serves as executive producer for the Showtime comedy series WORK IN PROGRESS. Over his career, Ashley has worked with a slew of talented writer and helped them find success and build their creative career, and will share what he knows exclusively with the Stage 32 community.
Ashley will go through the nuts and bolts and provide you with an introduction of how to build your own career in screenwriting. He will discuss what you should always have in your screenwriting “tool kit” including script formatting and other materials to have at your disposal. He’ll explain literary representation and the difference between a manager, an agent, and a lawyer and how they work together. He’ll also delve into whether you need representation in the first place. Next Ashley will talk about networking and how to come across professional when speaking with others. Finally Ashley will teach you how best to get noticed, including writing cold queries and using opportunities like festivals, competitions, script hosting, and script coverage to advance your career. Expect to leave with a much clearer idea of paths to take to better approach your writing career and strategies to better find clear success and get noticed.
Praise for Ashley's Stage 32 Teaching
“I've always dreamed of becoming a screenwriter but never really knew how to start until this webinar. Big, big thanks to Ashley for sharing his experience and wisdom." - Phil D.
"As someone who has been at screenwriting for a couple of years, I found this webinar to be immensely rewarding and useful." - Chris B.
"Everyone from professional screenwriters to anyone remotely interested in screenwriting should take this. Ashley is so full of information and knowledge, he's really a fantastic resource." - Patrick H.
What You'll Learn
- What Should You Have in Your Screenwriting “Tool Kit”?
- Materials
- Feature specs
- Pilots (1hr, ½hr).
- Originals
- IP
- Public domain.
- Format
- Materials
- Representation
- What is a manager, an agent, a lawyer?
- How do they work together?
- Do you even need representation?
- Networking
- How to keep up with a changing business so you come across as a professional and not an amateur
- How to develop a network
- Getting Noticed
- Cold queries - what to do or not to do in your query.
- How best to use festivals, competitions, script hosting, script coverage to advance your career and your query.
- Case studies: HANNA and PERFECT HEIST
- Navigating the first call/meeting (“so what else are you working on?”)
- Q&A with Ashley
About Your Instructor
Ashley Berns
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