Screenwriting Blog
Ruminations about screenwriting, movies, Hollywood, and the Seattle filmmaking scene by NWSG President, Aadip Desai
July 2008:
July 20, 2008 - PNWA Conference
I just got back from attending the very organized PNWA conference aka Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in Sea-tac. At the last minute Tom Skerritt could not attend his panel, so Wally Lane and Wash Phillips asked if I'd be the panel moderator for a motley crew of replacements. Imagine the look of disappointment on the faces of the attendees to our workshop when they saw me, Wally, Wash, Pete Koslik, and Bruce Economou instead of Viper (from Top Gun). Not that we didn't rock, but we haven't been in Alien.
Prior to running our own panel, I attended Wally's Writing to Industry Standards Workshop, then I met up with Kathy Fong Yoneda and sat in the front row during her sessions, How to Get You & Your script Noticed – Screenplay Competitions & Pitchfests. She reinforced that the competitions have become the new query letter, namely the Austin Film Festival, Nicholl, Sundance, and Big Break.
After a nice lunch, she kindly let me sit in on three or four 6-person roundtable pitch sessions. Of course, we got permission from all those in attendance, and I promised not to steal their ideas. Each person pitched their idea to Kathy, and then she and the others would give feedback. As we know, pitching in front of others is very difficult, so kudos to those who participated. A few times I couldn't resist giving feedback on some pitches that sounded exactly like movies that had already been produced. But, any writer worth their salt would want to know if they're reinventing the wheel or not. I heard a few very high concept pitches, and Kathy was so insightful, kind, and downright interesting in her feedback. We even got a few new members out of the sessions.
Her book, The Script Selling Game, is one of the best books about the industry that I've ever read. If you thought you knew the terminology of the film business, you were wrong. I learned a ton of new ones that came out of nowhere. Of course, you can check out our glossary to see many of them, defined by yours truly.
I left Kathy after several hours of hang time and post-consumption of a brownie. I met up with my crew and we went on to host our own panel. We had about 25 people, mostly new to intermediate screenwriters. We focused our panel on what makes a screenplay ready for sales/production, covering everything under the sun: defining success, story concepts, writing for movies and TV, adaptation, formatting, structure, writing description/action, developing characters, writing dialogue for the screen, pitching, discipline, comic books/graphic novels, getting access to Hollywood, outlining, beat sheets, competitions/festivals, and much more.
We celebrated our ragtag, yet entertaining performance by pounding vodka in Wally's hotel room, then making our way back to the gala dinner. The food was great and the company was eclectic. Of course, the awards ceremony seemed to go on forever, but what can you do. Since most our crew were judges for the PNWA Literary Contest (screenwriting division), we were excited that the finalists and winner were pleased. The winner, of course, was a former Guild member. All told, I was at the conference for 12 hours, and it just blew right by. Good fun.
July 15, 2008 - E!/Forbes Richest Women in Entertainment
Check this out. Note where the movie starts are compared to the recording artists. Many of these folks have been in films, but I'm only going to bold out all the "real" actors.
E! and Forbes 10 Richest Women in Entertainment:
20 - $45m - Renee Zellweger
19 - $60m - Christina Aguilera
18 - $60m - Nicole Kidman
17 - $65m - Ellen
16 - $70m - Giselle
15 - $75m - Cameron Diaz
14 - $85m - Sandra Bullock
13 - $95m - Judge Judy
12 - $100m - Britney Spears
11 - $100m - Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen
10 - $110m - Jennifer Aniston
9 - $110m - J-Lo
8 - $140m - Julia Roberts
7 - $150m - Janet Jackson
6 - $225m - Mariah Carey
5 - $250m - Celine Dion
4 - $325m - Madonna
3 - $638m - Martha Stewart
2 - $1b - J.K. Rowling
1 - $1.5b - Oprah
Just got back from seeing Hancock down at the Oak Tree. I love living five minutes walking distance from a theater. No spoilers here. I hate that. Will Smith was a different Will Smith--fully transformed from nice guy, leading man to alcoholic anti-hero. We bought it, big time. As usual, Peter Berg's direction was excellent (see The Kingdom), and Jason Bateman was charming, funny, and lovable. Charlize was a little underutilized, but it pays off in the end.
The set-up was one of the best I've seen in a long time, the characters arc from beginning to end, the B-story had a lot of heart, and the special effects were quite good (not great). I really enjoyed this film. It really flipped the whole superhero/comic genre on its side, which seems to be the fashion these days (Iron Man, Wanted, Hulk, Dark Knight, etc.).
July 12, 2008 - Pilar Alessandra Recap
I heart Pilar. OK, I don't, but I have a big crush on the lady. She is exactly how she is on her podcasts. Not only is she super down-to-earth and sweet as can be, but she really loves what she does. Our interview session Friday night went very well. Despite having quit drinking coffee this week and suffering from a bout of food poisoning, I was present and accounted for.
We covered a myriad of topics, starting with all the biographical stuff--are you Latina, how do you manage your business, how many scripts do you read in a week, how'd you get your start, etc. Then, we moved onto business stuff--marketing, concept, getting repped, story analysis (aka what readers want), fellowships, competitions, living in Seattle vs. LA, genre choices, pitching, high concept ideas, etc.
As a self-professed "word girl," Pilar excitedly advised and inspired us at the story, character, and dialogue level. Her honest, yet hopeful insight gave us all food for thought, ammunition to move on to the next step in our careers, and drove home that we need to get that spew/vomit/shitty draft out first.
The Q&A was the best we've had in a long time. I was amazed at how specific the questions were, including: how do I format dialogue when people are speaking in different languages to one another; how do I denote who is who in a body-switching script; how much description is too much in a set-up; how to establish characters (via essence statements); writing an adapted work; and many more. Great.
On Friday, Pilar's energy level was infectious, which was easily met by the group's enthusiasm. She said she wasn't even tired after the day-long workshop. We went from concept to starting a rough draft, in five hours. This was truly one of the most important workshops I've taken and I know I will keep going back to the well with subsequent new concepts, first drafts, and rewrites.
All 25 of the attendees got to pitch their loglines, followed by each of us contributing how our concepts were progressing through Pilar's process. I was impressed and excited by the ideas that the writers pitched, and the openness that people brought to the workshop. If you missed it, don't worry, we're bringing her back, for sure. But, before that, I highly suggest getting her ON THE PAGE DVD. It's basically a non-interactive version of her workshop, which you watch over and over to work out your stories. Let me tell you, though, the interactive part makes the live workshop all the better. Thanks Pilar :)
July 10, 2008 - Click and Clack Cartoon
The in-laws and I just watched one of the worst things I've ever seen--PBS's Click and Clack's As The Wrench Turns. They should have named it As The Stomach Turns. OK, that's not that funny, but neither is the show. They took what was one of my favorite radio shows (Car Talk) and made a mockery of it in its first two episodes. Did I mention this show is in cartoon form? Sheesh.
Note to PBS, the plot of your pilot should not be about saving the show from cancellation. Also, don't make the second show about Outsourcing the radio show to India. The first episode barely had the brothers Tappet in it and focused more on the secondary (one-dimensional) characters. The second episode was full of offensive jokes and low-blow humor. Stupid stupid stupid. I can hear this show getting cancelled already.
My father-in-law turned to me and said, they should've had you write this. Shame on you, NPR and PBS.
July 3, 2008 - Pilar Alessandra. Woodywoo!
On a positive note, I am ecstatic that Pilar Alessandra is coming up from LA next weekend. As Brando would say, "Woodywoo!" That's his "hot girl" bark. No, really it is.
We are so lucky to have someone of her caliber conduct one of her workshops for an extremely affordable fee. For those of you who are vacillating about attending the workshop, don't. Pilar is a very highly sought after screenplay consultant (with a big waiting list) and screenwriting instructor (sold out shows everywhere she goes).
This amazing workshop will change the way you develop concepts and write screenplays from here on out. She's one of those people in LA who other filmmakers (screenwriters, showrunners, directors, producers) come to for help with their concepts and their craft. Check out her podcast at iTunes to cram before she gets here.
James Keblas at the Mayor's Office included us in their newsletter today for the first time ever!
Let's show her that Seattle is serious about screenwriting.
July 2, 2008 - All Indians Look The Same / Girl 27
Just got back from another Obama planning meeting for my district. Sadly, somebody mistook me for one of the OTHER Indian guys who volunteers on the campaign. Not the first time that's happened in my life, so I took pity on the guy. If I had been in a bad mood I would asked if "All us Indian guys look the same to you?" There's nothing more demeaning than being mistaken for someone else simply for being of the same "race." Of course we are not similar in how we dress, how tall we are, our facial hair (duh, sideburns), hair, speaking voice, etc. Good thing I wasn't in a freakin' police line-up.
I just watched Girl 27, a documentary about Patricia Douglas, a girl who was raped at a party in 1937 for a bunch scummy MGM sales dudes. Not only does it make you feel bad for being a guy, but it also highlighted the deep and pervasive level of corruption by MGM in Los Angeles at that time to use their power to cover it up. Not only did this effect her life, but the lives of those in her family behind her. I'm glad the story has been told, because Patricia deserves to be applauded for standing up against the system during a time in which nobody would do that.