I’ve recently began listening to the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast which is basically a Q&A panel with multiple TV writers. Definitely check it out if TV writing (or just writing in general) is your thing!
This weekend I attended an awesome panel by comedians, screenwriters, actors, authors, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant about “The Art of the Pitch.” They’re written one of my Top 3 recommended books for screenwriters, “Writing Movies For Fun and Profit” which goes into great detail what to expect when working within the studio system as a screenwriter. It can be purchased HERE. And for those of you who weren’t able to attend the panel, you can download it HERE. Again, don’t click of this page unless it’s to surf on over to Amazon to order a copy of this book!
I keep meaning to post about this but I’m so behind on updating my blog it ridiculous. Anyhoo, definitely check out John Augut’s blog and podcast if you’re at all interested in screenwriting. It’s truly a treasure trove of awesome information.
This episode of Stand-In featuring South Park creators Trey Parker and Mat Stone is well worth the watch for the bit about story and how your beats need to have THEREFORE or BUT in between them but never AND THEN. Check it out below…
Just got an email that “The MisInventions of Milo Weatherby” won the Jury Award for Best TV Pilot at the TriMedia Film Festival. It’s cool that even though I stopped submitting it to festivals that people are requesting it and it’s still winning awards!
I was always semi-curious about the Kindle, though I never thought I’d like it because, all pretention aside, I really love the smell and feel of real books (trade paperbacks being my preferred edition of choice). But after testing one out by reading Stephen King’s “UR” (which is a very appropriate first read) I was hooked and recently purchased a Kindle 3.
As a screenwriter I was immediately intrigued with how I could avoid printing out screenplays and putting them on my new Kindle. I assumed I could just Google it and find out the best way to achieve this. But all I found were blogs saying that reading scripts on the regular Kindle is less than ideal, and that it works better on the DX. The reason is most scripts online are available in pdf format and on the Kindle they get imported and shrunk to microscopic font sizes when it automatically fits the page to screen. Then you’re stuck dealing with the Kindle’s clunky pan and zoom tools, changing the screen contrast and using horizontal rotation… in short, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Now I know it’s much easier to get a screenplay into a viewable ( see John August’s FDX Reader) and sometimes editable (see ScriptsPro) format on an iPad or the Kindle 3 DX -but for those of us who can’t quite afford those yet, I was determined to find a way to get screenplays on my Kindle 3… and today I did.
Now this only works for exporting scripts that you have in Final Draft, so screenplays you got off the internet won’t work as easily (unless they’re in an editable format, like .txt, .doc, or a text enhanced .pdf – or any format where you can import the formatted text into Final Draft -though not all files are created equal, and some import in very weird ways). It also requires the use of 3 different applications (Final Draft, Word, and Calibre) but it goes fairly quick and is more eco-friendly than printing. Plus you can add notes, highlight, change font sizes, and save excerpts/clippings like you would any other eBook! I’ve also included a Photoshop template for a basic cover page, though you can use any image you want (specs are 600×800 167dpi). For those of you without Photoshop, you can save the cover in Final Draft as a pdf, then open it in Preview and save it as a jpeg file (I’d increase the font size while in Final Draft, to say 18, so your cover isn’t in microprint). I’ve also included a sample eBook converted from one of my old scripts -which is now a movie and available HERE* 
Instructions and the template files are included in this zip file (though I haven’t tested it with FD7 or OpenOffice). I hope this helps you with your scripts. It might be more trouble than it’s worth, but if you know you’re sending your script to someone with a Kindle, it’ll at least save some paper! …Now if only I can figure out a way to make the Kindle smell like an old book… hmmmm
Enjoy!
Download:
• SAMPLE: Empire Strikes Back script
• SAMPLE Back to the Future (first draft)
*WARNING: shameless self promotion alert!
I just heard back from 2 of the 3 Writing Fellowships that I applied for, the news is as follows:
ABC-Disney Writing Fellowship: I must have made it to the next round, as they’ve requested two more writing samples
Warner Bros Television Writing Workshop: Though I did not make it to the end, I was in the Top 5% of the 1,750 scripts they received and was invited to a 5%ers only Writing Seminar on the WB lot in October. So that’s pretty cool! (unless that’s what they just tell everyone…)
I guess I had a pretty decent spec after all! Fingers are still crossed for round 2 of the ABC-Disney one and the NBC Writer’s on the Verge one.
Haven’t updated the blog in a while. Been working on this Neighborhood Watch pilot, but procrastination led to me finally finishing the pic from the Re-Animator photo shoot (for the Down in the Basement site) just in time for the Stuart Gordon double feature later this month at the New Bev. Enjoy!
WOO-HOO! I finished the vomit draft of my Script Frenzy project today, with a few days to spare and 6 pages over the minimum. Now granted the script needs A LOT of work and s total crap, but at least the hard part of getting a first draft has passed. I’ll move on to some other project for a while (like the WB Writing Workshop app stuff) and come back to this with fresher eyes later. I’m glad I decided to sign up for Script Frenzy, in the words of George McFly “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything!”
Only one week left! 86 pages in the… computer? Not sure what the “in the can” equivalent for writing is. Perhaps I’ll Google it. Anyways, 14 more to go in 6 days. CAKE!