ABOUT "PITCHING"

Many things has been written about how to make a good "Pitch", a brief to-the-point presentation of your screenplay to a producer in the hope to get a sale.
This French TV commercial I think summarizes all:
Go to http://veryfunnyads.com/, in Browse Brands look for Canal Plus. The TV ad name is "Brokeback Mountain"
Enjoy and learn.

BALANCE

So, December has come, another year is saying by-bye, and however many days and weeks are still to come before changing that Natural Conservancy2007 calendar I think is time to make a sort of balance of the year.

It was a good one, indeed.

After some year polishing my written English, doing a lo of research ( I think that in 4 years I have read over 90 books, without counting articles in magazines and others) I sent my first fully in English screenplay to take a dive and watch if it could swim in the local market.

Getting that so-so screenplay between the quarter finals and top ten finals of good contests was a good surprise and, I think, an announcement that the best is yet to come.

I started to write in a Spanish speaking forum for screenwriters and the comment from one of the main participants was “Hey, thanks to be here, you have elevated the level of the forum.” My only intention was to share, give input to new screenwriters, so those words were most welcome, and unexpected. Thanks.

I went to a local screenplayers convention and Film Festival. Nice experience, in particular to discover that I can make it there without problems. It made me remember my days in the Peruvian TV, Theater and Films “High life”. I renounced to that as I thought it was not only boring but an alley, not taking you to anything better. But, confronted with the new one, some could call it "the real one", I thought “I can make it here, no problem.”

Then, at the beginning of September, came the best shared achievement of my life (and more to come). Nani, my muse, the woman that I deeply love, admire and respect, my wife, is expecting a baby.

You know? I’m not nervous, I have so much love in me that I had been depositing in Nani that the future arrival of a baby is like saying to that new life in its way to this world growing in Nani's belly “hey, finally, I love you so much since so many years ago.”

It’s now a time of changes, in many aspects, but many beliefs had not has not changed: I will write, I’ll succeed, and I’ll keep loving.

It’s such a fact for me.

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WHEN REALITY MEETS FICTION

The idea of this Blog is to write about screenplays and the film industry, not about politics, but, like some comedians use to say “something funny happened when I was…”

I’ve been following the news about the increasing tensions between USA and Iran.

While doing that I was thinking “Man, this looks almost exactly as one of the scripts that I wrote and now I’m in the process of making corrections, etc.”

I started that screenplay over a year ago.

Here is a brief of my story, an Action one (first draft is already copyrighted, so don’t try to steal it):

As the US Republican government watches the next elections coming and their mess in Iraq is one of their main weaknesses to get votes, a GOP hardcore faction starts to develop a plot of “tensions” between the US and Iran in order to distract the attention of the citizens (voters) from Iraq. (Sounds familiar?)

The plot start to work, the distraction, even between their opponents (Democrats) Iran turns to be the main focus of attention over foreign policies. However, the Democrats finally start to reply to that maneuver, so the hardcore faction needs something stronger, decisive, to keep the distraction: the imminent possibility of a war or even go to war.

That’s the point where the main Action of my screenplay starts: when a plot to make look that the Iranian government has attacked the US is activated.

I have heard and even discussed many times that life tends to imitate art. But hey, this is getting scary: the events that I’ve been watching looks like following my screenplay and even copy some of my dialogues.

Somebody interested in buying an action-packed and nice screenplay before it turns into reality, and I really mean, REALITY?

WITH THE HERD IN SAN DIEGO

I attended the last ASA Screenwriters Conference in San Diego.

I went for many reasons, but mainly one: to “test” the waters, and I don’t mean the drinks, but the waters of the screenplayers world.

It went fine, could be better, but for my purposes it accomplished what I was looking for (mentioned above.)

A bit more of organization could have made the event a hit. Why I said that? I like to get all the info that I can when attending a conference, convention or similar event, in order to organize my time as effective as I can.

However the first Thursday I spent many time asking a lot to the nicely T-shirt’s-dressed volunteers about the schedule, nobody knew about. They knew everything about the SD Film Festival but about the ASA Conference… they were mainly lost.

I didn’t get the schedule of speakers ‘till after the first speaker was done the next day, and it was by chance. The rest of the morning went well.

Andy Cohen was not only useful but amusing, without falling in too much jokes: to the point, done. Thanks!

As that first Friday I wanted to focus on the main guru, David Trottier, I didn’t attended the first speakers of the afternoon… bad idea.

Trottier was scheduled to 5pm, so at 4:45 I was ready in the theater with pad and pen.

But Trottier’s was done! Somebody changed the schedule during the afternoon and he spoke BEFORE. It was sad to miss him.

I went to some of the parties. It was a funny experience the first one, the Red Carpet Gala. My wife and I mainly watched a lot of California blondes (do somebody make them in a factory? they all look the same!) hurrying to be on camera or be next to any glamorous or Hollywood player.

The Friday small gathering at the Sheraton for us, the quarterfinalists of the ASA contest, was nice. It allowed me to “scan” the fauna behavior. That was another of my goals, to get an answer to the question: how we behave in herds?

That same night party, where the finalists were announced (I was not one, it’s OK, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose) was also interesting. John Johnson, ASA’s President, as also Matt Hadder, ASA’s board member and great supporter of our craft with his Blog, were not only a great surprise as very kind people but greatly compromised with their work.

In general, it was most useful to live the experience.

I’m not an “indoors” guy, actually, living in New York, I spend a lot of time out, I have many friends from everywhere, I run, walk, bike all that I can. But as a writer, I spent also a lot of time alone or with my most beloved and now happily pregnant wife (so I).

To watch the others in our craft, trying to feed from the sources, wanting to find their space and hopefully survive in the not-so-friendly bushes of the business, was worth the investment.

Just one thing: as in almost all of these kinds of events, the herd drinks a lot… and I’m not a drinker. Noted in the binnacle.

P.S: Great idea and pleasant surprise San Diego. Nani and I enjoyed a lot the city and finally we saw live Pandas!

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GIVE ME BACK MY TIME!

Recently, during a trip to Peru, my home country, I went to the cinema to watch the most recent local film production "Una sombra en el frente" or "A Shadow in the Front."
I did it for two reasons:
A) One of my nieces, a great actress, have an small role in the film.
B) Watching the Trailer it looked as having good photography.
It was two hours and twenty minutes of my life absolutely wasted.
This film, directed -if the word can be used- by Augusto Tamayo, a peruvian filmmaker, is a perfect example of dilapidated resources: in money, performances and film.
After the first hour you don't have a clue of what is the conflict of the main character, what is his obstacle, what is his goal... after one hour!
The most saddest thing is that, apart of a series of scenes that goes to nowhere, you can see many good actors and actress -and a lot of bad ones-, struggling with a poorly written script, trying to do their best.
The main character, played by a good actor, and who in the end you discover that it was the hero, is simply boooooring and you never get a connection with him. So, no matter what wonders or not he does, you simply don't care.
I can waste many lines and time with more details about why this movie is so bad but having wasted 2 hours and 20 minutes (and the directors cut had 3 hours and 30 minutes) I'll not do it.
Please, don't ask me to attend another Peruvian film of this sort.
The problem is not, as the Peruvian filmmakers constantly say, "the lack of support from the government to the local cinema industry."
The problem is that they, the filmmakers, sucks.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING BRIEF

Writing a Logline and/or a synopsis is not only time and mind consuming but plainly a pain in the butt.
Do you want me to tell you in four lines all the marvelous stuff that this privileged mind that I have has done in 110 pages? We use to ask ourselves, thinking in the next meeting with a potential buyer.
Well, if you can't do that, then think to invest your precious time in another business: part of having "the skills" for being successful in our craft is to know precisely that.
I found a simple example in this French TV commercial:
Go to http://www.veryfunnyads.com/ and look for "Canal Plus Brokeback Mountain"
It says all.

THE FAMOUS FIRST FIVE PAGES

Is very common to read/hear that the agencies and producers usually reads the first five pages of your script and if they're not hooked... to their always full waste basket.
This is a bit frustrating if you want to "build" a story, in particular a suspense one. In suspense, you can't reveal everything from the beginning. Suspense is built.
So, I use some tricks that I believe I'm not the only one doing them.
Take one of the bloodiest or more action-charged scenes of your script and put it on the start. It doesn't matter if it will be shown again 50 pages after. You must start with a big bang!
Then, some months ago, I was watching in some theaters movies like "Blood Diamond", "The Constant Gardener" and most recently, "Apocalypto."
What catch more my attention, even more than the films, was the response of the young audience to some "action" but dramatic moments of the films.
They were laughing! They didn't care if the scene was loaded with drama, if it was showing a genocide or else. Bang, bang, blood splitting, brains exploding: they laugh and enjoy.
So I did a trial: to write the first 5 pages of a script loaded from the beginning with that stuff. Even more, I decided that every minute the script must had no less than one kill, average 2 or 3 better. Car chases, subway trains crashing, even helicopters falling to the Hudson river... everything in five minutes.
The script is very politically loaded, is an action-political one, contemporary.
I showed the pages to a friend in the industry. His response: Gee man, this is promising!
So, hum, I'm going to finish the script, I have all the story line plotted, the characters defined.
But what about my ethics? Is that what I want to tell with my stories?
If optioned and produced, I think I'm going to drop by the theaters to check those young guys laughing because... they will be actually my guinea pigs in this film experiment.
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CORDOBA FOR NEXT YEAR... LUCKILY

Sadly, I had to postpone my trip to Cordoba, Spain.
The old bureaucratic curse of this world. The Spanish consulate in NYC takes too long to process a visa and honestly, I hate to deal with behind the counter suits, no matter from what nation they are.
But, next year... we'll see.
As a Buddhist I believe that things happens for a reason, and in that case it was.
Three scripts requests came while I was in the Spain go-not go.
If I should have traveled, then I would have lost those opportunities.
Life is always speaking to us, we must keep our senses open to hear what it says.
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TO CORDOBA AND OLE!

Again, I've been away many moons from this blog.
Trips to my home country, writing some scripts per request (and no delays allowed!)... excuses, excuses.
And then, when the pond looked getting calmly again, and invitation to an screenwriters convention-class in Cordoba, Spain.
Nice! An opportunity to check how the guys in our craft are doing there as also chance to do some networking se habla espanol.
There's this guy, Altunaga, a Cuban big shot of screenwriting who will give the class. Let's see what we get.
So, again, I'm running getting visas, air tickets and all that stuff.
Where's the time for writing? Well, let's do it on planes, airports and who knows.
Just keep writing, just keep writing...
So, my next post will be from London, Copenhagen or Cordoba (yeah, a long trip.)
Anyway, hope I'll have August to finish one script that looks goood as September is San Diego's ASA Convention and Film Festival and October Los Angeles's huge convention (and sales?)
Do VISA gives you additional miles for traveling-writing so much?
We'll see.
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Thanks ASA and Sarah Chen!

As I mentioned a few months ago, I'm one of the quarter finalists of the American Screenwriters Association's Screenplay Contest.
As part of being selected between the quarters I received a free critique of my screenplay by Sarah Chen, a pro in the business.
Honestly, I was expecting a one page, brief commentary. That was OK for me.
However, what I received from her was a 3 pages length, detailed and professional work that amazed me.
She actually read the whole screenplay, not only the first 20 pages, the whole.
Her critique was so neatly done -in a format that you can clearly get why she mentions this, what is working or not, where are the holes, etc-, that really helps your work.
She even mentioned the typos, grammar errors and in which pages they were!
That's a A+ Contest and Critique.
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A nice subjective discussion about subjectivity

There's been a great discussion about screenwriting and "subjectivity" in Matt Hader's blog.
I'll recommend any in our tribe to drop by his blog to give it a check.
For me, to talk about subjectivity, in any matter, is almost like bar talk.
I had discussions about this topic with anthropologists, philosophers, sociologists, politicians, and of course, drunks.
However, the discussion in Matt's blog is of different caliber. Not all the comments are worthy, of course, as in any discussion.
But for this craft, I think it have some angles and POVs that are very instructive, as usually we don't realize that our craft has its own, particular rules.
Like in Quantum Physics, the number of realities are more than what we think they are (they're talking about 12 and counting.)
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The importance to let sleep an screenplay

I sent last year one screenplay to a couple of contests.
They did good, actually, surprisingly good for a screenplay that took me from the idea to the final draft only 3 months.
Between the top ten finalist of one good contest and still having a chance to go to semi-finals and finals of another biggie.
After that I forgot about it, letting it sleep in my hard drive.
Then, a few days ago I decided to make a printout and give it a read.
While doing it I recalled the voice of one of my art teachers in a Costa Rica University when asked "when a painting is finished?" and her answer was "when you have a good friend who smash a log on your head to stop you from keep making retouches."
The screenplay is not awful, actually, is very good.
But with just a few months of more checking, rewriting... it could be great.
So, now, while I'm working on new stuff I'm taking some time to "retouch" the screenplay.
If I only would let it sleep a few weeks before sending it to the contest...
Let's look forward... and hope to have the good friend around to knock me out when the time come.
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ASA Screenwriters Conventiont - San Diego

I'll be at the 2007 American Screenwriters Association Annual Convention in San Diego, September.
This will be my first trip to the East Coast, and of course, to San Diego.
I have been looking for lodging (hotels, B&B, etc.)
Any useful tips?
Info from past attendees about how the convention works, etc will be most welcome.
By the way, I live in New York so, New yorkers going to the convention... let's make them feel our force!
If you're going, see you there!
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Of Writing and Industry

My last post was about that book, "How Hollywood Works", and I was in the middle of the shock of getting inside details about the cinema industry.
Well, after reading the book some thoughts came.
Hollywood's machine seems like a bloody one, the survivor of the toughest arena.
But what about not having a cinema industry?
I came from a country where there's none.
Yes, in Peru some people do the effort and make some movies every year. But "quality cinema"?, that's other issue.
From the less than a dozen of movies that are made per year there, maybe ONE can be called "good" or perhaps "nice".
The rest, to be honest, is mostly B.S.
I had an experience there, some years ago, when a script was commissioned to me.
It was a TV miniseries, 8 chapters of 30 minutes each one, with social content, a good idea.
I did my best. Each chapter had a very good beginning, middle and end, leaving enough suspense at each end to make the audience wanting for more.
I was proud of the final drafts.
Then came the surprise.
The Director assigned for the project (a middle age, local guy with a couple of bad movies in his resume) came to me saying "I don't have enough material for each chapter. In the 'format' that you're using (he was very sarcastic when mentioning the word 'format') I simply don't have enough, you need to write at least the double for each one."
However I insisted that he had enough, that each page was a minute on screen, and more pages will make each chapter too long, he insisted.
Well, he was the director, so I did it.
The result: Each chapter was so long that in the end he had to cut each chapter in a point where there was no suspense at all. He simply shoot and, like a bad tailor, cut the chapter when he reached the half hour limit.
The final result was like a bad soap opera directed by Ed Wood.
What happened? THE GUY, A "LOCAL FILMS DIRECTOR", SIMPLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE OR READ AN SCRIPT WROTE IN THE STANDARD FORMAT!
That bad memory-experience came back to me when thinking about the book that I just read.
If there's no Cinema Industry, if you don't have all the tools, "formats", and all that stuff that decades of experience has created, then you have what I had: Improvised people, doing improvised stuff and finally a bad product.
Yes, a finished film or TV series or miniseries is a product.
You can complain about many things of the Hollywood machine, there's a lot to complain about.
But it is an industry, and that, no matter the negative aspects, is a pro, not a con.
Life is tough, screenwriting is tough, broke your back trying to get your material into the industry is tough, but that's how it is... like life.
Let's leave the complains behind and go to our stuff: write, write, pitch, get rejected, write again, write more, pitch again...
Maybe in the end you could finally get some of your beloved material produced.
If not, then you have the experience. And that makes you stronger to write more.
FADE TO

Big Players and a Good Meal

One of my readings these days is "How Hollywood Works" by Janet Wasko.
I did some Google research to get more info about her. You never know.
This woman is a Professor Knight Chair in Communication Research at the University of Oregon and looks like she knows what she's talking about.
There's a lot of interesting info in the book, mainly because is not glamour-celebrity focused but an analysis from the Economics-Industrial point of view.
What got most of my interest was the details about the power of the distribution companies.
I think that almost everybody interested in the film making process, and yes, it is an industry, knew, heard or had a somewhat idea about the distribution companies and their power.
However, the book gives you facts, numbers, the "beef of the burger", and they're huge.
A few major "Players" get most of the money, the rest, go get the crumbs on their table.
I'm not going to transcript parts of the book (go to a bookstore or library and get it, do your homework) but if you want to give an interesting glance to how Hollywood works, the book is good.
Only six -turning to five- companies share the pie of the films distribution and their power goes beyond the distribution. It goes even directly over what we, humble story tellers do, screenplays.
They can rip them, mash them, throw them... and love them too, if they make money of course.
Fair? Don't think so.
Oligopoly? Yes.
Ethic? That word hardly goes well when the other big word, Money, is attached.
It's a fact. Take it.
And where's the screenwriter in Hollywood's food chain?
In a low place, very low indeed.
So, I was thinking "Hum, screenwriting is not where the big money is. Maybe it would be better if I get an online MBA at the Phoenix University, buy a couple of nice suits and start to make my way to where the best part of the buffet is served."
Of course, that was a 15 seconds thought (a lifetime for a screenwriter, paraphrasing Data in StarTrek.)
My fact is that I don't write for the money.
Of course, money is welcome, and more the better.
I do it because I have to. It is what I love. It gives me pleasure and makes my life better, it makes ME better.
So... I'm in the lower part of Hollywood's food chain, or I'm aiming to be part of that?
So be it.
But be aware big Hollywood players!
If I go to your diner notice that I'm a gourmet! That means that I demand quality stuff but also gives good tips for the service.
I'm going to give you real delicatessens for your pockets = my tips for your services.
So I'm going to ask you for a nice stuffed plate in exchange = the quality stuff you have to give me -dollars, euros, gold is welcome-.
In the meantime, let's keep writing and finish that caserole.
Call me a naive with his feet on the ground.
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Screenwriting is a non-linear craft

Been away many days from this place.
I know, I know, there's nothing to feel guilty about.
Where I was? Doing my usual day-job stuff, but this time a bit overloaded.
But anyway, there's always some time to write, or at least, keep in mind what you're writing right now.
I was stuck in one scene, hell, it was the connector between a critical point and the resolution.
Suddenly, taking a shower, with some old Jean Michelle Jarre music in the background... the idea came.
It was an imagine at first, then it took shape as an scene. It was not the scene that I was looking for but one for 10 scenes after. However, thinking in the future let me knew the past. I got it!
Screenwriting is a non-linear craft.
Just let the ideas come (write them! I had to run to my notepad leaving a trail of water and soap, for my beloved wife complain of course), think in the final draft afterwards.
You never know.
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Finalist!

It was a long day of work, more than 12 hours non-stop.
I came back to home at 3am and opened my email. Between relative’s messages, spam and others, there was an email, from Erik Bauer.
When open, there was “Congratulations to the Finalists of Creative Screenwriting magazine’s AAA contest, click here.”
Click it; between the 10 on the list… there was my name.
What a sweet end for a long day of work.
I’m happy.
DISSOLVE TO

The Screenwriter as a Psycho

Here’s the situation: You get a good idea for an screenplay, did your homework making a good “skeleton” and start to write.
Great, the ship has sail!
The writing goes very well. On the first part you made all the settings – establishing the plot, characters, adversaries, etc – and looks reeeaaaally nice.
Then you have to go to the second part, shoot a cannonball directly into the ship’s flotation line: Turn the situation into an interesting mess; kill some characters, etc… in brief, to make their life a ruin.
You must do all that to get a good setup for the third critical part: show the skills of the characters to fix the situation, survive or not and have a most interesting resolution of the story with twist and all the goodies for the audience.
Now, the problem: You have fallen in love with some of the characters whose life you must ruin, and in some cases kill.
Writing sometimes is a craft where you need to bring up you dark side, is sometimes a bloody craft.
Well, let’s work on that second part.
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Good news from Screenplays contests

Recently I make it to the semi finals and quarter finals of a couple of good screenplay contests.

From quarter finals to semi finals at the AAA Screenplay Contest of Creative Screenwriting magazine.

Quarter finalist of the American Screenwriters Association 10th Annual Contest.

The screenplay, ERASE, is a suspense-thriller one.

Log line:
“The dream of a second chance knocks at the door of a failed actor when hired for a movie role -- but he would need to balance himself over the thin line separating performance from reality to save his life from what actually is a twisted and deadly contract.”

Not bad for my first screenplay fully written in English and my first material sent to local contests!

Now, as Dori use to say: “Just keep writing, just keep writing…”

It was a nice sunny day here in NYC, almost 75 degrees. Went to the downtown outdoors with my muse to get some inspiration from our good old friend the Sun.

FADE IN
So, I'm new in the blog world, let's see how the experience goes.
Yeap, as the tittle says, I'm a writer.
Fiction is my field, but the boundaries between fiction and reality are narrow. That's why there's a lot of real facts in what I write.
Writing is not everything to me. It is indeed one of the most important aspects of my professional life and I dedicate on a daily and focused basis many hours every day to do it.
It's a joy.
However, living is what matters. To taste the flavor of what life can bring to you or you find around.
And the stories come from there.
Anyway, I think I'm writing when I'm writing but also writing the story of my life every nanosecond.
Hope the final draft will be fabulous!