So pleased to get a Coverfly accolade – Top 37% for LCPA the Pilot! It received very nice coverage from the TSL Free Screenplay competition this month which gave its own accolade! This is significant because this competition gets close to twelve thousand entries!
Thinking about annual goals is difficult for me. I hate setting wildly optimistic ones but later having to admit, that life and the day job got in the way of the creative writing.
Maybe the best thing for me in 2023 is to have a few key phrases to stand in for formal goals:
I think many writers put undue pressure on ourselves I regards to performance goals.. Every screenwriter thinks they should output more. Every novelist is in awe of someone who writes more novels per year than they do. I believe the key is still balance. Those who sacrifice quality of writing for quantity of words don’t keep their audiences. Balance is key, write as much as you can write well.
I spent this weekend downtown in Vancouver, did the holiday gathering from my day job, met friends for the Christmas Market and bought gifts, and went down to shop today. There’s a great holiday feel downtown at this time of year. The Bay had a Santa! There’s a huge Christmas tree in front of the Art Gallery. Lots of trees and lights. I decided to take some photos for a vision board for my Xmas movie idea. I’m combining my knitting idea called “Pull the Wool” with the format and settings of a holiday movie.
Excellent news! LCPA and my profile have combined to get me noticed! I’m part of Coverfly’s excellent Pitch Week program. We had an information call this week and then the invitations were sent out. I’m really excited to have a meeting as only about half of those chosen get actual meetings. They do a lot of work to interest industry professionals and get our materials in front of them.
For more information on Coverfly click here.
I’ve been working on my script “Lights, Camera, Paranormal Action!” since the #DarkSide week in early March. It’s done to first draft now at 105 pages. First drafts in film and TV are really ‘starting points’. You need to get through a few drafts before sending it anywhere serious. So, it’s not yet at the point where I’m sending it out to producers. I’m looking at a rewrite or two before July’s pitching at the digital edition of the Frontières International Co-Production Market – July 23-26, 2020.
Next step is the story editing which is provided by Women in Film. I’m really pleased to have another set of eyes on it. So far, only one writer friend has read LCPA and she likes it, so that’s good! However, I’ll need some critiquing to get it into super shape for pitching and for selling ultimately.
Graphics design – I’m so pleased to be working with Kelman Design – Keli Manson and Glen Schroeder on the design of my pitch poster! I can’t reveal any of the design yet, but it’s truly wonderful. I want to put it on all of my things! It’s not done yet, there are phases to developing a great graphic for something like this and I’m learning about what my Designers need to know in order to proceed.
The image must be something useful for the Market but also something that is a true sales tool. It needs to tell them what they are (potentially) buying, using images, colours, fonts, tone, and texture.
I’m so very pleased to be a winner in the Women in Film & Television, from our Dark Side contest. This win allows me to develop my winning pitch into a pilot and a great series plan, complete with graphic designer and story editor mentors! So we’re going to Montreal in July with this project! Thanks Women In Film & Television Vancouver!
Women in Film & Television Vancouver
In keeping with this week of announcements, we’re excited to present the selected winners of our From Our Dark Side Genre Contest! Congratulations to:
Selaine Henriksen (ON) – “Cold Snap”
Julia Rowland & Kristy La Pointe (ON) – “A Better Brain”
Cat Girczyc (BC) – “Lights, Camera, Paranormal Action!”
Lauren Marsden (BC) – “Mama D’Lo”
Marie Clements (BC) – “Sparrow”/ “Nel Dzay Ya”
Read all about it: http://bit.ly/FODS6Win
1. Look for a day job in film.
Anyone interested in film and TV should work in it even for a short time – in any capacity! Look for ways to get onto a film union list, starting as a PA maybe even? There are many jobs, too, not all of them on shoots. This includes the behind-the-scenes stuff or animation, distribution, etcetera. That way you really get a feel for your field & make contacts. I’m not a hugely successful TV writer, but I’ve sold over 15 scripts and all of them due to personal contacts – not the 2 agents (!).
2. Sell what scripts you have in the best way possible. I often use a real estate metaphor, because it is the same, believe it or not. As I learned the hard way, a local agent here like Integral or Characters won’t ‘sell’ your big script or new TV series idea. They’ll offer the ‘houses’ they have at their level – think Surrey. If you have a Shaughnessy mansion of a script, go to an LA agent. Many of them will look at new stuff from young writers. I will say that even a Vancouver agent would be good to start your talks with any producer though.
In this light, check out the Writers Guild of Canada. You can’t join until you have a credit, but they sometimes have open events and checking the website for good materials and references is good. WGC is the Canadian version of the WGA, in fact we have sharing $$ agreements with them.
So, for example, if you are ready to look for an agent, look at the public list on the WGC site: http://www.wgc.ca/resources/agents.html
It’s usually possible to meet with Canadian agents if you have a project. I’m currently not agented, due to the fact that I had to turn down the last 3 offers in a row (for bad reality shows that pay poorly).
All my work’s sold solely due to industry contacts but having an agent may have gotten me ‘in the door’. I have had 2 agents, both Canadian and neither earned me a cent I didn’t find myself. However, if you have a fantastic script, ready to go, for a movie, for example, you should try to get an agent to help you sell it.
I usually write TV episodes, so my work’s differently focused. If it’s a huge script – the Hollywood style ones have to be agented in the USA – our agents just don’t have the contacts to sell huge scripts. Check out the Hollywood Screenwriting Directory for ‘who to send it to’. https://www.writersstore.com/hollywood-screenwriting-directory It costs $29 US but is worth it.
Links:
TO film list – good for applying to current films. These are often updated: https://www1.toronto.ca/static_files/economic_development_and_culture/docs/currently_filming.pdf
BC file list – from the DGC site
https://www.dgc.ca/bc/production_list/Production%20List.pdf
Unions to check out:
Vancouver: ACFC is the easiest to get into. They don’t have ‘all’ the productions but they usually have something and are more willing to train. See http://www.acfcwest.com/become.html
ACFC also has a list of great links for beginners in film: http://www.acfcwest.com/industry.html They have a Production Office area and it’s good if he wants to get some local experience. Pay rates are lower than IATSE and hours sometimes longer but it’s a way in. Most ACFC members eventually join IATSE.
IATSE: This I’d recommend only if he’s going the ‘office’ route first. https://www.iatse.com/ Local 891 is Vancouver. It’s more or less a route to get into an office and see production and work from there.
DGC: This is where locations starts, also directors. But I never have seen Locations lead to writing gigs, they’re too far from the office and the writers. If directing is your interest, though, it’s good. They have offices in Vancouver and TO.
http://www.dgc.ca/en/index.cfm
The TV and film world can look like a jungle, but I’ve had some great experiences and earned a lot out there at times!
Cat
p.s. Below is from http://thecollectortv.com/36.html and is the listing for 1 of my Collector tv series episodes. Producers: Larry Sugar, Showrunners: Jon Cooksey and Ali Marie Matheson. The Collector is a wonderful show – a dark fantasy & I thoroughly enjoyed writing two episodes for it!
November 30, 2014
At the end of the NaNoWriMo initiative.
I reached 14,038 words in November. This was an achievement for me and is more than usual. I did some short story work and some on my novel. A ‘win’ there is 50,000 words. That’s hard to do, even for professional writers like me. Plus, I’m doing a corporate day job, living my life, raising the child, cooking, cleaning, et cetera. I can’t just lock myself up like people with supportive spouses can.
Also, to be fair, I got sidetracked by some television work I was doing (more on that in another post), which took a couple of weekends from me.
I highly recommend the wonderful pep talk by SF author Brandon Sanderson. I really love his analogy about the scuba diver. If you love to write, keep writing. I think he’s onto something there. I’m not as happy when I’m not writing. Life keeps intruding 🙂 but it’s all material, too.
#
November
Robert Sawyer announced he was going to do the National novel writing month sprint earlier today. I looked it up and decided that it sounded like a great idea. Robert is a very good SF writer and some of his work has been made into great TV as well. Check out his site at http://www.sfwriter.com (yes, he has that URL.)
So, today I signed up at http://nanowrimo.org
They suggest you try to write a 50,000 novel in the month of November. It’s a great deal of writing for a busy single mum with a corporate job, but it’s also a good challenge for me. November’s usually a hard month for me, so it could be good to be very busy.
I will try to use the initiative to finish my novel. I’m at 57889 words now. I need to get to the end. I don’t know how many words it’ll take to get to the end, but that’s what I’m aiming for.
Stettler Museum Typewriting machine from the Stettler Independent
Today I re-upped for the Write-a-thon. Last year it propelled me into my novel project, and I’ve been very happy plugging away at that between my ten zillion other things to do.
SF /F is such a supportive field & one I’ve enjoyed being part of for many years. Clarion is one of those specific workshops that benefit the whole field- in that it improves and supports new writers in a meaningful way. It also encourages creativity in other writers who just want to run a writerly marathon of sorts. It’s a great thing.
If you want to support Clarion or just read a piece of the novel In progress, visit ClarionWest.org and click on the write-a-thon area. They want 360 writers to participate this year in this writerly sprint. They also are famous for incredible 6 week summer intensive workshops each year. The writers who do those say they’re career- makers.
For me, I need a solid reminder that the novel is important enough to finish! I used to write for tv and there was always a way I was reminded / nagged work at my script. Reminders could be the production schedule itself – an unforgiving item that ended in an inflexible air date and required input constantly like the machine a tv series is. It could be a hopeful Locations Manager wanting to know “even just the settings list, please”. Ultimately, it was a Showrunner emailing me on my month in Australia with rewrites for a next season script! So I need a push, I guess & Clarion is a mild reminder-type push.
In the midst of a crazy-busy life, sometimes I do get some absolutely amazing experiences. As a tv writer there is no visible recognition- I mean no one pouring me coffee says “weren’t you that girl on that show?” But at VCON a couple of weeks ago, I had a terrific moment of recognition.
Child in her pirate gear and I were in the elevator at the hotel. She says to me: “Mum, that’s Cybersix!” I say: “Nah” without looking carefully. The girl, Rebecca, says : “Yes, I am Cybersix!”
I’m gob-smacked – she’s a gorgeous, perfect Cybersix! I tell her and her friends that I wrote an episode of the anime version. Not only do they know the cartoon but one of them loves my episode!
I’m high on this for at least a week – it’s gotten me through an 18 hour day on corporate job and still makes me smile. Cause even if I had a nonunion deal, which means no cash residuals ever, I did get a lovely emotional residual & on front of child, too!
Here’s a picture – btw no one is wearing heels!
