Write A Screenplay To Get Noticed Not To Get Made - Jim Agnew
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- Опубликовано: 7 мар 2021
- Jim Agnew is a director, writer and producer, known for The Capture (2017), Rage (2014) and Game of Death (2011). A former contributor/writer to Film Threat who played guitar for the Industrial Rock group Hate Dept., Jim has worked with such directors as Dario Argento and John Carpenter as well as Oscar-winning actors, producers and writers.
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#writing #screenwriting #screenplay
To spend time putting your soul into writing a screenplay without envisioning the film being produced must be difficult.
Ikr! It had me wondering if first scripts just don’t get made. Cuz if I’m writing I don’t want it to get noticed. I want it to get made!
Unfortunately no matter how good your work is it's either a matter of chance... being luck or in someone that you know. I agree wholeheartedly with the above phrase. Write your first screenplay to get noticed.
Okay: work with John Carpenter. Great advice.
Why do people in the industry always think that scripts have to be the most unusual, wacky, weird, outrageous and out of the ordinary to get noticed. Whatever happened to telling a good compelling story and do it well. Not everything has to shock and awe to capture your imagination for a couple of hours and hopefully longer. Give me a beginning. middle/conflict and a sensible ending and we have a movie worth watching.
Great to hear that John Carpenter is a great guy. Escape from New York is one of my favorite movies.
I love hearing stories like this because it gives me hope that something cool and random could happen to me. I'm currently putting together a 'gift box' in hopes of getting a producer interested in a superhero project. 👌
@AH it did not go at all, lol. I ended up making my own little Roger Corman-esc indie sci-fi/fantasy called the Soul of St. Ives. It has won two awards in international festivals. I would still like to get some Hollywood love, but it is nice to know I don't necessarily have to.
I like this interview. Much usable information.
Thanks for watching. Jim provided us a lot of practical information about the craft and business of screenwriting. Look forward to sharing more of this interview in the coming weeks.
Some of us have no interest in getting noticed or being hired as a full time screenwriter. We just have a story that needs to be told.
We can understand that. Though we must ask, why write screenplays? Why not short stories or novels?
FIRST: How did he get a manager? What was that process like, did he look for one? Did the manager come looking for him. Did the manager read the script first? How did it get to him?
SECOND: Why did carmepter end up not making the film?
THIRD: Why was his rewrite on the carpenter project uncredited? 3 questions I had after only a 1:30 seconds into the video?🤔🤔🤔
Great dinking game, take a shot whenever he says ‘you know.’ 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳
I counted about 50 times. That would kill a man, you know.
@@cold_static it became that I was just waiting for him to say it again 😳😳
This brilliant in that one really needs to know what the intangible trade-offs are in interactions with people operating from a lower position of power, access, influence toward a person who has power on a level they don’t really completely recognize the scope of. The contacts, the protection, the access to some individuals warrants free work that isn’t free except in terms of cash not being transacted. It’s connections and people at the top of any sector who require ideas to stay relevant to other people with whom they cooperate and compete with at their level. What producers for example have to do to stay relevant is in large part unknown to people other than producers.
I have written several horror films. I noticed that this writer said to have samples in multiple genres other people on this channel have said to be specialist. But he is right you have to do it every day.
Hi Martin, Jim brings that up later in the interview. Believe he said that it was his instinct to write a different genre and it ended up paying off for him and being a great decision.
“Don’t start writing till you get paid.” “you’re not always getting paid.” Huh? I’m confused. This sounds like shotty advice for anyone NOT working with a John Carpenter type.
Like if you get “hired” for a writing gig or someone approaches you with a project they want you to write for. If you write something for them then they could just walk with it or the project could fall through and if you didn’t work out a contract or get any money beforehand then you ain’t going to. But like he said, have some samples that you can shop around to get noticed.
@@ianhtexas ok. But I think it's smart to have a contract or actually be getting paid to write something. I wouldn't work on a project without pay. That's dumb. Sadly, I hear it happens a bunch in the industry. If you like someone's writing enough you will pay them for their effort or establish a contract.
Question, in general, is the first screenplay the hardest to get noticed?
"I'd written a great treatment that got noticed by a big independent. No money exchanged hands but, I was accepted by the independent to work as a "gofer" during the production of my script. Again, no money was given, but the experience with working for a big independent was, while exhausting, a real eye-opener, mm-kay? I'm hoping and praying that my next screenplay will be picked-up by this big independent, and maybe they'll pay me for writing the script that they said they may or may not produce. Fingers crossed."
Where to see the rest of the interview ?? thanks.
These experiences makes me wonder if there is a longing for the old studio system in making films.
With the way Hollywood is doing rn, I think lower budget with great stories are gonna make a comeback soon.
Do you have a screenplay sample for the kind of movies you want to make?
I do and I am working on proper credit protocols, because at this point I desire Street Cred...
Yes I do! I’m just trying to find someone to read them so they can be made. That’s the hard part.
A lot of the things that he said were kinda hurtful to dream bubble. I was getting said like … damn is this the reality? But I choose to have a naruto and Asta moment and not care!! I’ll still give it my all and will succeed. I’m not settling, my movies shall be produced
"Oh no, there is no pay, just lots of exposure, mm-kay?"
❤❤❤
I can't get anyone in the industry to even look at my screenplays. I have a master's degree in film. All it got me was a director who presumed I could write a script with three characters and one location because I'd written stage plays he hadn't read.
Have you tried putting it on the black list?
@@ToxicHAL What's The Black List?
@@ToxicHAL
Uhm... How would you put your own script on black list?
The open secret of all this screenwriter talk, seems to be that most of those guys have had MAYBE one or two scripts actually get made into a film or TV. These guys sell or option tons of projects, or do rewrite work, that pay them pretty well, while their original scripts go into development hell or production limbo. Which is a weird way to be a “successful” screenwriter.
I've written three stage plays and six screenplays. I can't get anyone apart from out-of-work unknown actors to read them.
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What's the name of the script that he's talking about in the beginning? (the pulp fiction horror film)
We think that one was called 'LA Gothic.' And the first one he sold that fell apart was called 'Damned.'
Would be interesting to read, probably something like Trick r Treat.
These Rock!
Kubrick never danced for anyone
Sounds like a lot of ppl in the comments of these channel videos want steady paying work right out of the gate and every single successful interviewee has said, this industry does not work that way. So, if you want great pay and steady work, be a plumber. Save your money for a few years, then go to Hollywood to pursue your dream and live on that money you made as a plumber. Heck, plumbers can pick up work anytime, so fill your gaps with plumbing gigs.
Plumbers make better money than a lot of working screenwriters trying to break in, even if they’ve got a credit or two. People do make it in this business but everyone underestimates the grind, bullshit, and luck required to finally make it work as a steady career. A lot of people don’t want to hear that and want to believe they’re the exception, not the rule. 🤷🏻♂️
Right
C'mon, man!
You can do better. : )
@@filmcourage Everyday! Cheers!
Nope. Don't care what anyone says. Mine is a true story, from my life, and I'm making this bloody movie. It's a comedy and it will be awesome. Folks can "notice" laughing until their teeth explode
All the best mate!!!!
Love that attitude, that's right, you do it... work hard, believe and don't give up and it will be yours!
I look forward to watching it. Good luck 👍
Best of luck, sir. Love your attitude!
I mean it seems hard but I don’t know why the fuck this is a rule. If anything it’s why I’ll end up stuck in Indie Film! I think it’s dumb, I mean I can take that criticism but at this point at my 30th year of existence if I am not getting the script I like made I am not making any more fucking scripts, however I can and will re-edit the fucking shit out of my film. But you ask me to chill on my shit and trash my script I am gonna fucking Scorsese (The Oft Rumored Story I’d Think Anyone Who’s Seen Tarantino Speak On It Knows It)! But that’s only because I am not going to ruin my idea for a film just because. If anything I will rewrite it till it’s essentially the same but still greatly influenced by that original script (even enough that it’s gonna be essentially the same but done far better)! It’s because if you love your script enough you won’t destroy it and you won’t quit a real artist should stop at nothing to prove they can make their art into the finished piece it should. But then who the hell is doing a Film they want with the first. Real artists should never and will never follow the rules! But that’s why I won’t start and will not allow myself to start as a filmmaker and writer even though shortly after my first real huge check I will move onto that script and I won’t give up till that script is done... Because... is that not literally what a real artist does?
Judging from his films that did get made, this was obviously total shit.
This advice makes no sense. You should always write with the mindset that you want the script to get produced. If it doesn't get made but does sell that's out of your control. If it does get you other work but doesn't get made that's out of your control. You can't tell me these guys sat down and said we are writing this tk get noticed and not to get made. I challenge that as pure BS.
yeah, if you have an idea for a screenplay, I would think you would love the idea of the story so much that you would search for someone who would want to make that movie. And, if producers think your screenplay needs work, then edit your screenplay, but keep the ideas you want in it so that you don't have to change the essence of your work.
Like rather than changing the screenplay entirely, just tweak it a bit by going through your work and ask yourself, how can I describe these characters or these scenes more clearly?
You’re not writing to make films, you’re writing to sell scripts.
@@AdamBrianDada No studio buys a script with the intention of not producing it. Not anymore. If the script doesn't get made that's out of your control. But no writer writes a script without visualizing it on screen.
You misunderstood his point. When he said that you should write to get noticed, not to get the thing made, he is talking about you being creative. Don´t sit and worry about the production costs or if it is possible to get the film made. Just write the most creative story you can. It can be a grand sci-fi or fantasy that could take millions of dollars to produce. But that does not matter, just write the best story you can, be as creative as you can be. Be bold and spectacular. Once you show that you actually know how to write. Then you will get noticed, it can be from a production company or just an agent or manager. But you will get noticed. Just write it and know where to send it.
I take it he's not in the Screen Writers Guild....
It's called the Writers Guild of America - and I've been a member for over 10 years. James Agnew
@@WalkinginLA2023 Sha-ZAAAAM!
@@WalkinginLA2023 So, I was right. You're NOT in the Screen Writers Guild....
Why am I taking advice from someone who's only written shitty movies?
AKA: virtue signal.