MARAUDING FILMS

“$90.00 for 10 pitches anytime, PLUS ScriptCoach will edit one query letter of your choosing”. That’s the claim, but what I received back could hardly be called a query letter. I received a email stating that he didn’t understand my query letter and  a form letter that was a, ” fill in the blanks”, sort of thing. Disappointed is an under statement. I worked long and hard on my pitch and I was really looking forward to see what a “Pro” would do with it. Looks like I will have to keep waiting. I am going to write back and let you all know how they respond because I was really looking forward to this service but now I am getting a little skeptical.

That’s right and I just finished a rewrite of my script “Death rides shotgun”. It was a tough ride. I found a couple books on the subject but they really only contained a first chapter on the subject and the rest was dedicated to screenwriting basics. Something that did catch my eye though was that you should look at rewriting as a chance to get it right. Like a armchair quarterback or having twenty twenty hindsight. What’s tough to get past is moving on. I just want to move on to the next project. I think in some ways I maybe afraid to look at it again.for fear of finding writing that is subpar and not as good as I remember writing.it.

The biggest problem I found was reading the script. Let me explain. While reading it I have a tendency to make corrections as I read. As long as they are grammer and spelling they don’t seem to hamper the read,(currently I am in the process of relearning grammer). The problem comes up when you find dialogue or Action that you don’t care for or maybe you don’t understand it, (this has happened). I start to find myself bogged down in these details and I lose my place when I leave the keyboard to think it over and quickly forget about it.

So I have developed a technique that works for me. I read through quickly just making grammer and spelling corrections. While reading I have a stack of index card which I number according to scenes. On the top I will put a brief description and number. If I don’t like the scene I put why in the body of the card. I also put a star next to the scene number and then I put back in the stack. This way when I am done reading I can pull a card and think the scene over, leaving it on my keyboard so I don’t forget and can constantly have it near the top of my thoughts. It works good.

I’ve been gone for awhile mainly cause I don’t see the life of a filmmaker that interesting but I guess it’s not supposed to super exciting and it will help flesh out my thoughts so stick with me. So now that my script is finished I am going to try to send it out into the world. This will involve coverage, consulting, cold calling, contests and pitchfest and lots more. I will keep you up to date with the ups and the downs as I learn to take a script from my desk to sale or production. I think I will try a service called Virtualpitchfest. com first as it seems very easy and targeted. I could be wrong but at ninety bucks I won’t be out that much and it’s a start. They say you’ll get a reply in five days. I’ll let you know.