01-04-2022, 07:21 AM | #1 |
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Anyone have experience hiring a screenwriter?
I've just about finished a novella of about 27k words, and believe it would lend itself to a screenplay. Writing the thing was very much a Red Smith exercise, and I have no desire to even attempt converting it myself. Does anyone have a recommendation for a competent screenwriter I might hire, and what the cost would be? If I went forward, does anyone know of an agent that could pitch the screenplay to potential buyers? Thanks for your comments.
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01-05-2022, 06:22 AM | #2 |
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In continuing to work on this, I came across an article suggesting a way (a long shot) to submit the piece to potential movie producers unchanged. Here's the link:
http://www.sellingyourscreenplay.com...-a-movie-idea/ |
01-06-2022, 12:30 AM | #3 | |
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https://messageboard.donedealpro.com/boards/ Screenplay format is not that hard to figure out. Show, don't tell. Nearly always write in present tense. Find important details and be succinct. Most screenplays have a lot of white space. There are four main elements... Scene (where and when whatever is happening happens)... INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY ("INT." stands for interior. "EXT." for exterior.) Action (Just regular descriptive that tells you what's going on. Usually an action paragraph shouldn't be more than three or four lines.) Character Name and... Dialogue An example of the format... Code:
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY JOE and PETE watch NASCAR while guzzling beer, scarfing pizza and scratching their bums. They're accomplished multi-taskers. PETE WOW! Look at 'em. 'Round and 'round and 'round! JOE (nodding vigorously) Da-yum I love NASCAR! You don't really need to remember any of this. There is good, free, screenplay writing software. It's easier to use it than explain it -- but these applications take care of all the formatting. Two of these are WriterSolo and KIT Scenarist, both available for Linux, Windows or Macs. WriterSolo works online or offline. KIT Scenarist is offline only. https://writersolo.com or https://freescreenwriting.com https://kitscenarist.ru/en/index.html You can ask questions at Done Deal Pro, it's not as busy as it once was, but pros still show up there from time to time. You can also ask questions in this thread, but I'm a wannabe who's been playing around at it (unsuccessfully) for about 20 years. Good luck. |
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01-06-2022, 05:54 AM | #4 |
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Thanks so much for your comments - in their helpfulness they go way beyond anything I expected (as a side note, "bums" suggests you are a transplanted Englishman).
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01-06-2022, 07:29 AM | #5 |
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I'm not. In the U.S. "bums" doesn't seem quite as rude as the word I would normally use. Probably the opposite is true in England (I sometimes forget this is an international forum).
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01-07-2022, 05:05 AM | #6 |
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Just downloaded WriterSolo - amazing that such an incredible piece of software is available for free. Thanks again for recommending!
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01-07-2022, 06:39 PM | #7 | |
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A new screenplay application (by the folks who produce KIT Scenarist) has just been released into public beta, Story Architect (Starc). It's fast for the features I use (writing and print PDFs) but many of the more advanced features are not yet implemented. At any any rate, another option. https://starc.app/ This one will have pro features (at a price when out of beta). |
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01-17-2022, 07:47 AM | #8 |
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More on screenplay writing software (first a thank you once again to rcentros for his recommendations). In 1998, Stephen King published Storm of the Century as a screenplay rather than a novel. In the Forward to the book, he notes that it was written with the assistance of Final Draft. Because the book was written so long ago I checked to see if that software was still around - it is, Version 12. Here's the link, if interested:
https://www.finaldraft.com/learn/fin...art-guide-fd12 |
01-17-2022, 06:19 PM | #9 | |
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If you're collaborating with another writer who uses Final Draft or re-writing for a studio that's a "Final Draft 'shop'" than that's when you may need Final Draft. But, at that point, it would probably be a business expense. And the other applications (cheap or free) can export to Final Draft format. |
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01-18-2022, 03:43 AM | #10 |
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Agree - a word processing analogy would be Google Docs and Open Office (which I use) as alternatives to MS Word. Alas, due to Microsoft's stranglehold on the operating system, Word has become so pervasive in many instances you need to convert your file to the .doc format. Fortunately Open Office's "save as" function allows you to do that.
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01-18-2022, 10:06 AM | #11 | |
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:-) And I concur with rcentros--there's really no reason to pay for it, there are a number of excellent free or donation-ware type programs. Hitch |
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01-18-2022, 07:52 PM | #12 | ||
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But even Fade In's $80 price is not necessary -- though it is pretty nice software. I own it but I don't use it much. I like my free applications better (but I'm not a serious writer). Mostly I bought Fade In because I wanted to support a company that supported Linux. |
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