Volume 6
Late June 2007

To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Writers Store and to help launch www.storylink.com, the Great American PitchFest has partnered with the Writers Store to bring you the Storylink All-Stars - a gathering of the best screenwriting instructors in the busines, all under one roof - and all for FREE. Yes. Free. These free classes are our gift to you in the interest of helping writers to master their craft.

We asked some of the Storylink All-Stars a few questions about the Great American Pitchfest, and what writers can do to ensure their success as a screenwriter.

How does a writer succeed if they don't live in LA?
Writers who don’t live in L.A. do what writers who do live in L.A. do - they write. They enter screenwriting contests. They go to conferences, in L.A. as well as around the country. They meet producers. They submit scripts to producers and production companies and sometimes to the studios. They learn about marketing. They work with consultants. The only difference is - they should save some money to come to Los Angeles once or twice a year and try to arrange appointments while they’re in L.A. And, always, they just keep writing.

Does a writer need representation?
A writer usually can’t get representation on their first or second, or sometimes even their third script, so they don’t need it in order to get someone interested in their work. If someone is interested, and they need an agent, it won’t be difficult to find someone who will do the deal for them. Most agents don’t want to represent a writer until they have a number of scripts, and maybe an option or sale that they got on their own.

How important is it to go to events such as this?
It’s very important to go to events such as conferences, pitchfests, etc. Writers meet potential buyers, they learn more about how the business works, they meet others with whom they can develop support systems, they don’t feel so alone, and they learn more about the craft and marketing. They get an insider’s look.

How do I protect my idea or script from being stolen?
Register the script with the WGA and/or the Library of Congress. Keep track of everyone who reads the script. Keep a log of where you sent it, when you sent it, and whether you spoke to anyone, whether the script was covered by the company, and whether you received any response from the company. Don’t talk about your story in restaurants or bars or other public places. You never know who might be sitting at the table next to you. Then, don’t worry about it. The only way to really protect your script is to not show it to anyone. But then, it will never get noticed or sold either. Don’t presume, because a movie comes out with a similar idea to yours, that they stole your idea. Ideas do float around. Familiarize yourself with the standard of proof for copyright infringement cases. And read Mark Litwak’s books and Brooke Wharton’s book on protecting your work.

How do I get hired as a writer?
Your first jobs may be low paying, or no paying, or might just be an option for very little money. At the beginning, generally don’t worry about money. If you get an offer, yes, get an agent or lawyer to look at your deal, but don’t, absolutely don’t, kill the deal to get more money, or in hopes of someone else being interested somewhere else. Be careful of getting uppity with your first sale. Once people know you’re a good writer and others like to work with you, you’ll have a better chance of getting hired. And, knowing that writing is filled with hard knocks, get a good therapist, and get a spiritual life of one kind or another. You’ll need it!

What is structure? How important is it?
Structure is the shape of the story, and brings balance and harmony to your story. It integrates the plot and the subplots, and helps focus your story and make your script cohesive, as opposed to being made up of many arbitrary elements. Many great writers say the 3 most important elements in screenwriting are structure, structure, structure. If you don’t have structure, you don’t have anything but some interesting scenes and some good character quirks. That doesn’t make a film!

How can a private consultation help me?
Every writer needs an objective eye. It’s difficult to know what works or doesn’t work, because the writer is too close to the material, but also because the writer usually doesn’t have the experience of a consultant. While a writer might be working on one or two or three scripts over a period of five or ten years, the consultant has, meanwhile, been working on about 50 or 100 or 150 scripts a year. And if a consultant has stayed in business for some years, chances are, it’s because the consultant has helpful insights. They aren’t just there to render an opinion. They are there to help you get what you want out of your scripts, and see all the elements that the writer can’t see clearly. It might not lead the writer to selling the script (although it might), but it can certainly help the script improve.

They say it's who you know. I don't know anyone. Any advice?
If you don’t know someone, you will know someone after attending some conferences. And remember, often it’s not the most important person in the industry who will help you. That person is too busy producing films and having drinks with studio executives (or might be a studio executive having drinks with producers) to take much time with you. Many times the most helpful people to know are secretaries, teachers, other writers who will read your work and might know someone. The people who have been the most helpful to me in my work have not been the most important people in the industry, but people who are generous. Look for the givers, not the takers. And be willing to give yourself, in whatever way you can to help others.

Any other advice?
Train yourself to take rejection - you’ll get a lot of it. Don’t get too bent out of shape from the many set-backs, disappointments, devastating moments, and the terrible despair that can come with this business. As they say in the West, "you gotta cowboy up!" As they say in the Army, "take it like a man!" As they say in show business, "don’t take it personally, even when it seems to be meant that way!" Don’t put off your life while trying to sell your script. Find balance in your life, so your life isn’t only about writing and selling the script - it will drive your friends crazy! Always have at least one good friend who’s not in the business, and who you can be honest with, and who will encourage you when you’re down, and who will celebrate with you when things go well. Have some friends in the business who know some of the ins and outs and who will go through the process with you. Celebrate often! Celebrate even the small successes that don’t seem very important. Celebrate when you start your script. Celebrate when you finish it. Celebrate when you get your first letter of interest. Celebrate when you get a sale. Celebrate when the movie comes out. And celebrate when you’re nominated for the Academy Award (and don’t be afraid to spend a lot of money on the dress! Or tux!) And don’t lose your values while you celebrate - no drugs, not too much alcohol, no (big) orgies, don’t lose your integrity, and don’t get mean! Drama, whether film or theater, is (I believe) the most humane of all the arts, or should be. Or, as Stanislavsky said, "Don’t go into the theater with mud on your feet!" You have a high and important art to serve!

DR. LINDA SEGER created and defined the job of script consultant in 1981, when she began her business, based on her doctoral dissertation project. Since then, she has consulted on over 2000 scripts from six continents, given seminars in 30 countries around the world, and is the author of 8 books on screenwriting (the most recent to be published in February, 2008).

Click here to Register!

Why is it important to go to The Great American Pitchfest?
A great networking opportunity. A wide selection of speakers. A community of writers.

How does a writer succeed if they don't live in LA?
With an LA cell phone, correspondence by e-mail and a "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy.

What's a logline?
A one-sentence description of the premise of your movie. Don’t be coy. Nail the hook.

Should a writer write from their heart, or for the market?
By the time you’re done chasing a trend in the market it will be long gone. When you’ve written a smart, clever movie from your heart, the market chases you.

What is structure? How important is it?
Structure is a story well told. It doesn’t matter if you jump time, or tell the story backwards. If the reader and audience can follow your film and remain engaged, your structure is working.

How is the Great American PitchFest different from any other event?
I’m a fan of the PitchFest producers, Signe and Bob. They truly like and understand writers.

Pitch your session - Why should writers attend yours?
For the "fix it" tools, practical advice and corny jokes.

They say it's who you know. I don't know anyone. Any advice?
Take a look around at the pitchfest. You now have over 200 peers and a dozen potential mentors. Connect with them with a smile, a handshake or a great pitch and you’ve made a connection.

What should I 'not do' when pitching?
Apologize. Argue.

What should I do when pitching?
Relax. Tell a great story.

PILAR ALESSANDRA is the director of "On The Page" Script Consultation and Screenwriting Classes and former Senior Story Analyst for DreamWorks, ImageMovers and Radar Pictures. As a writing instructor, she's taught at UCLA and Writer's Boot Camp. As a lecturer and guest instructor, she's taught at Nickelodeon, MTV, Final Draft, The Mammoth Writer's Conference, the Great Canadian PitchFest and the Great American PitchFest.

Don't miss the

FREE Classes with:

Pilar Alessandra
(Script Consultant & Director 'On The Page' & former Sr. Story Analyst Dreamworks & Radar Pictures)
David Freedman
(Agent & Owner of 'Hollywood View Agency')
Michael Hauge
(Author of 'Writing Screenplays That Sell' & 'Selling Screenplays That Sell')
Karl Iglesias
(Author & Consultant '101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters')
Viki King
(Author, 'How To Write A Movie In 21 Days')
Ellen Sandler
(Emmy Nominee & Co-Exec Producer of 'Everybody Loves Raymond')
Dr. Linda Seger
(Author of 'Making Good Scripts Great' & 'Creating Unforgettable Characters')
Blake Snyder
(Screenwriter & Author, 'Save The Cat')
Kathie Fong Yoneda
(Former Exec with Disney, Touchstone & Author of 'The Script Selling Game')

Storylink and the Great American PitchFest are offering
ALL OF OUR SCREENWRITING CLASSES FOR FREE!

Yes, for free. Nada. Zip. Zilch. And no, there’s no catch - This is our gift to you. As the ONLY pitching event created BY screenwriters FOR screenwriters, this is your chance to learn from the best screenwriting instructors in the business. Get a free ticket for yourself and a friend by registering now. For free tickets, register here. You may also register at the door, but only registered participants of The Great American Pitchfest are guaranteed seating.

June 23 & 24, 2007
Sheraton Universal Hotel (Los Angeles, CA)
www.pitchfest.com

If you’re reading this article, you’ve no doubt wondered at some point what it’s like to win a Nicholl Fellowship. I certainly did. You and I both know what it’s like to be the poor wretched peasant, our covetous eyes fixed on the impenetrable castle walls of Kingdom Hollywood, envious of the artisans and benefactors ensconced therein, them whiling away their days creating art and amassing riches while we toil in ignominy, tilling the infertile fields of our day jobs. Now imagine you’re suddenly scooped up, wedged into a catapult and fired like a human projectile. With dizzying acceleration up over the walls you go, careening into the center the courtyard. Of course there’s no telling what’s going to happen when you land, but you’ve breeched the walls, you’ve made it inside. And you’re going to attract a lot of attention.

So what’s it take to actually win a Nicholl? The answer is deceptively is simple. Write a great screenplay. Want to know the secret to getting an agent? Same answer. And of course the biggest question of all--how do sell my screenplay and get it made into a movie? Same same same. It really is that easy, and that difficult. Of course there’s more to success than the script alone. But having a truly superior screenplay is the prime prerequisite of all three. Without that, the chances of realizing any of them is nil.

I’ll forever be indebted to Don and Gee Nicholl for their largesse in endowing the Nicholl Fellowship. For those lucky enough to be chosen, one’s life is forever changed. The first thing that happens is the phone starts ringing. And ringing. And ringing. Agents want to sign you. Producers who wouldn’t accept a query letter, development execs who snubbed your idea at the pitch fest, are all suddenly dying to know you. You begin a cavalcade of ‘meet-and-greets.’ These are ostensibly meetings with producers or their development people to see if you’re the kind of person they might like to work with. You’ll be courted, you’ll be called ‘brilliant’ until the word ceases to have any meaning, indeed until you actually begin to resent it. Soon you come to realize that these folks are actually more interested in seeing what other scripts you have than they are in offering you a writing gig. Nonetheless, any contact is a good contact. More on that later.

The first week is a whirlwind. There’s the five-star awards gala at the Beverly Wilshire. There’s a luncheon at the Academy with the final round judges. You get to brush elbows with famous actors and producers. The year I won Gale Anne Hurd was one of the judges. She hosted a little get-to-know-you for the winners and finalists, but was annoyed repeatedly by someone calling on her cell phone about some production problem or another. It was pretty heady stuff when she clapped her phone shut and proclaimed, "There. I just hung up on James Cameron for you guys."

As amazing as it all was, I was probably less overwhelmed by the whole thing than a newer writer might have been. I’d already landed an agent. I’d had a couple previous near brushes with success. Years earlier a writing partner and I had written a CIA thriller that his agent at the time was certain was going to be a big spec sale. He boasted that he’d buy us tickets to Hawaii if it weren’t. He was so certain in fact that the agency decide to ‘go wide’ with it. For the uninitiated, this is a calculated practice that’s done to try to gin up a bidding war. At 9 am on Friday the script went on sale. Twenty messengers arrived en masse on the agency’s doorstep to spirit copies of our magnum opus all over town. The hours ticked by as we waited for the bidding to heat up. In the end there were a couple parties interested, but not sufficiently enough to actually make an offer.

By 4 pm the script, as well as our dreams, was dead. The agent said there was no point in trying to revive the patient. The script now had the stench of death all over it. No one would touch it. The agent, my writing partner and I parted ways. The deceased was buried deep in my closet where it lies to this day. We never did get our tickets to Hawaii.

In hindsight it’s no surprise it didn’t sell. It was a good script, good enough to fool my partner’s agent at least. But it wasn’t great. My writing partner and I were young and admittedly a bit arrogant. We thought, come on. We’ve gone to film school, we’ve seen lots of movies. How hard could writing a screenplay be? We leafed though a little Linda Seger, skimmed some Syd Field. But we eschewed the rest as a waste of time, bound and determined to go our own way, to learn by doing. The end result was a script that had some great set pieces, but it lacked an emotional core. It was structureless, our characters had no ‘character.’

Dubious, but desperate for answers, we hired one of the first well-known script consultants back when her rates were still reasonable. It turned out to be something of a revelation. It was clear from her analysis that there was more to this scriptwriting thing than we’d realized. Experience is one thing, but it’s no substitute for knowledge of the form. We definitely had some learning to do. We made a stab at incorporating some of her comments, but we’d done several drafts already and the die was cast. It was too late to patch up stuff that was conceived wrongly from the outset. At that time at least, we simply didn’t have the chops. Try as we might, and humbled by our own lack of knowledge, our efforts culminated in the debacle chronicled above.

With our partnership dissolved and any hopes for a writing career in tatters, the situation called for something drastic. So I quit writing. I decided to go back to the drawing board. I made a commitment to myself to put down the pen, roll up my sleeves, and learn everything I possibly could about the Craft of Scriptwriting. I read everything from Robert McKee to William Goldman to Joseph Campbell. I went to lectures by the scriptwriting gurus, Hauge and Freeman and Truby. I explored Vogler’s Mythic Storytelling and Jung's Collective Unconscious. I experimented with story creation software and joined the Scriptwriter's Network. I took a little piece from one source and something else from the next.

And I read scripts, dozens and dozens. As time went on it all began to make sense. I started to understand the form, the rules became clear. I’d taken the best of all those disparate sources and cobbled together my own expert database of scriptwriting knowledge. A full year had passed. It was time to take up the pen.

I set out to write my next, and possibly last, screenplay. If this one didn’t shine it would be due to a lack of imagination, not of knowledge. I'd be forced to concede that I just didn't have what it takes. I began in earnest. I consciously set aside any ulterior goals such as getting an agent or winning a competition as distractions. I had but a single objective--to take what I’d learned and write the best script I possibly could.

During my sabbatical there were a couple pieces of advice I heard over and over. "Write what you know," and "Write a personal story." I thought, if this is to be my swan song, why not give it a shot? So I did, and the most amazing thing happened. I fell in love with writing. Before it had simply been a means to an end, my ticket to the big-time. But now my characters were taking on their own voices. They became as real to me as my next-door neighbor. Their foibles made me laugh and their losses made me weep. I was writing for the right reasons and it showed. I had taken the time to learn my craft, and in the process discovered the magic.

The end result was a script entitled "The Beginning of Wisdom." I thought it turned out nicely, but it remained to be seen what the rest of the world would think. As was my habit, I’d planned to enter it in scriptwriting competitions as a convenient yardstick by which to measure how well I’d succeeded. The first contest I entered was our own Scriptwriter's Network Carl Sautter Memorial Scriptwriting Competition. The grand prize was a list of producers and agents who’d agreed in advance to read the winning script. One of the biggest breaks of my career happened when "The Beginning of Wisdom" was declared the winner. Suddenly two agencies were vying to sign me. I couldn’t believe it. Me! I’m still with the one I chose to this day.

One of the perks of entering the Carl Sautter was that the judges did anonymous coverage of the entered scripts. In fact I got some very good feedback that helped me improve the script even further. In subsequent years I was a judge myself and did coverage of entered scripts. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and went out of my way to help by going into depth, in effect doing a mini critique of each entry I judged. In fact I did one for a nice little script that wound up winning the Carl Sautter itself some years later. I’d like to think my critique might have had something to do with that. Unfortunately the Carl Sautter was discontinued last year.

I submitted the new-and-improved "The Beginning of Wisdom" to the major competitions. It made the finals of the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project, the ABC/Disney Fellowship and the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. It was also optioned by actor John Bennett Perry, father of Matthew Perry. The two had wanted for some time to play father-and-son roles in a film, and chose my script as their vehicle. If I’d ever needed validation I was getting it, in spades. There was just one more competition out there that could spin this whole business into the stratosphere.

The big kahuna, the Nicholl Fellowship. Granted, my script had done well, better than I could’ve hoped. But I had no illusions about actually winning. I mean, let’s be real. At a thousand-to-one odds there’s no way. It was impossible.

Don’t let anyone tell you the impossible can’t happen. By the same token, one shouldn’t have pie in the sky notions either. Of course winning the Nicholl opens doors like nothing else, but it’s no guarantee your script will get made. In fact the kinds of scripts that typically win the Nicholl are precisely the kind that are most difficult to sell. The final round judges tend to be older Academy members, many of whom were in their career prime back when movies were made primarily for grown ups. They’re by and large sophisticated filmmakers of monumental accomplishment, and, based on the winning scripts I’ve read, their tastes lean toward character-driven dramatic pieces. That said, a number of Nicholl scripts have been produced and their writers’ gone on to phenomenal success, Ehren Kruger’s "Arlington Road" and Mike Rich’s "Finding Forrester" among them.

As for me, I have two scripts being cast right now, both with name talent already attached, both of which should go before the cameras within the next several months. I also have a third script that’s been optioned by an established producer who hopes to set it up as a big budget studio picture. And here’s the part that may surprise you. Each of these scripts found its way into the hands of its respective producer not through my agent or contest wins, but solely through my own personal contacts. There’s a lesson in that. Yes, the Nicholl resulted in lots of meetings and visibility, but none of that produced a buyer for my script. And the little known truth about agents is that their job is more about negotiating a great purchase price that it is about finding a purchaser. In most cases that task is left to you. Developing and maintaining personal contacts is one of the most important parts of a successful writing career.

In my opinion most emerging writers place too much emphasis on getting an agent. But it’s not the agent who sells your script, it's your writing. Your top priority should be elevating your skills to a professional level. I humbly suggest that if you aren't writing at a level where you're placing high or winning scriptwriting competitions, don't waste your energy trying to land an agent. It's a distraction. Concentrate on what’s important, your writing. Study the craft. Learn to speak the language. When you become fluent the agents will notice you. After all, it’s their job to recognize good writing when they see it.

Of course a great script stands on two legs, great execution and a great concept. Now the screenwriting gurus will tell you to ignore market trends and spend your time writing something you’re passionate about. They claim it’s fruitless to target trends; they’ll have changed by the time you finish your script anyway. Development Executives on the other hand will tell you it’s absolutely imperative to know the market and target your work toward a specific audience.

I tend to subscribe toward the former. Writing a script is a long, difficult process, and it’s important you choose subject matter you can remain passionate about over the long hall. You’ll stick with it through multiple drafts and it will be better as a result. By the same token, one should give at least perfunctory thought to what type of people might attend one’s movie. Is it a potential blockbuster or more of a niche market art-house movie? Between the two, the wide-release blockbuster is potentially more lucrative, but keep in mind there are only a handful of major studios who can green-light an expensive blockbuster script. Conversely, there are dozens if not hundreds of producers who may be able to scrape together enough money to finance a little character-driven indie film.

In either case you’ll be best served if your concept is really unique. Try to come up with a concept that can be explained in one or two sentences. Try your concept out on a few friends. When their eyes light up and they say, "Yeah...Yeah, I get it!! That sounds good!" chances are you’ve got a winner. And above all, make sure the Setup has a built in Conflict.

But what’s really unique? Well, you are. Often newer writers try to chase trends, try to write what's hip at the moment. Earlier I mentioned the phrase, "Write what you know." My own career took off like a rocket when I deigned to follow that sage advice. So why not write something about the world you know? Something unique to you, to your past. I think the reason most writers avoid doing so is that they don’t think their own lives are particularly interesting. But take a look at all your experiences, the world you grew up in, the places you’ve seen, the things you’ve done. You have your own history, your own unique insight into the world. Explore it. Explore yourself.

It really is that simple. Dig deep, learn the craft, and set your sights on the one thing that’s really important--becoming a better writer. Concentrate on that single goal and forget about the all the rest. And if you’re successful, who knows? You just might win a Nicholl without even trying.

Reprinted from the Scriptwriter’s Network Newsletter, Fall 2005. For more script writing tips, or to read TJ’s Nicholl Fellowship winning script, visit www.writingisrewriting.com.

TJ LYNCH can be seen as part of the Storylink All-Stars day of Free Classes, teaching his class "A Nicholl for Your Thoughts."

June 23 & 24, 2007
Sheraton Hotel at Universal Studios
Los Angeles, California

Visit www.pitchfest.com for details

Why is it important to go to The Great American Pitchfest?
Signe Olynyk put together the Pitchfest in the spirit of a need she saw on the part of creative individuals in search of their place in the film community. Pitchfest is an opportunity for new writers to interface with those who are looking for content. Signe’s desire is to be sincere help and to create a meeting ground for buyers and sellers of great content to find each other for the benefit of mutual fruition of good works. She’s done a splendid job. Come join us.

What does Hollywood want?
If you’re asking this question you’re not going to be happy in your relationship to Hollywood. Give what you have that is yours to give, not what you think someone else wants from you.

What genre is most likely to sell?
The genre that sells for you is the one you’re best at writing. If you’re really good at comedy you don’t need to force a thriller out of yourself.

Should a writer write from their heart or for the market?
You will always write from your heart - that’s just natural. You may fight that, thinking you are writing for the market but that’s still you being you - the movie will be about a hero who fights himself until he learns not to do that anymore and just go directly to his winning heart. What will be your greatest success is what is the universal truth that comes bounding out of you. If you think you’re writing for the market the market is already obsolete. What you see on the screen this year was years in the making.

PS. You’ll know you’re in the zone when you’re told ‘it can’t be done’ and ‘you’re crazy’ this is because you are creating the market and you’re doing it with your heart.

Pitch your session. Why should writers attend yours?
Regarding my session "How To Be Heard in Hollywood" - I like to let everyone who’s coming to Pitchfest get together one night in my dreams and let me hear their collective prayer about what they need. This year I hear the call of the participants who long to be seen and heard. So come to our session, together we’ll talk about what it really takes behind-the-seen and at the bottom of your heart to stand and deliver and be understood.

How can a Private Consultation help me?
Your story is completely unique to you. In a private consultation we sort out your personal reason why this story belongs to you as the one and only authority to tell it. You get the exact through line for your life; you get it clearly for your hero as well. So, not only can you pitch it; you can exude it.

They say it’s who you know. I don’t know anybody. Any advice?
It’s not who you know, it’s how you know who you know. Success in any area is your ability and ease in making connection to others. Actually your greatest success in Hollywood has to do with how you cultivate support and inspiration from your closest loved ones. Create a team around you and just keep expanding that team to include Heads of Studios, producers, the midnight pizza delivery guy. Think of it as equal opportunity friendships - all supporting and supplying one another.

Enjoy people and let them enjoy you and magic happens.

Any other advice?
Congratulations on answering the call inside you to dare to have a go at your dream. See you at the Pitchfest. Watch what happens. Welcome.

The following is an excerpt from
How to Write a Movie in 21 Days - The Inner Movie Method by Viki King (HarperCollins)

This excerpt is taken from the section on
How To Stop Getting Ready and Start

Transition: from "Getting Ready" to "Go"

Imagine you’re on a talk show to plug your movie. You have three minutes to tell us what it’s about.

Write for three minutes: "My movie is about..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Great!!

Also on this talk show we’re going to get to see a one-minute clip from your movie. Choose a one-minute clip now. Set it up for us in a few sentences. Explain where it appears in the context of the movie. Now run the one-minute clip on your inner projector.

Welcome to Hollywood. You have just created an entire promotional campaign for a movie that you’re going to start writing tomorrow.

VIKI KING has an uncanny clairvoyance about your story and why you are telling it. She is author of the industry standard book "How To Write a Movie in 21 Days - The Inner Movie Method" and is a leading force of nature in the Hollywood community working from development to launching of dozens of films. She is consultant to a wide clientele of prominent Entertainment figures regarding their film work and humanitarian actions. She can be reached for private consultation at www.vikiking.com.

Why is it important to go to The Great American Pitchfest?
The Great American Pitchfest is the most organized & finely-tuned event of its kind that I've attended. It's writer-friendly, enabling you to network, meet other writers, and make the contacts that could help you to bring your screenwriting career to another level. This Pitchfest has the best ratio of contacts to writers -- for every six attendees, The Great American Pitchfest adds another producer, exec, agent or entertainment attorney or manager to their roster! In addition, they have free classes & panels to tell you how it's done. And if that weren't enough, The Great American Pitchfest has private consultations where you can practice in front of an industry professional who can give you feedback on improving your pitch before you meet the producers and agents.

How does a writer succeed if they don't live in LA?
If you're a writer who lives outside of the LA area, it's important to invest in yourself & your career. Hollywood can't always come to your hometown or your country -- by investing in your career, I mean by attending screenwriting conferences, pitchfests & entering script competitions where you can introduce yourself & your work to decision-makers. Also, with the internet, you may want to gather pertinent information on the industry through websites, blogs and in screenwriting chat rooms. And don't forget that no matter where you live, you can take on-line classes from industry professionals, i.e., Writers University.

What kind of spec should I write? TV or film?
It's totally up to you. What kind of ideas do you have? Ideas for TV series or ideas for films? If you have ideas for both arenas, then you'll need to have writing samples for both, which means a proposal for a TV series, some episodic writing samples for popular TV series on the air, and/or a script for a full-length film (either live action or animation). Also, please be advised that producers and agents are always more impressed if you have more than one script or sample...after all, they want writers who are prolific and are interested in a career and are not a one-script wonder!

How can a private consultation help me?
By nature writers pretty much keep to themselves and aren't always used to "putting themselves out there". But how else will Hollywood know about you and your projects? Private consultations give you the opportunity to practice your pitch and get immediate suggestions/feedback from an industry professional who can help you to make the most of your pitching opportunities...all in private! In addition, if you have other questions which may not have been covered in the panels or workshops, you're always welcome to ask your questions during the private consultations...by the way, I firmly believe that there is no such thing as a stupid question -- just people who are afraid of asking questions! So consider a private consultation to practice and fine-tune your pitch and to get some of your questions answered! If you're wondering if it's worth the extra money, just remember that The Great American Pitchfest has the most reasonable rates around for private 30 minute consultations!

They say it's who you know. I don't know anyone. Any advice?
You may not know anyone when you initially enter The Great American Pitchfest, but I guarantee you'll know a lot of other writers and will have made contacts and picked up an enormous amount of information by the time you leave 3 days later! By the way, be sure and network with other writers -- the best advice I can give you is to not look at other writers as competition, but as allies! Ask each other questions; ask for advice -- Do you know anything about this producer? Who would be a good agent for my animation project? Would you mind letting me practice my logline on you? (of course, offer to reciprocate!)

With over 25 years in the industry, KATHIE FONG YONEDA has worked at Paramount, Columbia, MGM, Universal, Fox, and Disney, specializing in analysis and development of live action and animated projects. Her career includes executive posts with Disney, Touchstone, Island Pictures and Disney TV Animation. Kathie is also an international seminar leader and script consultant. She penned The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider’s Look At Getting Your Script Sold and Produced and is a principal in TalkStory Productions, which co-produces the cable series Beyond the Break.

As the old saying goes, in Hollywood, it's not what you know, it's who you know. At StoryLink, we believe it's both who you know and what you know, so we've made it our mission to provide the resources and the professional networking opportunities that help you live out your silver screen dreams now.

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Do you have an idea for an article in The Great American Screenwriter?
Pitch it to us via email at bob@pitchfest.com!