Men CAN multi task

As I'm getting to a crucial point in my screenplay I will make this a short post but one that I think will be important for many.

As I lay in bed this morning plotting the paths of my two central characters through the midpoint I got to thinking about how much more work I could churn out, then I realized that it's still only half way through March and I've already done more this year that some will in the entire 12 months. Now I'm not being arrogant or vein or anything like that, I just get a lot done in a short amount of time. Since January 1st (4th really due to celebrations of the new year) I have written a full feature length project, written/directed/edited and submitted a short film, outlined two feature length documentaries (which will be shot over the summer), outlined and am currently writing a second feature length spec (which I will shoot over the next 3-4 months) ... and I have a whole social life thing going on too!

I'm one of those people that always has to be doing something, I don't really watch mind numbing TV, I only watch a few shows (Boardwalk Empire, Curb your enthusiasm and Dexter) and sports! I listen to music while I write, I read one or two scripts a day, and several blogs. I keep active on several internet sites, I have friends around the world that I communicate with everyday and I have a couple of businesses that I help run. Oh and a job, I have a job too.

So how do I get all the film work I get done done? Simple, I never stop working, right now as I type this I'm thinking about the scenes I'm writing straight after this post is complete, I'm thinking about how by the end of the day I should be entering the third act and I'm listening to an itunes mix that includes Velvet Revolver, James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Rory Gallagher, Bon Jovi, Foo fighters and Guns N Roses.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that multi tasking is essential to getting the work done, and don't tell me that men can't multi task, look at all the stuff I'm doing!! I haven't even mentioned that I'm always planning the next step, the project that will happen once the current one ends. 

So I say to you dear reader of my blog, don't write a script - write a script, a tv pilot, a radio show, a play, a book, a comic, a graphic novel, a song, an advert, a speech... anything at all just keep your mind occupied. Soon you'll find that everything you do will become revolved around writing and you'll be a better writer because your focus will be writing that one script that will make this a career and not just a dream.

I hope that made as much sense to you as it made to me !

Write On!

Dave TheScreenwriter

I'm Back!

Hello dear reader,

Apologies for the long gap since my last post, I have in actual fact been hugely busy and I had to let something slip, that something was my blog. In the couple of weeks I have been away I have learned many things and I will pass some of them onto you right now.

First thing I learned was that if you don't ask then you don't get. I remember my dad telling me that years ago when I was just a shy little boy, turns out he was right. This past week I contacted one of the biggest sporting organizations in the world and asked them if I could possibly have access to their stadium and offices for the purpose of shooting a couple of scenes for my impending debut feature film. The response I got was positive and they were engaging, they wanted to know more and asked what they could do to help, they still have not said yes but I'm hoping that they will in the next week or two.

So I got the "lets ask everything I can ask for" bug. So the people I'm buying my camera from have been asked for a hefty discount, every company I have every heard off have now been asked for a donation to www.indiegogo.com/3projects1year ... I'm asking and when you ask you'll find that very few people will say a straight out no, most will ask what else they can do to help.

I've also been reaching out to the film community at large, I got a great opportunity to write a Guest Post for the brilliant Film Courage with Karen Worden and David Branin, which is a site that I habve loved and respected for a while now... ever since fellow PSA Jeanne Bowerman was a guest on the show (I always support fellow PSA appearances and events, they're usually open me up to something very cool!) http://filmcourage.com/content/cheapskate-one-man-crew is where you can find my slightly rushed post but I think it has some merits.

I've been writing a lot too, I got the script for my feature off to a flying start with 36 pages rolling in over 2 days ... I had done a lot of prep before that but still 36 in 2 days is impressive even for me! I've also been writing concepts, I've had a glut of good concept ideas and they simply had to be written out and developed... right now if I was idle I'd have six features ready to go, I could start writing them now if I so chose!

And finally the last thing I want to say for today is that I learned that people want to work with talented hard working people, I've had requests from people to keep them in mind when I have projects rolling and I was blown away by that more than anything else.

Ok I have to get back to writing now but I leave you with this very obvious but also somewhat profound statement: The more you work the more you will achieve!

Write On!

Dave The Screenwriter.

PS don't forget that you can always email me about anything at all ... dthescreenwriter@aol.com

FOCUS

This morning as I hit the treadmill for a jog and listened to a mixture of rock tracks I noticed that I was doing something that I should blog about, no not exercising, that sucks I recommend it to nobody! I was planning, and what I was planning was my film (which I have not written yet, simply outlined) being screened at Sundance! Why Sundance? Well all of my favorite directors have a history with Sundance and I want to be part of that list, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Dave TheScreenwriter... that list sounds good to me.

Now before any says "oh, you were daydreaming", I wasn't I was actually planning the shoot, organizing the timing of the post, trying to figure out who will play the sexy journalist and where I'll shoot the break up scene. When I had finished with the treadmill I hit the net to find out the late deadline for submissions to Sundance(Sept 26th) and then figured out that due to my current geographical difficulties I would have to finish the final cut by September 10th... which is 7 months away.

So 7 months to write, cast, rehearse, film and cut a feature length movie? Crazy? Watch me do it! You see you may have noticed that I'm kinda driven, focused, determined, obsessed or whatever you want to call it... If I can shoot an eight minute short in one day just nine days after it was written then I can pull of the Sundance miracle! BUT I need help, funding is the problem with getting these things done fast look to the side of this page and you will get more info on my funding proposal or just click on this link http://www.indiegogo.com/3projects1year?a=88034&i=addr .

I know that I'll be standing in Park city come Sundance next year, (submission accepted or not I'll be there!) and I know I'll be in Cannes this year (yeah I made the decision) and I'll be standing at both of these festivals with my head held high, knowing that I belong. The reason I know I'll be there and belong is that for a long time it has been my focus, my goal to make myself a valuable part of the movie industry and now that focus and drive is paying off.

So fix yourself a goal, focus on it, drive towards it, become obsessed and stride to where you truly belong. A big factor in being a film professional is focus, it has to be the one thing you have to do and everything you do should be for the end goal... focus, focus, focus.

Don't forget that you can email me for any reason especially if you want to ask for a certain topic to be covered in a blog post.

Write On!

Dave The Screenwriter

Screenwriting... activate!

Are you waiting for something to happen or are you MAKING it happen? People have said to me in the past that it's not as easy as making your mind up and suddenly it's done. Well that may be true but does anyone really think that simply calling yourself a screenwriter is all it takes to have a successful screenwriting career?

Personally I work on many projects at a time, I call people, attend evens, write a blog, connect with groups via Facebook, twitter and email. If you are simply writing then you're only doing half the job. As I write this I'm contemplating bringing my latest short film to the Cannes Film Festival and finalizing the edit of that film and trying to promote http://www.indiegogo.com/3projects1year ... to  me that feels like three full time jobs, did you notice that I didn't mention writing in that?

Writing is something that I simply do, I couldn't live without it and without it I wouldn't be doing any of the other things I'm doing. Oh and just to let in in on a secret, I have a "real" job too! I've told you before about how I extended my waking hours to include more writing time but now I find that my writing time has become "Film project time" that could be writing, editing, contacting, pitching or learning (Yes, even the great Dave the screenwriter still tries to learn something new EVERYDAY).

And so the point of this mini blog entry: Screenwriting is just the start, the beginning of something much bigger that includes much more work. Of course you can disregard that if you never want anyone to read your scripts! I love the work, I love the industry, I love the people I know within the industry. I dream about the big room at Paramount, the Jack Wolf building at Universal, the large Bugs Bunny outside the Warner Bros. If you don't like the work, the people, the industry or the way it all fits together then maybe you are not a writer... maybe you're a producer!!

Write on!

Dave The Screenwriter

Oh and please check this out and help us if you can http://www.indiegogo.com/3projects1year thanks!
And another thing ... email me about anything dthescreenwriter@aol.com

Which one will be for you?

There are literally millions of ways to approach a film career, but first you need to know what you really want to be. Ok so you want to be a writer? What kind? For who? Are you happy writing for a low budget company that will keep coming back to you or are all of your scripts "tent-pole events"?

I know this touches on branding a little bit but it is important to know your exact goal. Don't worry you can change your goal at any time, but if you don't have one other than "I want to sell a script" then something is wrong. So what's so wrong with wanting to sell a script? Nothing, its a great idea but once you've done that what happens? I'll give you an example: A soccer player signs for Barcelona, he's always wanted to play for Barcelona but is that the en of his goal? No, he wants to score goals, win cups, break records etc etc etc. So what about you, do you have more goals that just making that one deal?

I've spoken to a lot of writers who say that they want that first deal and when I ask "then what?" they just say "I'll do it again" or "and then see what happens". Now personally I've just changed my goals, the path my career is on is about to take a huge change in direction but the ideas I've had have always been along the lines of: Sell a script - work with the producers to make a great movie - write on assignment - write newer and better scripts - get a manager and agent - make the manager's/agent's work EASY by being professional and easy to work with - get a higher level producer on board - make a better movie - become a respected pro - keep climbing the industry ladder -  write for a tv show - create a tv show - direct a movie - become a studio's go to guy - get a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. At any point in my plan can you see a mention of money, buying a big house or a fancy sports car? No, and the reason is because my job is to write... nothing else!

So that's today's blog, and the advice is to be yourself, find your own way and do it you own way. For the sake of yourself make a plan, you don't have to follow it and you can change it whenever you like but simply "do it all again" is not enough.

Remember if you fail to plan you plan to fail - crap I'm starting to sound like my Dad!

Write On!

Dave The Screenwriter

Make it happen

Let me ask you this simple question... who has the key to Hollywood for you? Is it Christopher Nolan? If you could only get your script to Natalie Portman would you be straight on the A list? Do you also believe in the tooth fairy? Bottom line, you are the only person who can make your dreams come true.

Easy to say right? The biggest problem I see with "aspiring" writers is that they expect that Hollywood will hunt them out, will knock on the door and hand them a check, simply not gonna happen bub! Being a screenwriter is NOT a get rich quick scheme, it's not a lottery ticket but so many people think that it is.

Last week I was handed a story by a guy I would call a very casual acquaintance, he told me that I was going to love it and that it was amazing. He later went on to tell me how we were going to make this film and distribute it worldwide all by ourselves and make 100's of millions of Dollars, alarm bells were ringing in my head. So I took the story, more out of courtesy than anything else and despite it looking like a twelve year olds homework I read it. I read a page and I was already struggling, there was no story it was as if he'd sneezed every idea he had onto a page and handed it to me in the hopes that I'd make his movie career.

And so a few days later I bumped into this "writer" again, he asked me what I thought of his story and as I told him that it wasn't ready to be a movie, that he needed to work on it for more than five minutes. His smile changed to a frown right in front of my eyes, I thought he was going to cry but instead he went on a rant about how I don't know a good thing when I see it and that he'd sue me if I ever made a film from the story that he wrote.

As I tried to encourage him and tell him that if he wants to be a writer that I would teach him the basics but that he would have to commit to it and work very very hard. He told me to "get lost" but in less nice terms and then proceeded to tell me that he really thought that I would have told him that it was great and that we'd go into production and make millions!

So the point of this blog? I see something like this nearly every week, people who see the film business as a route to fame and fortune within a very quick timeframe. Well it just isn't like that, this is a business and in order to make the big money and have the big profile you need to work hard, work hard and work hard. As the great A.C Lyles told me at Paramount recently "To make it in this business you need to be three things, obsessed, obsessed, obsessed!"

So please, don't think that this is a get rich quick scheme, it's a business and like any business the harder you work the more you'll get out of it.

Write On!

Dave The Screenwriter

OH and BTW on the right you'll see an ad for my crowd funding project, if you have a couple of spare bucks then check it out and become part of independent film history!

Good Luck.

indiegogo

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