Power Ideaz

We received a survey from a college student looking for more information about what a screenplay writing career looks like (see below). My response is posted below.I’m interested in what other writers out there have to say. Tell me, what’s been your experience of a screenplay writing career?Survey starts:1) Are there any specific training, certification, or licensing requirements for this profession?2) What does the career ladder look like? Is there a stratification in employment opportunities or is it a very self-motivated profession? What does the salary range look like?3) What personal skills, attributes, attitudes that individuals in thisoccupation find important/useful?4) What changes to the occupation over the last 10-15 years have occurred? – downsizing, multiple roles, paradigm shifts, etc. What changes are anticipated in the next 5-10 years?My response:1) Are there any specific training, certification, or licensing requirements for this profession?If you are a screenwriter, you are a professional. You need to have the usual trade license required for professionals to practice. It varies from country to country. Besides, in USA there is the WGA (Writers’ Guild of America)… you may or may not be their member. Members get some benefits from the association but must maintain a minimum rate set by the association to prevent unhealthy undercutting of rates. We have a similar association called Film Writers’ Association in India, for Bollywood/Indian screenwriters.Most film schools offer training of screenwriting, but you can also be a screenwriter without a formal training. There are good books available in the market; you can read those; you can read scripts and you should watch good movies. Ultimately if you are not passionate about screenwriting, a formal training will not help you much. On the other hand if you are very passionate and enthusiastic, a formal training may not be necessary.2) What does the career ladder look like?  Is there a stratification in employment opportunities or is it a very self-motivated profession?  What does the salary range look like?A large number of screenwriters try to come to this profession passion driven, but since opportunities are limited, many of them later divert to other mainstream professions, getting no success. For those who stick to it and see success, the earning graph is very unevenly distributed. In the beginning some even write for free to get an opportunity with a big house. Some write for as low as $1,500 a script. The rate shoots up considerably once there is one produced movie in your credit. In India it can be around $15,000 when you have one produced movie. It shoots up many times and becomes a gigantic, enviable figure once you give a hit. It can cross $50.000 for a single movie. American rates are more.3) What personal skills, attributes, attitudes that individuals in this occupation find important/useful?Those who are passionate about cinema, watch good movies by the best directors, have participated in creative writing as students, are likely to be good screenwriters.4) What changes to the occupation over the last 10-15 years have occurred? – downsizing, multiple roles, paradigm shifts, etc. What changes are anticipated in the next 5-10 years?In the last 15 years the screenplay writers’ playground has become a lot more international. Due to the internet and popularity of mixed cultural movies, the screenwriter does not only serve the local market. We have Indian writers writing American movies (I have done so); American writers writing Indian Bollywood movies (US screenwriter duo Joshua and Briyan wrote the Bollywood movie Blue; US writer David Benullo wrote the Bollywood sci fi movie Ra 1, etc.)I did not see any downsizing, but I am not writing screenplays for 15 years; so I may not be the right person to answer this.In the next 15 years, screenplay writers will have to update themselves technically and adapt to rapidly changing new technologies.

By Pinaki GhoshHappy Halloween friends!This is one day of the year that reminds me of the hundreds of horror movies I have watched throughout my life. Most of them did not touch me; but some definitely did. I quite clearly remember the first two horror movies I watched as a child. The first was William Friedkin’s ‘The Exorcist’, the second, Sam Raimi’s ‘Evil Dead’. I still remember spending several nights (after watching these movies) not being able to go to the toilet, and my bladder growing unbearably; imagining something or someone was under my bed in the dark room, waiting to catch my leg if I got down from the bed. I even imagined the hands that would have caught my leg… rough, cold, with razor sharp long nails.And today, some of the best horror movie screenwriters are available through TheScreenplayWriters.com, founded by Nick and me; and we are writing scary scenes to frighten others.Let’s find out what a horror movie screenwriter and filmmaker should keep in mind while writing a horror screenplay.Be original, do not follow clichéWhat makes good horror movies different from bad horror movies is originality. Good horror movies are based on original thoughts while bad horror movies follow cliché ideas and trends. It is easy for the horror movie screenwriter to step into the trap of following former successful horror movies. As a result we have seen several horror movies that follow the trend of Evil Dead or Friday The 13th.  As a horror screenwriter, remember that the viewers have already watched plenty of scary scenes in the past and don’t want to be bored by the same old stuff. So, by all means, avoid preparing old wine in a new bottle.Feel the deepest fearsA horror screenwriter should experience fear first hand. Unless she or he does so, the output produced will be dispassionate and done just for the sake of doing it. Try to face your deepest fears. Feel genuinely frightened. Not that you can do that on purpose, but try to remember the incidents when you felt really really scared, or came close to death. Take a walk on one of the scariest roads in town after midnight. Or take the last train in a notorious route. How did you feel? Put that down on paper.Think of 1 – 3 scenes never seen on screen beforeA horror screenplay writer has the remote control of making a movie a success or a failure. All successful horror movies had at least 1 scene that was never seen on screen before. Remember the spider walk scene of ‘The Exorcist’, the tree rape scene of ‘Evil Dead’ and the scene where the chairs are suddenly found inverted, in ‘Poltergiest’? These were scenes that were never seen before, and were implanted in the memory of the viewers for several years. Many of us saw these scenes as a child but still remember the scenes. As a horror screenplay writer you have to come up with 1 – 3 such absolutely original scary scenes, which were never before seen on screen and will leave a lasting impression in the minds of the viewers.Surprise beginning, slow buildup, high climax, scariest scenes towards the endThat is pretty much the formula of horror movies. As a horror movie screenwriter, you have to start with a surprise beginning, and then build up the first act with almost no extreme occurrences, except one or two elements of suspense and surprise speckled here and there, to keep the interest of the viewers alive. These will get more frequent in the second act, leading to a high climax, which should have the scariest scenes. Of course you can think originally and break the rule, if you want to do an original experiment with horror screenwriting.Make things appear realA majority of horror movies appear unreal. The viewers watch it, but they are never really drawn into it, as everything appears unreal. As a horror movie screenwriter, try to write your screenplay in a way that the characters, dialogs and the incidents appear as real and as life-like as possible. If you look at the movies of Manoj Night Shyamalan, his dialogs, characters and incidents appear very real. That is one of the reasons of his cusses as a horror screenwriter. For that purpose you can also check out ‘The Ring’.Do not end up appearing funnyOne of the toughest challenges of a horror screenwriter is to keep the script natural and dignified. Any overdose of anything can make your screenplay appear hilarious on screen. Often we laugh all through bad horror movies. Make sure your script will not appear funny on screen, unless your intention is to make a horror parody movie.Avoid CG and special effects for low budget horror moviesAs a horror movie screenwriter, avoid writing scenes that require the help of computer graphics (CG), special and animation.  These are great for big budget movies, and big movies will never be made without the help of these. But in low budget movies, animation, computer graphics and special effects scenes look extremely poor quality-wise, due to lack of a standard budget and hence should be avoided. An otherwise good horror movie screenplay can get spoiled by the use of poor CG and special effects. Write only scenes that can be shot without the help of CG, animation and special effects.Watch plenty of horror movies before you startNot to copy, but to tune your mind, you, as a horror screenwriter need to watch plenty of horror movies… preferably good ones, before you actually start working on your project.

By Pinaki GhoshGood news is that we at TheScreenplayWriters.com have been writing a number of animation films this month and a few more are in the pipeline. Somehow the word went around that we have specialist animation screenwriters.But how different is animation screenwriting from usual screenwriting for live action movies? Let’s check out.1. First, if you are writing the screenplay of an animation movie, in other words, if you are an animation screenwriter, you should be ideally someone who has grown up reading comicbooks and graphic novels. Writers who have vast knowledge of comicbooks and graphic novels will be better animation screenwriters than who have never really loved reading comicbooks and graphic novels.2. The animation screenwriting format is usual. Exactly similar to live action movies. You can write it using Microsoft Word, Open Office Word, Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter in the usual screenplay format.3. Keep the dialogs brief and interesting. Ideally single sentences. Long, boring dialogs are usually unusual in animation screenplays.  Keep that in mind as an animation screenwriter.4. However, keep your action descriptions vivid. That is one way animation screenplays are different from normal screenplays. The animation artists should be able to understand the actions and depict them exactly. As such the animation screenwriter must pay attention in clearly describing each action. You cannot afford to cut it short here, as your vision may not reach the animation artists if your action description is too brief.5. Maintain a fast pace. Two talking heads covering 7 minutes in one location is not what animation viewers are prepared to watch. As an animation screenwriter, keep changing scenes frequently and avoid stagnation.6. Avoid overcrowding of characters in one scene unless you are specifically told to do so. Try to keep two to three characters in a majority of scenes. Only a few scenes should have a large number of characters. It is difficult and expensive to put up a scene with a large number of animated characters.7. It is a good idea to watch a number of good animation films for a week before starting to write your animation screenplay. Not to pick up ideas, but to tune your mind. It is said what we write has 10% experience and 90% inspiration in it. Good works inspire us. The one week will be a good investment to boost your inspiration.

By Pinaki Ghosh Writing a movie script? Want to know the 13 secrets to get your screenplay rejected for sure? Read on.1. Offer camera directions in your screenplayDon’t trust the intelligence of the director or cinematographer and offer camera directions in your script like, ‘pan’, ‘zoom’, ‘dolly’, ‘trolley shot’ or ‘low angle shot’. That will make your script look like one from history and is a definite way of getting it rejected.2. Offer editing directions in your screenplaySimilarly, go ahead… show a complete disregard to the editor’s intelligence and write editing instructions like ‘cut to’, ‘dissolve’, etc. and your screenplay will look like a thing of the past. In modern day screenplays editing directions are no longer in vogue. Only ‘fade in’ and ‘fade out’ are used twice or thrice in an entire screenplay.3. Do not capitalize character namesDo not capitalize the character names while writing a movie script. Leave them in lowercase text and your screenplay will be rejected for sure. Similarly, leave words that denote sound, like WHOOSH, or CLANG in lowercase, to show how little you know.4. Make your screenplay shorter than 90 pages or longer than 130 pagesWhile writing a movie script, you should definitely make it longer than 130 pages, or shorter than 90 pages to make sure your screenplay goes straight into the trash bin, because normal screenplays are 90 pages to 130 pages in length.5. Write very lengthy dialogsWriting a movie script? Love writing interesting dialogs? Then go ahead and make them lengthy. Make each dialog lengthier than 5 lines and that will ensure your screenplay is ripped and made into paper airplanes.6. Write very lengthy scenesWhile writing a movie script, make sure your scenes are lengthy enough to get the screenplay rejected. While normally scenes are less than a page in length to maximum three pages, with 5 page scenes being an exception; you should concentrate in making your scenes more than 5 pages in length… to join the rejected screenplay writers’ club.7. Write lengthy descriptionsWhile the normal length of writing a scene description is 1 to 4 lines, you should break the rule and write at least 10 line scene descriptions to be a part of the frustrated screenwriters’ league.8. Use character names that sound and spell similarMake your character names sound confusingly similar. Or make them start with the same letter, so that the viewers are thoroughly confused.9. Use character names for very minor charactersGive character names to even minor characters that appear just once and have one line dialogs, to prove you want to get your screenplay rejected. While the rule is, you should use the professions to identify minor characters, rather than names, a violation of the rule is recommended if you want to do the opposite of normal.

Eg.  POLICE OFFICER

Show me your driving license. God save you if you don’t have one.

The above is normal, if this POLICE OFFICER appears only once in the entire movie. In a good screenplay, a name like ‘HARRY’ or ‘TOM’ or ‘DICK’ would have been inappropriate for this role.10. Use wired slug lines.Scenes start with slug lines like:INT. COFFEE HOUSE – NIGHTOrEXT. BEACH – DAYWhile normal screenplay writers use only ‘day’ or ‘night’, you can be a rebel and use wired slug lines like DUSK, DAWN, SUNSET TIME, SUNRISE TIME, to stay ahead in the race of getting your screenplay rejected.11. Make a mess of the alignmentAnd finally, make a mess of the alignment. While the rule is, scene slug lines and action descriptions should be extreme left aligned, character names should be center aligned and dialogs should be left aligned, but an inch towards the right.Eg. Correct format:EXT. ROAD – DAY

POLICE OFFICER

Show me your driving license. God save you if you don’t have one.

Sees the license

POLICE OFFICER (CONT’D)

This license has expired three months ago. Please come out of the car mister.

He opens the door and COLLIN walks out of the car.Wrong format:EXT. ROAD – DAYPOLICE OFFICERShow me your driving license. God save you if you don’t have one.Sees the licensePOLICE OFFICER (CONT’D)This license has expired three months ago. Please come out of the car mister.He opens the door and COLLIN walks out of the car.12. Use plenty of mood descriptions throughout the screenplayUse of phrases in brackets like (smiles), (looks worried), (laughs out loud) with every possible dialog to prove yourself to be a complete novice. Experienced screenwriters avoid using such phrases as far as possible because these are for the director to decide. Three such uses in a complete good screenplay are allowed.13. Do not visualizeWhile writing a movie script, write it just for the sake of writing it. Do not visualize anything in your mind’s eye. Do not bother if your scenes will be picturesque or boring.And of course, do not take the help of the premier screenwriting and script consultancy service TheScreenplayWriters.com, because this team of screenwriters is so good and powerful, your screenplay will never be rejected. To make sure your screenplay is rejected, they should be strictly avoided.

From our Google Analytics data I discovered that a lot of keywords leading visitors to our site www.TheScreenplayWriters.com were related to screenplay writer rate and other keywords close to that. It suggests that a lot of people are looking for more information about how much screenplay writers charge to write a screenplay. Since screenplay writers almost always do not announce their rates in public, there is ambiguity about ‘how much does it cost to get a screenplay written’ and ‘how much do screenplay writers charge’.WGA RatesWriters Association of America (WGA), which actually are two organizations (unions to be precise), one for the West Coast and another for the East Coast have fixed some minimum and maximum rates for all writers who are their members. This is basically to ensure writers are not underpaid, and there is no unhealthy competition and undercutting of rates.The highest, the lowestRoy McCardell, probably the first screenwriter of USA sold his short screenplays for $15 each in 1900. Going by the rate of depreciation, $15 today would have been less than $350.In 2003, Manoj Night Shyamalan, the American director and screenwriter of Indian origin charged $7.5 million for writing the screenplay of ‘The Village’.Screenwriters Terry Rossio and Bill Marsilii received $5 million for the screenplay of Déjà vu in 2005, which is a record for spec screenplay rates. Spec screenplay is a screenplay which is written without a formal order, or without the writer receiving any fees for it initially. He or she writes it without being paid and then tries to sell it to a studio or filmmaker.‘Against’Often we hear terms like a screenplay writer is paid $75,000 against $150,000, which actually means, the filmmaker guarantees the screenwriter a payment of $75,000. If the film is not made, the screenplay writer does not receive anything more than $75,000. But if the movie is made and released, the screenplay writer receives $150,000, which means an additional $75,000. Interesting, isn’t it?TheScreenplayWriters.com screenplay writers’ fees: 20% - 30% less than WGA ratesSo, the big question is what is the screenwriter’s salary if you choose to order a script with TheScreenplayWriters.com? We are very democratic regarding this, and have kept into consideration the inde filmmakers and student filmmakers who are tight on budget as well as big studios and producers, who want nothing but the best. Our rates start from $3,000 and goes up to over $100,000. The rate really depends on the writer who is writing your screenplay. But we are still the most reasonably priced screenplay agency around. Our rates are at least 20% to 30% less than WGA rates and that is one of the main reasons why more and more studios and filmmakers are choosing our service. We also offer innovative cost cutting solutions like getting your screenplay written by a middle order screenplay writer and then getting it refined and polished by a top order screenwriter. The result is a world class screenplay for a rate which is almost 40% less than WGA rates.

From the recent inquiries we discovered that a lot of student filmmakers looking for screenwriters are coming to us. So we decided to set up a team of writers exclusively for the student filmmakers, who are tight on budget.We may soon have another couple of really big names joining our team of screenplay writers. But I’d prefer to remain tight lipped till that is confirmed.I believe there are a couple of fantasy film screenwriting projects in the pipeline, which I expect to come to me this September. They come from two of my old clients. The demand for fantasy screenplays are also increasing stunningly. Harry Potter effect? Maybe. One thing is sure, till this Harry Potter bubble is intact, we will remain busy. :)Since we are catering both the Hollywood and Bollywood industries and as such have a team of writers who hail from both these massive industries, I discovered some interesting differences in the ways scripts are written in Hollywood and Bollywood.One. Hollywood filmmakers do not expect, neither allow the script writer to use camera and editing directions in their screenplay. That is left for the director and editor. I agree. If the screenplay writer decides how the camera should be placed or how it should move, or how the editing should be done, why the hell are the director and the editor employed? Just to follow the instructions of the screenwriter? In the Bollywood industry however I noticed some of the directors encourage the screenplay author to use camera directions like pan, trolley, or directions about the angle, as well as editing instructions. Interesting, isn’t it?Two. Now this is an interesting difference, and Hollywood may wonder why at all it is like that in Bollywood. Bollywood, in addition to script writers employ separate dialog writers, and dialog writers are separately given credit. The screenplay writer and the dialog writer are often different persons. Of course it is not that way in Hollywood. If I try to trace the roots of this practice, it comes from the days when melodramatic movies were made in Bollywood (arguably, this practice has not entirely been discontinued). There were separate writers, besides the screenplay writers, who could empower the dialogs, add spice to the dialogs and make them powerful. I have myself seen in my childhood, people in theatres used to burst into applause and throw coins at the screen when powerful dialogs were delivered. I don’t know if coin shower happens or happened anywhere else in the world. The practice of a dialog writer still exists in Bollywood, though nowadays in a lot of movies the screenplay writer and the dialog writer are the same person. But they get paid twice for the two roles. Nice… to get paid twice for one work.

I am back, after a 3 month break from blogging. My first 2 series were on small business and cyber theft protection. You can see those blog posts if you check the older posts. I decided to start blogging again, mainly on film writing.TheScreenplayWriters.com, which was my US writer friend Nick Blake’s and my brainchild, completed little more than 20 days since launch on 31 August and has bagged a number of new projects already.  Of course the people associated with the new service are not new; I feel glad to say, each of our team members have backgrounds of huge experience.TheScreenplayWriters.com is unique and one of its type because it is the only screenplay writers’ agency to employ both Hollywood and Bollywood screenwriters.The first project that was confirmed was director Raj Rahi’s  (Jo Bole So Nihal) new English movie Angel Jay. The name of the movie may change though. The second project to roll in was from Dubai, and was about the Iraq war. The subject was challenging, and I was already wreaking my brains with Raj Rahi’s project, so my US writer friend Nick Blake volunteered to take up the Iraq movie project. When the Iraq movie project came up, Nick was on a vacation in Maine with his wife Laura and we had massive communication problems, with the mobile phone signal fading out more often than not, from Nick’s side. Nick had to come to the town library in Maine to check my mails and reply them. I hope I did not ruin Nick’s perfectly planned holiday.The next to come was a Bengali movie project, which has not been finalized yet. It was piece of cake for me, because I am a Bengali by birth. Did I forget to mention that there was a Kannada movie screenplay enquiry on the second week? Though I was not too keen to take up the project simply because I don’t know the language (but would love to), Nick however was very eager to take up the project and spent one day searching for a reliable Kannada film writer.There were a couple of very positive enquiries from Gurgaon and Bangalore. Both from first time filmmakers, whose passion is genuine. Hopefully the Bangalore project will materialize this month and the Gurgaon screenplay project will take longer.Good news is that a lot of good film writers are approaching us and we have found some really talented writers in the process. One writer I would like to mention is Shivani T, who wrote the story ‘Sex on the Beach’, one of the ten short stories of the critically acclaimed film ‘Dus Kahaniya.’