Preparing for Austin

In twelve days, I leave for Austin, Texas, where I'll be attending the Austin Film Festival and Screenwriting Conference.

Funny how time can sneak up on a person. I first decided to go to Austin in December 2008, before I even knew that I would have three months off work. I made the decision to go because I was at the point where I had to decide whether I was going to give screenwriting the same effort as fiction.

Now, you'd think this would be a no-brainer, but I fell into trying screenwriting without any intent to do so on my part. Back when I was at Simon Fraser, I script read for a couple of small studios in Vancouver. I did it more for the reading material than for the $30 a script I was paid.

Fast-forward three years. I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea. It wasn't a book. It wasn't a short story. It wasn't an anthology. No, it was a movie. Loud and clear. I mentioned the idea to my brother (who liked it), and then promptly forgot about it for another couple of years ...until my brother told me he wanted us to enter a small pitch contest run by the Vancouver Film School. I said, "Sure."

I wrote a 1 page pitch, expecting nothing to come of it. Six weeks later, my brother calls. "So, we made the second round," he said.

"Really - what does that mean?" I ask.

"It means you need to write a treatment."

"What's a treatment?"

...can you see where this is going? I ended up writing a 25 page treatment (in a weekend), which eventually made it to the final round - where we got to practice pitch to a (known - I checked) Hollywood Agent.

Nothing like getting in over my head. I think I was too dumbfounded by the whole experience to be nervous. Fortunately, it went well. If I had had the script done, I could have sent it to him...but I was a long way from that point. ::chuckle:: We also made the top 12 of the Toronto International Film Festival Pitch Contest with the same pitch. Not bad for my first movie-concept.

It wasn't until I wrote the script (three years later), that I realised how much I liked screenwriting. Of course, by the time I sat down, I knew the story like I know my own history. I wrote the draft in 4 days. My brother has gotten some good industry feedback on the script, now he just needs $10 million to produce it. Believe it or not, I fully expect him to get it too - although who knows when that will be.

I wasn't about to wait. I told him while he got dibs on the first movie, the second was mine to do with as I pleased. Of course, saying that made me realise I really wanted to write another script. I had so much fun with the first, I was desperate to do a second. That's what prompted the very real conversation with myself (don't all writers talk to themselves?) about whether screenwriting was as interesting to me as writing fiction or editing anthologies.

My answer was yes.

Which is why I decided that I needed to figure out more about screenwriting than talking to my brother, reading scripts, and working on consulting projects for the industry as a part of my day job could give me.

That's when I decided to go to a convention.

My first real convention for fiction was the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal (2001). A better place to meet industry participants (i.e., writers, editors, agents, etc.) you've never seen. Not if you write Fantasy, that is.

I decided to find the equivalent for screenwriting. What I found was The Austin Screenwriters Conference.

I said if I finished the first draft of Script #2, I could go without regret. After all, finishing #2 would prove I was dedicated.

Side Note: the aside to write television show pitches doesn't count as dedication...I did that because it was fun. I fully expect zilch to come of it. What do I know about TV after all?

Of course, I don't have Script #2 done yet. I am at least 85 pages away from the end (assuming a 90 page minimum as it's a feature).

Well - I have 12 days. I wrote the first one in 4. I imagine even with going home for Thanksgiving, I'll have 7 full days to get it done. 7 days. It should be a cinch ::cough::.

If I am dead in a week, you'll likely know why.

Jana