Writing a Spec Pilot

About two weeks ago, my brother asked me whether I had any ideas for action shows. At the time, I didn't - but I said I would give it some thought.

Low and behold, an idea popped into my head last weekend. With some brainstorming help from my writing partner, I developed an outline for the show.

All well and good -- except that the pilot episode has decided that it wants to be written....right now. No, seriously...right now. If I could take a week off work to write it, it might've been done by now.

Kind of funny since the concept doesn't actually fit my brother's need (episodic action/adventure).

But hey -- I've never actually written a television show episode before (despite making a number of pitches), so why not? It'll be a nice challenge -- and kind of fun.

So yes -- my next project will be the pilot for a television series. Technically, it's my current project, since I've already started it. Today, I developed the episode template, outlined the scenes, and wrote the first scene (i.e., the teaser).

I think "fast and furious" is going to be the way with this script. Barring any unforeseen circumstances -- I will have all three days of the Labour Day weekend to write it. I have a good feeling I'll have a first draft done by the end of it.

We'll see. Note that I'd still need to make the script good after that. ::laugh::

Austin Film Festival

I've been trying to summarize the Austin Film Festival in under 20 pages. Alas, my writing skills have failed me. So, instead of making you wonder about the great a time I had there, I decided to post my top 10 list of why the Austin Screenwriters Conference is worth its weight in gold.

10. The hotel it was hosted in is amazing. The Driskill is an 19th century hotel - akin to one of the old CN hotels (now mostly owned by Fairmont). My room was spectacular -- with stained glass windows, high ceilings, and even a library with (real!) books.

9. The Pitch Contest was more than I could have hoped for. It wasn't a "competitive" contest in my mind. The real value of participating was obtaining feedback from working screenwriters on my verbal pitch. Even more impressive, a few hours after my session I ran into both my judges again -- and we chatted for another 20 minutes about my concept. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and thoughtfulness, not only to me but to a wide range of other people -- including those who have never pitched before. I was happy to learn that I pitched well (comes from being a consultant) but need to learn to communicate the key movie elements of a Fantasy concept better -- and more visually. It was extremely valuable advice, and has already impacted how the Summer of Flight screenplay starts. I've added a new scene which makes the whole movie flow better. Thanks guys.

8. The Panelists were varied and thoughtful. A range of screenwriters (and agents, managers, and development executives) representing big-blockbusters and others of smaller, more character driven stories were represented. I got to meet the person who wrote the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies (and Shrek), the writer of X - Men, writers on Star Trek, and one of the Producers of Lost. Oh, and Mad-Men. At the same time, I spoke with a representative of Flower Films, and a woman who is currently working to develop small (Under $5 million) movies in partnership with Essence Magazine.

7. One of the movies screening was called Tales from the Script and was well worth seeing. It was an excellent documentary of interviews with working screenwriters. I was lucky enough to have breakfast with the screenwriter, who also has a companion book (with the same title) coming out from Harper Collins next year. I saw the ARC, and look forward to buying the book.

6. The Apollo 13 Retrospective was incredible. I was amazed at this. In addition to the screenwriters, and Ron Howard, the AFF brought in Captain Jim Lovell who commanded the mission, and several other NASA folks, who all participated in a Q&A after the movie. Additionally, before the screening, they showed real footage from the Apollo 13 mission -- things I've never seen before. This was priceless to me.

5. People talked to me. This may seem funny, but I mean it with great sincerity. I thought the World Fantasy Writers Conference was nice because many attendees are working writers -- and it's a great way to learn about publishing -- but in Austin, even though I didn't know anyone, I had the chance to just go up and say hello to people (including Ron Howard!) and say hello. Additionally, people just chatted with me. Unless you know an editor at WFC, your chances of talking to one is slim. Here, I spoke with several development executives (of well reputable companies), not to mention agents and mangers.

4. I learned more about the business of screenwriting in 4 days than I would have in 5 years. For instance, I now know the difference between agents and managers -- and why query letters (which are bread and butter in publishing) don't really work for film. I also learned exactly what happens when you go into a "pitch meeting" and what a bunch of standard phrasings mean (which my brother corroborated once I told him...but never would have thought to ask about otherwise). I also learned from an Agent/Client panel exactly what the relationship is, and how it differs from a similar relationship in publishing. Every single thing I learned was fascinating, and pretty much every question asked received a thoughtful response.

3. The Roundtables are priceless. These are 1.5 hour panels, where you sit at a table of 10, and 1 person is the speaker. Three times during the panel, the speaker changes. At the conference, there were a number of roundtables -- with directors, producers, executives, writers, and writer/producers. I attended the one with executives, and found them all willing to demystify how they work.

2. The atmosphere is collegial and positive. Part of this is the unspoken rule that you shouldn't ask anyone to read your script. The idea is that over time, you will build relationships and people will then ask you what you write. There were several examples of just this kind of thing happening. With the unspoken rule in place, I found that everyone was very willing to answer questions, give advice, and provide their own stories -- because there was no pressure on them. Both participants and panellists could just enjoy and spend the time learning from each other. One panelist even mentioned that he now comes back every year to remind himself of when he was on the other side. In other words -- people were there to inspire you. They were brutally candid at times, but always positive and thoughtful in their responses to questions.

1. I met Ron Howard. How much more inspirational can you get? Okay -- I couldn't get up the nerve to ask for a picture with him (didn't want to look silly) but I did get the below candid shot.

1. People treated everyone like screenwriters. Okay, so I have two items marked Number 1. Sorry. But really, this was also something that really struck a cord. Every person who attended was treated as a professional -- even the high school students who were on special passes. Part of this may be the fact that many attendees are also independent producers, but part of it goes back to the collegial atmosphere. One of the funniest things I heard someone say at the convention was the following:

• Agent: You should always be on the lookout to meet agents
  and managers. It's never to early to build relationships.
• Attendee: Even if you haven't written anything
  yet?
• Agent: Okay -- I admit, I did make some assumptions. (i.e.,
  she expected everyone in the audience to have already written
  something).

So -- Overall, Austin was incredible. I have already told my brother it would be worth his time to attend next year. It is a very pricey conference to attend. ($650 for the Producer badge -- although only $495 if ordered before the New Year). However, this badge -- if you can afford it -- is worth every cent as it gets you into all the private parties where you can meet a lot of the special guests. One thing I can say. While the hotel is lovely -- you don't need to stay at the Driskill. Save the cost of the hotel and put it into the badge if you need to make a choice

I haven't quite committed to going next year -- but I would say the likelihood of my attending is very high. As in almost guaranteed. It would take a lot for me to miss it.

It will all depend on how things go for the rest of my writing retreat. Which I am now on -- on the sunny shores of Honolulu, Hawaii. Ahhh. The warmth is spectacular. I am finally getting the summer Toronto never had.

Revelations

I initially decided to write the Summer of Flight screenplay so that I could get another script done fairly quickly. Since the first was written from a comprehensive treatment -- and was quick to write -- I assumed a second, based on the book, would be the same.

Additionally, I thought that writing the screenplay would help me determine if the plotting of the novel worked - because I find plot holes to be far more visible in a movie.

I have found both of these assumptions to be true. I wrote 56 pages of the script in 4 days (with a couple of days spent doing other things) -- of these, the first half flowed very easily, just as expected. Then, yesterday, I had a revelation.

As I was writing one of the turning point scenes, I realised I had done something ridiculous in the novel. In this particular scene, one of the characters didn't appear. Why? That is a question I asked myself.

"He really should be there," I said. "By not being there, why would the main character trust him later?"

"But that would complicate the story," I argued. Oh. OH! That's a good thing.

Needless to say, I think this is the reason I've been unable to write that final missing middle chapter. My brain was telling me it wasn't right. The script made the problem blindingly obvious.

So, what does this mean for the story? Well, 4 chapters of the novel need to be re-written (to include said character), including the missing chapter. For the screenplay, I've plotted out the revisions, and now need to make them. Once done, I should be back on track again.

Fortunately, the changes don't affect the end of the book. It just makes the middle more interesting.

What it does mean is that I am not going to meet my self imposed deadline - but I believe both the novel and the script will be better for it. And truthfully, I planned next week as a buffer week, so my overall goals shouldn't be affected. I hope.

So, what was the purpose of this post? To say that whatever else I realised this week -- the script is doing exactly what I hoped it would do: pointing out the flaws in the story.

That's not to say my test-reader won't find plenty more ...

Now? It's off to Austin!

A Successful Day

Today, I had the best writing day of my time-off so far -- writing 20 pages of the movie script.

Even better, I am quite happy with how it is coming out. I've had to change a few things -- because a movie is different than a book -- but so far the story is coming along quite well. Thank goodness for that.

Tomorrow, I am going to see the premiere of my brother's movie "Kissed by Lightning" - I believe it is his first film with official "Producer" credit. I can't wait. Tonight - it's the premiere of Where the Wild Things Are ... mostly because it looks lovely.

UPDATE:

Where the Wild Things Are was as lovely as I'd hoped. It was visually spectacular - and a brilliantly written movie. It was understated, yet right on the mark. And the boy playing Max was spot on.

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