Dreams on Spec

Dreams on Spec is a documentary about three aspiring screenwriters (spec monkeys as the scribosphere would have it) trying to break in, intercut with interviews with rich, successful pro monkeys, er, screenwriters. I haven't seen it, but maybe some of you will find it interesting. Site is here. Lemme know what you think.

Why You Shouldn't Just Use the RSS

I almost always wind up editing my posts after I've posted them. The RSS feed, though, comes from the first draft of the post. So if you've got a feed hooked up to this site, then I recommend you actually click though to the blog entry. That way you'll see the current edition of the post, with any corrections, clarifications or updates. If you don't, you might be missing something.

Of course it's your own trip, so be my guest, but please be aware that there is a warning on that one.

Mobisodes

At the Just for Pitching event, the Comedy Central guy mentioned that they're looking for 2-minute segments suitable for viewing on a cell phone or iPod's two inch screen, to release as "mobile content."

I've been hearing about mobile content for several years now. I wasted a bit of time with a producer who wanted an animated series of 90 second cartoons; it turned out that he didn't actually envision paying anyone until (or if) he sold the show somewhere. Since then other producers have asked if I'd like to "partner up" with them, i.e. I come up with a series concept and write a few short scripts for free, and then they'll see if anyone's interested. No one has explained to me yet where the payday is, though they're all convinced there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The only success story I can point to is Têtes à Claques, the web-based Québecois animation phenomenon: if you're a Bell cell phone subscriber you can watch the episodes on your cell phone a week before they come out on the Web. But that was a phenomenon before Bell bought in.

Mobisodes are a fundamentally new medium. The screen is ridiculously small. You can really only have one thing in a frame that size. If you're having an explosion, the explosion fills the frame. If you're having a conversation, it's all closeups, no wide shot. How does that affect the kind of stories you can tell?

But it's not just the size of the frame.

The audience is also downloading whenever the episode is ready. Should that be on a regular or an irregular basis?

Do all episodes have to be the same length? Why should they be?

But my big question gets back to: how do I get paid? How do the actors get paid? Am I paid per download? Or is the platform (the cell phone service provider, or iTunes) producing a lot of content that they're paying for up front, and everyone's paid a reasonable advance against royalties? Or do they buy the show outright?

And how do you get paid for providing mobisode content when YouTube is giving content away for free? Or as Sam Goldwyn once said about B movies, why would people pay to see bad movies in a theater when they can watch bad movies on TV for free?

It's the Wild West out there. But has anyone struck silver yet?

Does anyone have more info on successful mobisode productions?

UPDATE: See Bill Cunningham's comment for links to two articles about downloadable content. Japanese kids are buying manga to read on their handsets, which is a big step forward in e-book technology. (The concept of spraying ink on paper, and then physically shipping it to someone who will read it once and then throw it away seems so, well, 20th Century.) And 24 has a sideline series of 24 one-minute episodes.

Note that manga-by-email is not a new medium -- it's just a new method of delivering the old medium of the graphic novel. Meanwhile the 24 mobisodes are a promotional item for the series. They're not making money off them directly; and even if they were charging for downloads, the mobisodes rely on the enormous promotional boost of the hot TV series. I'm still waiting to hear about a series that was created for, and paid for by, the mobile screen.

It's Actually Pronounced "Hoose." It's Dutch, You See

Q. When I first decided to write a spec script for "House," I bought several "House" scripts off eBay. They are production scripts, further along than a spec script would be, of course. But here's my question--given the complex pronunciations of some of the medical terms in my script, should I include a pronunciation list in the front, like the actual scripts do? I'm assuming I don't need to include a location list or a character list--or maybe I do?

I wouldn't put a pronunciation guide. That's for the actors. Definitely no location list or character list. Those are strictly for production.

Good job on your homework!

And a Time to Every Purpose

Q. When's the best time of your to send out a spec screenplay to potential agents? I'm writing a spec this Autumn with a view to having it out to agents early in the New Year.

Timing isn't as critical for features and feature agents. I would avoid sending anything out in August, which is pretty dead, and December, when people are wrapping things up so they can leave town for Chrismukkah. January is good because people are back at their desks and feeling antsy about getting something done. I would say the second week people are back is good.

For the TV season, check out my many posts on staffing season.

See? It Is Possible

Various people from places that are not a nexus of international showbiz (hi, Branko!) occasionally write in to ask if it's possible to sell a script to Hollywood. My usual response is that it is theoretically possible, because Hollywood doesn't care where you wrote your spec, they just want a great hook. Often, however, I can tell from the email that the writer is not a native speaker of American English; then their script is almost certainly doomed.

Here my old friend and fellow staffer on CHARLIE JADE, Dennis Venter, goes and proves me right. (Via other fellow CJ staffer Denis-with-one-n) He's in South Africa, an easy 20 hours flying time from LA, and he's gone and sold a spec.

Dennis is an extremely experienced writer, mind you. In S.A. they pay practically nothing for scripts, which tends to encourage lots of writing for those few guys who can support themselves (and in Dennis's case, Lovely Wife and Adorable Kids). So his cops are pretty good. You can sell a spec to Hollywood from far away, but it still has to kick butt.

Good on ya, Dennis! Drop a note and tell us how it happened!

Writer Blogs

Amanda the Aspiring lists a couple of TV show writer blogs. Here's the one for Burn Notice, which I missed on the USA network. And here's the one for Brothers and Sisters. Check'em out.

Not Fanboys; Execs

Q. In a spec script, which is a more pressing concern? a) That the reader won't be familiar with a certain aspect/plot point of the show necessary to the plot, or b) that the reader will be annoyed by an explanation of said plot point, etc.

Well, you can't just up and explain the plot point to the reader. A spec is supposed to look and feel like a real script for that series. On the other hand you can't rely on execs to be completely up on their show mythology.

How do you split the difference? You can try to have a story that stands by itself, that doesn't rely too heavily on arcane show knowledge. This is easier in an episodic show like HOUSE or CSI than a serial. Or, you can make it self-explanatory.

For example you can depend on readers to know that Commander Adama commands the fleet running away from the evil robots, but if you want us to know who slept with whom once, find a sneaky way to let us know. E.g. "he stops awkwardly, noticing her. He's still embarrassed that they slept together." There, you've told us, without making it look like you're dumping expo on us.

Bear in mind, the execs who are reading your scripts may not be fans of the show you're speccing. You can expect that if you've chosen one of the hot specs for this year, your readers (producers and execs) will be conversant with the show. But they may not have a deep appreciation of the show; so they may not get how clever you are if you've hung your whole episode on one of the finer points of the show's mythos.

They're more concerned about whether you've nailed the characters and their dialog, tone, structure, and the sort of story that show tells, than whether you are weaving your story into the narrative framework of the show's current season. After all, you're audition for free lancer -- and not for the show you're speccing. So if you succeed, they will either be asking you to write a mostly stand-alone show anyway, or they will give you strict marching orders for how your show weaves in.