Dear Friends,

I love movies. I fantasize about writing a screenplay one day. Or, that one of the short stories I'm cooking up will get noticed (say, in the New Yorker) and scooped up as a movie.

If you're like me, you have plenty of ideas that you think would make great movies that you've scratched out on the proverbial napkin, scrawled in tiny notebooks, penned in journals, or just given free roam in your head. You may even have a life story that's fantastical. Perhaps you've written a book you feel sure would make a great film.

What if you could turn those articles, ideas, books, stories or scribblings into a real movie?

This will be the subject of my next teleclass with a woman who runs a Los Angeles entertainment company that works with screenwriters and writer/directors; produces both film and television with a number of projects in various stages of development; and provides a collaborative brand development process to a dynamic list of consulting clients.

I'm not revealing her name just yet (I'll call her Miss P.) as she does not accept unsolicited inquiries or manuscripts but works directly with literary agents, film agents, entertainment attorneys and people like me whose clients have work ("properties" in film lingo) that may translate to the big screen or TV.

One of the things she and I discussed was that an idea from an unknown person must first be in some form before it can be sold. In other words, it needs to exist as a published article or book to make it concrete. First and foremost, she's selling a person, not just a property.

For example, my client Greg Mortenson of Central Asia Institute (CAI)) had a difficult time getting any kind of attention for his cause—building schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan—until Parade Magazine ran a piece on him when the war in Iraq was consistently in the news. (To date he's built 58 schools).

Overnight he was bombarded with requests from Hollywood people who wanted to buy the rights to his life story. One hopeful insisted that he jump on a plane to Montana that same day to meet with Greg—he wanted to be the first to scoop up those rights. Greg called me right after the Parade piece published to ask my advice about how to handle all the Hollywood inquiries....

Jump to 2007. Greg penned a book deal with Viking/Penguin and now has a New York Times Best Selling book that also won the Time Magazine - Asia Book of the Year Award, has spoken at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, and his pet project, "Pennies for Peace," started by elementary school kids, is thriving. Who knows what great things can happen when you get publicity and then get discovered by Hollywood....

To the Stars,

Susan

Selling Your Script or Idea: Going Hollywood

As a manager in Hollywood, Miss P., an executive with an entertainment management company, receives thousands of queries, yet only requests to see a few. This means that if you have a properly formatted, well told riveting story that you can be part of the few. Although she's actively looking for projects and new talent via email, hard copy letter or fax, she prefers email. Most Hollywood agents won't respond to queries they have no interest in, and many don't even consider ideas from new (read inexperienced) writers. It's imperative to know the rules....

Miss P. says that it's an absolute faux pas to send multiple query letters or even to make contact to find out the status of your query. How to know what works so you'll get a response?

1. Clearly State the Genre.

"The scripts that sell as specs tend to be very basic-genre driven. As someone once told me, that means the ideas 'sit in a chair, as opposed to falling between chairs'," she says. "A basic-genre has a particular structure and certain story beats that it needs to hit. The genres that typically have the most commercial appeal are—on the light side, comedy - which can be "broad comedy" for a wider audience (Liar Liar or Bringing Down the House) or "teen" oriented (American Pie), romantic-comedy (Sweet Home Alabama or The Wedding Planner), action-comedy (Lethal Weapon or True Lies); and —on the dark side, action (Fast and the Furious), thriller (Sixth Sense), and horror (The Ring). Each of these genres elicits a certain emotion from the audience unlike the terms 'period', 'sports', 'musical', 'family', or 'sci-fi, which can be married to these basic genres."

2. Develop a One to Two Sentence Logline.

After noting the genre, your logline is the next thing an agent or manager reviews. It's your "sell" sentence that sums up the story and gives enough of a teaser about what is to come that makes it unputdownable. Here are some examples from current movies: Pursuit of Happyness—True story of a once-homeless single father, Christopher Gardner, who raised himself up to become a successful stock broker.

The Queen—The story of the death of Princess Diana of Wales and the relationship between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the British Royal Family upon hearing of her death.

And an old favorite: When Harry Met Sally—In this romantic comedy, after meeting each other on the drive from college to New York, a man and woman continuously run into one another. They're repelled by one another at first, but over time they come to learn that they were meant to be together.

3. Create Your Synopsis.

Your synopsis is a more detailed summary of the story that gives a flavor of your style. Here is the one for Shaw Shank Redemption—Andy Dufresne, a mild mannered New England banker, is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Despised at first by the other inmates because of his introverted manner, Andy slowly forges an unlikely friendship with Red, a seasoned lifer and his gang. Soon, Andy also becomes popular with the prison guards, including the vicious Captain Hadley who offers him protection against the jail's rougher convicts in exchange for financial counseling. The prison warden also takes advantage of Andy's banking knowledge by exchanging privileges for creative bookkeeping. Over a twenty year period, Andy is able to maintain his sanity and dignity in prison not by physical force but by mental force. His smarts and confidence keep him going and he is able to teach the other prisoners that hope is the ultimate means of survival.

4. Make it Emotional.

Pitch master Michael Hauge, who has consulted on projects for Warners, Disney, Columbia, New Line, CBS, and more, tells us that people don't go to the movies "so they can see the characters on the screen laugh, cry, get frightened, or get turned on. They go to have those experiences themselves." He says they want to have the opportunity to "experience emotion." Keep this key point in mind when you're preparing to pitch your idea. Recommended Reading: "Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read," by Michael Hauge. (BTW, Miss P. was one of the industry experts interviewed in his book).

5. Submit Your Query.

The more you know about the firm and the person you're sending your query to the better. This should go without saying, but so many people submit their ideas to agents, managers, attorneys and entertainment firms without knowing the first thing about their focus, how they prefer to receive submissions, and in what form they prefer their submissions.

Even I get emails addressed to "Dear Sir" asking me for aid, information and guidance. I don't read them. Imagine an agency getting hundreds of such requests a week. You'll need to get and keep the attention of the gatekeepers in the first 10 seconds that it takes to read your logline. Know how to submit your query properly.

Miss P. says, "Your arc as a writer is to transition from outsider to insider, and the more access and credibility you have within the system the easier it is to facilitate certain types of projects, especially dramas, independent films, or something you would like to helm as a director. Also consider that most of the movies you are seeing are ideas that have been internally developed by studio producers, based on their own idea, an article, a book adaptation, a re-make or a sequel. New writers' ideas are held to a higher standard than a lot of what is getting made by the insiders."

How to Navigate the Film & Television Industry to Get Your
Idea Sold or Made into Movies & TV Series

Join me and Miss P. to discover how you can get your book or story made into a movie or television series.

Miss P. is an entertainment professional based in Los Angeles. She is a partner at a firm that produces film and television projects, represents writers and directors, and consults on entertainment and media brands. Most recently the company has sold two television projects they are producing based on books to the major networks, two projects as cable movies, and a book to a major studio currently being developed as a feature film.

You'll learn:

• The five recent trends that have changed the face of movies, television, and publishing - and present you with more opportunities than ever before.
• Why published books, ordinary people, and experts in their fields are sought after commodities.
• The Three Reasons Hollywood Buyers Buy - What are they looking for? From whom? And what motivates them to commit to your project?
• What your literary agent may not know about Hollywood that can help you take control of your film and television rights, with your agent or publicist's blessing.
• How to assess if your material is a feature film, television movie, or television series.
• How to get in front of the right people in the right way.

NOTE: You'll receive a confirmation email with the call details typically within a few hours of sending an email. If you do not, please check your spam filter and/or whitelist the name: newslettereditor@prsecretstore.com.

Limit: The first 100 people—register early so you get on the call.

P.S. You can only get Miss P's name and contact info. by signing up for and attending the teleclass. It will NOT be posted later.

SpeakerMatch Speakers Success Summit
June 22-24 in Chicago IL

According to Bryan Caplovitz, Founder of SpeakerMatch, "The #1 Mistake Most Potential Professional Speakers and New Speakers Make The First Few Years When Starting Their Speaking Business: Underestimating The Difficulty of the Task!"

Speaking is a crucial part of building your PR platform. Attend this summit for a step by step plan to build a solid speaking business fast.

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• Strategies to get referrals and golden reference letters so you'll get more speaking engagements.
• Proven techniques successful speakers use to get and stay booked solid.

Outlet for Positive News: Ode Magazine

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Come Meet Me

Anywhere in the World
Christian Work at Home Moment
March 5, 2006
6:30pm CST on KCRO 660 AM
KCRO 660 AM, Omaha or listen
anytime at http://cwahm.com/wordpress/blog/

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NOTE: Some new classes do not yet have descriptions. Your patience is appreciated.

Quote

My agent said: "You aren't good enough for the movies."
I said: "You're fired."

~ Sally Field