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FUTURE TOPICS What we're working on: - Part 3 of Hero is a Four-Letter Word: by Melanie Ann Phillips, creator of Story Weaver software (and co-creator of Dramatica Pro) and workshop leader - Writing a Blockbuster Movie Part 5 by John Truby, script consultant, creator of Truby's Blockbuster software and Truby's Online Courses - Beyond Theme: Understanding Story's New Unified Field by James Bonnet, author of Stealing Fire from the Gods: A Dynamic New Story Model for Writers and Filmmakers and workshop leader [ back to top ] EXPERT SERIES Writing Loglines that Sell by Jonathan Treisman Have you ever been stuck listening to a friend tell you a joke that seems to go on without ever reaching the punch line? Your mind starts wandering and you stop paying attention as the joke painfully loses its momentum. Pitching your ideas effectively, whether from a script, novel or even your own mind, does not come naturally for most of us. But with a little practice, it can. Once you learn what a "High Concept Idea" is and how to create exciting story "Loglines" for your work. Why do Writers Need to Learn How to Pitch? In Hollywood, every movie starts out in the form of underlying material, such as a novel, a screenplay, a comic book or even a great idea. The next step is to convey your idea clearly and succinctly to those who are in a position to buy it. This is an essential tool for any writer working in Hollywood today. We all know that Hollywood is not a meritocracy where only the best scripts, books or ideas get made into films. You have to learn how to pitch effectively to get your projects purchased in this very competitive marketplace. What Hollywood Is Looking For? Let's look at the types of films that the major Studios are buying these days. Beyond some of the wonderful independent films that are being made within and outside of the Studio system, Hollywood primarily wants to acquire what they call, "High Concept Ideas". In layman's terms, we're talking about stories that put butts in the seats on a Saturday night. -- Continue Reading This Article >> About the Author: Jonathan Treisman is the President of L.A.-based Flatiron Films and was the Executive Producer of the Warner Bros. film, PAY IT FORWARD. His best-selling Audio CD Workshop: "The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit" is available at the Writers Store.
by Jonathan Treisman Our Price: $15.00 The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit is the premier Audio CD Workshop by the Executive Producer of Pay It Forward. It offers screenwriters something new and absolutely useful: An inexpensive and informative way to help writers get their work read and bought in Hollywood! -- Screenwriters Forum -- Place Your Order Here >> [ back to top ] FEATURED SOFTWARE Scheduling and Budgeting Software "Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true." -- Lester R. Bittel, The Nine Master Keys of Management Film- and DV-makers using Movie Magic Scheduling, Movie Magic Budgeting, or EP Budgeting are giving their projects the respect they deserve. DETAIL and FLEXIBILITY are the two most important features of these software systems. With just a few keystrokes, ADs and producers can now be assured of a planning process that includes a breakdown of the script even down to the nth detail and a budget that can adjust to any "what-if" scenario. Don't take a gamble with the project you have wagered so much on. Special Offer With your purchase of any budgeting or scheduling software you will receive a free Industry Labor Guide Rate Book with CD - a $39.00 value - free while supplies last. For more information on this Bonus Item take a look here Industry Labor Guide with CD
by Entertainment Partners Our Price: $699.00 Introducing Budgeting for the 21st Century! Create and edit budgets of all sizes for all types of productions. EP's clients have long requested a budgeting application that would address the expanded range of needs facing cost estimators today. Greater flexibility. A wide range of options for comparing budgets and examining individual components. Capacity for an additional level of detail. More time saving features. A facility for making notations. Interaction with Movie Magic Budgeting files. In response, we proudly introduce EP Budgeting. Isn't it time for a change? -- Place Your Order Here >>
by Entertainment Partners Our Price: $699.00 Movie Magic Budgeting has been the industry standard for the past decade. Used by producers, production managers, and production accountants who want to easily and accurately create documentary, film, music video, and television budgets, it has changed the way industry estimators work. Movie Magic is organized in a simple three-level hierarchy for easy navigation and creation of budgets. With frequently imitated features such as Globals, Fringes, Libraries, and the most common industry budget templates built in, Movie Magic Budgeting has made the process of budgeting your production a snap. -- Place Your Order Here >>
by Entertainment Partners Our Price: $699.00 Automating the time-tested scheduling strip board process, Movie Magic Scheduling has improved the production scheduling process. Producers, production managers and assistant directors want script breakdown and scheduling software that is intuitive, easy to use, and time saving - so they rely on this invaluable tool as a necessity. Movie Magic Scheduling handles changes in the production schedule with ease, and convenient import into Movie Magic Budgeting allows decision-makers to view multiple production scenarios with ease. Keeping everyone informed and on time, Movie Magic Scheduling is the industry's highest rated and most widely used scheduling software. -- Place Your Order Here >> Movie Magic 11" Acrylic Scheduling Strips Our Price: These 11" sleeves are designed to hold StripPerf paper and be mounted in a production board for a visual reference of the production sequence, i.e. clear (white) for INT., yellow for EXT., and so on. Available in clear, yellow, blue, green, red, orange, and purple. Comes in packs of 50 sleeves. -- Place Your Order Here >> Movie Magic 11" StripPerf Scheduling Paper Our Price: This 11" special paper is perforated into narrow strips. Scheduling programs know how to print scene info on the strips which are then slipped into multi-colored acrylic sleeves to be used in production boards. Pack of 50 sheets, 20 stripts per sheet - total 1000 strips. -- Place Your Order Here >> 11" 4-Panel Studio Production Board Our Price: This special accessory was originally designed for the film business but can be used to visually organize many kinds of projects. The panels have a shallow pocket along the top and bottom to hold the "header board" and "acrylic sleeve strips" visually identifying the scenes and the order in which they will be shot. -- Place Your Order Here >> [ back to top ] INTRODUCING
by John Truby Our Price: $395.00 New York October 4 - 6, 2003 Save $45.00 when you take this combo class This is a combination of John Truby's well-loved 22-Step Story Structure class that has changed the lives of writers all over the world AND his new Focusing on Genres class. Successful screenwriting comes from great storytelling. If you think you know story from what you’ve done in the past, think again. John Truby’s 22 Step Story Structure creates scripts that are fast-paced, powerful and more exciting than three-act scripts. On Day Three you will learn to understand the secrets of genres. Genre isn't as obvious as it appears, and it's Truby's opinion that understanding your own genre writing will help you find buyers for your scripts. -- Place Your Order Here >> [ back to top ] SPECIAL FEATURE Troubled 14-Year Old Makes Feature Film by Matthew Irving The Story Behind Purgatory House – or – How a Troubled 14-year-old Girl Managed to Write and Star in a Feature Without Being Related to a Studio Mogul "To me, the great hope is that now, with ... video recorders and stuff coming out, that some people - the people who normally don’t get to make movies - will be making them. And one day, suddenly, some little girl from Ohio will ... make a beautiful movie ... and for once the so-called professionalism about movies will be destroyed forever and it will really become an art form." --Francis Ford Coppola Celeste Davis isn’t from Ohio, but she does represent the ideal expressed by Francis Coppola’s prophetic words, which were spoken at the dawn of a digital era. In the past, the art of making movies was primarily reserved for those with money or power, but with the recent revolution in digital technologies, filmmaking has finally become an accessible medium of expression for anyone with a vision. Celeste was a troubled 14-year-old living in Van Nuys, California when she completed the screenplay for Purgatory House. For years, she had been struggling with academics and all of her personal relationships. She was trying hard to avoid drugs and alcohol, though these temptations were all around her. Writing became Celeste’s means of escape. She was cleaning her messy bedroom when she had the instigating thought that would lead to Purgatory House: what if a person killed herself in order to escape everything she hated about being alive, only to find that she would remain forever trapped with all the same issues she had when she was alive, but without the chance to grow or change? Armed with this kernel of an idea, Celeste began to flesh out scenes and develop a coherent storyline. -- Continue Reading This Article >> About the Author: Matthew Irving has been shooting indie features since 1996, and his credits include the critically acclaimed Tony Barbieri films "One" and "The Magic of Marciano," as well as the 2000 Sundance Film Festival hit "Groove" and the recent LivePlanet/Miramax film "Speakeasy." Matthew earned his MFA in the film production program at USC's School of Cinema & Television. Purgatory House makes its world premiere at the Woodstock Film Festival in New York, on September 20th and 21st. For more information on PURGATORY HOUSE, visit: [ Purgatory House website ] [ back to top ] YOU ASKED FOR IT
Our Price: Back by popular demand: U.S. standard size paper - perfect for your submissions This three-hole punched, acid-free paper features a brightness that's superior to ordinary office paper. Plus it's stronger, more reliable and easier to read. This is the perfect choice for your script, novel or short-story paper needs. -- Place Your Order Here >> Computer Consultant Steve Saitzyk Los Angeles Computer Users - Could You Use Some Help? Many computer users we know - including most of us here at the Writers Store - were in some way affected by the SoBig virus during these past two weeks. If you live in Los Angeles and if your computer is still acting up, long-time Writers Store computer consultant Steve Saitzyk is available to help you at your location with the diagnotics of erratic behavior, the installation and use of new software (Windows XP, Final Draft, MovieMagic Screenwriter, Scriptware) and the selection and set-up of your new computer system. He is also available for half-hour (minimum) telephone assistance. To make an appointment with Steve, email him or leave word at 310.441.5151 ext.30 [ back to top ] CONFERENCES - SEMINARS Winner of Hauge Workshop Checks In We hope you’ll enjoy this first-person account by Diana Welsch of Austin, Texas who won free admission to Michael Hauge’s Screenwriting for Hollywood seminar. I attended Michael Hauge's two-day seminar in Portland, Oregon recently. Screenwriting for Hollywood: from Concept to Sale delivered on its promise. Hauge, a script consultant, screenwriter, author and motivational speaker taught this great class with no irrelevant scenes, increasing conflict, an accelerated pace and emotional peaks and valleys. I left enthusiastic, motivated and emotionally charged and days later, when I wasn't any of those things, I still had my secret bag full of tools and ideas which are the real gifts from great teachers. I left with a six-stage plot structure, a story outline to help me formulate ideas, a submission checklist and a list to review every week to remind me of things to do as a serious screenwriter-in-the-making. Things like: -- Continue Reading This Article >>
by Robert McKee Our Price: $495.00 Vancouver British Columbia 9/5-7, 2003 Los Angeles, CA 9/12-14, 2003 Cultures are shaped by stories and at the heart of stories are characters. Robert McKee's superbly organized 3-day workshop focuses on Character as the center piece of structure - not plot, not action. Who the characters are and the choices they make are tied irrevocably to the events that unfold and the final story resolution. Covers all elements from beginning to advanced screenplay writing and creative writing. -- Place Your Order Here >>
by Hollywood by the Bay Our Price: $400.00 Palo Alto, CA 9/12-14/2003 Hollywood by the Bay is an intensive THREE-day forum for screenwriters of all levels seeking to study the craft, art and business of screenwriting with Hollywood professionals. Learn and network with leading writers, producers and literary agents in a fun, dynamic environment. -- Place Your Order Here >>
by Judith Searle Our Price: $300.00 Los Angeles, CA 9/13-14, 2003 The Enneagram, a sophisticated typology that describes nine basic human personality styles and their interrelationships, is a power tool for character development. Awareness of how behavior is affected by stress or by feelings of security helps you create more credible character arcs. -- Place Your Order Here >>
by James Bonnet Our Price: $300.00 Palm Springs, CA 9/28-29, 2003 Bonnet's new state-of-the-art story knowledge work will take you beyond Classical Story Structure and The Hero's Journey to a revolutionary new story model towards becoming a master of the craft. -- Place Your Order Here >> [ back to top ] DRAWINGS AND WINNERS Win FREE ADMISSION to Truby's New York Classes Here's your chance to win Free Entry to John Truby's 22-Step Story Structure class in New York, October 4-5, 2003. A $295 value! To enter, just send us an email to Truby Workshop Drawing Entry with your name, mailing address and phone number [required] with Drawing in the subject line. Entries must be received in our mailbox by Wednesday, September 3, 2003 at 11:59PM. The lucky entry will be drawn and the winner will be notified on Thursday, September 4, 2003. Sorry - but no prize substitutions can be made. Good luck! For more information on Truby's classes, see our Truby Goes to New York section. Winner of the Action/Cut Filmmaking Workshop Drawing The lucky winner of free admission to the Action/Cut Filmmaking Seminar was Robin Purser, of Durham, NC. This prize has a $350.00 value. Robin has her choice of attending this seminar in either one of these cities: Denver, Houston, Philadelphia, Norwalk, CT, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Congratulations! For more information on the Action/Cut Filmmaking Seminars, see here: Action/Cut Filmmaking Seminar [ back to top ] Quote Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. -- Frank Zappa
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| All special pricing contained in this eZine will expire Saturday, September 13, 2003. Please forward this eZine to your friends and colleagues. No permission required if forwarded intact. To speak directly with one of our knowledgeable product consultants please phone toll free 1-800-272-8927 from US or Canada. International callers dial 01-310-441-5151 Ext. 2. Store Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat 10am-5pm The opinions expressed in this eZine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Writers Store(R). The Writers Store eZine may not be reproduced in whole or in part in print or posted on the Web or used in any other fashion without written permission from the Writers Store(R). --- You are currently receiving the Writers Store eZine at this address: $subst('Recip.EmailAddr'). If you no longer wish to receive this publication, please send a blank email to Remove. Please make sure that your request is sent from $subst('Recip.EmailAddr'), the address you originally registered from. IMPORTANT: You cannot sign off from the Writers Store eZine by replying to THIS message. Please follow the instructions above. ADDRESS CHANGES: Please go to WritersStore.com - take your old email off the list and rejoin with your new one. (We're working on making this easier, honest!) E-mail about unresolved problems can be sent to eZine Editor! - We aim to please! Please visit other sites by The Writers Store: HollywoodGateway.com | Screenwriting.info | Playwriting101.com Copyright (c) 1996-2003 The Writers' Computer Store(r), LLC. All Rights Reserved. |
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