Issue Forty Nine
Welcome to the latest edition of the Hollywoodscript.com Newsletter, which is published by script consultants Craig Kellem, Judy Kellem The purpose of this newsletter is to share information, ideas etc. concerning the fascinating (and elusive) world of screenwriting______________________________________
Free Monthly Contest! Prize: Hollywood reads plus free "Coverage" and more for clients! Recent comments from current contest winners (we had two winners (ie a tie last month): **"Craig Kellem's a razor sharp editor and tremendous "teaching" script coach. We just announced and put my script "Fish Gutting for Newlyweds" out there four days ago, and I've already had 16 top producers and agents ask to read it. And because of Craig, I'm completely confident that what I'm sending them is awesome and up to industry standards." Amy Bailey **“Judy and Craig have put their seal of approval on what I am proud to call “My Screenplay.” Winning their contest has helped me to secure an agent in record time and he is currently shopping the script in LA.” Fran Goodman
A MONTH EARLIER **"Working with Craig Kellem has been an absolute pleasure. Just talking with him for five minutes gives a feeling of security because it's clear that Craig knows damn well what he's talking about and has the brass balls experience to back it up. He knows the industry standards, he gives very polite and very necessary advice in order to further his client down the path. I've recently won his contest and it has already opened up doors and contacts and relationship building that (although I knew it would come somehow) I only dreamed about. Craig Kellem is the liaison to success as a screenwriter." Zach Bliss NEXT WINNER Big congrats to our newest winner Paul Sheridan for his terrific script STARK VENDETTA (soon to be posted). ________________________ JUDGING THE CONTEST. THE PARADOX OF A GOOD THING! By Craig Kellem Judging our monthly contest can be a bear for both of us. There's pain But the contest is important and it isn't loyalty which is at stake here, it's our In the business of screenwriting, deserved recognition can be a rare Any and all signs of light in this game are ever so nurturing and necessary, and being However, not everyone wins at the exact moment they most want it to happen. We try hard to accommodate our valued clients and even have a rule that if So, please know that we really do care and feel badly when a borderline project Ultimately we owe our loyalty in this phase of things to the very best call we can make at the time, and because it’s not easy to impress Hollywood, the material we send out (and sometimes contact Industry folks about directly etc) must be right down the middle of the strike zone. So please don't think that we don't agonize over these decisions--because we do! You may not have won the contest yet, but if we’ve helped you upgrade your script to PRO LEVEL or a pro script to a higher plane, and it’s the best script of your life, please don’t be mad. COPYRIGHT 2008-2012 HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ____________________________ FOLKS OFTEN CALL US TO ASK ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY HOLLYWOOD PAYS FOR SCRIPTS. TRY THIS LINK ON THE SUBJECT http://www.wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=68 ______________________ MORE GOOD STUFF
****Hi Craig,
Hope all is well with you and Judy. In 2006, the two off you walked me through and patiently guided me with my screenplay, DUCKS. Your suggestions and advice, as always, were spot on and the script has been optioned. Thanks for all of your help it is much appreciated. The producers and I are currently busy forging the shooting script and are getting close to the final product. Below is the INKTIP announcement.
Best,
Jack
Matthew Hsu Options "Ducks" Matthew Hsu with Fleuron Films discovered “Ducks” on InkTip and with his partner, Veronica Shamo-Garcia, optioned it from writer Jack Vandagriff. Matthew and Veronica’s credits include the upcoming Lionsgate release “Trail of Blood.” This is Jack's third option through InkTip.
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**Remember me....you helped this Aussie on my very first screenplay a year ago called "The Entrepreneur"
My Skype meeting with you and notes helped me to really fine tune the script. So much so, that I am a semi-finalist with it in the 10th "Film Makers International Screenwriting contest" I am over the moon, and once again thank you for all your input.
Carey Watkins ______________________
Dear Craig,
I just wanted to take a moment, before we start on this second script, to THANK YOU for all you have given me with the first.
Not only have you taught me to: 1. Create a compelling focal character. 2. Send him on his way to finding what he wants and what he needs .. then 3. Beat the ever living poop out of him all the way there.
You have also taught me to "distill" the entire script until it's 190-proof ass-kicking moonshine.
I can't wait to swallow my next elephant, Amy ____________________
On May 2, 2012, at 3:56 PM, JASON PHILPS wrote: Thought you might like to know that my script Absolution that we worked on last year [about a woman violinist who wants to play like Paganini and so makes a deal with the devil] has just come 2nd in the Horror/Thriller category of Scriptvamp screenplay contest. While it's not the Nicholl Fellowship it is a start! Thanks again for your help. Jason
___________________________________ AN INTRIGUING ARTICLE Telling Tales With a Tear and a Smile As comedians pursue the relatively new school of storytelling, they sometimes show that emotion can be mixed with humor. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/arts/advancing-a-new-form-of-comedy-storytelling.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28_20120405 ______________________________________ AN INTRIGUING ARTICLE FROM QUAD CINEMA (NYC)
THE WIT AND WISDOM OF ALFRED HITCHCOCK. In my continuing series of some of the wittiest and wisest movie celebrities, my honoree this week is Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock believed that the most powerful way of gripping an audience was through suspense, which he brilliantly achieved with minimal dialogue. He moved the camera in a way that mimicked a person’s gaze, forcing the viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism (think "Rear Window"). Hitchcock once commented that "The writer and I plan out the entire script down to the smallest detail, and when we're finished all that's left to do is to shoot the film". His biographer, Steven DeRosa wrote that "Hitchcock supervised and guided his writers through every draft, insisting on a strict attention to detail and a preference for telling the story through visual rather than verbal means." He was so certain and clear as to how each scene should be played that he rarely bothered looking through the viewfinder. Truffaut described Hitchcock as "the most influential filmmaker of all-time." John Frankenheimer stated that "Any American director who says he hasn't been influenced by him is out of his mind."
Hitchcock, with a huge tongue in his cheek, obliged the press with a variety of "bon mots" about himself and his work: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it."....."A good film is when the price of admission, the dinner and the babysitter were well worth it."...."The cinema is not a slice of life, it's a piece of cake."....." I'm a typed director. If I made CINDERELLA, the audience would be looking for a body in the coach."......"When people say I'm 70 I say that's a confounded lie. I'm twice 35."....."The length of the film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."....."Always make the audience suffer as much as possible."....."Television has brought back murder to the home---where it belongs."....."Give them pleasure, the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare."....."Drama is life with the dull parts left out."....."I have a perfect cure for a sore throat: cut it."....."Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints."....."Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some"....."I can't read fiction without visualizing every scene. The result is it becomes a series of pictures rather than a book."....."The picture's over. Now I have to go and put it on film.".....A glimpse into the world proves that horror is nothing other than reality."....."In feature films the director is God; in a documentary films God is the director."....."If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on."....."When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss character, I say, IT'S IN THE SCRIPT. If he asks BUT WHAT IS MY MOTIVATION? I say, YOUR SALARY."....."I am to provide the public with beneficial shocks."....."I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them."....."Luck is everything. My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film."....."When an actress asked Hitchcock if her right or left profile was better, he told her, MY DEAR, YOU'RE SITTING ON YOUR BEST PROFILE."....."To make a great film you need three things---the script, the script and the script."....."Some of our most exquisite murders have been domestic, performed with tenderness in simple, homey places like the kitchen."....."Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing the need for it."
When Hitchcock received the Irving Thalberg Award, in his acceptance speech he simply said: "Thank you!" ______________________________ YET ANOTHER INTRIGUING ARTICLE SEND BY A WRITER FRIEND
The Storytelling Animal: The Science of How We Came to Live and Breathe Stories http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/05/03/the-storytelling-animal-jonathan-gottschall/
--- Sent from Zite personalized magazine iPad app. Available for free in the App Store. www.zite.com
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HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM is a boutique script consultation service run by former Universal and Fox development exec Craig Kellem. Craig and his studio analyst associate, Judy Kellem, (who has a Masters in English and Creative Writing) operate this two person company. Motto: The #1 Secret for Selling a Script...MATERIAL THAT’S READY! SERVICES: Script consultation, Coverage, Developmental Help (ie Works in Progress), Book manuscripts, Free query letter analysis, Free mini consultation HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM CONTEST-Free MONTHLY contest for clients. Prize: free coverage--guaranteed big industry exposure. **Craig --craig.kellem@valley.net, craig.kellem@gmail.com W 201-918-6993, H 201-918-6952 **Judy --judykellem@earthlink.net 917-647-8782 ___________________________________________________ SCRIPTBLASTER E-QUERY SERVICE has an incredibly vast database of producers, If you'd like assistance writing your query letter, their experienced editing For more information about their services visit: Or if you have any questions you can email them at: http://www.info@scriptblaster.com ___________________________________________________ INKTIP.COM is a screenplay facilitation company that helps Industry Professionals find good scripts & writers. www.inktip.com. COPYRIGHT 2012, HSCL, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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