Advice

Question: How valuable/important is film school? I am graduating college in one year, and I want to go into film. Skip Press responds: It's one thing to aspire to write films or act in them, and quite another to know how they are made. Smart writers and actors learn the process and profit greatly -- just ask David Mamet and Clint Eastwood. These days, there are more opportunities to break into Hollywood than ever before, thanks to the digital revolution. You can learn all the basics via a CD set, but the real secret is CONTACTS, and you get those...

A Reader's Script Formatting Question: How does a writer denote in a spec screenplay the fact that a character has a double identity and is known to individual characters under two separate identities? Example: a character is known as 'BILL' to one set of characters, but 'JIM' to another -- do you type both BILL/JIM each time he speaks dialogue in the screenplay? Bearing in mind that the crux of the story is that he appears as one person to one set of characters, and another person to another set of characters! -- Complicated, I know but I would appreciate...

Question from Nancy in ND: What is the foreign market like for screenwriters? How does a screenwriter approach foreign directors and production companies? Is there a book that talks about the overseas film industry? I'm a business writer who publishes articles in foreign magazines and I'm working on a couple of screenplays that I think may be of interest to film executives in France and Sweden. Thanks for your advice! Karl Iglesias responds: The foreign market can be lucrative for American screenwriters and yet, many aspiring writers don't include it in their marketing efforts. I have heard of several struggling...

Question from Gloria in KS: I would be interested in reading about the process of taking a book that is not your own through the screenwriting process and into a movie format. I understand how to get it into a workable and enjoyable screenplay format -- that's the easy part. What do I need to do beyond that? If it is an older book, do I still need to get 'permission?' Who has to 'sign off' on the project? It's obviously not your original idea -- although making a movie from the story is your idea, and the screenplay is...

The Show Bible: The show bible is created by the creator(s), and usually after the pilot episode has been written. Staff vs. Freelance Writers: It would be very unusual for the creator(s) to write every episode of a series, though it does happen. A staff of writers is hired to break stories, develop ongoing story lines, and write and rewrite episodes. Freelance writers (writers not on a show's staff) are not only often employed to write additional episodes, Writers Guild rules require freelancers to be used for a certain number of scripts per year. Scripts Preparation: The idea of writing...