by Tim Schildberger, Head Judge If your script is closing in on – or has passed – 120 pages and your last name isn’t “Scorsese,” it’s too long. When a reader for a rep, a production company, or even some script competitions sees a page count that large, your script is instantly struggling to survive. Exercising self-discipline and tight control of your story and structure matters, and nowadays a long script risks a reader thinking you’re not in full command of your craft. Fea

by Angela Bourassa, Co-Founder I was fortunate in 2019 to have a very good contest year. A feature of mine won the Gold Prize in the sci-fi category of the PAGE International Screenplay Awards, another feature made the semifinals at the Austin Film Festival in two categories, and a pilot made the finals at AFF in two categories. All of that success led to me signing with a manager and signing my first shopping agreement. There’s obviously no magic formula for winning any part

by Angela Bourassa One of the hardest truths to learn about screenwriting is just how darn hard it is to break in. I think a lot of us (myself included) assumed when we wrote our first screenplays that we were talented enough and special enough and our idea was original and cool enough that it would win contests and sell. Little did we know… If you’ve written three, six, or fifteen screenplays and haven’t yet managed to land a rep, get an option, or win a big contest, it can

by Tim Schildberger, Head Judge of Write/LA Here’s a simple truth: to become a paid screenwriter, you’re going to be read by people who don’t know you, don’t care about you, are earning at best minimum wage reading your words, and have about fifty other scripts waiting for their jaded eyeballs. Doesn’t matter if it’s a competition, an agency, or a producer. That’s reality. Your job as an unknown writer is to avoid pissing them off. Believe it or not, readers want to like your

This article was originally posted on LA Screenwriter. It is republished with permission by the author. by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) Plenty of aspiring screenwriters can write a good script. They know how to format, they know all about structure and pacing and even character development and arcs. But the big piece of the pie that keeps many scripts from being not just good but great is meaning — the illusive “why should I care” of it all. So you’ve got a cool story w

by Tim Schildberger Live reads are an incredibly important part of the writing process – and an incredibly underused resource. Let’s be clear – hearing a robot voice on your screenwriting software is not an effective live read. Getting your spouse, your cousin, and the next-door neighbor’s kids to gather in your living room and have a crack at acting is a big improvement on the robot, but it’s still not super effective. When I talk about live reads, I mean professionally trai

This article originally appeared on LA Screenwriter. It is reprinted here with permission. by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) Write what you know. That’s the old adage that every writer has heard a thousand times. But what does it really mean? Does it mean that your main character should be a version of yourself? No. It means that the best stories are the ones that feel authentic. If you have a passion for model trains, give that passion to one of your characters. You’ll b

This article originally appeared on Medium. It is reprinted here with permission. by Angela Bourassa (@angelabourassa1) Fair warning: there are spoilers ahead. I never go see horror movies. Never. I wait until they’re available to buy or stream, and then — only if I’m incredibly intrigued by the concept — will I watch a horror movie in the middle of the afternoon clutching my husband’s hand. This is how I saw Get Out, The Shining, and Rosemary’s Baby. (I have never watched an