The Savvy Screenwriter How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out!

by Kouguell, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780312355753
• ISBN10: 0312355750
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-06-13
• Publisher: Griffin

Summary

The Savvy Screenwriter demystifies the film industry and reveals what screenwriters really want and need to know: Finding and working with agents and attorneys Instructive tools and samples for queries, synopses, treatments, loglines, beatsheets, and outlines How to prepare a pitch Getting inside the heads of story analysts and movie executives Understanding option agreements and development deals Information about online script registries, script competitions, and pitch festivals Learning film lingo, discovering extensive resources And much, much more! While other books tell you how to craft a screenplay, Kouguell teaches you to successfully sell your work.

Author Biography

SUSAN KOUGUELL is an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, and associate producer.  As chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, she works as a screenplay and post-production consultant with a client base of more than 1,000 writers, filmmakers, production companies, agents, and studios including Miramax, Warner Bros., and Fine Line Features.  Kouguell teaches at Tufts University and Screenwriters Online, and presents screenwriting seminars nationwide.  Her website: www.su-city-pictures.com.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition: Empower Yourself	vii
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Chapter 1 Your Questions—My Answers	7	(44)
Chapter 2 Story Analysts: Who Are They and What Are They Looking For?	51	(17)
Chapter 3 Coverage	68	(5)
Chapter 4 Is My Script Ready for Submission?	73	(34)
Chapter 5 The Quest for a Winning Query Letter	107	(24)
Chapter 6 Sharpening Your Synopsis	131	(12)
Chapter 7 All About Pitching	143	(20)
Chapter 8 The Red Carpet Treatment	163	(8)
Chapter 9 Okay, I Finally Finished My Script, Query, Synopsis, Pitch, and Treatment...Now What?	171	(22)
Chapter 10 Finding an Agent. And Hallelujah, I've Got an Agent! Now What?	193	(16)
Chapter 11 Entertainment Attorneys—A Different Kind of Advocate	209	(5)
Chapter 12 They Like Me! They Really Like Me! (Or at Least They Say They Do)	214	(10)
Chapter 13 Tips on Approaching Writing Assignments and Finding Harmonious Collaboration	224	(4)
Chapter 14 Your Screenwriting Mantras	228	(3)
Epilogues	231

Excerpts

Chapter One

Empower Yourself

Bravo! You’ve completed your screenplay. Now what?

Forewarned is forearmed. You need to be ready for what lies ahead.

The Savvy Screenwriter reveals what’s in store for you. It demystifies the film business and tells you what you really want and need to know ... how to sell your screenplay and yourself without selling out.

Whether your goal is to write for independent or Hollywood films, The Savvy Screenwriter will help you to gain an understanding of how the industry works and what it expects from you and your screenplay. A savvy screenwriter is empowered. You must know what you’re in for and what you must do if you are going to succeed in the film industry.

When I was brainstorming for a title for the first edition of The Savvy Screenwriter, one idea I came up with (but which was quickly shot down due to its incredible length) was:

“Everything you always wanted to know about selling your script, finding and working with agents and entertainment attorneys, writing queries and synopses, pitching, learning the psychology of story analysts and movie executives, understanding option agreements and development deals, tackling writing assignments and collaborations, learning the film lingo and resources ... but didn’t know whom to ask.”

Okay, it was a really long title, but this is what I wanted this book to give you. And here I get the last word---or words.

In my years working on independent and Hollywood films, I endured a number of bumps and bruises, but through trial and error I finally figured out how things worked. The Savvy Screenwriter will help you navigate the maze set up by the film industry, which is filled with daunting rules, etiquette, and the secret society of film executives. If only I’d had a book like this, a book that would have empowered and guided me through this often difficult maze, I would have been able to devote more time to writing and less time to tending to my bumps and bruises. And I would have had a lot more fun learning the film industry ropes.

If I had known then what I know now ...

Throughout The Savvy Screenwriter you’ll find personal anecdotes from my past. (They are typed like this, on my old-fashioned typewriter.) The movie scenes (presented in screenplay format) are fictionalized accounts of often sad but true events that happened to me in the film business---many of which occurred when I first started out. People’s names and titles of films have often been omitted to protect my pocketbook and my career.

This second edition has been fully expanded and updated. It is filled with new, funny, and helpful personal anecdotes, as well as those provided by colleagues, seminar students, my students at Tufts University, SUNY Purchase, and Screenwriters Online, and my Su-City Pictures East’s clients---all of whom generously agreed to share their stories (anonymously).

Throughout the book you’ll also find more film industry updates, including information about online script registries, script competitions, and pitch festivals. I’ve also included samples for synopses, loglines, query letters, outlines, beat sheets, and a new chapter on treatments, as well as Act 1 of a sample treatment. In the Appendices you’ll find expanded Savvy Lingo and more extensive and updated resource information. Each chapter has been expanded to further help you become a savvy screenwriter.

Copyright © 2006 by Susan Kouguell

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Excerpted from The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! by Susan Kouguell
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.