Growing up in the D.C area i lived the life and seen alot and the way i vent is to write. But my problem is i never finish what i start becuse i dont see a outlet for my work so i have about 4 script halfway done and i know at least two of the will make great movies...so if anyone out here looking for new talent im here let me give you a idea of one of my stories that is up first for me to complete..."Kappers" a family from the D.C area where the father is a big time hustler and ladies man who settle down in Maryland with his wife and kids. But he already had other children that he also took good care of and stayed close to their mothers. Life change when his wife die in a car crash and he moved his kids from the city to Maryland in his big home where his other kids live and he spoiled all of his kids until he gets locked-up leaving them to fin for themselves. The kids who where getting older knew they couldn't go down the same road as the father and the other grown folks in their family they went out to do what they wanted to do to make it..."Robbery" life in the fast lane after the money whats next..... this is just one of many great ideas i have in the works but i need some help if anyone wants to work with me hit me up on here and we can talk.....

There is no outlet until you finish the script...

Yep.

“Hollywood” isn't interested in the people like you, Mike. The studio heads, the development exec’s, the agents don’t look to people who never finish what they start. In Los Angeles, in New York or in Bowie.

I suspect the reason you haven’t found an outlet for your work is because you don’t have work to show.

I’m also not convinced that another writer is what you need. You have talent and you have many great ideas, do you really think another writer is the right person to motivate you when you cannot motivate yourself.

When are you ready to step up and finish your scripts?

You can't look to the outside for your motivation to finish your work. It's not about finding an outlet, an exterior motivation, it's about finding what it is about the stories themselves that make it so that you can't not tell them, an interior motivation.

I suspect the reason you never finish your scripts is that you haven't found the stories inside your setups yet. You have two great setups here, but you need to find the stories to do them justice.

If these stories were so great, you wouldn't be able to stop writing them. If they're not interesting enough to get you to keep writing, they won't be interesting enough to keep people reading or to keep people watching.

So, what is it about these stories that really excites you? Find that and keep hitting it. Try to get every scene to be about this thing that excites you. Try to get it so that the main character is always getting closer to or further from this thing that excites you. Once you find that (and I know it's hard) I suspect you'll have no trouble keeping writing. You'll want to finish the stories not because you have an outlet, bet because the stories themselves justify being written.

If you're successful at finding this spark, and you learn a few bits of craft to keep things coherent, you'll make a great screenplay. If you make a great screenplay, the outlets will find you!

Sydney....

Yer correct, no one wants to see an unfinished script.
However, there are lets say.... hundreds of thousands of already completed scripts out there.
I read sooooo many of them and some are really good, but they have no chance to be even read, by the 'industry people' let alone getting paid for it.
There are always flukes that one may sneek in the back door by some guy who knows some guy who knows someone someplace in the 'studio'.

Why?
Who knows.
As long as Hollywood keep making 'remakes' of some old movie that no one really is interested, there can be no fresh material in the pipe.
What is it with these remake movies anyway?

Then another problem with new material is that not written for the 'current' market. As you see the same kind of movies done by everyone. Hey, it's market demand kinda thing. I don't blame them, but I haven't seen a good movie for years now.
Maybe I just have higher standards and don't really care for all the killings, explosions, car chase and endless FX.
I can stay home and watch those on my 3million cable channels :)

The only way I would advise anyone to write a script is do it for yourself and don't expect anyone to read it or getting paid for it.
It's not a bad thing to create something just to see if you can do it.

I want you guys to watch this short video done by a few French dudes.

*MOD edit: All videos MUST be embedded.*

It is funny as hell!
It's sooooo simple but ORIGINAL.
I could do a TV series with that kind of idea!
The funniest part is the French dialogue. No, you don't have to understand French, just hearing the dialogue, you can picture the typical French kind of humor of 'life is shit' attitude.
Well, that is if you know the French like I do :)

FotoSafariClub:
What is it with these remake movies anyway?

It's a conservative reaction to the issue of no one wants to pay for entertainment at the moment.

FotoSafariClub:
there are lets say.... hundreds of thousands of already completed scripts out there.

Then they're one step ahead of this guy...

FotoSafariClub:
Sydney....

Yer correct, no one wants to see an unfinished script.
However, there are lets say.... hundreds of thousands of already completed scripts out there.
I read sooooo many of them and some are really good, but they have no chance to be even read, by the 'industry people' let alone getting paid for it.

In my experience. Great scripts get read by industry people. How is yours different?

There are always flukes that one may sneek in the back door by some guy who knows some guy who knows someone someplace in the 'studio'.

Why?
Who knows.
As long as Hollywood keep making 'remakes' of some old movie that no one really is interested, there can be no fresh material in the pipe.
What is it with these remake movies anyway?

They make money and the risk is lower for the same return. Do the math.

Then another problem with new material is that not written for the 'current' market. As you see the same kind of movies done by everyone. Hey, it's market demand kinda thing. I don't blame them, but I haven't seen a good movie for years now.

What have you been seeing? I've seen some great films in the last few years.

Maybe I just have higher standards and don't really care for all the killings, explosions, car chase and endless FX.

Or maybe you're seeing the wrong movies.

I can stay home and watch those on my 3million cable channels :)

The only way I would advise anyone to write a script is do it for yourself and don't expect anyone to read it or getting paid for it.

What do you base this advice on? It's tough to sell these days, that's for sure, but the only way I know of to break in is to write specs or make your own movie. If you're not a director, what do you do?

It's not a bad thing to create something just to see if you can do it.

I want you guys to watch this short video done by a few French dudes.

Ah, I see. This post is bs just trying to get us to watch your stuff. I'll stop taking it seriously now.

Mike, I am curious if you are using "scriptware" or a software program or just typing these scripts or ideas out in a very loose manner

Yes, writing can be loose and all over the place at the start but there are a lot free programs like CELTX.com At least you can an idea of format

If you can't finish a script per se, why not write a small short story based on your life experiences

There is nothing wrong with starting small, making a soild little story and finding a filmmaker in your area to shoot it

I am a firm believer in starting small and getting good at it

And as silly as this may sound, if you can build a small house, all up to "building code" then you can eventually build a big home

N.F.L Mike:

Growing up in the D.C area i lived the life and seen alot and the way i vent is to write. But my problem is i never finish what i start becuse i dont see a outlet for my work so i have about 4 script halfway done and i know at least two of the will make great movies...so if anyone out here looking for new talent im here let me give you a idea of one of my stories that is up first for me to complete..."Kappers" a family from the D.C area where the father is a big time hustler and ladies man who settle down in Maryland with his wife and kids. But he already had other children that he also took good care of and stayed close to their mothers. Life change when his wife die in a car crash and he moved his kids from the city to Maryland in his big home where his other kids live and he spoiled all of his kids until he gets locked-up leaving them to fin for themselves. The kids who where getting older knew they couldn't go down the same road as the father and the other grown folks in their family they went out to do what they wanted to do to make it..."Robbery" life in the fast lane after the money whats next..... this is just one of many great ideas i have in the works but i need some help if anyone wants to work with me hit me up on here and we can talk.....

We all 'know' our(finished)scripts would make good movies. If I was really 'sitting on gold' as I claimed in my first posts here two+ years ago I'd be having coffee with Richard Linklater right now discussing my campy horror script in it's true final stages.

I think it's time to call BS on your writing abilities and talents. Something I am humbly doing with my novel at the moment, just to unnecessarily explain my long absence from here and there.

Can you write a script or can't you? You won't know until you finish it. A few times. Buckle down and do it, if only to prove to yourself that you can do it. There is no talent proven nor outlet for an unfinished product. Prove your talent by finishing your product. You'll probably get a much more experienced writer's help with a finished first draft script than a half-finished story. In my opinion: An unfinished story in script format, has just barely begun.

Much luck with your script,
Keep up the good work,
Margo

The title of your thread is wrong, it should say "If Hollywood only knew about Larry...."

*deep breath........sighhhh*

I can see this becoming a "Woe is me" thread. We all would love to get recognition for what we do, but some of us are at least doing something about it.

I'm always writing or composing, others are always filming and working away in our specific field hoping for that big break. But none of us give up halfway through.

What I'm willing to bet is that you don't really know how to write a feature film. The whole beginning, middle and end thing is something you need to work out before you can look for collaboration, let alone taking it to a producer.

James:
Ah, I see. This post is bs just trying to get us to watch your stuff. I'll stop
taking it seriously now.

Come on dude!
Why is everyone is soooo serious?
Did you see that clip?
Now, tell me if that wasn't funny as hell :)
What a simple idea and it works!

The clip was thrown in here to show ya people how quickly you can make a nice short clip that tells a story and being funny. Let me put it this way, there are no scrips for these things just do it !

I shot many shorts without a single thing written down. In fact am producing a 60 minute movie right now that is shot without a script and none of us have a single idea as what it will be.
Should be in post early next year.

Seriusly am advising anyone who wants to be a script writer to make sure you have a good day-job.... and buy a Lotto ticket everyday. You'd hit the Lotto winning (any amount) faster than actually sell a script..... let alone making a film out of it. Then you have the money and make all the damn movies you want!

Let me quote something here: "Actions speak louder then words"

FotoSafariClub:
Did you see that clip?
Now, tell me if that wasn't funny as hell :)
What a simple idea and it works!

Kind of hard when you don't embed the video into your post.

FotoSafariClub:
I shot many shorts without a single thing written down

That doesn't work when you do it for a living... the script helps organize the crew. If you have no crew, you're going to be very limited with what you can accomplish in a given amount of time

FotoSafariClub:
Did you see that clip?

It was removed by the time I got there.

In fact am producing a 60 minute movie right now that is shot without a script and none of us have a single idea as what it will be.
Should be in post early next year.

I have an idea what it will be, but it's not polite to use those words in mixed company.

Seriusly am advising anyone who wants to be a script writer to make sure you have a good day-job.... and buy a Lotto ticket everyday. You'd hit the Lotto winning (any amount) faster than actually sell a script..... let alone making a film out of it. Then you have the money and make all the damn movies you want!

What do you base this sage advice on? Yes it's hard to sell scripts, but if you write well (and I mean really well) you can. And if you write well, you can get hired to write for others. That's how you make a living as a screenwriter.

Put it this way, I don't know anyone who's won the lottery, but I know many who make their living as screenwriters. There are many on this board in fact.

Let me quote something here: "Actions speak louder then words"

Sure, but how does that relate to anything?