The Road To Screenwriting Success

There’s a common belief that the more screenplays someone writes the better they become.  It sounds good but often it isn’t true.

The reason is that most writers continue to make the same mistakes, ending up with a portfolio of similarly flawed scripts.  It’s the old definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Some writers don’t know what mistakes they are making, which is frustrating.

Others know damn well what their mistakes are, but have no idea how to fix them, which is even more frustrating.

So how does one truly improve as a writer? (more…)

A Letter From One Of My Students

The following is a letter one of my UCLA students wrote to Linda Venus who runs the UCLA Writer’s Program. I won’t feign false modesty and pretend part of my motivation here isn’t to pat myself on the back a bit — but I also share this to help point out that the conventional way to teaching screenwriting is simply not terribly effective. There is a better way.

Dear Linda,

I am writing you today to talk about Corey Mandell and his class (more…)

The Life Of A Professional Writer: Breaking In

This is the article I wrote for the January edition of Script magazine.  I’ve had several people ask me to post it to the blog, so here it is.

I was fortunate enough to launch my career while still in film school.  I had written a spec script that one of my instructors, Cathy Rabin, read and liked.  Cathy ran development at Meg Ryan’s company and showed Meg the script (this was the mid 90s when she was very much a big star).  Cathy called to let me know Meg was interested in the script–and asked who was my agent?  I told her I didn’t have one and the next thing I knew big agents from ICM, CAA and William Morris were inviting me to lunch, telling me why I should sign with them. It was terribly exciting as I sat there, eating my chopped salads, secretly counting the millions I was obviously about to earn from the script sale.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the bank. My script didn’t sell because another movie with a somewhat similar idea came out and tanked at the box office, killing off any interest in my screenplay.This is a story I see all the time with my students.It is all too common to write a script that appears to be on a fast track to fame and fortune before some unforeseen event derails the project, usually mere moments before crossing the finish line.I once heard someone say this helps build character in writers.I don’t think this person is very popular or to be trusted.

The fact that it’s so hard to actually sell a spec script is the bad news.

The good news is that the life of a professional writer is (more…)

Why Story Structure Formulas Don’t Work

The following is a true story.

I did a script coaching session for someone I’ll call Lisa. Lisa had spent the past four years pursuing her dream of becoming a professional screenwriter. She had written six scripts with nothing to show for it. No agent, no manager, no meetings, no nothing. Lisa was obviously discouraged. Her husband was obviously discouraged. They decided she’d write one last screenplay, and if it didn’t sell, that was it, she would quit. She wrote the script then hired me to help her with it.

Lisa’s script started out great. It had an interesting premise with unique multi-dimensional characters. The dialogue was sharp. It had strong pacing. But then it hit page 17 and started to fall apart. (more…)

What Are Your Real Chances of Success

Writers know it’s not easy to launch and sustain a career. The odds aren’t necessarily stacked in your favor. But what exactly are your chances of making it?  The answer might surprise you.

The first thing we need to know is the size of the competition.  If we were to ask how many people want to be professional screenwriters or TV writers, the number would be astronomical.  But also irrelevant.  Because most people who want to be professional writers don’t actually do anything about it.  They are the dreamers.

So how many people do something about it? How many actually sit down, put fingers to keyboard, and try to write a script?  Nobody knows for sure, but I’ve heard from people with access to some pretty credible information on this front that every year there are approximately (more…)

The Real Reason Most Scripts Fail

In my June 1 article, What Are Your Real Chances of Success?, I shared that the agents, managers and producers I bring into my UCLA classes consistently say that only one percent (or less) of the scripts submitted to them are strong enough to warrant any serious consideration, while the vast majority fall somewhere between the categories of not very good to outright dreadful.

Why is that?

The conventional answer is that most aspiring writers simply don’t possess the talent required to write at a professional level.  Or to put it another way, just because someone has the dream to become a professional writer doesn’t necessarily mean that they have the talent to pull it off.

The conventional answer is wrong.

There are a couple of reasons why most scripts aren’t strong enough, but none of them have to do with a lack of natural writing talent.  The main reason most scripts fail is that most writers haven’t yet (more…)

Are You a Real Writer?

My KCRW Interview

Here’s the Battlefield Earth interview I did for KCRW’S The Business of the Business with Kim Masters.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Posted in Corey’s Blog | May 13, 2010

http://coreymandell.net/blog/

The Kurosawa Method

Earlier this month I posted a blog on How to Become a Professional Writer detailing the importance of writing consistently.  Over the next few weeks I’d like to share some specific tools that can help overcome the self-sabotage, resistance and inertia that can sometimes make being consistent difficult.

One tool is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield which you can read about here.

Another tool is the Kurosawa method.

Whenever I talk to someone who isn’t consistently writing due to a genuinely crazy schedule, I always ask them if it’s possible that (more…)

Insight From A Nicholl Screenwriting Competition Judge

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’s Nicholl Screenwriting Competition awards $30,000 fellowships to screenwriters and is thus a highly competitive affair.

I spoke with Ron Birnbach, one of the contest judges, about what advice he would offer to those planning on entering the competiton. I believe what he said isn’t just applicable to contest aspirants but to all screenwriters, especially his last paragraph which for my money is worth its weight in gold. (more…)