By Nick Blake

As a writer I love working with people. I get exposure to all kinds of interesting people and ideas that feed my creativity. And for the most part people enjoy my creative input. After working with a client there is nothing more satisfying than hearing a simple, “Great job, I loved the work!”

When all goes well writing is a good partnership between writer and client. But not all clients are interested in my joy of writing, so it’s important to remind myself that writing is a business. And like any other business I follow a few simple ground rules to protect myself in the client-partner relationship.

Here they are for all screenplay writers in need of business advice. I don’t know if everyone follows the same rules, so if you do anything differently I’d love to hear about it.

1. Talk to the client
Make sure both parties are clear on exactly what the work is going to be and what you are going to deliver when the project is done. Ask questions. Get to know both the project and the client. Make sure you are comfortable with both.

2. Be clear about money
Negotiating is fine, but don’t get backed into a corner. Before you begin any job make sure that you are comfortable with the amount of money you’ll be making. As a writer you have the most negotiating power before you agree to take on any job. If you aren’t satisfied with the money on the table don’t be afraid to say no and walk away.

3. Get it in writing
No matter what is said in phone conversations the only proof you have to what you and the client agreed to is (a) the contract you sign and/or (b) any email exchanges between you and the client. As a standard procedure I send a follow-up email to all my clients outlining everything we’ve agreed to before I begin a job.

4. Get the money up front
Writing is a business. Don’t be afraid to be a businessman (or businesswoman). My standard procedure is at least 50% up front before I do any work on a project. The other 50% is due before I deliver the final product.

5. Keep it professional
Once terms are set, don’t back down if the client changes their mind. They have agreed to a deal, and it’s up to them to uphold their end of the bargain. If the client is unhappy it’s good practice to make them happy — after all, happy clients bring referrals and/or repeat business! But if their demands are unreasonable (if they decide they wanted something else after all, for example) don’t be afraid to stick up for yourself. As a friend of mine says, know where your line is and don’t allow the client to cross it. If the client is implacable, terminate the business relationship.

Most clients are fantastic to work with, and respect professionalism. By following a few simple ground rules you set expectations appropriately for both sides so you can focus on what you love — being a writer.

None of this is legal advice. For legal advice, consult your lawyer. But laying down a few simple ground rules is simply good business for all screenplay writers.

We had an expression when I was working in marketing: feast or starve. On any given day we didn’t know if our plates would be full (feast) or empty (starve). Pretty self-explanatory.

I was reminded of this expression yesterday. I woke up in a foul mood. I had a few client meetings scheduled but otherwise life was in a holding pattern.

That’s when the floodgates opened. An old client got in touch with a good opportunity that required a lot of coordination on my end. When I got to my client meetings my phone was buzzing off the hook. Another gig had come in through TheScreenplayWriters.com, this time with a same-day turnaround. Pinaki and I hustled to get the the pieces in order and meet the deadline.

I went to bed happy sometime after midnight. It had been a good feast day. On top of copious client work I had written two short story rough drafts. When the creative juices flow they tend to swell and flood the surrounding area.

This morning I’m catching up on emails and waiting for a client call. I’m still happy from yesterday’s buzz, but doubt is beginning to creep in. Will I feast or starve today?

By Nick Blake

I knew I wanted to get involved with the Indian film industry while honeymooning in Kerala’s backwaters. After a quiet day traveling on a luxurious houseboat, my wife and I settled into the main cabin to enjoy the movie “Hallo” with the bottle of toddy we had picked up along the canals. “Hallo” showed off the best screenplay writers Malayalam (or Mollywood) cinema had to offer and our boat guide stayed up to enjoy the movie with us.

The story is about the wayward son of an otherwise respectable family, a toddy-drinking lawyer who cannot forgive his parents for betraying his former love-interest. Padmashri Lt. Colonel Mohanlal Vishwanathan Nair (known in Mollywood as Mohanlal) plays the lead role, and our boatman noted that he was a famous regional actor that made the ladies swoon. To us he looked more like Super Mario, sporting his signature mustache and happy Buddha pot belly.

For nearly two and a half hours the plot swerved through a variety of escapades (often as though the best screenplay writers in Mollywood were suffering under the haze of toddy as well). In the end love rules the day, corruption is brought to justice and the family is reunited. And the movie takes unflinching swings at Tamil Nadu (to translate for an American audience: combine the worst Southern and Mormon stereotypes).

What really caught my attention, though, was that the movie was more or less a rewrite of a famous Song Dynasty story from China, written roughly 800 years earlier! I’ll have to dig through my old college notebooks to find the story I’m thinking of, but it has to do with a drunken detective who solves crimes of local corruption, etc, etc. India, I realized, was a place where stories were remembered and repeated.

As a writer I’m always looking for smart adaptations of stories. If I wanted to find the best screenplay writers, my road led to India. After the movie Laura and I took a quick stroll along the water to capture the full moon over the cloudless canal. I turned to her in the dark night and said, “I want to be where the stories are.”

At the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether you’re writing for Hollywood, Bollywood, Mollywood, or your local community theater. The important thing is finding a good story, something worth sharing, and telling it well so that people listen. Hollywood has a lot to learn from India’s writers.

Nick is back from Maine.

By Pinaki Ghosh

Nick is back from Maine.

From the recent inquiries we discovered that a lot of student filmmakers looking for screenwriters are coming to our TheScreenplayWriters.com.  So we decided to set up a team of writers exclusively for the student filmmakers, who are tight on budget.

We may soon have another couple of really big names joining our team of screenplay writers. But I’d prefer to remain tight lipped till that is confirmed.

I believe there are two fantasy film screenwriting projects in the pipeline, which I expect to come to me this September. They come from two of my old clients. The demand for fantasy screenplays are also increasing stunningly. Harry Potter effect? Maybe. One thing is sure, till this Harry Potter bubble is intact, we will remain busy.

Since we are catering both the Hollywood and Bollywood industries and as such have a team of writers who hail from both these massive industries, I discovered some interesting differences in the ways scripts are written in Hollywood and Bollywood.

One. Hollywood filmmakers do not expect, neither allow the script writer to use camera and editing directions in their screenplay. That is left for the director and editor. I agree. If the screenplay writer decides how the camera should be placed or how it should move, or how the editing should be done, why the hell are the director and the editor employed? Just to follow the instructions of the screenwriter? In the Bollywood industry however I noticed some of the directors encourage the screenplay author to use camera directions like pan, trolley, or directions about the angle, as well as editing instructions. Interesting, isn’t it?

Two. Now this is an even more interesting difference, and Hollywood may wonder why at all it is like that in Bollywood. Bollywood, in addition to script writers employ separate dialog writers, and dialog writers are separately given credit and payment. The screenplay writer and the dialog writer are often different persons. Of course it is not that way in Hollywood. If I try to trace the roots of this practice, it comes from the days when  melodramatic movies were made in Bollywood (arguably, this practice has not entirely been discontinued). There were separate writers, besides the screenplay writers, who could empower the dialogs, add spice to the dialogs and make them powerful. I have myself seen in my childhood, people in theatres used to burst into applause and throw coins in the direction of the screen when powerful dialogs were delivered. I don’t know if such coin shower happens or happened  for similar reasons anywhere else in the world. The practice of a dialog writer still exists in Bollywood, though nowadays in a lot of movies the screenplay writer and the dialog writer are the same person. But they get paid twice for the two roles. Nice… to get paid twice for one work.

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