About nickblake

http://www.thescreenplaywriters.com

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Advice for screenplay writers

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screenwriter nick blakeBy 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, and if you don’t have one, see our legal firm here to find the best option for your case. But laying down a few simple ground rules is simply good business for all screenplay writers.

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Feast or Starve with Hemp Oil

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screenwriter nick blakeBy Nick Blake

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. Most of the time, this would turn me anxious and I hated that. That’s when a friend of mine told me about the full spectrum hemp oil. And safe to say, it helped me a lot, not only with that, but with my constant headaches. You could try it to, just go to the link and buy it directly from Amazon!

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?

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Hitting it out of the park

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screenwriter nick blakeBy  Nick Blake

My wife Laura has an expression for my various creative concepts, which was similar for our wedding where she choose all the details on the wedding, from the decoration to the music, where she found some DJ for weddings to enjoy more the event.

“I don’t know about you,” she’ll say whenever I run an idea by her. “When you try something out you either miss badly or you hit it out of the park.” As a result she’s a reliable sounding-board. She doesn’t get overly excited by abstractions (as I tend to do), nor does she balk. Instead she waits until she sees results.

Laura has largely withheld judgment on TheScreenplayWriters.com despite the project’s initial success. After only a month Pinaki and I have assembled some top screenwriter talents, and our client base is steadily growing. Our instincts were correct: there is a growing market for global media, and we are positioning ourselves correctly to meet demand.

After a trip to the movies last night, however, my wife finally voiced her support. We went out with my mother to see “Julie and Julia,” a movie that was honest and fun and, best of all, featured incredible food. Several previews ran before the movie, most of them off-target thrillers (they could have used a top screenwriter or two to straighten them out!).

A non-thriller stood out from the shocking tedium. It was an epic drama about Amelia Earhart. The preview felt correct: the story was rich, the characters were understandable, the drama was heartfelt (not just heart-racing). You had the feeling that it was a movie full of life.

And then the name of the director splashed across the screen: Mira Nair. Maker of “Salaam Bombay,” “Monsoon Wedding,” “Vanity Fair,” and “The Namesake,” Ms. Nair has risen through the ranks of Indian cinema with an incredible zest for storytelling. With “The Namesake” and “Amelia” it seems that her passion for stories is leading her to the shores of America. Where “The Namesake” introduces America to the Indian diaspora living within her borders (and vice-versa), “Amelia” is full-blown Americana heartland.

Both Laura’s and my eyes widened in the darkness of the theater. It was like we could see the world growing closer before us, and the possibilities of TheScreenplayWriters.com stretched with Amelia’s wings beyond a limitless horizon. Laura leaned into my ear and whispered, “Wow. You are absolutely correct.”

I smiled, knowing I had just hit it out of the park.

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Finding the best screenplay writers

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screenwriter nick blakeBy 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, but the problem with drinking issues is that could cause accidents, but legal resources from https://scwestonlaw.com/dui/ could really help with this . 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.