Got a cool concept for a TV series? Worried it’s not getting the attention it deserves?

 Scriptcat’s MY BLANK PAGE is blessed to have a guest blogger for the second time— the talented screenwriter Mark Dark ( @MarkDarkStory).

Even the best ideas get rejected before that magical ‘yes’ comes. Some of the greatest books ever written were rejected: Watership Down, Harry Potter… we’re in good company. You can imagine some famous TV series being rejected by a studio exec who think he knows what’s gonna work and what isn’t:

“What? A mafioso mob boss goes to see a shrink about his depression? Get outa here!”

OR

“A chemistry teacher becomes a meth dealer to pay for his cancer op? Are you crazy?”

Here’s how I imagine another famous TV series being pitched, dropped, and crunched.

STUDIO EXEC

So, your hero’s a serial killer.

WRITER

Yep.

EXEC

No body likes serial killers.

WRITER

Sure they do.

STUDIO EXEC

Look, kid, I know it sounds crummy, but characters are like cookies, they gotta be digestible.

WRITER

Wow, characters are like cookies. Never thought of that before. Cool.

EXEC

We’re here to learn, kid.

WRITER

This character is digestible. He’s your boy-next-door type, good-looking, great job…

EXEC

What’s his job? Cop?

WRITER

Kind of —

EXEC

Two words. Cli. Che.

WRITER

But he’s not a cop.

EXEC

Cop but not a cop.

WRITER

He’s an analyst.

EXEC

Sorry, kid. Too Criminal Minds.

WRITER

Forensics.

EXEC

Too Bones.

WRITER

He’s a blood guy.

EXEC

Does he kill zombies?

WRITER

He doesn’t kill zombies. He’s a blood splatter analyst.

EXEC

People love zombie-killers. Think Buffy.

WRITER

The vampire slayer?

EXEC

Now, your regular, boy-next-door, blood splatter what-ever-you-call it… why does he do it ?

WRITER

Analyze blood? He’s —

EXEC

Not analyze blood. Kill, kid? Why does he kill?

WRITER

He kills bad people: murderers, rapists…

EXEC

He’s a vigilante ?

WRITER

Yep.

EXEC

Like Batman.

WRITER

Not like Batman. He doesn’t wear a cape.

EXEC

Shame. People love Batman.

WRITER

They do love Batman. He’s not Batman.

EXEC

Batman the Zombie Slayer… now that I could sell.

WRITER

Sorry… this guy’s… different…

EXEC

Everyone’s different, kid. This is Hollywood. I need the same. Same, but different.

WRITER

Right, er… got it.

EXEC

Okay, so… your hero serial killer, he kills bad guys. But why?

WRITER

He has a “ghost”.

EXEC

A ghost? Now you’re pitching. Paranormal Activity. Blair Witch. Big bucks, kid. Big bucks. Does he see dead people?

WRITER

He doesn’t see dead people.

EXEC

Shame. People love dead people.

WRITER

It’s not a real ghost… it’s… metaphorical… a past trauma… he watched his mom murdered when he was a kid.

EXEC

And his mom’s the ghost, come back to haunt him?

WRITER

Um… not exactly…

EXEC

Look, kid.  Don’t take it personally: your concept sucks. Write “Batman Kills the Zombies” gimme a call.

You know your idea is superb. Someone else will think so too. Don’t give up! You just have to knock the right door!

Mark Dark is an actor and a writer. He’s currently adapting his gritty, London gangland short story Man or Mouse into a feature film called The Judge of Petticoat Lane for a UK BAFTA nominated producer. He trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and studied screenwriting at the New Producers Alliance, London.

His short story Man or Mouse also won the British Writers’ Forum Short Fiction Prize. Other writing awards include the Ether Books Award for “Best Use of Social Media.”

Mark currently lives in Cambodia where he spends his time teaching and working on the screenplay of The Judge of Petticoat Lane. Visit his website MarkDark.com and follow him on Twitter @MarkDarkStory.

Communiqué from the front lines: The continual process of work and meetings…

As I’ve mentioned before in my blog articles, even with credits or not, a screenwriter’s job never ends with regards to either creating new material or constantly meeting, pitching and building an ever-expanding network of your “fans.” It’s days, nights and weekends, folks. These past few weeks have been on both the creating side and the meeting side of the process. On the work side, I completed a new story treatment with a book author based upon her book’s character and the project is shepherded by a director that I worked with before. He’s going to meet with an investment group next week and this project is one in his arsenal.  It’s been budgeted and once the financing is in place—release the hounds! The screenwriter then goes to work.

One of the two meetings was a pitch meeting and the other a follow-up meeting after the exec read my TV pilots.  Both meetings went very well and my manager and I are extremely happy to add two more places with open doors.  The pitch meeting was with an independent producer that I pitched to before and this time I came ready with five new pitches—all in the same basic genre for her to consider. Now, what could have happened is that I pitched all of my ideas and nothing resonated with her, but luckily for me she picked three to further develop. We’re moving forward with the three pitches and will work to tailor them to three specific networks with regards to their tone and scope.  I have produced credits in the genre I was pitching, so it helped to make her feel confident that I could write the ideas I had pitched. Once we have a more detailed story locked down and she’s confident with it, she will schedule meetings and take me into the networks to pitch with her attached as producer.  I now go into the important research process and have to watch a handful of the original movies that have aired on these particular networks to enable me to capture the tone of their material. I’ll bet you never figured one day watching movies would be considered research. It’s the best part!

The other meeting was a lunch with a development executive who works for a successful, old school producer with mega Hollywood credits. She read my TV pilots as they are branching into series television and she really liked the writing, but the projects weren’t the right fit for what her boss is looking to produce. She’s now a “fan” of my writing and we discussed in length the types of films/series ideas they do have in development and other important insights. Another invaluable door opened and a flag planted on the field of battle. I of course sent a handwritten “thank you” follow-up card to both as part of the professional code.

These are they types of meetings you will need to take on a regular basis to continue to build your network of relationships. Eventually one of your “fans” will buy your material or hire you to write their next project.  It will happen if you stay in the game and it’s happened for me nearly a dozen times being hired for screenplay assignment jobs. The process is ongoing and never ends as long as you’re writing.  As with anything in Hollywood, you never know how events will turn out—good or bad.  This is why early in my career I began to practice the art of detachment from any outcome of any meeting. This is important because it’s never going to turn out the way you envisioned.  Never.  Detachment is great for protecting yourself from the let down that so many meetings in Hollywood can deliver. You’ll want to wrestle control of your “highs and lows” to lessen the inevitable bumpy ride.  You must look at these meetings in the bigger picture of your overall journey and not just focus on the success of a specific meeting. Remember, success does not happen with one script or one meeting, as it’s a long process of many steps and many meetings—and a body of work that will show professionals you have something unique to offer.

So, dig in deep and get your latest project finished. Work on your pitches, treatments, loglines and completed scripts. Take the meetings and build your relationships. It’s all part of the process of a working screenwriter. Rinse, lather, and repeat. When it does finally happen, if it hasn’t already, you’ll take the meeting that launches your career when they tell you they’re buying your script or hiring you to write a project. Your screenwriting career is not a Dali-esque delusion, but the result of work, talent, focus, sacrifice, patience and luck. Keep writing and keep the faith. —Scriptcat

Did you just finish your latest screenplay? Is it time for in-depth screenplay consultation? Check out my services by clicking on the icon below for the link to my website and more information.

“Loooooove your script. Simply love it. Can we change the ending?”

“It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.”—Telamon of Arcadia, mercenary, 5th Century B.C.

“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”—Pablo Picasso

“When the last dime is gone, I’ll sit on the curb outside with a pencil and a ten cent notebook and start the whole thing over again.” — Preston Sturges

“But the Artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling.  If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer his whole life.  In the hierarchy, the Artist faces outward. Meeting someone new he asks himself, “What can this person do for me?”  “How can this person advance my standing?”  In hierarchy, the Artist looks up and looks down.  The one place he can’t look is that place he must: within.”—Steven Pressfield, “The War of Art”

“Believe me that in every big thing or achievement there are obstacles — big or small — and the reaction one shows to such an obstacle is what counts not the obstacle itself.”—Bruce Lee