I was watching “Tales from the Script” (highly recommended for anyone who even dares to think of being a screenwriter) and heard from a writer whose name escapes me: “A producer is someone who lies long enough and well enough that the lie becomes the truth.”
I’ve always said the difference between a con man and a visionary in Hollywood is success. Using the word “lie,” of course, puts it in a negative framework. Belief and vision and faith are the positive terms for practical visualization, where you not only see the picture but you do and say everything you can to make others see the picture until, one day, the picture is.
The producer is the one who dares to walk the tightrope between dream and reality, like the rope between the Two Towers. What makes a great producer is that he never gives up, even when the writer does, even when the studio does, even when everyone else does.
5 Things Every Writer Needs to Do in Today’s Changing Story Market:
1) Don’t ask how it’s done. Figure out how to do it.
2) Figure out exactly who your market is.
3) Figure out how to approach that market.
4) Consider becoming your own publisher now rather than after five years of rejection.
5) Never give up.
2) Figure out exactly who your market is.
3) Figure out how to approach that market.
4) Consider becoming your own publisher now rather than after five years of rejection.
5) Never give up.
Reading an excellent interview with producer Graham King in Produced by:
“For me, producing is about controlling your own destiny. And it’s starting small. It’s starting as a salesman, going from country to country, with literally a 35 millimeter frame, trying to sell a movie that no one has ever heard of. And it takes awhile. People come in to me for jobs and I ask, ‘What do you want to do? ‘I want to be a producer.’ I say, ‘Well, that’s 12 to 15 years of learning, if you’re lucky enough to learn from the right people. And all my staff here, I completely drill it into their head. ‘If you want to be a producer, great. Do this. Do that. Learn this. Learn that.’ Because that’s how it was for me. And if people hadn’t given me certain breaks and opened certain doors, I wouldn’t be here now. So it’s great to pass that on.”
That’s what we try to offer to our clients. Experience in the school of hard knocks!
That’s what we try to offer to our clients. Experience in the school of hard knocks!
Where Your Book Is Purchased Counts!
A client asked whether he should ask his friends, who are hellbent on pre-ordering his books on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, to wait and purchase the books from the bookstore when the publication is released. The answer is that if they buy the book from a bookstore that counts toward the bestseller lists, whereas purchasing online only counts for that website’s bestseller list. If they do purchase online, at least ask them to write a review! That counts in the grand scheme of things too.
E Mails
A client complained this morning that he gets five little emails from me instead of a “more efficient” one long email. There’s a reason. If I get one long email I can’t answer it until I can answer all the parts. That may take awhile. I’d much prefer a short email on a single subject so I can deal with that subject and get back to the sender without waiting. But that’s just me.
Determination
Yes, writers need determination. But determination isn’t enough. You need to DO things to make your career kick into gear. Even one thing a day becomes massive when enough months have gone by. Hesiod put it this way: “If you put a little upon a little soon it will become a lot.” EVEN BETTER, though, is doing the RIGHT things. Having a strategy. That lets you set priorities. Tactical energy is great, but stand on the hill first and ask yourself, “Where do I want to go?”
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