Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ The Ten-Percenters

It's always a pleasure to bring you a post from my mentor, a multi-produced screenwriter, and fabulous teacher/writer. And yes, he has a book out about screenwriting that Hollywood is taking notice of--see below. 

The Ten-Percenters

Hollywood agent: "Hello," he lied.

As the above joke illustrates, agents are often the subject of ridicule and scorn in Hollywood. Producers and studios see agents as bloodsuckers, who try to drain every penny and perk they can from them. Writers use them as excuses for why they aren't getting work.

The reality is that you are in charge of your career. An agent will work for you only if they see you working for yourself. They get ten percent of your script fee because they only do ten percent of the work. If you want them to do a good sales job, you must give them a good product.

Acquiring an agent without living and working in Hollywood is an uphill climb. They want to be able to shop you for assignments and rewrite opportunities and set up "get to know you" meetings. None of that can happen when you're a thousand miles away.

It is possible to change their minds, though, and, you already know how, don't you? Yep. The right script. Bowl them over with the material, and all things are possible.

Agents can be invaluable to you, if for no other reason than to release you from the burden of business requirements that you can't, and shouldn't have to deal with. It may be a profession that is looked down upon, but it's a profession screenwriters rely on. They get bad-mouthed because part of their job is to be the bad guys when they negotiate on your behalf.

I once had a producer I was working with say to me, "Man, your agent is tough." He was right. My agent could be tough. Better him than me.

The truth is, you want a bad guy in the room, hammering out your deal, and you want him to be good.

~Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:

Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace Awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.

Additionally, he is a frequent contributor to this blog. 

Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ The Hero In The Well

 Multi-produced screenwriter Robert Gosnell brings us his wisdom 

from the trenches (err...office) of a working screenwriter.  

This bit of advice is priceless, and I laughed after I read it.

The Hero In The Well

In the 1950's and 1960's, Western-themed movies and television shows ruled. During that time, let's say there existed a hypothetical Western TV series.

Now, on this hypothetical Western TV series was a head writer, who was busy writing an episode for the upcoming week. In the midst of writing the script, the head writer got a phone call from home; a family emergency.

The head writer informed the producers that he would have to leave, and the writing staff would have to finish the script. The writers set to work, but were immediately faced with a problem.

At the point where the head writer stopped writing, the show's hero was stuck in the bottom of a well. The writers thought and thought, discussed and argued, but could not find a way to get the hero out of the well.

Days went by, the deadline for production was near, and the script was only halfway finished. All because no one could find a way to get the hero out of the well.

Finally, their backs to the wall, the producers called the head writer and told him he had to come back to work, post haste.

The head writer returned. Everyone gathered anxiously around him, as he sat down at the typewriter and wrote....

"After getting out of the well..."

The lesson here is simple: don't block yourself.

Write past it. Finish the story, then come back. In the rewrite process, you'll find a resolution. Maybe, you'll explain it away in a line.

"It's a good thing that old miner came by, and heard my calls for help."

Maybe you won't explain it, at all. He's a hero. Any old hero can get out of a well. I see this option all the time.

Or maybe, when you go back, you'll realize that the hero didn't have to be stuck in that well, in the first place.

But, don't block yourself. Finish your script. In the end, rather than having an unfinished script, you'll have a finished script with a single issue that needs addressing.

That's a lot easier to deal with.

~ Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:
Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace Awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert  is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.

Additionally, he is a frequent contributor to this blog. 

Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ It's What You Don't Write

Multi-produced screenwriter Robert Gosnell brings us his wisdom 

from the trenches (err...office) of a working screenwriter.

It's What You Don't Write

White space.

If you've attempted to market a screenplay lately, you have no doubt encountered that term. Its meaning is simple. When a Hollywood executive, producer, studio reader or agent fans through the pages of your screenplay, that is what they want to see. White space.

Meaning, nothing. Lots of nothing.

The fewer words required to tell your story, the better. Perhaps, to them, it indicates a writer who is concise, requiring fewer words to express an image. Maybe, it tells them that this writer understands rhythm in the telling of a story. Or, maybe, it's what I've always suspected.

They hate to read.

On the one hand, I get it. These folks are inundated with screenplays, all the time. White space means less to read, and a faster read makes their job easier.

On the other hand, it is their job, isn't it? Are they really going to pass on the next great screenplay, because it doesn't have enough white space?

Did the screenplay for "Gone With The Wind" have a lot of white space? Doubtful. That must have been one hell of a tough read. It's fortunate they didn't know about white space in 1939.

At any rate, every time I hear the term "white space," I think of Robert Riskin. Well, doesn't everyone?

No? Okay, let me explain.

Robert Riskin was a screenwriter, business partner and frequent collaborator with legendary director Frank Capra. In fact, Riskin received five Academy Award nominations for screenplays of Capra directed films, including "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" and "You Can't Take It With You."

But, their relationship was, at times, rocky. When Life Magazine put Capra on their cover, with the caption, "The Capra Touch," Riskin was insulted, feeling that Frank was taking too much credit for much of what he, Riskin, had done.

As the story goes, it came to a head on the set of "Meet John Doe," when Riskin handed Capra, neatly bound in screenplay form, 120 blank pages.

"Here you go, Frank," Riskin reportedly said, "put your touch on that."

I can only hope Capra was pleased. After all, that's a lot of white space.

~ Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:
Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace Awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert  is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.

Additionally, he is a frequent contributor to this blog. 

Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ Rule Number One: Beware of Rules

Hi Guys, this post made me laugh but think as well.  

There are a million rules out there...read on.

In the first major screenwriting class I took, the instructor insisted that the first act of a screenplay must end on page 30. Not around page thirty, not give-or-take, but on page 30.

So, that's what I did. I ended the first act of every spec screenplay I wrote on page 30. The trouble was, sometimes my first act didn't want to end on page 30, and conforming to that was often a source of frustration.

That frustration led me to do some research. I got my hands on a few produced scripts and timed some successful films and discovered the fatal flaw of this rule. A fast-paced, 90 minute romantic comedy might have a 20 minute first act, while a longer, more involved drama with complex characters and subplots might require a 40 minute first act. It isn't determined by page length, it is determined by the story.

Another rule, one which I've heard many times, recently resurfaced in a conversation.

Voice-over narration is death!

Only amateurs do it. A script with voice-over narration will be instantly rejected. Show, don't tell!

I fact-checked that one, too. It didn't take long to find evidence to the contrary.

Okay, we don't want a screenplay that reads like a 1950's wildlife documentary, with all of the action being described off screen, but many notable films have employed voice-over narration to great effect. "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Sunset Boulevard," "Forrest Gump," "Apocalypse Now" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" all relied heavily on it, and it seems to me, those films did okay.

There are a number of hard-and-fast rules to the screenplay form,  but different methods from different instructors create new rules, some of which are debatable. Understand that they are teaching you how they write a screenplay, not necessarily how to write a screenplay.

I have a personal hard-and-fast rule of my own: Never kill the dog.

That one can likely be debunked, too, with a little research, but I can't help it. I've never forgiven Disney for Old Yeller. (LA here, neither has my husband and I refuse to watch it.)

A comic friend of mine once enlightened me with this advice:

"Bob, what's the most important rule of screenwriting?"

"I don't know, John, what is the most important rule of screenwriting?"

"Number your pages."

There's a rule you can take to the bank.

~ Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:
Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace Awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert  is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.

Screenwriter Robert Gosnell ~ Understanding The Word "No"

Understanding the Word "No"

Rejection.

We all encounter it throughout our careers, and either accept it and keep going or give into it and quit. Simply the fear of rejection is enough to stall, or even prevent a promising writing career.

I have submitted dozens of screenplays and TV scripts to potential producers, film companies and investors over the years. Enough of them hit home to provide me with a career, but they only represent a fraction of my submissions. The vast majority were rejected, and some quite callously.

It's never personal, of course. At least, that's what they tell us, and maybe they actually mean it, but for us, the writers, it's never not personal.

In virtually all of my rejected screenplay submissions, the response went something like this: My agent would call and say, "They liked the writing, but it's not what they're looking for."

That isn't exactly brutal. In fact, it's pretty diplomatic, which may be why so many of them used it. 

"It isn't you, it's us."

First off, they always tell writers that they liked the writing. Maybe, they did, or maybe they didn't, but I've never not been given that note.

"It's not what they're looking for" holds a lot more water. Honestly, that is the most likely scenario.

Perhaps, they determined the budget to be too high and passed on it for economic reasons. Maybe, they're looking for a vehicle for a particular star, and my lead character didn't fit. Maybe, they already have something similar in the pipeline. It's also quite possible that it just isn't something they want to do.

Like every business, a production company sets goals for itself. They have a clear business plan, and it's easy to not fit into it.

The fact is, success relies on getting the right script in front of the right person at the right time. I'm asking them to pay me thousands of dollars to spend millions of dollars and a great deal of time and energy producing my screenplay. It demands a perfect storm of opportunity which is fragile and rare.

That's the good news. It really isn't personal. There are many reasons for rejecting a screenplay that have nothing to do with me. So, I reject the rejection and keep going. Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

And, why not? After all, they liked the writing.

~Robert

"The Blue Collar Screenwriter and The Elements of Screenplay" is currently available at:
Amazon digital and paperback

CreateSpace 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

Find Robert at:
Website (with information on classes)
Email

BIO: 

A  professional screenwriter for more than thirty years,  Robert Gosnell has produced credits in feature films, network television, syndicated television, basic cable and pay cable, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of Canada.

Robert began his career writing situation comedy as a staff writer for the ABC series Baby Makes Five.  As a freelance writer, he wrote episodes for Too Close for Comfort and the TBS comedies Safe at Home andRocky Road.  In cable, he has scripted numerous projects for the Disney Channel, including Just Perfect, a Disney Channel movie featuring  Jennie Garth. In 1998, he wrote the  Showtime original movie, Escape from Wildcat Canyon, which starred Dennis Weaver and won the national "Parents Choice Award." Robert's feature credits include the Chuck Norris/Louis Gosset Jr. film Firewalker, an uncredited rewrite on the motion picture Number One With A Bullet starring Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams, and the sale of his original screenplay Kick And Kick Back to Cannon Films. Robert was also selected as a judge for the 1990 Cable Ace Awards, in the Comedy Special category.

In 1990, Robert left Hollywood for Denver, where he became active in the local independent film community. His screenplay Tiger Street was produced by the Pagoda Group of Denver and premiered on Showtime Extreme in August of 2003. In 1999, Denver’s Inferno Films produced the action film Dragon and the Hawk from his script. In 2001, Robert co-wrote the screenplay for the independent feature Siren for Las Vegas company Stage Left Productions. His feature script Juncture was produced by Front Range Films in March of 2006. 

Robert  is a principal member of the Denver production company "Conspiracy Films." He is frequently an invited speaker for local writers organizations,  served on the faculty of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference in 2002, and in 2007 was chosen to participate as a panelist for the Aspen Film Festival Short Screenplay Contest. Robert regularly presents his screenwriting class "The Elements of Screenplay," along with advanced classes and workshops, in the Denver area.