writing for money/ Kill Shakespeare/ Signe Olynyk

Sept. 11 Writing for money: I remember watching The Dark Knight and the Joker says: "When you're good at something, never do it for free."  I was watching Duets, and Robin Thicke said: "My dad always told me that when you're good at something, don't do it for free." I was thinking about the advice I have read in the Freelance Writer's group on Linked In about not writing for free.  I was at Two Bits writing group and found this quote: "No one but a blockhead writes except for money."-Samuel Johnson This blog, I'm writing for free.  However, it's my opinion on things like jobs and TV.  It's like worth 2 cents like opinions are.  Unless it's a doctor's opinion about a medical condition.  This blog gets my writing out there.  It's to promote myself, my writing, my script so I would eventually get paid for it. Sept. 18 TV Development digital pilot: It's my day off so I'm researching on how to get my script produced.  I went to the Writer's Guild of Canada and found this form to produce your pilot.  At the top, it says: "Applications must be signed by both the Producer and Broadcaster."  I don't have a broadcaster. Production companies: It must be the law of attraction working for me, because my friend Sherry emailed me this about a production company.  I did a little research on it and I pitched my The Vertex Fighter script to them. Two Words Productions: I found this company in St. Albert.  It also only makes corporate videos and not drama. Investors: I'm on Kijiji looking at the TV, media, and fashion job section.  One person is saying he needs:"$200,000-$500,000, which will include money for marketing and film festival fees, hiring a talented film crew, locations, craft service, music score, etc. Out of the profits the investors will recoup their expenses, and then go on to collect 50 % of profits the film may generate." Heartland: I was reading the Edmonton Journal about the Alberta- show show Heartland.  It's going into it's 6th season.  The actress Michelle Morgan who is on the show, talked about how a 16 yr old girl came up to her and said: "You look just like a girl in a show I used to watch when I was little..." The article mentions that the show is multi-generational because there are kids, teens, adults, and seniors watching this show.  The actors on the show grew up on this show.  It's a good show about a family running a horse ranch and farm, check it out. Kill Shakespeare: I found this when I was looking for production companies over the summer.  The other day I was reading the Edmonton Journal and there was an article about the creators Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery.  It's a comic book. Del Col: We like to call it Avengers with Shakespeare or the Justice League of Shakespeare. Making a movie or a video game of it was too expensive, and a theatre play was too traditional.  So a comic book can show the battle scenes without it being expensive on film.  They sold it to U.S. -based IDW Publishing.  Check it out:  http://www.killshakespeare.com/ Table read: I was going through my old Great American Pitchfest emails and found this "Table Read my Screenplay."  A table read is where the actors and a narrator sits around a table and reads the screenplay out loud.  You can then hear if the dialogue is good, if this scene has a point, etc. Flashback: I'm getting a flashback of yrs ago I saw a Corner Gas table read.  If I remember correctly, it was part of a W-Five episode about Corner Gas got so big in Canada.  Back to the table read contest: You have to pay $30 to enter, and you are flown to Park City, Utah during the 2013 Sundance film festival. http://www.tablereadmyscreenplay.com/Rules.aspx Distribution: I also got this from Great American Pitchfest.  I went and watched 2 videos/ excerpts of the dvds.  It said "don't sign a contract until you know what the expense caps are."  Like here's the budget, and you can't go over it. If you need to go over it, then there is a clause on the contract that says you can go over it by like $1000 and nothing more.  You would have to ask for permission, but if you can't get permission, then you can still get the $1000. https://twitter.com/Distribution411 http://www.facebook.com/FilmDistributionhttp://www.distribution.la/ Signe Olynyk: I got another GAPF email and there was an interview the GAPF president Signe Olynk.  I thought the interview was so good, I put it up on my blog: http://www.badcb.blogspot.ca/2012/09/interview-with-signe-olynyk-below-zero.html She has written a movie called Below Zero and it's a horror film shot in Edson, Alberta.  It's where she wrote the movie in an abandoned slaughter house. SO: Trapped in an abandoned slaughterhouse, a desperate screenwriter is paralyzed by writer’s block and tormented by a horrific serial killer of his own creation. He sinks into a claustrophobia-induced paranoia, where he can’t distinguish what is real from  what is written, with his life hanging on every page.We are proud to say that Below Zero keeps you guessing until the very last frame. Me: The idea kind of reminded me of The Shining. No Budget Film School: GAPF also sent this email about No Budget Film School.  They are 1 or 2 day schools that teach you how to create a budget for a film, or "From Script to Screen."  This is in LA.  FAVA in Edmonton has some of these kind of seminars.  http://cinemalanguage.eventbrite.com/ Scriptposter.com: GAPF sent me this.  Did you know that a movie poster can be called a one sheet?  The ad says this: "Having a visual representation of your script gives the person you’re trying to sell it to an instant idea of what it’s about, how it looks, feels, what the genre is and, most importantly, what the marketing campaign could look like. You are making sure they make the correct leap of imagination. In 10 seconds you can tell them more about your story than you ever could with a written or verbal pitch." Their slogan is "Creating your vision." On my The Vertex Fighter poster, I can see the lead Shawn in the center.  The supporting 3 characters would be in the background.  The back would be black, and all the actors faces are straight, serious, and tough. http://www.scriptposter.com/#/about-us/4562341068 Good news: A producer is reading my script right now.