Lord of the Rings RSS

There are some genres and paradigms that have a realistic chance of getting set up on a spec script, and others that often need an underlying property. That is: adapted from a novel, comic book, remake, etc. Perfect example: Back when I hustled scripts for a living, several execs told me they were looking for a young adult fantasy adventure project; basically, Harry Potter. Lo and behold, I found one, and immediately called them. All of the conversations played along the same lines: “Great, send it over!” But then: “Wait, it’s based on a book, right?” When I said no,...

I run one of the largest writers’ groups in Hollywood, with writers at all different skill levels. Every week the group hears 30 pages of a screenplay acted out by professional actors (like a table read), then the rest of the writers in the group gives notes on the pages. As you can probably imagine, people mostly present the first 30 pages of a feature. At this point I have heard nearly 1000 Act One’s, and in this article, I want to discuss what makes an Act One FLY or DIE. There are multiple things you need to accomplish in...