FEATURE

The Write Coast:
Screenwriting In New England
by Garret C. Maynard

I was asked the other day by a student of mine who is considering a career in screenwriting, "how much can I get for a movie script"? I had to laugh and say "Not enough"! Suffice it to say that is why writers always threaten to go on strike.

Nevertheless, writers just starting out in their screenwriting careers, always ask that question. I assume they are under the impression that screenwriting can make them rich. Most believe that they will write a screenplay, sell it for a million dollars and retire before thirty. Don't get me wrong, it happens but to a very few. Most screenwriters who make their living as film writers work on re-writes and spend endless hours pitching their work against a ratio of 14 to1; i.e., write fourteen scripts and sell one. It's an extreme effort. However, if you do hit you can make a lot of money but that may be the only script you sellÉever. You may make a million but after taxes and the fact that you may spend the rest of your life trying to sell a second script, a million really doesn't go all that far.

  "Los Angeles is the vortex to hell. I spent almost ten years there fighting traffic and spending stupefying amounts of money to work in an environment that strips you of any individuality. If I only knew then what I know now."
Despite that, every day hundreds of people migrate to Los Angeles with a shoebox full of ideas and a feature script or two. With innocent blind faith they embark on the complex and exhaustive task of selling their writings to an industry that is hopelessly trying to manage a glut of writers most of whom have underdeveloped skills. Nevertheless, it makes sense to go. Why not move to a place that celebrates the creative youth. How often do we celebrate the young plumber or gas station attendant?

As I mentioned, most who go have undereveopled skills but how do you tell these ego driven, monomaniacal neophytes not to go? They won't believe you if you tell them that they are about to leave the best environment for developing their writing skills. I'll explain.

I advise all new writers who want to move to the left coast to stay here on the "write" coast. Hello! Los Angeles is the vortex to hell. I spent almost ten years there fighting traffic and spending stupefying amounts of money to work in an environment that strips you of any individuality. If I only knew then what I know now. Anyway, developing your craft here on the East Coast is to your advantage. First, it is a known fact that the best storytellers come from the east. Why? We have more culture here then anywhere else in the country. Second, we have better educational institutions. Third, the weather is better for writing. It's those long winters that provide focus for great writing. Sunshine and dry weather is just a distraction. Lastly, this is where corporate America is!

The art and craft of screenwriting does not focus strictly on feature length screenplays. There are many industries that need screenwriters of another ilk. Corporations need us because they need someone to write the CEO's video presentations. Advertising needs us to write the scripts for commercials and manufacturing needs us to write script for product presentation demos. Just about every industry that uses moving pictures to communicate or entertain need screenwriters.

I know that the East Coast is an ideal place for screenwriters to get started and evolve their talent because it's where I got started. One summer, many years ago I was working in Hollywood. Things were slow as they normally are there in the summer so I decided to visit my folks in Connecticut. While at home, a friend of mine who worked for a large corporation, knew that I was an aspiring screenwriter. He asked me to write something for a video presentation for his boss. I said yes. I wrote a ten-minute script, got paid way too much for a day's work and haven't looked back since. I still write for this industry and get well paid for it, so much so that I can finance private film projects. Mary Ellen Michael a former student/client of mine sold a script to German television but dropped out of long form writing because there was more money in corporate writing. A similar situation occurred with a student of mine, Mike Rodriguez. He followed my advice and found a job at a Manhattan advertising firm.

A more "en vogue" trend that represents a growing but risky market is writing for the Internet. Two students from Quinnipiac University Mike Schleif and Dan Rinaldi have created a series for the net. It is www.nibblebox.com that signed Mike to produce eleven episodes of this "nettoon" entitled 100% Ground Beef. His show has been on-line for almost a year but, as we all know, investments in e-media are inconsistent at best. Nevertheless, he hopes to continue writing for the net with his new show entitled Badlam. We wish him luck.

There are others whom have found similar success in their writing careers and of course still find time to write the great American screenplay, for example. Several of my former USC classmates are doing very well. Stephen Somers, who wrote and directed THE MUMMY RETURNS and Suzanne Todd who produced AUSTIN POWERS have earned tremendous success. It took them ten years to achieve that success. They too started with small projects in order to hone their craft. Eventually, their skills and talent developed, overwhelmingly. You may or may not achieve such success but one thing is for sure, you can't develop your talent on blind faith alone. Take the time to learn visual writing and go no further than your back yard to do this. It may be where the greatest learning occurs.

Garret C. Maynard is graduate of the USC School of Cinema Television class of 87. Mr. Maynard is a WGAe signatory agent, freelance cinematographer and adjunct professor at several universities in southern Connecticut. He is the founder of The Gary-Paul Agency, a full service production company and owner of The New Filmmakers Prep School. He lives in Stratford, Connecticut.