Karen Croner on Screenwriting

Read a great interview with screenwriter Karen Croner on the Women and Hollywood blog on IndieWire. She was talking about her latest film, Admission, a truly wonderful piece of mature and comedic writing with great emotional depth.  

Two things she said really struck me as valuable for screenwriters at all stages.

"Everything in this business is impossible. So you just have to completely ignore it and then reach for what you want for more than anything."

"The other thing I would say, don't be a screenwriter to be a screenwriter. You need to be a screenwriter because you have something you want to say. "

 There's more to the article. Check it out.

Crowdfunding

Hello everyone! This post is coming directly from Brazil as I visit family and wait for the release of my second feature film, Open Road. I’m also in the middle of crowd funding a short film and just launched the campaign, so I figured this might be a good time to talk to you about different sites available for crowd funding, the differences and even whether or not you should do it. I have to confess my producing partner Sarah Lynn Dawson and I considered not even going that route with this project. We all get bombarded with requests to donate, don’t we? We’d love to help others, but money is tight, right? We have other projects in the works, bigger projects, that also need funds, lots of funds... so why bother with a few thousand for a short?

QUEUE THIS!

I'm still recovering from my spring break with the kiddos, so this is going to be another quick intro. Also, my post this week has the very special distinction of being the first one where I have not actually seen any of the films.  But have no fear my lovely readers, I've heard a ton of chatter about these babies, so I think you'll be just fine.  These are all very recent Netflix arrivals that have enjoyed healthy festival runs (and theatrical distribution in many cases), so they're hot, hot, hot!  I can't wait to watch them!  QUEUE THIS:

Bachelorette (dir Leslye Headland, 2012)  Netflix says:  "When a single overachiever learns, to her horror, that an overweight girl she teased in high school is getting married before her, she swallows her pride and serves as maid of honor, enlisting her old clique to help through an evening of mishaps. With Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Rebel Wilson, James Marsden and Adam Scott."  From what I gather, it's a pretty dark comedy. I need to see it!

L!fe Happens (dir Kat Coiro, 2011)  Netflix says: "Hipsters from the trendy Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles contend with adulthood in this woman-powered comedy. When one of them gives birth to a baby, her roomie resolves to not let this new responsibility hamper their lifestyle. With Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth and Rachel Bilson" I live in the trendy Silver Lake area (yes, it's two words) so maybe if I watch this I'll learn a little something about how I should really be living...

WGA Staffing Brief Shows TV Is A Man's World. Ug.

I wish I had better news for all the women TV writers out there, but unfortunately, the picture looks pretty darn bleak. Over the past decade, women have made some gains in TV staffing, but according to the WGA’s latest analysis of the state of diversity in writing staffs, it’s still a white man’s world.

According to The Wrap, the study analyzed employment patterns for 1,722 writers working on 190 broadcast and cable TV shows during the 2011-2012 season, highlighting three specific groups who have traditionally been underemployed in the TV industry: women, minority, and older writers.

Between the 1999-2000 and 2011-12 TV seasons, women writers’ share of TV staff employment increased approximately 5 percentage points, from 25 percent to 30.5 percent. That’s improvement. True. But to put that in perspective, at that rate of increase it will be another 42 years before women reach proportionate representation to men.

It’s no surprise that writing staffs remain dominated by white males. But you might be surprised to learn that roughly 10 percent of TV shows in the 2011-12 season had no female writers on staff at all. Zippo!

I share this information not to depress everybody, (even though it is a bummer) but to put a fire under our rears. Things can change. I think one step towards that change is the Broad Humor Festival. It provides an opportunity for talented, like-minded women to meet and showcase their abundant talent. It’s obvious to me and, through this type of exposure, will become obvious to others that women deserve seats (many seats!) at the writers’ table.

To see the WGA study, visit http://www.wga.org/subpage_whoweare.aspx?id=922

Top 10 Reasons You Should Submit to the 2013 Broad Humor Film Festival

The 2013 Broad Humor Film Festival submissions open TODAY! For more information on this year's festival, check the website here. (Submitting to this year's short film invitational and screenplay challenge is free for alumnae, so check out the blog post on that here.)

In 2012, my pilot, Empty Nest, won "Best Teleplay," and the festival was a wonderful experience. This year, I'm submitting again (a different project, obviously) and I hope to be able to participate in the festival again!

So, why should you enter your film or script to the Broad Humor Film Festival this year? There are tons of reasons! Here are the top 10:

10) You want a reason to spend a few days in beautiful Venice, CA this September.

9) You're reading this blog, so you're probably aware of the festival already. Why not try to be a part of it?

8) You are trying to make it in the film industry. Getting your work into festivals can't hurt that effort (I'm pretty sure it helps).

7) You are an alumna of the festival (check out the Legacy Project).

6) You've made a film (feature or short) or written a script (feature, short or television) and you're ready to submit it to festivals.

OliviaTech.com - Video, Photo, Camera and Technology Resources

Ask and you shall receive is the theme of this good friday. Last week I posted a video by Film Riot and said I wished it had more of a female presence either in front of behind the camera. I’m happy to announce I have found both in OliviaTech.com. This is a great blog about lighting, video, audio and all things in the camera universe. Olivia Speranza has a great onscreen persona as well, making the videos fun to watch and delivering great tips, reviews and tutorials. I spent hours watching videos and reading articles, and I was fascinated by this digital microphone for the iPhone or iPad, check it out. It just made my wish list...

Check out her website, twitter, vimeo, YouTube and enjoy!

*Do you have a helpful resource you’d like to promote? Do you know about a great resource to share with the Broads? Contact me to be a part of helpful resource friday.

2013 Broad Humor FF Submissions Open April 1

Well, everything is just about ready to launch for 2013.  The website is still under construction and Withoutabox isn't up and running yet, but you can download a form if you want to get a jump on your submission. 

The Short Film Invitational this year asks for films under 5 minutes that pass the "Bechdel Test."  You know, the test that is REALLY REALLY hard to pass, judging by Hollywood films.  The "test" has three requirements, kinda like our invitational:

1. The film must have at least 2 female characters with names who...
2. share a scene where they talk to each other ...
3. ..about something other than men.

See what I mean?  Practically impossible!  Still, that's the challenge.  Give it a shot.  Alums can still submit for free, but they must contact the festival for a code first.  

We're adding a Screenplay Challenge as well.  For our first screenplay challenge we are asking screenwriters to submit a 10-page comedic script for an updated revision of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We are not looking for a children's script necessarily, but rather a new take on an old and familiar tale.

The ten pages may present an entire tale or could be the first ten pages of a feature film. In either case, page 1 should be the opening of the film.

All submissions must be hard copy submissions mailed to the Broad Humor address. The title page of the script must not have the author's name nor should the writer's name appear anywhere else in the script.

All deadlines are postmark deadlines.

Address: Broad Humor Film Festival
9854 National Blvd. #166
Los Angeles, CA 90034

That's all for now.