Where are the Great Screenplays?

I got back from Cannes at the end of May where I was strongarmed by producer after producer asking where the great scripts are. They all think that getting the money is relatively easy. I get asked over and over again by agents and producers: Where are the great screenplays?

The truth is, there are thousands of screenplays in circulation, but few hit the marks producers require to get the funding to make the movie.

If It’s So Basic, Why Haven’t You Sold a Script?

It could be that what you have been taught is wrong. That you haven’t been shown how a commercially viable script needs to be planned point-by-point and written.

When I speak of a ‘commercially viable’ script, I’m not talking about the big Hollywood block-busters. I’m talking about films which get made and find an audience. And part of the weekend deals with finding an audience.

The business side of screenwriting aspect of the course is absolutely invaluable.– Andy North

Here’s The Good News!

I have read and evaluated over 2,500 screenplays – four of which got made: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels being one of them. Most scripts I have read didn’t get made not because the idea was poor. They didn’t get made because the execution of the idea was clumsy.

This weekend class will show you how to hone your idea and plan your story BEFORE you actually write it.

The real world information and examples, particularly around the business side of selling a script.

Right Idea for the Right Script

Writing a story for the screen is about making a series of strong and tactful decisions using what you have learned (through trial and error) and through your own talent.

It’s also about learning how to focus on your strengths and honing them. This weekend class gives tip after tip, technique after technique that you can use in your writing. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but immediately.

I have learned this personally: from the three published books and the novel I’ve written, from the hundreds of screenwriters I have worked with over the quarter century that I’ve worked at Raindance, and from the dozens of shorts and features I have seen leap from the script to the screen.

All the most important questions about screenwriting were tackled in an engaging and fun way.

About This Course

Getting your idea from your head to a sheet of paper means a journey of just 45 cm.

Approach the journey in the right way, and you will arrive safely. Start this journey unprepared and you will end up wandering and confused, your idea locked inside you, those eighteen inches, 45cm may as well be a million miles.

Discover the insider trade secrets that are designed to keep outsiders from breaking into the industry. Find out shortcuts to success, and how to map out a hugely rewarding career, learning from the success and failure of others. Learn how to maximise your personal resources in order to create an image and mystique about yourself and your work. Discover proven techniques that enable you to master the page and show it who’s boss. Learn how to guide your idea down the page. A hot script is the quickest way into the film industry.

Christopher Nolan (The Following), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), Jane Campion (The Piano), John Hodge & Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave) and Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) are some of the writer/directors who launched their careers with their first script.

Over 10,000 film makers have now taken Write and Sell the Hot Script masterclass.

My mind is less of a muddle and it’s made script writing less daunting and something I’m now looking forward to every day.– Vee Vimolmal

Day One: The Screenwriting Process

Do you want to write a movie but don’t know where to start? Elliot Grove leads you through the bewildering array of story structure and genre theories. Learn how to formulate a realistic plan to write the type of screenplay sought by film script buyers.

• Create interesting, memorable characters
• Devise characters that grow in your script and outlive the movie
• Conflict and tension in a story
• Building great dialogue
• The essential building blocks of a script
• Story structure paradigms
• Setting the social stage to develop dynamic stories

The information about the structure of a screen play was very helpful and the examples that Elliott gave were really clear, so I felt quite confident about having a go myself– Marie Philpott

Day Two: The Business Of Screenwriting

You don’t get paid for writing a screenplay. You only get paid when you sell it. This is the money day, when you learn how to write what sells, and how to sell what you write.

• Playing the Movie Game and winning as a screenwriter
• Simple, logical and effective marketing
• How professionals market scripts
• Getting producers to read your script
• How to get good coverage.
• Query letters
• The three ways scripts are bought and sold
• How much money can you earn from the sale of your script
• The Ten Thousand Monkeys Theory for writers explained
• Getting an agent
• Realistic career paths

Tutor’s use of personal experience and metaphor in sharing ideas and information was ideal for this type of material.One of the best courses I have ever attended, ever, about anything.Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone considering a career in screenwriting.I left feeling thoroughly inspired but with realistic expectations.Thanks.”– Emmet Rob

Who Should Attend

Writers, directors, actors and producers interested in the entire story process from idea to script to screen.

Testimonials

I found myself getting quite excited during the course about writing and getting my script or writing out there to people! I never realised how much went into getting a script into the mainstream and so the course was extremely helpful in this regard, as well as many other things!

Yay another amazing success. 10 years ago we met at Elliot Grove Raindance course “Write and sell a hot script” at the Diorama centre. It’s been an incredible powerful creative journey of a life time. So happy we keep on going and have not given up. Thank you for everything. - Zuzana von Schlippe

Did you know?

• This course is FREE for our HND and postgraduate/MA students
• The Raindance Guarantee: If this course fails to meet your expectations, let us know at the break and we will make a full, 100% no-questions-asked refund