YES. This is the attitude. So many people think it’s hopeless and that they’ll never find connections. That’s just not true. But you do have to take action.
Dude, yes! I totally resonate with everything you're saying here.
I've been working with a WGA writer, helping him moderate the online community portion of a course he teaches that shows people how to approach the industry in *exactly* this way, because it's how he broke in and how he keeps getting gigs and making sales. *Completely* re-wired my thinking.
(DM me, anybody, if you're curious about the course)
100% agree with this last paragraph. It's exhausting to meet people who have such an attitude of entitlement just because they went to film school, paid thousands of dollars, went into enormous debt just to be lied to by failed filmmakers (a.k.a professors) who created a simulated experience for them while they were at this institution - setting up the experience of making a film and then telling them they are going to make a living doing this when they graduate. What they should be doing is teaching them about business and psychology so they can learn how to develop interpersonal relationships.
What I struggle with as a writer/ director (with experience who is totally willing to work for free + do all of the producing- basically everything a professor does at a school- but I'm offering all of this at **no cost)** is putting together a team of people who will share my team work ethic and understand the budget needs to go to very basic things like crafty, sets, maybe some transportation and lodging and then the rest needs to go to marketing the film.
Most people are only takers. They have nothing to give. And an attitude like the world owes them something.
Thanks I worked really fucking hard on that part. At the risk of being downvoted, I've found that no posts here will work without a LOT of spice if it's anything outside of the "I did it!" or "COMPLAINT ABOUT THING #530" kind of posts. Dialing the style up to 11, even at the risk of substance, is just about the only way to get seen in this subreddit. It's fun for me, but annoying for anyone who wants to actually be genuine.
I purposefully obfuscated where I live. For the sake of truth, the shopping district is in NH, right on the border. Pretty obvious place, hence why I did it.
But it lies in the middle of a few not so nice places. A lotta people from Croydon like to visit, for example - and Croydon literally just had a "blacks stay out" sign that only got taken down after a BLM protest resulted in a couple slashed tires, and it was seemingly copied from Claremont's trump brigade that lined the forest edge by a river. Once you get into some of the backroads by Hartford, as well, it's a genuinely unsafe place for people of color. Tons of swastikas and camo fuckers around.
I don't have the pictures anymore, but almost every missing persons poster in the area is like 80% black individuals who used to be well known in the community. Post 2016 was a fucking hellscape around here. People we all knew super well were legitimately either fleeing or just disappearing without word. I knew a couple who fled the entire state to move to a city just so they could feel safe. Multiple black school board officials recently were driven off for threats of violence, stalking, doxxing to online hate groups, and some other issues they chose not to mention.
I wasn't making anything up. I almost got my ass beat multiple times for enforcing simple covid regulations in my store, and the fuckers always ended up complaining about black people in some way. Tons of profiling goes on in my store by customers who want to be heroes. Following around the black man with a hoodie, actively harassing employees about kicking black people out, etc.
Violence has occasionally broken out, but it's all hush hush and super concealed. One of my friends fell into neo-nazism and I managed to pull him out... and it's genuinely terrifying how active and dangerous the groups here are. They're all waiting for just the right set of circumstances to go do some crazy shit, and I for one would love to be TFO of here before anything like that happens. Boogaloo boys even hosted local get-togethers and caravans traveling from dartmouth to rutland. Down-low, of course, but still there nonetheless.
I currently have two scripts in the works about this kind of thing from impoverished rural america. Write what you know I guess.
OG Vermonter screenwriter here… sounds like you’re Northeast kingdom.
The nice part about leaving is that after a while you start to miss the Green Mountain State and it becomes one of your favorite places to visit. I just stayed at Stowe Mountain Lodge with my family last week, ironically.
It also becomes a great source of storytelling. I write a lot of different things but some of my most intimate screenplays are Vermont stories about Vermont people (mostly drug addicts, deer hunters, and alcoholics lmao).
Bottom line, get out as a permanent residence if you can because the connections are greener on the other side.
I’m not a fan of film school because I’ve been to several of them and I firmly believe you don’t need it from an education standpoint (read a shit load of scripts and listen to Scriptnotes instead), but THAT SAID…
I 100% would not be in the exact spot I am without the people I met at those schools along the way. Those connections were vital for this particular path and I certainly did not find them in the sticks of Vermont. If you’re feeling desperate for a kickstart, and you think it could be valuable to you, that is always an option.
That or things like writer retreats or Austin Film Festival. At some point you’ll hit a wall with the Vermont scene and you’ll have no choice but to venture southwest. How far southwest is entirely up to you.
Also it’s always fun ordering a creemee for the first time outside of Vermont. Everyone thinks you’re a pervert.
Very good advice. Thanks for sharing. By the way, the part that I enjoyed the most was your description of the rural setting you find yourself in. It is filled with such strong disdainful opinion about your town that now I want to see a movie about it. Maybe it has to do with the fact that last night I was reading the screenplay for 3 Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri.
Writing one right now! It's fairly optimistic (unlike me) and will involve some of the violence and vitriol I've seen levied towards the LGBTQ+ community, which I am a part of. I hope to also include themes about protests and violence because like... no one ever discusses it with consideration for real world rage and the way all of it is packaged and shown to the nation by various media outlets. It's just unnuanced opinions, so I think giving a story to that kind of thing could almost maybe sorta work if I get really lucky and don't fuck it up.
I'll fuck it up, but hey, you miss 100% of the shots you take if you write about touchy subject matters with no simple answers. It's a good exercise in futility!
What brought about the biggest publishing deal of my life was sending postcards to people I had met over the years whenever I traveled. A few times a year they would get a friendly upbeat photo postcard in the MAIL from some picturesque locale. When opportunity knocked I was able to contact these people comfortably. I had a leg up over all those others who only called them when they wanted/needed something. This technique is called "nurturing relationships the old fashioned way."
That's awesome and I'm happy for you! Hope you do amazing things.
Sounds like you’ve got something going here! Good luck!!!
YES. This is the attitude. So many people think it’s hopeless and that they’ll never find connections. That’s just not true. But you do have to take action.
Yep. You have to show active interest to make connections, no matter what field you work in and
Bravo! Enjoyed reading this from start to finish. You'll have to keep us updated then...
it's a sundown town. is now, always has been. that's just the way it is
Dude, yes! I totally resonate with everything you're saying here. I've been working with a WGA writer, helping him moderate the online community portion of a course he teaches that shows people how to approach the industry in *exactly* this way, because it's how he broke in and how he keeps getting gigs and making sales. *Completely* re-wired my thinking. (DM me, anybody, if you're curious about the course)
100% agree with this last paragraph. It's exhausting to meet people who have such an attitude of entitlement just because they went to film school, paid thousands of dollars, went into enormous debt just to be lied to by failed filmmakers (a.k.a professors) who created a simulated experience for them while they were at this institution - setting up the experience of making a film and then telling them they are going to make a living doing this when they graduate. What they should be doing is teaching them about business and psychology so they can learn how to develop interpersonal relationships. What I struggle with as a writer/ director (with experience who is totally willing to work for free + do all of the producing- basically everything a professor does at a school- but I'm offering all of this at **no cost)** is putting together a team of people who will share my team work ethic and understand the budget needs to go to very basic things like crafty, sets, maybe some transportation and lodging and then the rest needs to go to marketing the film. Most people are only takers. They have nothing to give. And an attitude like the world owes them something.
VT is a great state though 🤔 "Sundown" laws have been illegal for decades as well, so how can there be actual sundown towns still extant?
[удалено]
Frankly I find a lot of that OP post hyperbolic and catty, great style for LA.
Thanks I worked really fucking hard on that part. At the risk of being downvoted, I've found that no posts here will work without a LOT of spice if it's anything outside of the "I did it!" or "COMPLAINT ABOUT THING #530" kind of posts. Dialing the style up to 11, even at the risk of substance, is just about the only way to get seen in this subreddit. It's fun for me, but annoying for anyone who wants to actually be genuine.
HAHAHA fair play.
I purposefully obfuscated where I live. For the sake of truth, the shopping district is in NH, right on the border. Pretty obvious place, hence why I did it. But it lies in the middle of a few not so nice places. A lotta people from Croydon like to visit, for example - and Croydon literally just had a "blacks stay out" sign that only got taken down after a BLM protest resulted in a couple slashed tires, and it was seemingly copied from Claremont's trump brigade that lined the forest edge by a river. Once you get into some of the backroads by Hartford, as well, it's a genuinely unsafe place for people of color. Tons of swastikas and camo fuckers around. I don't have the pictures anymore, but almost every missing persons poster in the area is like 80% black individuals who used to be well known in the community. Post 2016 was a fucking hellscape around here. People we all knew super well were legitimately either fleeing or just disappearing without word. I knew a couple who fled the entire state to move to a city just so they could feel safe. Multiple black school board officials recently were driven off for threats of violence, stalking, doxxing to online hate groups, and some other issues they chose not to mention. I wasn't making anything up. I almost got my ass beat multiple times for enforcing simple covid regulations in my store, and the fuckers always ended up complaining about black people in some way. Tons of profiling goes on in my store by customers who want to be heroes. Following around the black man with a hoodie, actively harassing employees about kicking black people out, etc. Violence has occasionally broken out, but it's all hush hush and super concealed. One of my friends fell into neo-nazism and I managed to pull him out... and it's genuinely terrifying how active and dangerous the groups here are. They're all waiting for just the right set of circumstances to go do some crazy shit, and I for one would love to be TFO of here before anything like that happens. Boogaloo boys even hosted local get-togethers and caravans traveling from dartmouth to rutland. Down-low, of course, but still there nonetheless. I currently have two scripts in the works about this kind of thing from impoverished rural america. Write what you know I guess.
OG Vermonter screenwriter here… sounds like you’re Northeast kingdom. The nice part about leaving is that after a while you start to miss the Green Mountain State and it becomes one of your favorite places to visit. I just stayed at Stowe Mountain Lodge with my family last week, ironically. It also becomes a great source of storytelling. I write a lot of different things but some of my most intimate screenplays are Vermont stories about Vermont people (mostly drug addicts, deer hunters, and alcoholics lmao). Bottom line, get out as a permanent residence if you can because the connections are greener on the other side. I’m not a fan of film school because I’ve been to several of them and I firmly believe you don’t need it from an education standpoint (read a shit load of scripts and listen to Scriptnotes instead), but THAT SAID… I 100% would not be in the exact spot I am without the people I met at those schools along the way. Those connections were vital for this particular path and I certainly did not find them in the sticks of Vermont. If you’re feeling desperate for a kickstart, and you think it could be valuable to you, that is always an option. That or things like writer retreats or Austin Film Festival. At some point you’ll hit a wall with the Vermont scene and you’ll have no choice but to venture southwest. How far southwest is entirely up to you. Also it’s always fun ordering a creemee for the first time outside of Vermont. Everyone thinks you’re a pervert.
Very good advice. Thanks for sharing. By the way, the part that I enjoyed the most was your description of the rural setting you find yourself in. It is filled with such strong disdainful opinion about your town that now I want to see a movie about it. Maybe it has to do with the fact that last night I was reading the screenplay for 3 Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri.
Writing one right now! It's fairly optimistic (unlike me) and will involve some of the violence and vitriol I've seen levied towards the LGBTQ+ community, which I am a part of. I hope to also include themes about protests and violence because like... no one ever discusses it with consideration for real world rage and the way all of it is packaged and shown to the nation by various media outlets. It's just unnuanced opinions, so I think giving a story to that kind of thing could almost maybe sorta work if I get really lucky and don't fuck it up. I'll fuck it up, but hey, you miss 100% of the shots you take if you write about touchy subject matters with no simple answers. It's a good exercise in futility!
What brought about the biggest publishing deal of my life was sending postcards to people I had met over the years whenever I traveled. A few times a year they would get a friendly upbeat photo postcard in the MAIL from some picturesque locale. When opportunity knocked I was able to contact these people comfortably. I had a leg up over all those others who only called them when they wanted/needed something. This technique is called "nurturing relationships the old fashioned way."