Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that I am ONLY a hired writer for a fee and do not work as a professional Film or TV producer nor am I a Literary Agent.  I also do not give out any of my personal contact information to any of my paying clients to help you to break into the film or TV business.   Marketing your finished project is your responsibility alone and does not involve the writer. 

You are! This is why you must be prepared to do all the on-line research required to successfully educate yourself about the  TV and film business as it pertains to all new writers trying to break into this business. It has never been easy and still isn't now.  You also  must first be willing to face rejection on a daily basis, and research various methods used by established writer's on how to navigate the 'breaking in' process. There are millions of scripts and TV projects that never get read each year written by 'fly by night' writers who lack the knowledge on how to pitch ideas to producers and how to get noticed because they rushed the process and didn't do their homework. 

The film/TV business has a natural way of weeding out 'weak' ones who give up easily after a few rejections.  In fact, it is set up this way so that most newcomers (which are in the millions) who do not having the stomach for this industry stop contacting them after one such rejection.  Is that you?  If so, you won't have what it takes to survive in this business for very long. It takes only the very confident, aggressive and persistent ones who end up breaking into the business.  You must first do all your homework about how the business works and and be 'fully' prepared. 

No. Unless you are an established film or TV writer with actual film/TV credits it will not be easy to get producers to read or hear about your project. You will have to research what producers are willing to accept new projects from unproduced and new writers.  You must also be willing to attend pitch festivals and other such on-line marketing venues to find out where these producers are present and who they are doing business. 

No. I accept only projects that have a general message (theme) with a general purpose.  Ask yourself, what does the audience learn or come away with after they have watching my TV show or movie?  If you know the answer to that question, then you already know the ending of your story. Will it be a positive message or something negative, incomplete or disturbing?  For me to accept a new clients project, the story must have a clear and positive message and some ray of hope at the ending that feels satisfying to the audience it is geared towards.  If your project doesn't have either, I would not be the right writer for your project.  I never accept projects that contain genres dealing in horror and/or exploitation, or that contain excessive sex, violence, or abuse towards any humans and/or animals.  

True stories do not work well for movies or TV Series.  Life is very messy and goes on for can decades.  If the story goes on for more than 'one' decade it is already too long for a movie or TV show.  Movie and TV writing have very strict guidelines and require a specific kind of story structure to succeed.  They also tend to need a theme and a genre which is something real life never has.  Movies need clear themes and genres accompanied by a rapidly paced beginning, middle and end that is easy to convey into a solid structure and delivered to an audience within 90 minutes or less.  This is why you will typically see 'based on a true story' and see only a glimpse of that story being told that actually works for a movie structure and a general audience.  This means vast amounts of this 'true story' is either cut out, manipulated, diminished or dramatized to make it work as a movie genre and workable structure.  This is true for TV Series as well where much of what 'really happened' gets revised or left out to make it work for a general (age specific) audience. These structured elements, along with the age requirements of the leading characters is why true stories become so difficult to transform into Film or TV.  They are better told in books or biographies.  Only a handful of true stories generally get told because they deal with 'real artists and celebrities or well known criminals (an such) that they already have a built in audience and curiosity about them.  Books are usually written about them first and then developed later on for TV or Movies. 

Another thing to keep in mind is how many people think their stories of 'abuse' are unique.  Unfortunately, these stories are not unique, and although the details might differ, they are also not uncommon.  Millions of people experience real life abuse and tragedies on a daily basis, but these stories do not appeal easily to large audience.  They also never have happy endings, which makes them also hard to appeal to large audiences, something producers want. That is why these stories are better told through the victims  own words via book form or a journal instead of told and viewed though a more graphic medium. 

I have worked only on a handful of sci-fi and super-natural scripts for clients.  The reason is they require creating an entirely fictional world that is believable is extremely hard to prove in each segment of the actual writing.  They  also require a great deal of research which I do not provide which instead has to be provided by the client.   The supernatural and sci-fi genre is also very  time consuming and costly to write.  The price for such projects are double what I normally charge for fictional projects based more in common reality which is easily accepted by audiences.  That is why  I only accept a few of these such projects based on the concept and types of lead characters that involved as well as the overall message.    

I do not accept any deferred co-writing and/or co-author writing arrangements. I also do not accept any 'backend deals' or 'paid later' writing assignments, no matter how good the offer.  If you have a story in development or producers interested in your project, that is wonderful.  I only work for clients who can afford my fees which are paid fully in advance of any story development assignment or writing assignment for either TV or Film. The reason for this is that there are thousands of writing projects in development with producers around the world every year, but only a handful of these projects actually have a development money.  So unless the project has development and writing money behind it, I would not be able to accept the project.  There is far too much time, energy, talent, skill, education and experience that goes into a writing process for any professional writer to accept such assignments.  In addition, any professional producer knows how important the writer is and should be able to easily fund the writing process if they are in fact serious about getting the project made.