Hey! . . . from Ohio.

[scripto]

Thank you so much for the warm welcome folks.  It's good to be here. 

Don, you seem like a very nice, level-headed fellow who knows how to work with people.  I like that.  Uncle Al, I love your web site.  Who doesn't love a production company whose slogan is "Movies That Mostly Don't Suck!"  That is classic!  And Tracey, it is always nice to meet folks who are in a similar situation to yourself.  My family has to come first, before a hobby I hope could become more someday.

I'm also trying to learn as much as I can to help my eldest son.  He has expressed some interest in the movie industry, and I just happen to LOVE the form and art of the screenplay.  So this is something and can get my teeth into and hopefully be there as more than just support for him!

I posted some of my short scripts in the Showcase area.  If you get a chance, please let me know what you think.

Steve

[ScriptNurse]

I see the welcoming committee extended their hands ... allow me to do the same.

[tracey]

Hi Steve,
I'm Tracey from Australia. I labored 4 years writing a novel and then showed it to a published author. She said my talent was in screenplay writing as that was how the novel looked - like a movie!
Like you, I'm in my forties and have a heap of ideas in my head but unfortunately can't translate them fast enough to the page...lol
Plus the every day things in life like looking after my family has to come first!
If I can get a handle on the "rules" of writing screenplays, I know I'm really going to love doing this.
Best advice so far I've read on this website is by Alex Epstein:
" Don't do it to make money...just do it because you LOVE writing!"
Plus Don's excellent advice is " Read scripts till you know how it goes!"

See ya
Tracey:))

[uncle_al]

Greetings, Steve!
From that state "up north", and on behalf of Don and the others here, welcome.
Many of us, myself included, have said it before... this is where you come to learn, share, and grow.  We don't mind questions... we have plenty of answers, and they may even be the right ones.  No extra charge.
Point of fact, the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

Dig in, have fun.
You get out of it what you put into it.

Cheers!
Al B.

[scripto]

Greetings,

My name is Steve, and I am writing to you from Barberton, OH.  I am 43 years old, with a lovely wife of 19 years and 3 wonderful sons. 

I have always been a lover of Television (shows and commercials) and movies.  As a youngster I was involved in theater as a set designer and builder.  I ran set crews for plays such as Harvey, Arsenic and Old Lace, The Sneetches, and musicals such as Brigadoon and Fiddler on the Roof.  My dream was to be an actor, but I never had the courage to come out from behind the backstage area.

I still don't, I found out this past summer, when I actually tried for a part in a Thesis project being filmed here in the Akron area.  I practiced the part until I could say it in character in my sleep.  Then I got in the room with my acting partner, the director/producer and a 'rolling' videocam, and I pretty much fell apart.  I did okay, but all of a sudden, I couldn't even begin to remember the whole thing.  I never got through the entire aside.  Needless to say, I didn't get the part.  My stomach churned for three days afterward.  It was quite humbling.

Now, what brings me here?  I love to write, and have been represented (unsuccessfully) by an agent for a novel length detective piece of fiction I wrote, and I did complete a second work, which I did not have the cash to try and find representation for.  Then, one day, while at work, I had an idea for a movie, which I wanted to star my detective, only it was more of a James Bond-ish type roll.  No problem, as no one but my would-be agent and a few friends and family had read of him, so he could do whatever I wanted.  That is, if I could figure out how to write a script.

So . . . I started searching the internet for articles on how to format screenplays.  I found many, many such articles, and set about the task.  With many stops and starts, I completed the dang thing (first draft, mind you) in about a year.  That was painful.  But more painful was finding out just how bad it was, after reading good scripts on the web, and having few folks look at it as well.  I have started rewriting it, as well as having written a few much-more-polished short scripts as well.  I have had people contact me saying they wished to produce my two short scripts for college, etc., only to disappear without a trace.  Most distressing, but that's okay.  I'll survive.

I have been active on another screenwriting site, but have become somewhat unhappy with the community as a whole.  Oh, there are many fine and talented people to be sure, but I am hoping the constant bickering, infighting and childish behavior is not the norm for the industry.  I have come here in the hopes of finding that this is not true.  If it is, I may just decide to pack it all in and stick with my night job forever.

Also, I may have to if I am truly not good enough to be a screenwriter for a living.  You never know until you try.

Anyway, I am impressed with what I see here.  I loved the interview with Don posted on the 'About Us' page, and hope to find a happy home here where I can learn and grow doing something I love.

Than you for your time,

Steve