Tangle Eye was fantastic, grounded in a way that reminded me of the people I knew. 100% agree with you on this article as always. Thanks for caring about writers enough to point the way. You’re a fantastic character writer. The kid from Americana is so relatable.
Always love your insights, Tony. They've definitely helped me in my writing. I guess I always try to apply my background in bigger concept movies that aren't about where I grew up - a desert town in the southwest. Maybe I should try something closer to home?
Interesting all the fawning & romanticism over hard working rural folks in the day of AI & Robots. I was born to two chemists ended up a house painter in LA.
The Blue Collar life is not all it is cracked up to be !
Tony, I love this, and similar advice has come up a few times recently. I've been doing some non-writing work for a showrunner with a new series on HBO, and that project required us to be on Zoom/calls frequently for about two months. In that time, my backstory (something I haven't talked about much) became a recurring point of discussion. This showrunner insisted I start telling my crazy story in meetings, and how keen showrunners will want to hear it. Not an easy thing to do since I tend to be a private person, but I've turned a corner with it. Even wrote up an unorthodox bio that reads like a bad review of a movie. We'll see how it goes.
This really summarizes the experience. I'm newer to the business and come from a sales background. You'd think in a creative fields the quality of work be the top driver, but creativity actually opens the door to more subjectivity. People are buying you as much as the writing.
Guy Richie is basically UK Royalty via his step dad his whole career bought and paid for, before he even started. Chris Nolan’s dad is big in UK advertising and he lied and continues to lie about his family wealth. Everybody who acts in the UK bar a few (like Gary Oldman) were part of the same Oxford uni crowd, all monied and juiced in. I’ve worked on at least two UK films in the last twenty years where the budget came from the directors Dad entirely (and I’m talking millions).
I am also a blue collar guy from small town America but never went to college. Big fan of the common human being. What I possess is 30+ years in the film business in various roles. My entry was non-nepotism, non-privilege, and totally knowing somebody who knew somebody who was sleeping with a dept head who was hiring for a movie. I have a decent projects-worked-on list and ample contacts acquired through those years, however the next gig I seek is Producer / Co-Showrunner / the words Created By in front of my name.
The unique experience of growing up in the area of the U.S. where a certain historical event occurred (the story spine of the series) has me far enough along to call the project “in development.” While I do not have any human beings officially attached (cast or crew) I do have:
- A proof-of-concept pilot script.*
- An outline of Season 1 & notes on Season 2.
- A shopping option for a book which inspires the story-teling.
- An online folder with research, scout photos, concept art, mood-board, character list, and dream casting.
- Enough confidence in my pitch to call it a catch.
* I am NOT an awesome or award-winning Writer, rather I understand and respect the concept of assembling (and joining) talented writers in a Writer's room.
I was attempting to be the lead singer in a "hair metal" band in 1991 when this guy Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana came on MTV and swept my entire genre of music into the dustbin virtually overnight. My band, Molten Spit, had their first and only gig on New Year's Eve, Dec 31st, 1991. My Rock Star dream was over. A few decades later, I wrote a pilot about it, and "Dead on Sunset" was born. I'm very proud of the pilot and the pitch deck and know this series could really (wait for it) ... rock. The logline, if you will indulge me:
DEAD ON SUNSET
Half-hour Dramedy Series
An almost-famous lead singer and his 80s-style metal band in Los Angeles struggle to achieve stardom in a 90s music scene that has left them behind.
As you suggested, I'm just a guy out here trying to leverage my own personal experience into a piece of material that speaks to people. Great post, Tony, thanks again.
Thanks for this Tony. My background is somewhat similar to yours: I grew up with parents from rural Eastern Kentucky (in a city then a small town), I worked as a janitor with my mom at a police station while a teen, and I was a first generation college student who did an MA in Literature and an MFA in creative writing, planning to work in academia only to find the jobs shrinking there and later hoping to break into screenwriting one day. The biggest differences are that I haven't written a script that is very inspired by my biography (my most polished is a western though, heh), and I haven't gotten into any rooms yet. Maybe those two things are related.
Spot on. The first feature film I ever worked on was directed by the great grandson of a famous chocolate company founder. And I was the only working class kid who had to interview for a job - the other runners were just upper class kids with a bit of free time who barely broke into a sweat.
Tangle Eye was fantastic, grounded in a way that reminded me of the people I knew. 100% agree with you on this article as always. Thanks for caring about writers enough to point the way. You’re a fantastic character writer. The kid from Americana is so relatable.
Always love your insights, Tony. They've definitely helped me in my writing. I guess I always try to apply my background in bigger concept movies that aren't about where I grew up - a desert town in the southwest. Maybe I should try something closer to home?
Interesting all the fawning & romanticism over hard working rural folks in the day of AI & Robots. I was born to two chemists ended up a house painter in LA.
The Blue Collar life is not all it is cracked up to be !
Tony, I love this, and similar advice has come up a few times recently. I've been doing some non-writing work for a showrunner with a new series on HBO, and that project required us to be on Zoom/calls frequently for about two months. In that time, my backstory (something I haven't talked about much) became a recurring point of discussion. This showrunner insisted I start telling my crazy story in meetings, and how keen showrunners will want to hear it. Not an easy thing to do since I tend to be a private person, but I've turned a corner with it. Even wrote up an unorthodox bio that reads like a bad review of a movie. We'll see how it goes.
This really summarizes the experience. I'm newer to the business and come from a sales background. You'd think in a creative fields the quality of work be the top driver, but creativity actually opens the door to more subjectivity. People are buying you as much as the writing.
Guy Richie is basically UK Royalty via his step dad his whole career bought and paid for, before he even started. Chris Nolan’s dad is big in UK advertising and he lied and continues to lie about his family wealth. Everybody who acts in the UK bar a few (like Gary Oldman) were part of the same Oxford uni crowd, all monied and juiced in. I’ve worked on at least two UK films in the last twenty years where the budget came from the directors Dad entirely (and I’m talking millions).
I am also a blue collar guy from small town America but never went to college. Big fan of the common human being. What I possess is 30+ years in the film business in various roles. My entry was non-nepotism, non-privilege, and totally knowing somebody who knew somebody who was sleeping with a dept head who was hiring for a movie. I have a decent projects-worked-on list and ample contacts acquired through those years, however the next gig I seek is Producer / Co-Showrunner / the words Created By in front of my name.
The unique experience of growing up in the area of the U.S. where a certain historical event occurred (the story spine of the series) has me far enough along to call the project “in development.” While I do not have any human beings officially attached (cast or crew) I do have:
- A proof-of-concept pilot script.*
- An outline of Season 1 & notes on Season 2.
- A shopping option for a book which inspires the story-teling.
- An online folder with research, scout photos, concept art, mood-board, character list, and dream casting.
- Enough confidence in my pitch to call it a catch.
* I am NOT an awesome or award-winning Writer, rather I understand and respect the concept of assembling (and joining) talented writers in a Writer's room.
In your opinion, what should I do next?
Or if you are interested. A general meeting?
Thanks, Dr. Tost
I can relate.
I was attempting to be the lead singer in a "hair metal" band in 1991 when this guy Kurt Cobain and his band Nirvana came on MTV and swept my entire genre of music into the dustbin virtually overnight. My band, Molten Spit, had their first and only gig on New Year's Eve, Dec 31st, 1991. My Rock Star dream was over. A few decades later, I wrote a pilot about it, and "Dead on Sunset" was born. I'm very proud of the pilot and the pitch deck and know this series could really (wait for it) ... rock. The logline, if you will indulge me:
DEAD ON SUNSET
Half-hour Dramedy Series
An almost-famous lead singer and his 80s-style metal band in Los Angeles struggle to achieve stardom in a 90s music scene that has left them behind.
As you suggested, I'm just a guy out here trying to leverage my own personal experience into a piece of material that speaks to people. Great post, Tony, thanks again.
Thanks for this Tony. My background is somewhat similar to yours: I grew up with parents from rural Eastern Kentucky (in a city then a small town), I worked as a janitor with my mom at a police station while a teen, and I was a first generation college student who did an MA in Literature and an MFA in creative writing, planning to work in academia only to find the jobs shrinking there and later hoping to break into screenwriting one day. The biggest differences are that I haven't written a script that is very inspired by my biography (my most polished is a western though, heh), and I haven't gotten into any rooms yet. Maybe those two things are related.
Spot on. The first feature film I ever worked on was directed by the great grandson of a famous chocolate company founder. And I was the only working class kid who had to interview for a job - the other runners were just upper class kids with a bit of free time who barely broke into a sweat.