But that’s not what I’m talking about. No, I’m talking about a critique I received on my TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES spec. As you might remember, I entered my spec into the Austin Teleplay competition. I received my rejection letter with the requisite “thanks for trying, better luck next time” paragraph and that was that.

So imagine my surprise when I received a brief one-page write up. This one-page write up.

Now, allow me to address some of their points.

• This was my first spec.
• I was using the pilot script for my formatting (I should have used a regular season episode).
• The dream sequence is a staple of the series (both the films and series) and I think I use it well.
• They wanted Danny to be better developed? He’s not in 4/5 of the episode. I’m taking this one as a compliment (“damn, I’m really into this spec and now I wish the show wasn’t canceled” is the exact compliment I’m taking from that. Friedman, do you hear that? You should hire me.).

I thank the AFF for the comments. They should look forward to a FRINGE or CHUCK next year… unless I get hired or into the Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship.

(Fingers crossed)

… to be completely honest, I first wrote that post a long, LONG time ago.  At some point after getting those notes from the AFF (I’m still waiting for word regarding the fate of my feature), I let a friend, who’s also a TV producer (he spent a long time on a very successful but recently cancelled network show), read my TSCC spec.  Here are his notes.

And now you’ve read all the notes I’ve received on that spec, which I’m damn proud of.  As I write more TV specs, I suspect my TSCC script will disappear into some never-to-be-opened folder on my laptop.  At that point, I might post it here for people to read.  Until then, you’ll just have to speculate about a not-too-distant future where computers and robots become self-aware.

Right now, I’m concentrating on writing a CHUCK spec. Everything else is back-burner. I wish it didn’t have to be but that’s kinda where things are at.

But if you’re a great creative multitasker, tell me what works for you.

So far, sounds good.

You can either submit a script or a “test film”.

Okay, but WTF is a “test film”? It’s a video rough draft of your film. It has to be at least 70 minutes long and include “great acting and sound but not theatrical-quality production values.”

And then people can vote if they like your stuff.

Ooh, that sounds too much like YouTube and really, who wants a feature film of a fat kid playing with his lightsaber or of a cute kitten getting tickled?

And these people of the internet can also rewrite your script and make it better.

Yes, because that’s how you retain a singular, unique voice.

And once you submit your project, Amazon has an exclusive, free option to your material for up to three years.

What? Help! Fire! Robbery!

Ugh.

Yes, it’s all true. Amazon wants your best ideas, no, scratch that, they want a finished script, or better yet they want you to make the movie, they want to post it on the web, they want other people to rewrite you, they want everyone to vote their opinion, they want to shop your script to Warner Brothers (or anyone else if WB passes) and they want three years of exclusive ownership to your script. And for this they’re gonna pay you zero dollars.

Are they f**king crazy? How is this a good idea?

But what really gets me is that Amazon does all of this while proclaiming itself the new new, egalitarian alternative to Hollywood’s notoriously closed doors. Yes, in the same way that child workers are an alternative to high costs skilled labor. This is just a terrible idea and I don’t see any way I’d ever willingly participate.

Sigh.

Okay, I didn’t write a second post last week. Why? I was flooded with work (one employee nabbed an acting gig, another says he wants to work but his actions often speak otherwise). Also, I got FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS and I was ready to write it off as “too long, too boring, etc.” but then they gave me a pet robot.

I ALWAYS WANTED A PET ROBOT!!!

Anyway, here’s something I love. Apparently Essanay Studios used to have a checklist of reasons why your script was rejected, eight of which seem to say “this sucks.”

(I’m counting reasons #2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12)

What would you add to the checklist?

PS, for the record, I stole this post from this blog (which you should be reading).

What, you might be asking, is Script Frenzy? Ever heard of National Novel Writing Month? This is the same thing except with a script. And as I’ve been lagging on my writing, this is the kick in the butt I’ve been needing.

Therefore, I will have a draft of my long promised CHUCK script by the first week of May. Hey, I started late so I get to finish late.

So, let’s talk about CHUCK. I’m halfway through the second season and, well, does it ever get back to what the first season was offering?

Now before you start asking “when the hell did this turn into a video game blog” I should mention a few things. First, the PS3 is my first game system since the original NES so I’m going through my “infatuation” stage. Second, I’m writing like crazy but can’t really share what I’m writing so there isn’t much to blog abut there. Third, I’ve been working so many hours at both my jobs, on my freelance career, my feature, my web series and my writing that the blogging has taken a bit of a back seat. I’m sorry about that. I’m struggling to get ahead of the curve and feel like I’m failing but I think that’s what struggle is supposed to feel like.

Enough bitchin’. Back to work.

Finish My Feature Film – My editor finished a cut and it looked pretty good. Obviously, I had notes but we are definitely on the same page and it feels fucking awesome to move forward. Now I just need him to export a QuickTime so I can obsessively watch it at home in High-Def. You’re asking how I’m gonna author & burn a Blu-ray from my Mac, right? Wrong. I’m gonna export the HD Quicktime to play on my PS3. Stu, you’re a hero.

Write Another TV Spec – I am WAY behind on CHUCK and FRINGE but I’m still determined write for one of these shows. I think I’m gonna take a day off, hook up the computer to the TV and just plow through the second seasons of both.

Get Hired to Direct – No bites yet.

Get My Web Series Up & Running – So I had three formal pitches and about a dozen “tell me what you’re working on” while waiting for the elevator and the response has been overwhelming. Most people love it and the rest get a right hook to their prudish sensibilities. No, seriously, one woman yelled out “oh God!” in reaction to one of our randier jokes. Awesome! Also, I’ve cut together some character vlogs and need to do more but I’ve also been writing the first season. Christ, this is really happening. Also, you’ll see that I no longer use the “T” word because it resulted in my getting spammed by those interested in this “T” word.

Write A Feature Script – I started an outline but got sidetracked by the web series and, well…

As for other goals I still don’t have a sport, a class, an acoustic guitar, a way to defy death, a way to invest and I’m still trying to finish GLUE but I did go to SXSW and I had a fucking blast so that counts for something, right?

That Transmedia pitch DVD worked. It opened a door and now I get to pitch to 4 web/new media executives… but they moved the pitches up by a week… to next week.

Yikes!

Also, a friend is going in to meet with a genre division about directing one of their properties and he wants to take a couple other projects in with him. He asked me for one of my scripts so now I gotta punch that up before he meets with them… next week… the same time I have to do my webseries pitch.

I’ll sleep when I’m dead, right?

Question for ya: what should I prep for a 10-minute webseries pitch? Would love some expert advice.

I wrote a spec for TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES and I’m getting ready to submit it to a management company. That show, along with most hour-long scripted shows these days, is heavily serialized. Therefore, should I include a paragraph to catch up the reader, something akin to the “previously on…” most shows employ, like this example from FRINGE?

Also, if my spec occurs at a specific point in the show’s chronology, should I point that out? For example, “this takes place just after episode 3 of the second season”.

Thoughts?

Yes, I miss TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.

Granted, DOLLHOUSE had a rough start but the series did improve with each episode. Plus how could you cancel this?

So I guess this means I better get cracking on my CHUCK or FRINGE spec before they cancel one of those. Also, I should start watching FLASH FORWARD and V before they suffer a similar fate.

Time to write!