If you won the lottery, would you do this?

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Scott Myers of Go Into The Story

From TheWrap:

If Megan Ellison shows what a very, very rich person with a yen for moviemaking can do, Cynthia Stafford is determined to show what a “a mini-mogul” who got her funding from a big lottery win, can do.

In the last few months, as Ellison, daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison, has counted the profits and losses from such high-profile films as Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and John Hillcoat’s “Lawless,” Stafford has seen three of her own films come to the market.

With a smaller fund and less experience in the business, the former single mother of five from Hawthorne, Calif., has backed indies that haven’t made much of a mark on the critics or at the box office. But she’s enjoying the ride, Stafford told TheWrap.

“I love stories, and I love to see how people view the world,” she said. “I remember watching movies at home with my dad and saying, ‘What if we did this? If we had the money, could we?’ And I would always say, ‘Yeah, we will one day.’

Here three movies thus far: The Brass Teapot, Polish Bar, and Holla II. Not exactly a winning slate of movies, but it’s a learning curve, right?

How much did Stafford win in the lottery? Over $30M.

If you won $30M, would you become a Hollywood producer-financier? If so, what business strategy would you take?

I know what I’d do. I’d recruit talented filmmakers who had great micro-budget story concepts (I would cap production budgets at $100K), take each of them through The Quest so they’d be grounded in character-based storytelling, end up with a slate of strong scripts, set the filmmakers off to make their movies, and hope one of them would make enough money to cover the costs of all the others. If just one struck nominal gold, do the whole damn thing again.

Meanwhile I’d use the community we’ve created through GITS and The Black Board to set up some sort of online self-distribution network, plus same day iTunes and DVD releases. All user supported marketing [one-sheets, DVD cover art], music [original songs], just like Edward Burns.

How about an annual online Quest microbudget film festival?

Anyway that’s what I’d do with $30M. Heck, $5M would work. Try to open as many doors as possible for talented screenwriters and filmmakers outside the Hollywood system.

New Voices. More Choices.

Hey, there’s the slogan!

How about you?

For more of TheWrap article, go here.

The Quest Initiative is coming back!

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Scott Myers of Go Into The Story

I posted this yesterday, but clearly my sense of timing is way off from my days doing stand-up because I scheduled it to run just as all the pretty people were making their way up the red carpet at the Golden Globe Awards. So for those of you who may have missed the formal announcement, here is a reprise:

Last year on May 16, I announced this:

I will be looking to work with up to four writers in a 24-week Screenwriting Master Class intensive [The Quest] in which they will learn my comprehensive theoretical approach to the craft, then put that knowledge to use prepping and writing a full-length screenplay.

The cost? Nothing.

That’s right, a 6-month deep immersion in screenwriting theory and scriptwriting workshop where you end up with an original screenplay with me as your mentor for the entire process, and you don’t have to spend even a dime.

And if at the end of the process you have written a great script… you will have direct access to industry insiders.

Little did I know how the inspiration for The Quest Initiative would shake things up around here:

* 1500 writers submitted nearly 4000 loglines as entries.

* 21 writers made the first cut.

* 8 writers participated in The Quest Initiative of whom 6 are moving forward into rewrites with me attached as an executive producer. I am still working with the two others on their first drafts.

* Free Core / Craft classes or lectures to over 500 entrants [the offer still stands for those who submitted loglines last year for The Quest Initiative].

* Hundreds of writers participated in Go On Your Own Quest, most of them involved in the Forums moderated by Shaula Evans, Debbie Moon and David Joyner.

* Dozens of Dispatches from The Quest, weekly journal entries from Quest participants describing their experiences in the creative process. You can read those here.

* 120 posts, 5 per week for 24 weeks to inspire and inform GOYOQ participants. You can read those here.

In other words, The Quest Initiative was incredibly successful. It also took a considerable amount of my time. As a result, I had to push back the launch of an eBook last year and set aside a writing project.

All of this has caused me to think a lot about a question I have been asked innumerable times from GITS readers: Will you do another version of The Quest Initiative?

After many hours of reflection, I am ready to make an announcement today:

Once again I will be offering a chance for a select group of writers to work with me for free in The Quest.

Call it The Quest Initiative 2013.

I will have more details soon, but here are the target dates:

May 20-June 8: Logline submission period.

June 16: First cut announced.

June 20-27: Interviews with finalists.

June 30: The Quest Initiative participants announced.

July 14: We begin The Quest.

December 28: Delivery of first draft.

Two more announcements:

* I have a great high-concept comedy I am going to write during The Quest. That’s right, I will be using the same 24-week structure to develop, prep, and write a first draft of my own original spec script. As part of that, I will be participating in the weekly Dispatch from The Quest series, shariing the ups and downs, ins and outs of my creative process.

* We will be continuing the currently named Go On Your Own Quest Forums, inviting people who do not get selected for The Quest Initiative to use the weeks between July 14 and December 28 to write their own original screenplay. Much more about the Forums in the very near future as things continue to expand there.

So what does this mean for you? If you want to have the opportunity to participate with a select group of writers in The Quest for free with me as your mentor, start generating story concepts and working up loglines right now. Just like last year, I am only looking for the best high concepts, primarily in the Action, Comedy, Thriller genres. Not exclusively. If you have an absolute killer story idea in another genre, I will give it strong consideration. But the simple fact is I am looking for mainstream, commercial movie projects and that all starts with mainstream, commercial story concepts.

That means you have six months to come up with a monster story concept and develop it into a kick-ass logline.

That means probably 4-6 of you will have a unique opportunity to seriously upgrade your grasp of the craft and end up with a strong first draft of an original screenplay.

That means once again, I am putting my faith in you, that there are writers outside Hollywood who have the ideas, talent, drive, personality and sheer force of will to become professional screenwriters.

So there you have it: The Quest Initiative 2013. If you have any questions, feel free to post in comments or email me. Also please let me know if you anticipate submitting one or more loglines. Curious to get an initial read on the level of enthusiasm for the initiative this time around.

Finally I have another couple of Quest-related announcements. Look for those in the next few weeks. Exciting things happening on GITS in 2013. Glad you’re here to be part of it!

Onward and upward!

NOTE: I am not accepting any logline submissions until May 20. Do not send me loglines now or before then. Thank you!

UPDATE: From Shaula Evans in comments:

Wonderful news. Hurray!

And brilliant that you’ll be Questing along at the same time, Scott.

And for anyone who wants to submit loglines this spring — the Go On Your Own Quest Forum has an Idea Factory for brainstorming premises and bouncing premise ideas off other writers, and a Logline Workshop (that’s only visible once you’re logged in) for helping each other improve our loglines. If you are trying to figure out how to come up with a killer idea, or how to make your logline as powerful as possible, you’re welcome to come on over for as much support as you’d like.

Great opportunity to work your story concept and logline muscles.

Announcement: The Quest Initiative is coming back!

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Scott Myers of Go Into The Story