SCREENWRITER BRAND

The odds have proven that you have to do more than write well to make it in the screenwriting business. Dustin Lance Black was a gay activist even before writing "MILK". Shane Black was an actor before even being considered as a writer. Diablo Cody was a stripper who published a blog about it, among other smart moves she made. Yes, most screenwriters in the past few years have had to invent ways to stand out, or at least use what they had to get their big break.

I don't suggest jumping off a building, we discussed that before. But, you have to brand yourself, maybe not through one simple act, but you have to create an enticing brand that will make people, especially prodcos, take notice.

Draw on your past -- what are you known for? What is your true profession? Do you excel at some odd interest, worthy of noting? Fact is, it's going to be easier to put a brand together based on existing qualities. If you are a bowler with a consistent 200-plus average, you need to include bowling in a script, that's catchy. Teacher? Then that should be in some aspect of your best script as well.

Don't just put the script in a drawer and send queries -- it's not enough, I'm sorry to say. Work on your brand and make it unique, make us take notice.

My brand? I'm an unemployed art instructor who was forced into a career change in a recession, just like the main character in my best script. I write about "real life", in specific, the recession and economy, because I live it, like so many. I coined the genre "e-comedy", meaning a comedy in which the poor economy takes a defining role. "Up in the Air", a recent release about a hatchet-man downsizing companies, could be defined as an "e-comedy".

I am a political columnist for a local paper. I started this career with a blog and a challenge to complete a screenplay in ninety days, having no knowledge of the craft (I completed two in the time frame). All of my training has been through online resources, I spent twelve hours a day, every day during those ninety days learning online and writing my scripts.

I am in the process of building and unleashing a campaign behind my script that has never been attempted. If it fails or not isn't the question, the point is that I'm doing it and that it's never been done.

Brand yourself, writers, work with what you have, set a goal for something new, and go for it!

FADE OUT