WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE (Part 2: David Mamet Secrets & Tricks)
by Dov S-S Simens on July 9, 2015
David Mamet is a Great Dialogist & You can’t have a Great Script without Great Dialogue.
There are two contemporary masters of great dialogue.
David Mamet for Movie Screenplays.
Aaron Sorkin for TV/Cable Teleplays.
They just seem to know how people talk.
10 DIALOGUE TRICKS FROM THE MASTER… “Mr Mamet”
The following article from “ScriptShadow” is a great conversation with David Mamet who outlines his 10 top Dialogue Writing Musts.
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UTA: AGENCY #4 (30 Agents, Names & Numbers)
by Dov S-S Simens on July 8, 2015
UTA (“United Talent Agency”) is the 4th largest Motion Picture/TV/Cable agency in the world with only 2 offices but over 2,700 staff/agents.
HISTORY:
UTA was founded in 1991 as the result of a merger between two literary and talent agencies, the Bauer-Benedek Agency, headed by partners Marty Bauer, Peter Benedek and Jeremy Zimmer, and the Leading Artists Agency, formed by partners Jim Berkus and Gary Cosay. UTA seemed well positioned for success by bringing the best agents in from a variety of agencies.
7 CommentsWRITING GREAT DIALOGUE (Part 1: Secrets & Tricks)
by Dov S-S Simens on July 7, 2015
WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE IS A MUST (Part 1: How-To)
A very good article from a Script Coverage company that gives you solid Dos & Don’ts when creating unique characters by writing believable dialogue….
…”Remember… if it ain’t on the page it ain’t on the stage”.
The Dialogue Article Includes:
* How Screen-Dialogue differs from Real-Life Dialogue
* How to make Dialogue Realistic & Unique
* Keep your exchanges Interesting &
13 Comments$1,000,000-$2,000,000 FEATURE FILM (aka: “Crowd-Funded, Just-Under” Movie)
by Dov S-S Simens on July 6, 2015
$1,000,000-$2,000,000 Crowdfunded Movie…
or the… “just-under” $3-5 Million Movie
or the…”just-under” $5-7 Million Movie
or the… “just-under” $7-10 Million Movie
Always remember “Hollywood lies, lies, lies and lies” and way more than things like “da check’s in da mail””.
Well they actually don’t lie they market… they promote…
Why? Because Hollywood is not a filmmaking industry.
QUESTION: Then what is Hollywood?
ANSWER: Hollywood is a Film Marketing industry.
3 CommentsICM: Agency #3 (25 Agents, Names & Numbers)
by Dov S-S Simens on July 1, 2015
ICM (“International Creative Management”) the 3rd Largest Agency Captures Niches
HISTORY:
ICM Partners (new official name) is one of the Big 6 talent agencies, actually the 3rd largest, with offices in New York, Washington DC (very interesting), New York and London.
ICM, a relatively new agency, was formed in 1975 through the merger of Creative Management Associates and International Famous Artists. In 2005 the company raised equity financing to fund growth and in 2006 the agency acquired a leading literary agency,
13 Comments$300,000-$500,000 FEATURE FILM (aka: “Just-Under” MIllion Dollar Movie)
by Dov S-S Simens on June 29, 2015
The $300,000-$500,000 FEATURE FILM (“Just-Under” Million Dollar Movie)
or The “Just-Under” $1,000,000 Movie.
We are now in Roger Corman country. He is, or was, the “King of the Bs”.
Also called the Million Dollar Feature.
Also called those Direct-to-Video, then Direct-to-DVD tacky things that are now called Direct-to-OnDemand.
He perfected this B*ll Sh*t “Million Dollar” budget genre along with companies (if your old enough) like Crown,
5 CommentsWME: Agency #2 (25 Contacts, Names & Numbers)
by Dov S-S Simens on June 24, 2015
WME Agency is 2nd largest in the world… and trying harder
WME HISTORY:
Proper name is William Morris Endeavor. It was merely just William Morris but merged in 2009 with a second agency Endeavor and it was called WME2 and now just WME.
The agency was started in 1898 by a German immigrant, William Morris (aka: Zelman Moses), who represented Vaudeville Acts and during the silent film era Mr Morris and his agency represented Charlie Chaplin,
27 Comments$100,000-$200,000 FEATURE FILM (aka: Ultra-Low-Budget Filmmaking)
by Dov S-S Simens on June 22, 2015
THE ULTRA-LOW-BUDGET FEATURE FILM.
$100,000-$200,000? (Low-Budget or Ultra-Low-Budget Filmmaking)
Here’s the assumption: You have $100K-$200K cash sitting in a bank account (don’t know how you got it & don’t care) yelling “spend me, spend me”…
Sheeeyit, that’s a lot of money. Actually more than enough to Produce a quality Low-Budget, actually an Ultra-Low-Budget Feature Film for you can now afford to execute a 2-3 week shoot.
Congratulations.
102 Comments$50,000-$70,000 FEATURE FILM (aka: Mini-Budget Filmmaking)
by Dov S-S Simens on June 19, 2015
The $50-$70K Mini-Budget FEATURE FILM
Producing the $50,000-$70,000 Mini-Budget Feature Film:
First off, with access to this amount of money, independent of the film industry, this allows you to expand from a 1-week shoot (see prior posts) and now schedule a 2-week (13-Day) production with a more manageable shooting schedule of 7 pages/day, rather than a 1-week (7-Day) shoot with it’s 12-13 page/day shooting schedule..
PLUS: For Feature Film Budgets of “$1,000-$10,000”,
4 CommentsCAA: Agency #1 (Contacts, Names & Numbers)
by Dov S-S Simens on June 17, 2015
CAA Agency is The World’s Largest
There are 6 MEGA Agencies in Hollywood that represent Actors, Directors, Writers, Singers, Comics, Speakers and Producers,. They are “CAA:, “WME”, “ICM”, “UTA”, “APA” & PARADIGM. And the largest, even after the alleged UTA raid of 8-10 top Talent agents, is “CAA” (Creative Artists Agency)
HISTORY:
Founded in 1975 with a $21,000 Loan and $35,000 Line of Credit by William Morris agents Mike Rosenfeld,
73 Comments