Marvin V. Acuna

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May Your Life Be Extraordinary,

Marvin V. Acuna

This Video Series is your chance to ask any questions you feel may be holding you back from the screenwriting success you deserve!

So ask away!

Who knows, next week I may answer your question!

And if you have any comments about THIS tip – good OR bad – please leave it below.

May Your Life Be Extraordinary,

Marvin V. Acuna

P.S. – Do me a favor and go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91jglS9FQ4

Watch this tip there, Rate it, and Comment there as well!

Thanks!

- M

John August on Screenwriting: Rancho Mirage Library, 04/14/09

from Synthian Sharp on Vimeo.

John August is one of the most successful screenwriter’s working today. Beyond writing two of my all time favorite films Go and Big Fish (I watched Big Fish at the Sherman Oaks Galleria opening weekend. It reminded me why I chose to pursue a career in film), he wrote the blockbuster franchise Charlie’s Angels.

This is a lengthy interview, but well worth every minute of your time. There are valuable insights and lessons you can glean from his experience in the Hollywood system. He addresses: How screenwriting credits are established? How to choose the “Gorilla’s” you want to work with? Should you attend film school or not? The best advice he ever received? Screenwriter versus novelist? The difference between an amateur and a professional? I strongly encourage you to check out the ENTIRE video so you may absorb these nuggets of wisdom.

An invaluable and important insight I felt compelled to highlight here for you, specifically, because it is in alignment with all that we have discussed on this blog, the video tips, Q&A’s, etc. is this:

The responsibility of a screenwriter has evolved from merely providing a script that serves as the blue print for a movie to delivering a script that serves as the marketing document for a movie… as a screenwriter your role has morphed into salesman.

Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough video

Enjoy the video. Apply the knowledge!

May Your Life Be Extraordinary,

Marvin V. Acuna

Some of you know this, some of you may not. I’m latino. So I am often invited to participate in groups that desire to expand diversity in the world of entertainment.

Tonite was one such experience. I was invited to a dinner hosted by NBC/Universal. I had the extraordinary opprtunity to dine with the co-chairman of the studio along with his executive team.

If you are curious, it was hosted at Ca’Del Sole (http://www.cadelsole.com).  I had radicchio and arugula salad, creamy venetian dressing with shaved armesan cheese, (the entree) grilled marinated whole boneless corn-fed chicken, lemon zest, herb sauce, and (desert) warm chocolate and almond cake served with vanilla cream sauce, and lots of the pinot grigio. Food is always better when its… free. And frankly,  I have never felt so abundant than when it’s free alcohol!

One of the executive spoke about the upcoming film Twilight ( http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/twilight/). It’s his prediction that Twilight will generate $75M dollars this weekend. He said it was so frustrating to see this happening because it wasn’t his franchise. He decided to find out if it had ever been submitted to his studio.

What he discovered blew his mind. In 2002, this studio was introduced to the outline of the book. Thereafter, the manuscript, and finally the book itself. All of which received a pass. Here’s the rub. The person that passed is no longer in the entertainment industry. Ugh.

Since that discovery he has attended many previews, focus group screenings, and ultimately it confirmed for him what he knows to be true… know your market.

The reader/executive that passed on Twilight Lonely Hearts download didn’t understand their role in the system. He said that they were seeking in material what they personally connected to, not what an audience would connect to. And in this misunderstanding of their role… they missed an incredibly valuable opportunity to own a new HOT franchise.

He ended with the following, “you have to treat material from the point of view that I have an IQ of 80. I need to capture the broadest audience SO what I need are people who know their market!”