HOW I FOUND MY VOICE AS A SCREENWRITER AND GOT REPPED
By Nick Philippa
My script OPAL is a contained thriller set - appropriately enough - in an Australian opal mine. It was well received on the competition scene, but never won. It scored an 8/10 on the Black List. It was also successfully queried to literary management companies - but still no representation cigar. Sound familiar?
Finding a representative who will help you break into Hollywood is just like opal mining. You expend a lot of exertion shovelling dry earth and struggling to find that one gem that will transform your fortunes.
This is the story of how I found my gem of a representative, by changing the way I write screenplays…and how you can, too.
ACT ONE
As a former soldier, I did a monster amount of recon on screenwriting:
- Completed two screenwriting courses.
- Read a small mountain of books.
- Voraciously devoured podcasts featuring agents and managers.
- Joined literary managers in Zooms where they doled out intricate story structure tips that would help me write a killer spec to attract representation.
I learned that there are essentially three main ways to get repped:
Score a referral from a represented writer or executive. This is absolutely your strongest chance, but for this to happen the referring person needs to champion your script and vouch for you as both a writer and someone they will want to work with.
Win (or place in) a legitimate comp such as the Nicholl. Getting one or more 8+ scores on the Black List site can also help, as your logline is tweeted and emailed to industry professionals.
Query producers and representatives directly. Notable industry titan agencies that accept unsolicited queries are Zero Gravity Management, and John Zaozirny’s Bellevue Productions.
Whether you’re querying cold, or being read by an industry contact, you have two major hurdles: you need to persuade the reader to start and finish your script. Your logline is absolutely essential to accomplish the former. But how do you persuade the reader to keep turning the pages all the way to FADE OUT?
Executives give scripts somewhere between three to fifteen pages before they pass. They’ll know by the end of page one if you have a distinct voice as a writer and whether they’re in the hands of a great storyteller. Your script needs to hook them and force them to keep reading.
You can learn to write a logline by reading any of a billion articles floating around the web, but how do you learn to write an absolute page turner? And how do you find your voice as a screenwriter, which insiders say is so essential to persuading a representative to take you on as a client?
THE TURNING POINT
I purchased script notes from Dominic Morgan (aka Scriptfella), a WGA writer with twenty years’ experience and over thirty optioned scripts and writing assignments.
Dominic’s notes were next level. Despite my high scores on the Black List, he ripped my first page to pieces. In excruciating line-by-line, word-by-word detail.
Dominic urges you not to write an instruction manual script designed to entertain a hypothetical audience tomorrow - but to write a screenplay that will entertain Hollywood agents, managers and producers today.
He pointed out where I was overwriting and places where potential reps and producers might disengage and start to skim. At the end of the consult, Dominic told me “You can write, you can use language, but you aren’t writing optimally.”
ACT TWO
Intrigued, battered, and bruised I signed up for Dominic’s online screenwriting school, The Scriptfella Program.
The Program promised to teach me how to write a banging, page turning script that will grab the reader by the throat and not let go.
So, what did I learn?
In 28 days, Dominic taught me something other courses and books simply don’t - how to grab the reader’s attention using cinematic writing techniques.
I knew structure, I knew character arcs and I already had vivid descriptions on the page, but I didn’t know how to write polished lines that earned their real estate on the page, devoid of fat. I quickly learned that I was overwriting by a factor of 20-30%. I was writing the movie that I could see in my head, without any filtration for the reader’s enjoyment.
The Program is made up of 12 hours of instructional videos that are engaging, captivating and so informative. I opted for the Pro version, which includes 8 hours of live Zoom classes with Dominic and eleven other like-minded writers. He gives you personal feedback on your assignments, and you learn together and form a supportive writers’ unit that will stay with you long after the course finishes.
Week one I learned how to incorporate subtle camera shots and lighting into my scripts; optimize the locations in my story; use costume and props to deepen my character introductions. There was a game-changing module on how to write sound design descriptions without being overbearing and boring.
Have you ever tried rewriting Alien in the novelistic voice of a Craig Zahler western?
Week two Dominic pushed me and my writer peers out of our comfort zones and through an obstacle course of writing assignments. Have you ever tried rewriting ALIEN in the novelistic voice of a Craig Zahler western? He made me analyze pro scripts in a way I never had before. Forced me to work and study the writer’s voice. In the fallout, I cemented my voice as a screenwriter. If you don’t know what your voice truly is, you will by the end of the course.
ACT THREE
After taking The Scriptfella Program, I went to town on two scripts - polishing the hell out of them, including my Black List 8/10 spec, OPAL. I transformed the language and writing style of both scripts to absolute visceral page turners.
I shared my new drafts with a few industry contacts. They told me that they started my script intending to read ten pages, but ended up finishing it, because they couldn’t put it down.
As I carved away sandstone and rock, a slight gleam caught my eye. The glint of representation. And this time I was ready. A professional writer referred me to their representative. He read OPAL and loved it. He told me exactly what Dominic taught me. “It’s an absolute page turner.” And “I love your voice”.
We had a general meeting and hit it off, and I’m now repped. My rep told me once the writers’ strike is over, he’s eager to work with an agent contact and get OPAL sold. There’s a ton of financial incentives available to filmmakers who shoot in Australia where my mining movie is set and he can see a way to get it made for a price. OPAL just might be on a screen or a streamer near you sometime in the future.
Now it’s time to go back to work and create another page-turning spec, using the skills I learned on The Scriptfella Program. If you are curious about The Program, I suggest you head over to Dominic’s site and sign up for the free taster classes, which are extracts from the full Program.
Watch Free Class: The Scriptfella Program
After a lot of work, I learned the skills to find my opal and make it shine. Now it’s your turn. Good luck on your writing journey.
Nick Philippa
Nick is a military intelligence veteran, husband, and father, currently working an 8-5 as a workplace investigator. He primarily writes horror, war, and thriller scripts, and is currently adapting a novel by a former SAS operator.
You can connect with Nick on LinkedIn
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