by Mark Rasmussen

Perhaps even more remarkably, I am making my way and achieving results.

And that’s great. I need that. I need to know I am on the right path as a writer and uprooting myself from a comfortable, safe life, to that of the unknown and following my heart, has been a good decision.

But it’s a path fraught with danger, rejection and loneliness.

It’s the last part that is the hardest to take. Especially for someone who despite enjoying and loving my own company, loves being social, meeting people, talking and conversing and simply mixing it up.

As humans we need this as it feeds our soul and enriches our lives.

LA’s a lonely city. Not many people walk around. As a writer, I couldn’t have chosen a more solitary pursuit but when mixed with a city that’s all but desolate of life out on the streets (except the freeways which are teeming with people), it’s a lonely city.

LA’s a lonely city. Not many people walk around.
As a writer, I couldn’t have chosen a more solitary pursuit

Thankfully for an outgoing guy like myself, I just get out there, do fun things and talk to everyone. It also helps that I have one or two really great friends who have taken me out and shown me sites and introduced me to people. Without them I would be lost.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, especially to one in particular who is just so inspiring, unique and special. You know who you are but know I am deeply grateful.

I choose not to whine or complain about loneliness, it’s simply the nature of the beast here. On the flip-side, however, things have been going great. Better than expected (if I had any expectations).

I came with the 16th annual Hollywood Pitch Festival in mind. A weekend of pitch meetings with companies and agencies – 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Disney, Henson, ICM, Paradigm – that you would never get the chance to meet let alone sit down in front of and discuss your ideas and scripts.

Despite having five ideas, I soon whittled it down to three but after discussing them with two considered friends in the industry, I decided to pursue my strongest. I’m glad I did as it paid dividends.

After much rehearsing my pitch at home, I was as ready as I was ever going to be. To say that my first ever professional pitching experience was a baptism of fire would be an understatement. But surprisingly I didn’t feel overwhelmed, nervous or afraid. I simply felt I had a very good idea and like almost all the other writers at the event, I belonged.

I went in pitching a family comedy. First company was Disney. Although initially I had wanted to get warmed up and into a routine, another writer merely pointed out that it was good to get them from the get go. They were fresh, hadn’t been swamped with tons of pitches and would be more than enthusiastic.

This is exactly how I approached it. Enthusiastically. Besides, what’s the worse that can happen? They can only say no. My life and my writing do not end on the back of one rejection.

I got such great feedback and input throughout the entire weekend (some even complimenting me on my pitching technique), and from a total of 35 companies that I sat and met with, 20 asked for my one-sheet/synopsis, while two on the day requested my script. With two more after the dust had settled, also asking for it.

That’s a win in any one’s language.

from a total of 35 companies that I sat and met with,
20 asked for my one-sheet/synopsis,
while two on the day requested my script.

Only thing is, I then needed to work my arse off to get a virtually nonexistent script up to scratch and completed. All inside a one-two week timeframe.

Again, no need to panic. I am a writer. I have been taught by a great mentor, guru and friend. I’ve been around other writers who have offered their thoughts and opinions and I had some help from a revered professional screenwriter and master, Blake Snyder (through his books). Sadly, Blake is no longer with us.

I structured it all out first, laid out my beats, had my spine, then created a board of 40 scenes and simply filled in the blanks.

It worked!

As yet, I do not know how well (or how badly) but my script is with four companies. That’s four more than I would have had before coming here and pitching.

My mentor had told me not to rest on my laurels, as “writing is rewriting,” he would say. It’s true. For now, I let it sit for a week as I play catch up with life.

You see, I still have to live. I need to buy food, a car, get a California drivers’ license and find another apartment once this current sublet is up. But all the time I am thinking and writing in my head.

Thinking as I shop at Ralph’s (the US’s major supermarket). Writing, as I test drive a car. Doing both as I set up a US cell phone number or traipse through yet another apartment or room.

All the time I am thinking and writing in my head.

It all helps. It gets me out of my cave and out into the real world. A world that as desolate and lonely as it might appear here in Los Angeles, is fun, enjoyable, exciting, new and real. It really is.

In the two months I have been here, I have had some great, fun conversations. From a guy who told me, “ Don’t forget to push the magic button,” as I waited at the lights, to my very frank conversation with my phone guy about how women in their 40s will want to take me out for dinner, and more.

It’s that contact with everyday people that makes me realise LA is not all that lonely a place to be. It’s like anywhere really.

What you put in, you get out.

In two months, I’ve been on two film sets, one even had the Hollywood sign in the background as we stood on a rooftop filming. That was both a very surreal moment and one of pure joy.

In two months, I have kayaked the LA river. Something only 200 people in all of LA County have ever had the lucky privilege of doing.

In two months, I have spoken with numerous writers, I have pitched to 35 companies, and banged out a script in a week.

In two months, I have smiled, laughed, rejoiced at how far I have come in such a short space of time.

Who knows what will happen in the next two months or the two months after that. One thing I can tell you for certain, this is an incredible journey and I am so grateful to have taken the leap of faith, follow my heart (and passion) and simply embrace life, LA and everyone and everything in it.

The city of Angels a lonely city? Not bloody likely.

-Mark Rasmussen

Mark Rasmussen has been a professional writer for over 15 years covering music, sport, travel, plays, web and more.
In 2011 Mark was involved in six film projects, three of which he wrote, produced or co-produced. One of his films ranked inside the Top 10 of a public vote.
Mark’s currently working on six feature scripts and two shorts and is now based in LA to chase down dreams.

It’s time to ditch the day job back in Australia, Delhi or Estonia, right?

Now hold on there a minute … Not so fast.  How much are you actually going to get on your first sale?

Great question! And not an easy one to get direct information on, either.

Nonetheless, for most of us the answer will be: Not enough to tell your office boss where he can jump. Generalisations about how much you will net on your first sale are quite difficult to make. Especially in the individualistic wheeling and dealing world that is Hollywood negotiation.  However, I will attempt to provide realistic parameters for you.

Firstly, much depends on what standing you already have in the entertainment industry. For example, are you a published novelist? An accomplished playwright? An actor that has played support roles across several films? Or someone with a ‘producer’ credit in a profitable feature? If so, you have more credibility to bargain with than an unknown from nowhere.

But what if you are just a regular unsold screenwriter who is ‘discovered’ by a mid tier production company at a pitchfest?

How much can you expect to win?

When faced with a ‘baby’ writer, most production companies would opt for an option deal rather than a total screenplay purchase. This means they pay you a lot less initially, but you still hold all the rights to the story if they fail to develop a film by the expiry date of the option. If you are faced with this compromise, it is advisable to push as hard as you can for an one year expiry. They should purchase a second option if they want more time than that.

But how much would the first option payment be? For an unsold, uncredited, writer: Quite often zero! In any case, five thousand USD gross would be the high end of what you could expect. (Sorry to disappoint you.)

Sounds pretty crummy, doesn’t it? Well, like it or not, the reoccurring impression I got while I was in LA is that your first sale is always modest. It is from the second sale, onwards, that you start to accumulate greater and greater bargaining power.

I should also mention that fully professional screenwriters in LA really pay their bills with the money they get from writing assignment work for studios and production companies. Any script sales they win (“spec sales”) are a bonus on top. Even the best of them don’t score a spec sale every single quarter.

In the first half of 2010, a total of 28 spec sales have been sealed in LA.
(source: Jason Scoggins)

This represents just 15% of what has been put on the market.

But suppose … Just suppose … After a couple of years of clever networking, all the dominoes fell the right way for you. Thanks to an alliance of a hot young gun agent, an enthusiastic producer’s assistant, and a good entertainment attorney, you are in the position of scoring a 100k screenplay sale with a “mini-major” production company. Time to look for a beachside property in Santa Monica, right?

Not so fast! There are a few cash flow nitty-gritties to worry about even then.

The first thing you need to understand is that the production company will not release the whole of the 100,000 USD in one go.

Instead, the 100k gross will be divided up into instalments. Where each instalment is payable upon delivery of a completed rewrite. Typically there will be a down payment to start you off, followed by lesser increments thereafter. Suppose, in this case, the down payment is 30%.

So the first pay cheque that arrives on your letter box will be 30,000 USD.

Not a bad return for six months of writing and pitching, I admit … Except that this cheque won’t arrive straight away.

In practice, it can take many additional months of wrangling before the 100k total sale figure is finally agreed upon by all parties. On top of that, the company’s accounts department can be expected to drag the chain for several weeks more. I guess the bean-counters need to have lots of cups of tea and committee meetings before they can send you your first cheque. Annoying but unavoidable.

So the bottom line is that the thirty percent down payment can be delayed for long months after your first meeting with the execs. Which means that the 30k reward represents more like 12+ months of work, rather than 6. You better not be behind your rent while staying in LA!

But the fun and games are not over even then.

Once the 30k cheque arrives, various parties get to take their percentages of this figure before you get the leftover. These parties include your agent, your manager, your attorney, the IRS, and the WGA. The carcass that’s left for you can be as little as 45% of the face value of the cheque. Not a great feeling, but then all businesses have their costs. Things are only simple in wage world.

Now look: I don’t mean to tell you all this to murder your dreams. On the contrary, my purpose here is to forewarn you about cashflow realities even when you do score a screenplay sale. Can you imagine the financial damage you can do to yourself if you are not awake to these considerations?

In summary, your first screenplay sale will not catapult you to the stratosphere. However it does represent an important milestone. Namely, the beginning of your career as a going professional. Be proud of that achievement by all means. But don’t go silly about it. Be sober, rather than crazy, when you win your first sale.

-Steven Fernandez

Steven Fernandez is a writer-director of short films and theatrical shows in Sydney, Australia. He is currently writing Human Liberation – an epic novel and screenplay package set in mythic ancient Greece.

Acknowledgement: I wish to thank Ben Sitzer for fact-checking.