This is a transcript of SYS Podcast Episode 132: Screenwriter Rick Ramage On Maintaining A Successful Screenwriting Career.
Ashley: Welcome to episode #132 of the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast” I’m Ashley Scott Meyers, Screenwriter and Blogger over here at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I’m talking with Rick Ramage, who is a writer and producer. Rick wrote such films as “Stigmata” starring – Patricia Arquette, and “The Propositions” starring – Kenneth Branagh, so stay tuned for that.
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So, I’m now deep into production of my crime, thriller, feature, “The Pinch.” We are shooting July 9th through July 29th. So, I’m pre-recording a bunch of my Podcast episodes in late June. So I will be able to keep publishing the Podcast through July, while I’m shooting the film. I’m going to try and put out updates through the various social media channels. So, please follow me on Twitter, and that’s www.twitter.com/ashleymeyers, or like SYS on Facebook, that’s – www.facebook.com/sellingyourscreenplay, or subscribe to our YouTube Channel, which is – www.youtube/sellingyourscreenplay. And I just set-up a new InstaGram account, which is – www.instagram.com/ashleyscottmeyers. I will have somebody who will be shooting some behind-the-scenes footage. So, I will try and get that posted to YouTube and Facebook. And as we are shooting and I will have my cell phone, and just snap some pictures and try and publish those to Twitter and InstaGram. So, keep your eye out for all of that and wish me luck. So, I will keep new episodes coming out through July. But I won’t be giving real time updates. So, check out my various social media channels for those real-time updates on the shooting of “The Pinch.” And once the movie is completed I’ll be back and I’ll give a full wrap up of the entire process of shooting the film. So, that’s what I am working on for now, so let’s get into the main segment.
[2:51]
Ashley: Welcome Rick, to the, “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.” I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Rick: Yeah, it’s my pleasure, thanks for having me.
Ashley: So, to start out, maybe you could give us a little bit kind of about your background, how you got into the industry? And some of your first breaks. I always find it interesting, to even back it up before that and maybe into childhood. Kind of what got you into and interested in being a screenwriter originally?
Rick: Okay, you know, it’s hard, because I didn’t finish my degree. I was going into business with my family, my dad had a tractor dealership, of all things. And so, a lot of my friends went off to college. And I was a sales manager for, in a tractor dealership. But I wanted to be well read and well spoken. And so, I really just sort of grace of the owner. I was going to be very well read, and I’m going to read a hundred novels back-to-back. And they were all classics. And quite by accident, I discovered that I seen, you know, how different authors were treating the elements in their story telling. And I was a voracious reader. And anyway, and I think just sort of while going through all these novels, and they were all classics. I thought, “Gee, wow, I wonder if I can do this?” You know, and a lot of people said, “Well, you’re going to have to finish your degree.” Of course you can’t be a writer. But I was like, well, wait a minute, you know, a lot of you classic writers given a college degree writer. So, and I was way better read than most of my friends, you know? Who read those. So, I tried a novel, and I sent it to somebody I trusted.
And he called me, and said, “Well, so do you want to do with this? Do you want to be professional, or do you think it’s a hobby? And I said, “Nah, I’d love to be professional.” And then he said, “Let me treat you like one, your novel’s not very good.” (Chuckling) I started to laugh, and well, okay? You know what? My whole future might have ended right there in July. But, he said something that really intrigued me? But, he said, you’re really a good writer, Rick. And I said, “Well, okay, I get it. I started that book but, how can be a good writer?” And he said, “Be really visual.” I really think you should try writing a screenplay. And so, as the story goes, I turned my bad novel into a screenplay. But I actually love the form. I loved, you know, works with structure, and I love writing dialog. And I really took great pride in making the expositions portions of my script. Read well, you know, and so, I was hooked. And I applied to film school, by AFI in Los Angeles. And I didn’t think I’d get in. And I basically wrote a letter to them saying, this is about a pedigree and I know I’m not going to make it in. And I know basically, I don’t have a degree and this is a Masters Program. But if it’s about the work, here’s a sample. And sure enough, man, I got accepted. So, I thought that was mandated. Sold my house, sold my car, had a wife and a small baby, she was about 2 years old. And we moved to L.A. and just tried to tough it out, you know. I was scared to death. I actually felt like I was way over my head. But that year, I had six short films made. And it became film making boot camp. I really got the chance to see how the page interacts with the reality that’s on screen. Now, and how your dialog sounds. And it was just the most valuable year, it was really cool. But then when I left film school. I found that nobody really cared whether I went to school. I thought that would be like this big, you know, this resume. Hey, I’ve been to AFI, the people in the business that really, you know, okay. We see people from film schools all over the world, whatta ya got? And so, I wrote a script. One thing I called, “Shakespeare’s Sister.” And I let a buddy read it before I went to film school. And he was really encouraged, he was really encouraging.
He said, “Wow, I never seen a script before done in first person. And by the way I wouldn’t recommend doing it. You know, it’s way outside the norm. And it got some really good coverage at a studio. And then, you know, low-and-behold, she meets someone at an agency and says, “You got to read this guy. He’s really good.” Yeah, well, a junior agent there, didn’t read it, didn’t read it, and didn’t read it. And then for like two weeks. And we didn’t know how we were going to find him? And so, one night we picked up the phone and said, “If you’re not going to read Rick Rammage, he’s willing to sign this week somewhere?” And it was kind of, it was sort of, you know, we didn’t know that. But, a, you know, so the junior agent was like, alright, “Alright, I’ll read it.” And within an hour and a half they were sending a car for me. And I went to meet with the head of the Script Department. And really, never looked back. I mean, I think I had about $17.00 bucks in the bank, I was flat broke. And didn’t know how I was going to pay for school, my school loans and all that. We had been kinda living off of credit cards. And, the script ended up selling, for $400,000.00.
Ashley: Huh. Now let me back-up, just, let me back you up just a little bit. And clarify a couple of things that you just mentioned. You said, you sent them, your novel to someone? Where were you living? Was it in Colorado? Where you were working as a traveling sales manager?
Rick: Yeah. At the time I was living in Denver.
Ashley: Okay so. And so, who was this person you sent the novel to. And how did you meet them? I, it sounds like they were in the business of publishing. And so there was some credibility to what they were telling you?
Rick: Well, the only ones that were telling you was my uncle, actually. And he was a teacher at a college and he taught Lit. And so, he knew what he was reading. And you know, that like, he trusted me when he said, it wasn’t very good. Because I took that to heart, you know, so…
Ashley: And so, then when you were preparing to apply to AFI, you had this first sample script. How did you even learn about? Did you go and buy the screenplay? Did you go and get a bunch of screenplays from the library? Where you online where ever? How did you actually get educated enough to even write that first sample script, before applying to AFI?
Rick: Yeah, good question? I went to a place called, “The Charter” in Denver. And I found one script that had been published, called, “Brian’s Song.” And that’s how I learned to format the script.
Ashley: Okay, and that was literally the only script you had read, when you wrote this first sample.
Rick: Yeah. That was the only.
Ashley: Yeah, okay. And then you had just written, you had only written just the one script? When you had applied to AFI?
Rick: A, yeah. I had written the one script, and I had sent them a writing sample. And so, that’s how I got in.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. So, let’s talk about, you mentioned this first person angle in the spec. script you wrote. Maybe you could just describe that a little bit. Does that mean, next, does the person narrating the script, so there is voice over? Or it’s the actual action line. So it’s in the first person.
Rick: Yeah, the main character actually narrates the entire story. So I never break character. From the time we fade in, from basically what is the opening, or the introduction to the main characters, I stay in that character throughout that entire script. And like I said, I wouldn’t recommend it. Because it’s you know, it’s really breaking the bounds. I would say the, it got the attention. Because I did break the rules. People saw that I was a good writer. And from there I think they saw that I could, you know, I could take a story and deliver it. And when I talk to young writers now. It’s so adamant about being on the page as a writer. You know, I think more and more, I’m going through re-writes now. See the way people are writing scripts. It worries me because I’m just not sure that they are putting any soul into it, the work, ya know? You just gotta be a writer. You know, it’s a literary document, you’re telling a story. And any more, a lot of the young writers I see, they’re just. They’re laying down slug-lines, and they are minimizing the drama that’s taking place on the page. And so, I never do that. I think it’s the single most biggest reason that I’ve sold so many scripts this is that I’m on the page, man. And I mean, I had a big at say, “Cheat” I started to laugh and I said, “What do you mean I cheat?” And he goes, “You’re on the page. You’re telling them what to think?” And I said, “That’s what’s called, “Subtext.” You know?” And he’s like, I love it, it drew me in. But, I just don’t see scripts like this. Oh, well, I said, “Oh, cool, you’re here.” You know, and I think there’s something to that. You’ve got to make these roles attractive to actors. Yes, through the dialogue. But, most of the good actors are looking for the subtext that’s written between the dialogue. You know, and I paid very special attention to that, I’m really adamant about that. Sorry, I got long winded there.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. No problem there. So, now let’s continue your story. You’ve signed with an agency. What was sort of the next steps? Of actually making some money as a screenwriter? Did they send you out on writing assignments? Did you get like, regular spec. scripts? What was sort of the next steps after that getting an agent?
Rick: What was so important about the next step is once I signed at that agency. It’s their job to make sure everybody in town reads you. What I mean by that? They want everyone to be familiar with your work. And, you know, they got, they did end up. There were a couple of places that wanted to own it. And that’s how it got, how we arrived at that price. So, what’s so important about what happened at that point is? Once everybody read me, what if they didn’t want to buy that script? Guess what, a lot of places had said, “Hey, what’s Rick doing? Because we have a script that we want him to look at for a re-write. And you know, if that first writing sample, if you will? Whether it sells or not, that really gives you the work. It really gets you attention. And so, that’s what happened to me. I literally sold that script. But, now people will use it like a writing samples, and they’ve read Rick Ramage. Boy, do we have a project for him, you know. And once again, it wasn’t because I was a nice guy. It’s because they were responding to the writing.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. And so what has happened to this kind of an aside. What has happened to that Shakespeare script? You, they paid you the $400,000.00 for it. Did it come close to getting produced?
Rick: It was made. Actually they, kinda funny, they had to change the title. It broke my heart because I love “Shakespeare’s Sister.” Virginia Wolf, had a theory that Shakespeare had a sister. We never would have known her as a writer because of those days, women weren’t recognized. So, I, you know, we changed the title to, “Proposition” and it was made with Kenneth Branagh, that’s the main character.
Ashley: Okay.
Rick: Also, Neil Patrick Harris, and Robert Loggen. So, and we heard it will work.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, then, take us through kind of what your career looked like for the next couple of years? You’ve got this good spec. script sale. You’re getting some writing assignments. Did you continue to write spec. scripts? Did you continue to just take on writing assignments? And maybe, and at least, on IMDb, “Stigmata” is your next credit, producer credit. So, maybe take us through that window of your life? You know, what a screenwriter’s career looks like, and feels like?
Rick: Yes. Well, actually I think by the time I went 14 or 15 years without ever being a writer, a hell of a long time. Which is pretty great. Because, it’s one thing to sell a script, and it’s quite another for someone to spend tens of thousands of dollars on it. You know, getting a movie made is a completely different procedure. You know, because people can all agree, yeah, we all like this. But we change, studios change, jobs change, people change. And a lot of times, you know, some of the times that’s spec. scripts. You know, they’re still sitting on a shelf somewhere because the person that championed that project bought it, moved on, you know. It can take years to get a film made. And so, you really gotta stay in front of people. I mean, the development costs can take years, you know. And I don’t mean that in any way to discredit people. But, it’s the reality, when you sell a script. It’s going to go to drafts. You know, funny, with, “The Proposition” I think we did twelve drafts. And we ended up shooting it with the first draft, we had gone full circle. You know, and I have genuinely been in front of everything with that. Because he’s the one that finally said, “We’re doing the first draft.” You know, and that’s what made that movie for me, such an interest, and pro-founding experience. Because, you know, those guys were really good to that script. I mean, if it said, “Art” it takes the steps through the time. They took them through the time, you know.
Ashley: Mm-huh.
Rick: So, I know that can be very rare. But, I suppose between “Shakespeare’s Sister,” or
“The Proposition” or “Stigmata” I’d probably sold 3-4 specs. And I probably done, I don’t know? As many as 9. So, a.
Ashley: Yeah.
Rick: And I think, that’s the other thing I mean, I try to stress to people, this is a business. If you are blessed enough, to become known as a good writer. And a lot of people have great ideas, I’ve had them. You know, where it’s a great idea. But to really sustain a living, make a living in Hollywood. Man, if you can get people to think of you as a writer. Where they can bring their project to you for help, you know, for a re-write, or for notes, or whatever it is? Then you’re going to make a good living in Hollywood. If you take, you know, great writers in Hollywood are there, everybody knows them, serious.
Ashley: Now, I’d be curious, I throw this question out to a lot of writers that come on my Podcast. And I’d be curious to get your take on it? And it sounds like, “Shakespeare’s Sister” is a prime example of it. How do you handle development when you’re getting those things that you don’t necessarily agree with? And we don’t have to talk specifically about this. But it certainly sounds like that project veered away from your original vision. So, maybe that’s a good example of that. But, I don’t think people coming into the industry fully understand how much a part of this business it is to taking notes from executives and producers, directors and actors, and anybody else that cares to offer them? And then having to go back and implement notes that you may or may not agree with.
Rick: Yeah, um. These people are pulling for you, the executives, producers, anybody in that room. Wants, there’s this crazy euphoric high, ya know? We are so ecstatic, and it’s like, in your mind it’s perfect, so it’s like let’s go make this movie. And you get in that room and boy, the gong can drop real quick. Because they didn’t always buy it. Because it’s perfect script, because they saw something in it that they wanted to develop for, or someone else did, or their boss did. And now it’s their job, you know, to fix the damn thing. So, you get in there, and you really have to be professional. You have to, you know, I made it a point to never have to argue. With an executive, because I always knew that, they want the best. They want this movie to get made, right? So, what I would do? My pat answer would be is, that’s really interesting. And I wasn’t being condescending. I used to say, alright, that’s an interesting note, let me work with that. Let me think about that. And two things would just happen, right? I look open minded even thought I might be shocked. But I look open minded. And I didn’t just embarrass that. Then there’s that, that woman, I’ve worked for more women than I would admit. So, I didn’t embarrass anybody in the room. And you can’t believe how many thank you’s I used to get after the meeting. Because a lot of them would sit there, and I know that was tough, but hey, “Thank you. For having an open mind.” And I think, you know what? I’d go home, I would really consider it, I would try it. You know what, no matter what it was. Because sometimes they would work. Sometimes I couldn’t grasp it in the room? But it was a pretty good note when I left and went home and worked with it, ya know? I used to call, “Work the problem.” And I would get home and work the problem. And sometimes it would work, and sometime it didn’t. But I would always call, and say, you know what? I want you to see these pages. I’ve tried really hard, I don’t think it’s working. And you know what? Nine out of ten times they would agree. But they were always grateful I made the effort. So, I hope I answered your question?
Ashley: Yeah, no, absolutely. So let’s talk just a minute about your transition to producer. At what point in your career did you get into actually being a producer on some of these projects?
Rick: You know, I worked for studios my whole, and most exclusively. The whole independent film world was very foreign to me. And then one day, from my manager called, and said, “Hey, I got a script for you, it happens to be in television. And I was like, nah, I don’t want TV, really? I worried, because that was like, am I slipping, is my career over? And she said, no, I really want you to look at this script. No, because you would be like an Executive Producer. And I went, (Big suck of breath in!) Really, I’d be producer? Yeah, you would be. I knew nothing about executive producing, right? And but what I did know, is how to write a bullet proof script. So, I went in, you know, it was like a really cool story. And I worked for the first time within the, another writer, who is a very good writer, a very good guy. And we ended up getting out pilot green-lit. Yeah know, and then and I was learning as I was going, yeah know? The thing that’s really interesting about it? The when I looked back at it was, not one person every sat me down and said, “ Here’s whatcha do?” I think this is why my background in sales is so important. It showed me how to close the deal, ya know? I would ask for the sale, I would never do it so boldly. But I always knew when it was time to leave some out. And ya know, you always want to leave them on a high. I think my sales background really helped me out with that. So, it was kind of interesting. If no one ever, ever, say, “Rick, just, here’s how you navigate this town.” Ya know, this is what you do in the terms of. This is what you don’t do on those phones. They just kind of take it for granted that you’re going to either sink or swim. Ya know, and maybe it was me, but I managed always to leave a producers office with a really good feeling. Never, there were only a few bad meetings that I had. Where I was like, mad, that we weren’t connecting at all. And that’s got to happen too, right? I mean, your success and failures, you know, do balance out in the end.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about living outside of L.A. I’d be real curious to kind of get your opinion on that? I get a lot of Emails of people that are living outside of L.A. and are wondering, can they break in? And they don’t all live in L.A. And obviously you moved to L.A. to break in. So, I’d be curious to kinda get your take on that? And then maybe kind of hear a little bit about when you moved away from L.A. again. And then re-located back to Colorado.
Rick: Yeah, um. I kinda, moved back as soon as I started making money. Around here, I chose to move back to Denver because this was where I wanted to raise my family at, and my kids. And so that was the pragmatic decision that, and you know what else I realized? That I was not going to do well in the film culture doing, leaving during the day. Because I’m a writer man, that’s how I get through my day. I love telling stories. And taking meetings becomes just, I think after a while, sort of horrible, alright. I hate it, but they’re all kind of the same, as far as, especially “Meet and greets.” You know, they’re important to a point. But once I started planting my foot right. I’m going right back to Denver. All of a sudden, if someone wanted to see me? Guess what? They would fly me out. Then I knew that was an important meeting, you know? Because somebody was getting permission to fly the writers out to talk to me, talk story. So, it in a way, it kind of, it elevated me to the point that not everybody could just pick-up the phone and have access, you know.
Ashley: A-huh.
Rick: And this is a different, L.A. was different then. You know, agencies were more boutique “ee.” They really were top, their agents worked really hard with their clients. They took them out. And then, you know, it just is more corporate now, it just. There’s now 5 agents covering you now and just you know, it just a different world. So, I came up in a perfect time. Where I could actually legally say, “I’m going back home. And I’ll send you work, you know.” So, in answer to your question? Producing sort of found me. Because I had another good script. Once we piloted it, it was on UPN at the time, they took it and picked up the series. And that when I really sort of watched real producers do it. You know, a show runner. Oh, my god, those guys are the real producers. They’re fantastic, sorry, but they also you know. The show runner that I learned from, his name is Al Shepard. He was fantastic, he was fantastic, the stories. You see, he lives in a different world, staff, you know, the meat grinder. Because you know, in so like, the spoiled little world being Feature Writer. I rarely had to answer to hard deadlines. Or anything like that, you know? When it was done, it was done. And television moved so much, that we can march. You know, we you gotta be beat that drone. But it was really good for me. Because once again, I seen another whole side of the business, from really good professionals. Who didn’t mind taking me under their wing. And I’m sure we’ll get to this in a minute. But, you know, you asked me where did I learn to do stuff? And I really believe that I was so green when I went into the business. I was just humble enough to shut my mouth at the right times, and work. You know, I was always listening to people. And how they go about and made sure of their business. So, it was a producer, or exact, another writer. You know, I was always there, curious as to how they were doing it. So.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about one of your latest projects. “The Screenplay Show,” maybe you can kind of tell us what that is all about?
Rick: Sure, you know what? It’s actually, a great unplanned segue because “The Screenplay Show” for me is. I think about, I took about three or four years off. I just kinda got burned out. I always used to say, that I don’t want to be in this business, if it ever becomes if I ever get cynical. So, I did a couple of TV shows, I did
“Peas and Acres.” And then I wanted to see if I could, you know, direct? So, I wrote and produced and directed a very small children’s film, called, “If I Could Ever Fly.” Which they did on PBS. My idea on that was to have it be a series for kids. But the financing fell apart. And so, I created a white elephant, right? But, so I took some time off. And I thought I would teach for a while, or something like that. And a friend called me. And said, “Would you do a seminar for my actors and writers?” And I said, “Absolutely not!”
(Laughing)
And he said, “Why not?” Because, man, I’m shy. I was standing up in front of people for an hour, na, I need six hours. And we made a deal and I signed-on. I know, I just laughed. The following night, na, crazy. He kept dogging me, ya know? And finally one day, I gave in, I don’t even know why? And I said, “Ya know, Peter, I don’t even know how, if I knew how I do things?” I never thought about, I just do it. He said, “No, you know. You just need to put it out there.” And so, the one thing I did know. I didn’t want to do a talking headset. You know, where you stand up there and lecture people. You know, on how I do things. So, I did it, I took the challenge. There, I brought in my editor, from “Make the bottle.” And I said, “Okay, we literally have to go and create a show.” Which he gave these poor people are going to be bored to death. If they have to listen to me for six hours. So, what I did was, stumbled upon this kind of fun. In other words, the show writers the character, invite the actors were in that audience. What it is, I took
“The Shining” and we literally built down Jack from beginning to end. And it was fascinating, even for me to see the arches in the madness. Like he descended into madness. And I took the page numbers of the script next to those pictures. And I started to show it forwards and backwards. And it, they were a gasp, wow, we haven’t seen this. And I was kinda like, yeah. That was a great idea. So, we treated the whole first seminar that way. And I had examples of transitions, examples of subtext. And what it looks like on a page. And what it looks like on the screen. So, I got through the six hours, and I was so relieved, people were really happy. And it was like, great, I’m done. And a guy came up to me and said, “So, you’re going to film this right?” And I said, “No, no, no.” And he says, “Oh, but you have to.” And he offered me this ungodly amount of money, to do it. And I said, “I’ll do it.” “ I am, I’m in the seminar business. And this is one of the best ones I’ve been to. You really taught me something.” And I said, “Well, how nice.” You know, so I kept his card. And it turned out he did quite well in this, in the seminar business. I said, I talked to him and his manager. And he said,
“What do you think of this?” I’m going to send you something. And so, he sent a little clip of what I was thinking. What I do is, these shows. I really keep, I want people to see the sheer. How the page interacts with the mass. With what I’m doing, getting into on film. And so, I built a black box in my house. You know, everyone knows what a black box is? While I’m talking about, like for instance, the first episode is about,
“Method vs. Madness.” And yet it’s really important for writers to find a method. And here’s the thing intellectually. And but, the method for the writers I was talking about, happened in the black box. And it took on a really fun method, tone. So, you know, it really wasn’t a talking head. I think it became visually interesting. Which is the first thing for a screenwriter. A screenwriter has to learn, be visually interesting, you know. So, she says, “Wow, this is really special. Are you doing this?” “I think I might?” So, over the next year, what it did, the other thing. Sorry, I digressed for the moment. I did a seminar. People had more questions about the writing experience. Than they did the nuts and bolts.
Ashley: Huh?
Rick: They kept me going through. Because they had all these questions. Well, was it like to be in the, did you have to be to get there? What, and I realized, okay, a lot of people here know the nuts and bolts. But what they are really curious about is? How did I get there? How did I do it? And so, while I was sure playing with ways that wasn’t, you know, my seminar. I came up with, oh, this is silly, I should just write it as a show. Because I started some, to merge my experiences with the techniques that I was learning. From a fantastic talent that I was starting to work with. And when I say fantastic, I mean, every big director in the business, I was learning. Because I was in business with most of them. And I can’t, you really can’t tally that kind of experience. And so, it occurred to me. You know what? I’m very nervous, I don’t know if anybody will listen, I don’t know if anybody will come? They’ll think I’m crazy. Because I was a real different approach to screenwriting, a real different approach. It has to be a personal experience for me. And I think, when I know I was saying earlier. I worried because I never see anybody’s soul anymore. You know that, not on the page. Well, that’s what I do. So, in “The Screenplay Show.” It’s going to be a narrative of my experience in Hollywood. Along with the tricks of the trade I’ve learned over my 25 years. You know, and will it work? I don’t know? You know, it’s so different. But, we’re getting really fantastic feedback. You know, and I’m really pleased by it. So, you know, that’s kind of the show in a nut shell.
Ashley: Okay, and it is the series of these videos that you watch online. Or is it one long video? How do you, do they break down?
Rick: It’ll be 10 episodes.
Ashley: Okay
Rick: And I’ll be breaking down basically, every element that’s green-lighted. From writing an outline, to finding your method, to, you know, how you write the good characters? How do you write good transition, how you write action? And basically the same way I’ll be using film clips from some of my movies. Some other people’s movies. I’ll be taking everybody through the three act structure. But I’ll be doing it in a very unique way. I’ll be doing it like a show. Yeah, I hope it works.
Ashley: No, yeah. Sounding, sounds fascinating. I think it’s going to work well. I will gather that link and I’ll put that in the show notes. It’s – www.thescreenplayshow.com. But I will put that in the show notes. So people can just click over to it.
I always just like to wrap-up an interview, if there is a way you just sort of communicate online? Whether it be – Twitter, Facebook, a blog, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. I can just wrap that up in the show notes too. If you’re on Twitter or Facebook and you feel comfortable then?
Rick: We are on all of it now.
Ashley: Okay, okay.
Rick: Yeah, and we’ve got a Screenplay Show page on Facebook.
Ashley: Perfect, perfect. And I’ll grab those as well.
Rick: No, well that would be great because people can look at the, I’ve published a couple of film clips. And they will be able to see exactly what I’m talking about with the black box. And how the show has such a narrative deal.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Perfect, perfect. Yeah. Well, Rick. I really appreciate you talking with me today, this was a great interview, I really enjoyed it a lot. So, I know someone else will as well.
Rick: Oh, great. I’m very pleased to hear you say that. I appreciate you doing this a lot.
[36:11]
Ashley: I just want to mention two things I’m doing on “Selling Your Screenplay to help other screenwriters find producers that are looking for new material. First, I’ve created a monthly newsletter that will be sent directly to producers. Every member of SYS Select can submit one log-line per month, per newsletter. I went and Emailed my large database of industry contacts and asked them if they would like to receive this monthly newsletter of pitches? So far I have well over 300 producers who have signed-up to receive this newsletter. These producers are hungry for new material and are happy to read scripts from new writers. So, if you want to participate in this pitch newsletter, and get your script into hands of eager producers. Sign-up at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
And secondly, I’ve partnered with one of the paid premier screenwriting leads site. So I can syndicate their leads to SYS Select members. There are lots of great paid leads coming in each week from our partner. Recently I’ve been getting ten to twelve high quality leads per week. These are producers and production companies who are actively looking to buy material. Or are looking to hire a screenwriter for a specific project. If you sign-up for SYS Select, you’ll get these leads Emailed directly to you several times per week. These leads run the gambit from production companies looking for a specific type of spec. script. To producers looking to hire a screenwriter to write up on of their ideas. There are shorts, features, producers, looking for TV and web series pilots. It’s a huge aray of different types of projects that these producers are looking for. And these leads are exclusive to our partners in SYS Select members. To sign-up, go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select. Again, that’s – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
That’s the show, thank you for listening.
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[37:50]