This is a transcript of SYS Podcast Episode 176: Filmmakers Anna Mehle & Molly Reynolds Talk About Their New Web Series, Baked Goodes.
Ashley: Welcome to episode #176 of the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.” I’m Ashley Scott Meyers Screenwriter and Blogger over at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I’m interviewing, Molly Reynolds and Anna Mill. Who recently wrote, produced and directed their own web series called, “Baked Goods.” We dig into the details about how they made it happen. It’s another great example of people going out there and trying to make their own break. So, stay tuned for that interview.
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A quick few words about what I am working on. So, once again, I am still working on Post-Production on my crime, action, thriller, feature film, “The Pinch.” Slowly but surely we are working through these various final technical challenges. I heard from a dialog editor and sound editor this past week. And are getting closer to having it, those parts done. They both seem to think they will have their parts done in the next week or so, I’m sorry in the next two weeks or so. My composer sent me a few scenes that he had scored, which sounded great. So, he’s working through the scoring of the film. My effects guys have started to deliver some of the effects shots that are needed. So, that’s moving forward. The opening credits are done. The big thank you to Curt Wiser for doing that. I scheduled a quick, hopefully less than one hour session with my lead actor to record some voice over. So, maybe doing that hopefully later that week. Late in the week next week. And the colors he sent me. A full colored version of the film. There is still quite a bit of tweaking that needs to be done on the color correction. But, that’s moving along nicely. So, I think that should probably be done in the next week or two as well. So, slowly but surely things are still moving along. And you know, I continue to keep a deadline. On somewhat rough deadline. And kind of thing about finishing the film. I’m still thinking June or July seems like a realistic goal to me to get this thing done. But who knows maybe it’ll creep into August. But, I definitely feel like I’m rounding that corner. And kind of on the home stretch now with things. Anyway, that’s what I’m working on.
So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today I’m interviewing film makers, Molly Reynolds and Anna Mail, here is the interview.
Ashley: Welcome, Molly and Anna to, the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I really appreciate you guys coming on the show and talking with me today.
Anna: Yeah. Thanks so much for having us Ashley, we really appreciate it.
Molly: Yeah, thank you.
Ashley: So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit of background on yourself. Where did you grow up, and how did you get started in the entertainment Industry? Anna, why don’t you go first. And then Molly can jump in after that.
Anna: Well okay perfect. Well, I grew up in Cleveland Ohio. And I went to college in
New York, I went to NYU. I went to Tish School of the Arts, and studied dramatic writing there. So, you know, I’ve always wanted to work in TV. And after that I moved to L.A. pretty much. Immediately after college. Because even though New York, especially now, it’s turning into a great place for production for writing. It’s not as great, you know, most of the writers are out in L.A. So, I moved to L.A. to hopefully start my writing career. And I started out as a stage P.A. on a couple of pilots, yeah. And now I’m working as an assistant at CBS.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. Alright, Molly?
Molly: Yes, so, I grew-up in Sacramento California, Northern California. I came out to L.A. for school. Went to Loyola Marymount University, where I studied Theater, and English. And I immediate after college got straight into the comedy scene here in L.A. So, Live comedy, Improves, sketch, writing, performing, some stand-up. But my wheel-house is writing sketch comedy. Which is my all-time favorite in the world. And I have experience working in production, particularly in animation. Previous to working on “Baked Goods.” And now, I currently work for a couple of producers, who produce comedy television.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, so let’s dig into “Baked Goods.” This looks like a T.V. series. You guys have completed production on 13 episodes, is that correct?
Anna: That’s correct, a whole baker’s dozen, yeah that’s correct.
Ashley: So, to start out maybe you can give us just a quick pitch or a log-line. Kinda what’s the series all about?
Anna: Sure, “Baked Goods” is a comedy web series 13 episodes. About 2 cousins Julian and Angela Good. Who are struggling with their bakery business. And their “Stoner neighbors” suggest, hey why don’t you add some marijuana to these cupcakes. And we follow the 3 of them through the ups and downs, through the hardships of their potentially illegal business.
Ashley: And how long is each episode? There is 13 episodes and when do they come out today?
Anna: Well, they’re all roughly six minutes. Some of them are a little shorter. Maybe like one of them is a tiny bit longer. But, they average out to about 4-6 minutes an episode.
Ashley: And where did this idea come from? What sort of was the genesis of it?
Anna: It’s interesting because the whole idea is sort of stemmed collaboratively. We haven’t, there wasn’t a person that said, “I don’t think, like this is the end idea. Here’s what we’re going to do, this is the plan. We actually all met, because Molly created the Facebook post, in a women’s group, for women in comedy in L.A. And she posted a saying, well like I want to make like something, let’s get together, if anyone is interested, call? And the first meeting, a bunch of people came out. And we kind of brain stormed. As of a relatively large group, until an idea stuck, and that was the one that stuck. And then after that, pretty much only the five of us, there’s five of us, who produced, created, and wrote that. That would be, myself, Molly,
McKenzie Forest, Aaron Dooly, and Karen Ruby.
Ashley: Okay.
Anna: And
Ashley: I gotcha, I gotcha.
Anna: Yeah. Oh no, sorry, go ahead. I, we took it forward from there so, and sort of like developed the idea.
Ashley: And so now, just so we can maybe demystify this process just a little bit. You’re saying you know, you’re basically spit balling ideas at, and this idea stuck. How many ideas were generated and why did this idea stick over maybe those other ideas.
Anna: It’s not a romantic answer. The reason why we ended up with a web series following three women? Is because we wanted to do a serial project. Something that was a web series. We wanted it to be relatively short. And we wanted it to feature women. I think from that skeleton there we were able to enview a lot of our own stylings and ultimately the first thing that came was the structure. And then the reason why we wanted to talk about women in weed is, it’s not super prevalent in Pop-culture say we have broad city. But, there is a trade of laid back lazy male 20 something stoners. Where we kind of wanted address women in comedy, in weed. And we wanted to address women of all ages, sizes, colors etc…
Ashley: Okay, I mean, that’s a very sexy answer. I think that’s very well thought out. I’m curious, how much, because Marijuana is become like a big thing in the cultural, you know, with all the legalization efforts. Was that something on top of your mind was a timely issue, something that you know, could potentially spring board on all this talk is already out there.
Anna: Yeah, for sure. I would say that because in you know, the modern culture marijuana now on is a hot button issue. But, we thought it was even better for us to get involved with. And you know, this has been a long process, we started probably a year and a half ago is when I first met, roughly, or maybe even, approaching two years.
Molly: We’re approaching two years.
Anna: Approaching two years. And so, it’s been a long time coming. A it’s, marijuana is also one of those issues that isn’t going to go away overnight. So, it’s not you know, we didn’t have to work it out without making it so fast, and like you know, not really getting into the story, and the characters while focusing on just this one issue. And like hope it works. Spring board, I was. I think that was definitely part of that.
Ashley: Okay, perfect. So, let’s talk about this kind of further production. It sounds like you Molly, you were the one who kind of got everybody together. You started to build the team that way. Maybe you can talk about what were the first steps? Okay, you’ve kinda come up with this idea. How did you guys go about writing these 13 episodes, did you assign them to different people. What did that look like? Well, I think from like 6 to 9 months has been a very collaborative project between the 5 of us. We initially had a meeting amongst the lead, we quickly sucked out who was interested, and who was not. And it came down to the five women that we’ve already mentioned. And we all came in with 10 or 20 pitches of ideas that we were. Where we wanted to see these characters go. And from there we said, oh, I like this pitch, Molly that you brought in, why don’t you develop that into a whole episode. But, with a lot of collaborative feedback. So, some of my original pitches are completely different from what I brought in. Because these roles were able to separate that out, what’s the bottom line part of this? And then once we came in without own first drafts by each individual. We read line-by-line as it improved, and it became at the root an episode.
Molly: Yeah, yeah.
Anna: So, all the episodes have a writer title, and that’s the person who had the idea and wrote the initial draft. And from there we built, we went in and pitched jokes and pitched ideas and pitched log-lines. And I think we hooked up a computer too, my TV, we all sat around and like watched it, it happened live. And it was a long process, but very worthwhile. Because it made them have a succinct recognizable voice. And so, you know, 5 different people’s voices trying to mesh into one thing.
Ashley: Okay. So then, you have these scripts written what was your next step then in terms of the actual production money, is always like the biggest challenge for independent film makers. What were your steps to raising money and maybe you could talk through that a little bit.
Anna: So, what we did, what we ultimately decided to do? Was between the 5 of us. We had a lot of contacts, a lot of friends. And we have done a lot of favors for people. And we were then doing a favor in return. So, what we ultimately did, we self-funded. We decided that we weren’t going to go the “Kick-Starter” route, “Crowd Sourcing” route. It was just going to be a little bit too time consuming. We ended up finishing the series, in I believe like November-ish, of 20.
Molly: Of writing the series. Of writing the series, we finished in like. When was that?
Anna: November 2016.
Molly: No, November 2015.
Anna: November 2015, and then beyond that we wanted to shoot in February 2016. So,
in-between that time, we were just thinking, you know, like around the holidays, we don’t know how much people are going to be willing to give their money that they’d be using, you know, for gifts and travel, to our web series. So, we were concerned about that. And we ultimately ended up each spending around $1000.00 and making this web series happen. And that’s when everything from the props, to costumes, to locations, to everything, to paying the crew.
Molly: Feeding everybody.
Anna: Feeding. Yeah, feeding is expensive. And so, between that you know, it’s a lot easier when you have 5 people splitting it. As opposed to doing it your own thing where it’s just you. And splitting all the costs by ways equally made it less challenging. And also with the 5 people is that we all bring in all of our faith first. So, our series cost maybe about $5000.00.
Molly: Yeah, roughly.
Anna: Yeah, plus 20-30 favors.
Molly: Right.
Ashley: I’m curious, you know, like in theory, the more people you have. The big, becomes more collaborative and stuff. But, there’s also a point, which there’s too many cooks in the kitchen. And I’m curious how you guys, there must have been some issues where one person liked to joke, and one person didn’t. How did you guys end up solving and resolving some of those disputes.
Anna: We didn’t really didn’t encounter too many moments where we were, anyone was really head strong. We talked out our issues. There is a kind of short handle when we walk into a room. We understand what it’s like to kind of feel a little bit knocked over. So, we talk like, hey, you know I don’t know if this is necessarily a right thing for this character. We presented our points and usually everyone’s understood where each of us were coming from.
Molly: For sure, and I would say that actually when you have a group. I mean, honestly not having it be an even group helps. Because if you’re going through it democratically and you vote, and someone looses? But also, I would say that if I am sitting down write, writing a joke,
a line, writing an entire story. And every other person takes issue with it? Than it’s something to think about. And just you know, say okay, if this really isn’t working for everyone? Why is it working for me? Does it really make sense? Is there another way to pay pitch and say what I feel is very important and a good idea. Into something that everyone can get on board with.
Anna: And I think that helps, that you were wise to because you know you want to have a broad spectrum of audience members who will get what you’re trying to put on out there.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So, let’s talk about shooting the actual shooting and production of this. Maybe, let’s just start, some simple things. Like, would you guys know what camera would you use? Maybe a Cinematographer would be better to answer that. But, just some of the sort of basic technical type of stuff. People always ask those questions. I’m not sure how important they really are ultimately. But, it’s always just interesting to get a feel for a kind of what did you guys have technically? So, let’s start there with camera.
Molly: Sure. I’ll take it.
Anna: Go for it.
Molly: We hooked up with a Cinematographer, a mile DPA. In L.A. Who was able to work with us for really cheap. Because she really liked our vision and what we stood for. So, Amy.
Anna: Zalick.
Molly: Yeah, Amy Zalick, came in, and she brought a, she had a Cannon D 5 Mark 2. That was her “A Camera.” And then she had a camera assistant who was manning a Cannon D Mark 3, as our “B Camera.”
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. And where did you find her? Maybe that’s the next?
Molly: I’m pretty sure
Anna: Like 98% sure that she came on-board because of Aaron, one of our other producers. They had met each other at some sort of like meet and greet thing. And became friendly and you know, expressed an interest in working with each other. And Aaron contacted her, and she was willing to come on-board. And I cannot speak highly enough of Amy. She is like incredible. And she is a huge part of why our series looks fantastic. It’s because she was a wizard with using natural light and using, you know, a China ball, and using these like very minimal lighting techniques. But still gave us a really great sense of time and place.
Molly: A-huh.
Anna: That would not have been possible with someone less experienced, unless just wonderful.
Molly: She is like very efficient with her time. Like she got in and got out. And I can speak from like an actor’s perspective. Sometimes having managed many different eyes, it gets, like, oh, is she judging me? It was very, she was light. She and I got along so well. And she made me feel really good about what I was doing. Uh, I can’t
Anna: Yeah, we love Amy. And here room was great too.
Ashley: You think that’s pretty typical? You found her basically, one of the producers had said, had done a networking event and found her. Is that where you got most of your crew. Was there Craigslist ads? Was there ManU.com ads, where did you, how did you find most of the other crew? And you had pretty extensive crew that was a number of make-up artist, script supervisor, P.A.’s. Where did you find all of those folks?
Anna: Most of those were friends, a lot of them we reached out to via Facebook, via networking events. For show, most of those are super helpful. I am like bad about doing networking even. Like I find them to be challenging personally? But, they are so useful, like if you could just force yourself into networking event. It’s, you’ll find, you’ll meet. A lot of great people who are also interested in working with other great people.
Molly: Or work with another Co-Producer who is really great, at that.
Anna: I think, I’m not very good at networking either. And I think where we fall short on that, there are three other women that are going to pick-up on that. So, that’s the beauty of I think collaboration. Is, that what I’m not good at, someone else is.
Molly: A-huh, for sure.
Ashley: Just to clarify, what exactly are these networking events you’re talking about. Do you join like a group. You know, women in film, and then they’ll have like a Friday night social. And then a whole bunch of people will show up and just chat other people, Cinematographer, and all these types of people. Just maybe you can talk specifically about what some of those events look like, and how maybe people could hook up with some of them.
Anna: Well sure. There’s a lot of Friday night events. So, where we went to school, especially if you live in L.A. I think that like, I would be hard pressed to not find any college that has some sort of networking event, or people that studied film and that. And in that school. There are also groups that you can find either online, are examples of like as you put it, have these events. And that you know, you’ll just on Facebook and post and go. Another one, is just truly researching network events that sound like something you’d be good for. Like for example, women in film. Or you know like, there’s ones for Production Assistants, there’s ones for just whoever pretty much. And you know, you show up and it’s about making the effort, like showing up to these events. Because they are, they are happening constantly. And between Facebook social media, LinkedIn, and just Googling it, I think even if you’re finding a lot of these events.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. So, let’s just talk about, quickly about the break down of the cost. Roughly, speaking can you just break down again. You don’t need to be specific about, oh we pay the D.P. this much. But, just how much money went into production? And how much went into the food. Maybe break down some of those cost. I mean, basically spent about $5000.00. And maybe you can just sort of macro- weigh and break that down to where that money actually went?
Anna: Right so. Through, if you look at our budget. We as far as paying crew and stuff? If you are saying we spent like roughly, you know, $5000.00. I would say that like $1000.00, went to crafting. Because that’s super important. You know, like getting a big budget for that. Another maybe like $200.00 went to props. And then everything else was through and our post. And you know, different space rentals and stuff like that. So, I would say, like the other chunk of that is like $1200.00 buying purely production.
Ashley: Okay. And how did, what was the shooting schedule for this? Like, did you shoot all
13 episodes, basically like back to back, just you shot one, you shot an episode, and then next week you shot another one.
Anna: Yeah, we sort of a really crazy schedule. Which was like, I think I had a more like my forcing it on everyone. That’s why, the more you pack into a day. The less it’s going to cost overall. And so, we wanted this to be, you know, quick and dirty, you know, while we go through this process. And we shot the entire thing, which I think although like 80-97 pages long, in 6 days, 2 weekends we did, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 12 hour days, and just went for it.
Molly: Yeah, and we keep the majority of all of us, the 5 of us are working people. And all of our friends are working people.
Anna: So, it’s hard to take time off from work and in order to spend 12 hours on set. So, we were like, let’s just get it done. So, we broke down based on setting and location. So, we didn’t shoot sequentially.
Molly: Right. We just said, okay we got the living room let’s just do all the living room scenes for all 13 episodes.
Anna: Right, based on the different actors. We would be like in the apartment that we used for the two days. And I directed, so between myself, Aaron, our
Molly: Line Producer,
Anna: Our Line Producer, and Amy. We went through, made a shot list, and I made a shot list. And I kinda cleared it with Amy to kind of say, does this make sense to you, camera wise and lighting wise. What do we want to do, with difference means, it took place. If a scene took place in the morning, we shot it in the morning. If it took place at night, we shot it at night. And we just kept it location based. So, you know, you’ll see it shot in the Farmer’s Market, all of those were shot in one day, over the span of the 13 episodes. And then everything in the apartment. Everything in, there were a couple of like random cases that were shot in a warehouse in downtown L.A. That was like,
Molly: The majority of the day.
Anna: The majority of the day. And then we went back to the apartment.
Molly: And shot at night.
Anna: So, it was very crazy, and very intense. But, also super fun. And we made it work, pretty incredible.
Molly: You have to be very prepared, in order to do.
Anna: That many scenes in that many days. So we made like weeks up. With planning everything meticulously.
Molly: Yeah,
Anna: Yeah. It takes a lot of planning.
Ashley: So, now I will link to the episode I did with Aaron Dooly. In the show notes, people can get a look at that. And she had a lot of production experience. She’s been doing shorts and features and stuff for many, many, years. I’m curious, how much production experience did you guys have going into this. And did other, aside from Aaron, did the other two producers did they have a lot of production experience? Because I know this is one big sort of hurdle, that a lot of screenwriters face. Especially ones that are not in L.A. They just feel like gee, I have no idea how to produce something. And so, how do you get over that hurdle. I mean, you guys are both working, you’re in L.A. So, it’s probably not that difficult for you to take that leap. But, maybe you can just talk about it. You’re sort of production experience. And how you had the confidence to go and do this.
Molly: I could not do this without this on my own. Without the help of Aaron and some of the others, and the other people that had more production experience. I have some production experience in mostly post-production experience. In the animation. And the bulk of what I brought to the table, it is my background in comedy on me. So, I would say, most of my experience leading up to this is in the writing process. So, hooking up with the people that were very confident and production people with me. And also just doing it through being thrown to the wolves, and to get it done. And you have to find it out in the moment, is how I approached this. I mean, Anna, you have a lot more experience.
Ashley: But you directed a bunch of things, Anna had done a lot of directing before this?
Anna: I had done nothing like this, this was like directing on a much larger scale, than what I had done previously. I Directed a shorter web series called, “Grandpa’s Aquarium” A hung, I had directed that back in, that was only 6 episodes, that were even shorter than these. And I directed a couple of short films that were just like, personal projects. But, aside from that, my production experience was really, I created and wrote a web series in New York, when I was immediately after I had finished college. I made this web series. And that wasn’t another big one, it was 12 episodes, they were a bit longer. And we were shooting, out of an apartment in Greenpoint. And that gave me a ton of perspective on moving forward with another, sort of like larger project. Because that one I went into totally blind. Like the crew and actors, and everyone who had dealt with me on my learning curve was amazing. And I think, people are willing to deal with a lot on a learning curve.
I think that when someone signs on to work on a web series, short film, or even a feature. And I think, just of being, like this is my first time that I’m ready to do it. I feel like I’m you know, ready to try. I think that people are very accepting of that answer. I haven’t run into anyone who’s like, you know, I who’s willing to work on a project and then they find out you’re a little bit green. That they have signed off. And if they do, than so be it. You’ll find someone who will work in a project. With, you know, a relatively green Director/Producer, or something? And I think everyone would bring something to the table to help, you know. Like directing wise, I relied a lot on Amy because we didn’t have a true monitor. So, she had a small monitor off of her camera. But a lot of it, you know, like there are certain things we couldn’t use it. Because of the angle we were doing. Or like I couldn’t see, and so, I had to really put a lot of trust in the people around you. So like, I trust you, you’re going to get what I think you’re getting. And you know, she let me look at it before we go and then beyond that. It’s kinda like just putting a lot of trust in that other people. Which can be difficult. But ultimately it’s very rewarding to kind of divide and Concore.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. So, what were your goals going into this? What was sort of your ideas, what was the attack plan to in terms of getting this out there.
Anna: So, I think all of us wanted to use this project as a way to gain not only experience, but a little bit of exposure for ourselves. This was never really a money maker. I think that like, you know, to think that you’re going to make a project like this, or a web series or a short. Or you know like a very low budget Indie feature and think that you’re going to get rich off it. It is like, not, not how it works now. Typically, I don’t know, maybe you’ll get lucky? It’s super double full. But, you know, we went into this thing, like here, we wanted to gain exposure. We want to learn some new stuff. I want to, you know, 3 of our producers acted in it. Because that’s why they felt, Aaron, Aaron was our line producer. Because that’s what she wanted to do. And I directed, which was great and yeah.
Molly: Like for me, I was tired of waiting around for, when am I ever going to be able to write, you know, 60 minutes of a whole series of something. When am I going to be able to act in something? When am I going to be able to do this? And am I going to meet the right people to make this happen? And I was tired of that, and I decided I’m going to be that person. I want to be that person that made it happen.
Molly: Oh, for sure, for sure.
Anna: And I think as far as putting it out there? We ultimately went forward with
self-distribution. And for now, I mean, who knows, maybe we’ll get a distributor who will come along eventually. Which, is a possibility.
Molly: Yeah.
Anna: But, for we were tired of sitting on the footage, and tired of sitting on the, everything we had created. So, we wanted to move forward. And we had decided to just really release the 4-20 being release day. Which, you know, the whole.
Me theme was a good move. And we just kinda went for it, and now we’re working on, you know, trying to gain exposure through social media. And you know, we’ve gotten a couple, like crest outlet.
Molly: Sure. Yeah, doing whatever we can to get the word out there about our series, that’s important to us.
Anna: Yeah, moving forward as is. Individual writers, we can take this individual series into any of our future meetings. And be like, look it, my track record, I have accomplished something. And I can point to exactly, something that will represent me and my work, that’s for sure.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah, so. It sounds like you guys just released it. Maybe you guys can tell us how people can see it if they want to check it out?
Anna: For sure, we’re on YouTube, so we have a YouTube Channel. Baked Goods Series. We have a Facebook page. Which is again, www.facebook.com/bakedgoodes.com/ , it’s just Baked Goods?
Molly: Baked Goodes, And goods is a last name, so it’s spelled, “G-o-o-d-e-s- Yes. So and Angela doing good.
Anna: Yeah, yes. So, yeah, we have Facebook, we have Instagram, which is another – www.instagram.com/bakedgoodes. And then Twitter it’s a little different with @Baked_Goodes and all of those are Good with an “e” in it. A yeah.
Ashley: Perfect, perfect, and I will gather all that stuff and put it in the show notes. I really appreciate you guys coming on and talking with me today. I wish you all a lot of luck with this. It looks like a great project. And I just always applaud people. It’s exactly what you said, it’s get out there and make it happen for themselves. If we all wait around for someone to call us, we’ll be waiting an awful long time.
Molly: Yeah, that’s for sure.
Ashley: So, very nice ladies. So, thank you very much.
Both together: Thank you Ashley. We appreciate it, thanks so much.
Ashley: Talk to ya later. Yep bye.
Ashley: I just want to mention two things I’m doing at “Selling Your Screenplay.” To help screenwriters find producers who 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 newsletter, per month. I went and Emailed my large database of producers.
And asked them if they would like to receive this monthly newsletter of pitches? So far, I have well over 350 producers who have signed-up to receive it. These are producers who are hungry for material and are ready to read scripts from new writers. So, if you want to participate in this pitch newsletter? Get your script into the hands of lots of producers. Sign-up at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select, that’s www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
And secondly, I have partnered with one of the premiere paid screenwriting leads services. So, I can syndicate their leads to SYS Select members. These, there are lots of great paid leads coming in each week from our partner. Recently, I’ve been getting 10-12 high quality paid leads per week. These are producers or production companies, 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 one of their ideas. Producers are looking for shorts, features, TV, and web series pilots. So, it’s a huge a ray of different projects that these producers are looking for. And these leads are exclusive to our partner and SYS Select members. Again, to sign-up, just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select. Again, that’s www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
So, on the next episode of the Podcast, I will be interviewing, Writer/Director and Comedian/Actor Chad Wridley. Chad has a couple of films that are finishing up. His story is very similar to mine, he’s from the East Coast, and just moved out here without knowing a lot of people in Los Angeles. And he just beat the bush and he just started trying to make things happen for himself. He’s putting together several feature films now. As I mentioned, a couple of them are almost finished. He’s done a bunch of shorts, he’s got a lot of material under his belt. I mean, We really talk through his whole career. Kind of what he did when he first got out to L.A. How he made contacts, how he got these feature films made. So, keep an eye out for that episode next week.
To wrap things up, I just want to touch on a few things from today’s interview with Molly and Anna. I really like how they collaborated on “Baked Goodes.” I think this is a great way to go. Collaborating is just, it’s a great way to get through, especially some of those early projects. Where you don’t necessarily understand all of the different aspects to film making. You know, bringing on other people, collaborating with other people. You can really plug some of those holes. I know a lot of the hesitation to go out and do something on your own. Is this feeling of you don’t quite know what to do? When again, collaborating is a great way to sort of get past that. In virtually every city in the world, there is going to be some local film community and I would really encourage you to seek those people out, and get to know them. Looking at sites like – www.craigslist.com or www.meetup.com, even a Google search will help you find these folks. You try and use what you have to offer whether that be writing, some technical things, you can do editing. Maybe if you’re a musician you can score a film. Anything that you can do to just get involved with some of these local film making groups I think is a great idea. Because that’s who you’re going to network, and that’s how you’re going to meet people. If writing is your main avenue, or asset, you know, try and find a producers that are looking for new material. Try and find the director, who doesn’t consider himself the writer. And just wants to direct other people’s material. And again, these people are out there, and they’re looking for new material. Starting at that sort of very, very basic level. They are going to be making short films. Or low-budget feature films, maybe a web series, like, “Baked Goodes.”
And these are the people you want to meet, and again, you can find these people in their local cities. I talk about this quite often on the Podcast. But Craigslist is a great source of film makers looking for shorts scripts. Especially in L.A., and New York sections. But, check out the local Craigslist sections where you are. You might find that there are some film makers there looking for short scripts. And again, This is a great way to, the competition is good, and it’ll be low. So, you’re script doesn’t have to just be great. If it’s pretty good, you might be able to find a match with some of these local film makers. Some of these local film makers, you know, they are the film makers of tomorrow. Those film makers are starting out at the local level. They are creating these, exactly what Anna and Molly have done here. You know they are creating web series, they are doing shorts, they are doing low-budget features. If you can get in with these people, and now you get to know these people. You have something to offer them. Whether it be a writing, or anything else. You know, as they grow, in their careers, you will hopefully be able to grow along with them. Everyone says this is a rough relationship business. It’s all about who you know. And so, you’ve got to step back and think about that. If you don’t know anybody? You know, how can you get to know people. And I think one of the easiest ways to network with people is, starting with people who are at your same level and getting to know those people. And again, growing in your careers together. I will link to “Baked Goodes.” the web series, these folks did. So, check that out, I really encourage you to take a look at that, it’s all on YouTube. So, it’s free to just go on and watch. It’ll really add a lot of context to this interview.
Anyway, that’s the show, thank you for listening.