Alexis Niki Expert Guru

Alexis Niki is an American screenwriter based in Paris, France. She has translated dozens of scripts and subtitled close to 100 films for both television and cinema in all genres -- from documentary to horror, romantic comedies to children's films. Her customers have included Columbia TriStar, Warner Brothers, and German national and private television. She is also the author of LifeTips "101 Screenwriting Tips." Alexis's other passion in life is personal growth. As a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, a mind-body method of self-awareness, Alexis helps her students walk taller, move with ease, and feel more confident. Her articles on the Alexander Technique and personal growth have been published in the US and in the UK. She looks forward to expanding her writing in this area. As a long-time resident of Europe, Alexis is also available to write about the cities she's lived in: Athens, Berlin, Cologne, and especially Paris. Learn more about Alexis on her website: www.thethirddraft.com

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Learn Screenwriting by Reading Scripts

How many people would try writing a book without ever reading one? So why do so many beginning screenwriters try writing a script without ever seeing one? Don’t let that happen. Read scripts!

Download scripts of your favorite movies from the Internet. Read as many different kinds of scripts as possible. You can read the script, then watch the movie while following along with the script. Sometimes, you'll see where changes were made. Perhaps a scene was cut, or some dialogue was changed. See if you can figure out why. Do you think the changes improved the movie or not?

If you do this exercise, you’ll be able to answer many of your basic formatting and writing questions, and you’ll begin to see how screenwriters structure their stories.

Online resources for scripts:

www.script-o-rama.com--Free scripts
www.simplyscripts.com--Free scripts
www.scriptcity.com--Paying. Lots of classics and other hard-to-find scripts.

Protect your Script from Plagiarism

You have a fantastic concept and a well-written script. A producer or an agent has asked to read it. You’re thrilled – but what’s to prevent them from stealing your idea?

A legitimate agent or producer won’t steal your work. If he’s interested in your script, it’s easier to pay you than to re-invent it himself. Besides, his reputation is at stake. But what about shielding your work from someone who is less scrupulous?

Plagiarism is a valid concern. Here are a few precautions you can take to protect yourself:

1. Register your script with the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA). Reputable agents, producers, and competitions will strongly recommend or even insist you register your script before showing it to them. While registration doesn’t prevent plagiarism, it does provide you with legal proof of the material’s existence. If you go to court, the WGA can testify to that evidence. www.wgawregistry.org

2. Check out the producer or agent you’re showing your work to. If you want to be safe, work only with agents who are WGA signatories. A WGA-signatory agent is bound to abide by the WGA’s rules, written to protect the writer. www.wga.org

3. Keep all notes, drafts, and correspondence about your script, from scribbles on a napkin to the finished product. Make sure you have a paper trail that proves you are the author of the script.

4. Finally, keep in mind that ideas and storylines cannot be protected. Only your script falls under protection.

Why Hollywood? For the Sunshine, Baby!

Before the rise of Hollywood, filmmakers were concentrated on the East Coast. But between 1907 and 1913, production companies started moving to California. Why? Because of the weather.

In those days, electric lighting was still cumbersome and movies were shot using natural light. Even interior scenes were shot outside, using overhead tarps to soften shadows. So California's perpetual sunshine was a huge draw. Wide open spaces and cheap land and labor were also motivating factors. The town of Hollywood happened to be a convenient suburb to Los Angeles. But Hollywood really took off as the global center of movie production only after World War I (1914-1918) crippled a major competitor -- the European film industry. The rest, as they say, is history.

Top 100 Movies of All Time

Want to know which movies are considered classics? Check out the following websites:

American Film Institute (www.afi.com): “100 Years, 100 Films” will give you the AFI’s list of the best 100 movies of all time.

IMDB (www.imdb.com): Here you’ll find the top 250 movies favored by users.

TIME (www.time.com): This Top 100 list was compiled by two TIME movie critics.

Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, these movies ranked for a reason. Use these lists to discover movies you haven’t seen. And when you’re done, make a Top 100 list of your own.

PS – curious about the worst movies? Visit www.thestinkers.com

Organize your Story in Three Acts

Every good story has dramatic tension that happens at the right time and in the right places. Too little tension, and the story stalls. Too much tension, and you wind up overwhelming and confusing your audience. How can you best organize dramatic tension? With the three-act structure.

Storytellers have employed the three-act structure since its origins in ancient Greek drama, and Hollywood still uses it today as its standard. When we’re involved in a story, we try to figure out what will happen next – and we love being surprised by an unexpected but fitting twist. The three-act structure provides these major twists, called turning points, three times, with increasing dramatic tension, once at the end of each act. So, quite simply, the three-act structure is an organizational tool.

While it is not the only way to successfully organize a story, screenwriters need to learn the principles of the three-act structure. Understanding what studios expect is the mark of a professional. And, once you have mastered the three-act structure, you’ll be able to play with alternative structures much more convincingly.

Turning Points Spin the Story

Turning points are the twists or surprises that keep audiences glued to their seats. Think of turning points as a events that spin (or turn) the story in a new direction. A three-act structure has at least three turning points—one at the end of each act. Turning points are also called plot points, major reversals, or act climaxes. The major twist at the end of Act III is also referred to as the climax.

Movies are substantial works that run 90-120 minutes, sometimes more. It will take a minimum of three Turning Points to keep the audience involved for that length of time. In his book “Story,” (www.amazon.com) screenwriting guru Robert McKee states:

"In our effort to satisfy the audience's need, to tell stories that touch the innermost and outermost sources of life, two major reversals [NOTE: turning points] are never enough. No matter the setting or scope of the telling, no matter how international and epic or intimate and interior, three major reversals are the necessary minimum for a full-length work of narrative art to reach the end of the line."

We expect good stories to have turning points and are disappointed when they don't. If you want to keep your audience involved, it’s crucial to understand turning points.

How Many Roads Lead to Hollywood? At Least 33.

Hundreds of thousands of scripts are written but only about 400 feature films are produced in Hollywood each year. The competition is fierce, so how does a novice screenwriter break in?

According to producer/manager Hal Croasmun, there are many different routes into Hollywood. "Too many screenwriters give up after trying only the traditional strategies," says Croasmun of ScriptForSale.com. "We didn't want to see any more dreams die over a lack of options."

That’s why Croasmun, who is also a writer, developed the free program "33 Ways to Break Into Hollywood." Every other day, a new strategy pops up on your desktop until you've read all 33 strategies. It's designed this way to give you time to consider each tip carefully. Once you’ve read a strategy, you can review it again at any time.

You’ll learn how to win contests with industry recognition (strategy #5), approach indie filmmakers (strategy #17), and build your website (strategy #10). By the time you’ve finished, you’ll be able to put together an amazing marketing campaign that will get you noticed by Hollywood.

This tool is one of my favorites. No writer should be without it. 33 Strategies can be downloaded for free at http://www.scriptforsale.com/33ways/signup33.htm

Agents Make Money FOR Clients not OFF Them.

An agent only makes money AFTER he’s procured work for you – through a sale, option, or writing assignment. Then, and only then, is he allowed to charge you a 10% fee. Legitimate agents who are looking for new clients will never ask you for money. It is against the WGA signatory rules--another good reason to stick with WGA signatory agents. There are unscrupulous people who use the Internet to seduce inexperienced writers with promises of representation, and then try to charge a reading fee or sell script doctoring services. Don’t fall for this. Bottom line: never, ever pay an agent to read your script or to represent you.

The Writer's Guild of America (WGA)

The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) is a labor union for film, television, and other media writers. The Guild’s primary function is to ensure that members’ financial and creative rights are not violated. This is done through enforcing contracts, setting minimum payment rates, determining writing credits, and monitoring and collecting residuals. Members are also eligible for health and pension benefits.

The WGA East covers members who live east of the Mississippi, and the WGA West covers members west of the Mississippi. To join, you must collect a certain number of credits while writing for WGA signatory companies. The rules for this are fairly detailed and can be found on the Guild’s website: www.wga.org

The Guild provides some great online resources for non-members, too. Check out their list of WGA-signatory agents, their basic contracts, and TV market list, or subscribe to “Written By,” the Guild’s monthly screenwriting magazine.

You Have an Agent? Great! Don’t Stop Marketing Yourself.

Agents get their clients work, negotiate salaries and contracts, and strategize with their clients to develop a long-term career plan. But don’t think just because you have an agent, you no longer have to market yourself. Your agent probably has dozens of clients and several stars on her roster. If you really want your career to move forward, you’ll have to prove to her you’re worth her time. Keep networking and sending your agent leads.

Your agent has worked hard to develop her reputation in the industry. This means she can pick up the phone, call someone influential, and ask them to consider you for a project. A phone call from her gets you in the very doors you couldn’t open by yourself. If it seems unfair that she’s spending all her time hob-nobbing with the A-listers, just keep in mind this is precisely why she has influence. Your job is to concentrate on being a good client. Do quality work, be reliable, and keep marketing yourself.