My manager is taking a few of my scripts to the Cannes Film Festival next month. The problem is that I have thirteen feature scripts ready to go, and she can only showcase three of them in her book that goes out to 500+ producers, studios, etc. How to choose? Thank goodness that is not my problem; she's the professional and will figure it out. I've been working with Alexia since February, and the first thing she does it send the scripts with the most marketability out for coverage. The person who does the coverage reads the script - maybe a few times and ranks it on a score of 1-10. A score of 1-4 means to Pass on the script. A better score of 5-7 earns a Consider, and the best score of 8-10 - means that the executive should Read the script. I have two so far that have earned a 9 and four that are 7s. Three more are on the way to getting coverage. At first, I thought a 7 was a low score since I was thinking 70% on a test, but it is actually pretty good to be a "Consider" and outstanding to be a 9.
The next process is to get a professional pitch deck created. The first thing that I do is to structure out the script and write a pitch. That sometimes causes some rewriting because when I'm telling the story in the form of a pitch - something might stand out as being in the wrong place. This pitch is then put into Canva, and off it goes to a designer who makes it look amazing. My pitch deck guru is Annalisa Giolo Dunker of https://www.betterearthproductions.com/. You can see her work on my new website - SandraJerome.com.
You might wonder how I can have so many unsold scripts. Easy - I've been writing for a long time, but only been a full-time screenwriter for a year. If you've been following me, you might remember that I retired two years ago, so what have I been doing for the other year? After I retired, I thought I wanted to be a novelist. I spent a year learning how to write kidlit - middle-grade and young adult books. I wrote three of them, joined SCBWI and attended seminars and workshops. I started querying agents and publishers and did get a few requests for my books. But one problem - the publishing business is extremely slow. A typical wait time is six months before you get a response to a query - if ever. That doesn't stop me - I'm working on my 4th novel, but I remembered fondly that when I first started writing screenplays, there were many, many contests to enter. I'd get immediate feedback on my work. Plus, I needed a hobby while I was waiting be be a famous novelist. What do I like to do in my spare time? You guessed it - storytelling! There is no easier way to tell a story than a screenplay. It is like writing computer programming (my trained profession.) Lots of instructions to the talent and dialogue.
I trained professionally to be a screenwriter two decades ago. I graduated from UCLA's advanced screenwriting program but then tragedy struck, and I had to abandon my dream of writing movies. Those who know me well know what happened and what I accomplished - including helping to raise my four granddaughters. Now that "my watch" is over and I'm writing full-time - the timing is perfect for a great 2025. The existing IP concept is huge. Studios prefer to reduce their risk by greenlighting a project based on something already "out there." I have books already published and now I'm writing a book based on my most highly-ranked screenplay, Blood Moon Wolf. My "job" and hobby have joined together. In addition, producers also want projects based on material in the public domain, and I'm working on a historical screenplay based on a book by Lady Churchill, Jennie Jerome, Keith's fourth cousin, twice removed. I'm also writing my 2nd Christmas movie and I'm thinking that might be my passion - I love Christmas. The acorn didn't fall from the tree because my mother was Christmas-crazy. I miss her so much.
Getting back to my huge inventory of completed projects, during the past two decades, I flew hundreds of thousands of miles and writing my screenplays and novels kept me company. I might be stuck in the middle of nowhere, far away from my family - but my characters were always with me - even when I was alone. I could drop my mind into their world and get away from the yucky hotel, cramped airplane, or stressful job. Then, I'd enter scripts into contests, get feedback, then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. I read recently that quantity does equate to quality when it comes to screenplays. If you keep writing and rewriting – you get better. I know so many screenwriters who only have 1-2 scripts, and they are precious to them. They only want certain producers and platforms to take on their projects and expect millions. I don't think that - I want my work to be aired - streaming, network, turned in TV - even YouTube! I plan to write 100 screenplays by the time I'm a hundred. Based on the ten thousand outliner hours that I've spent so far, I'm on the way there, and I have one sold and in production, with another two being optioned and a manager taking a few to Cannes. Better get back to writing - lots more to say before next month. Here's my IMDB page - Sandi Jerome
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