Writing your First Screenplay: or Self Portrait

Written By
Christopher Rice
ScriptDig.com

As a script reader, I’ve read a lot of material from seasoned, represented, and first-time writers. Of the three, you might be able to imagine which group submitted the best written of the material. But the topic of this article is neither the seasoned nor the represented writer. I’d like to talk about most of us struggling to write solid material destined for the screen. I’m talking about the first-time writer and their material.

The more I read from different first-time writers, the more I realize that first-time writers tend to write very personal material. In other words, we write not only what we know, which is ourselves, but we write what we’d like to share with people. With my first screenplay, I wrote about two of my best friends and myself going out on a sea adventure along with the main character, Casey Jones. It was very fun to write but I realize now that by including myself in that adventure, I distracted my writing focus from the main character in order to execute the best representation of what my childhood with my two best friends was really like. And as a first screenplay, I made peace with what I did and moved on.

But it was only until tonight while my flight was descending into San Francisco that I realized most first-time writers write what’s close to them … and most of the time it’s themselves. They, like myself, write themselves into the material in order to tell people something they want audiences to know about them. For me, it was my childhood. For others, it’s their professional life, their family life, or even their darkest secrets. So as I continued to read this particular screenplay, I knew that the writer made their first mistake, as I had, when they decided to include themselves into the action. Let me just say that like everything else in the movie business, there are exceptions. Take Adaptation for example; Charlie Kauffman wrote himself as the main character in his screenplay actually adapting a book for the screen. This is an exception because it’s sort of the sequel to Being John Malcovich as an industry inside joke where real professionals are in the material.

I guess for many, including myself, it just needs to happen and then you neek to move on. Screenwriters that read books that inform that writing should be very personal and the best screenplays are always reflective of the writer shouldn’t make the mistake of writing their life verbatim. Work that reflects it’s creator usually reflects in a minor way that establishes the creator over time. Over a period of ten years, a writer might have a body of work that continues to use a similar theme. This can only be viewed from a long-lens of time.

So for those of you interested in writing personal work, remember that personal stories don’t always have to be YOUR story. Don’t be the writer who writes their life’s story with a protagonist who is constantly put in situations that make the reader feel sorry for them. If you want readers to feel sorry for you then you should carry around a sign that reads: I’m abused, I’m neglected, Etc.

Believe me, readers will know when they’re reading a screenplay mean to be sold and a screenplay meant to expose the writer. If you want to be noticed that you should choose another profession because writers go even more unnoticed than editors!

DREAMGIRLS

By Christopher Rice

We all know that movie these days cost millions and millions of dollars to produce, but what some of us don’t know is where it goes. How is it spent? While watching Dreamgirls, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Every sequence, every scene, and every beat subtly reveals how the money was spent. The spectacle of the sets in the seventies and eighties, the sound of the amazing vocals and instruments, and finally the appearance and performances of some of the best actors in show biz all combine together a la mise en scene to create the look, sound, and feel of this film.

Based on the Broadway Musical, this bio-pic features Beyonce Knowles, Sharon Leal, Eddie Murphy, Jaime Foxx, Danny Glover and introducing, American Idol castaway, Jennifer Hudson making this movie an All Star Cast extravaganza! Every one of these actors will or at least should be nominated for best actor, actress, supporting actor, etc.

And that’s just the cast! No doubt in my mind that the writers, Bill Condon and Tom Eyen will walk away with best screenplay or at least a nomination. And as for Bill Condon’s directing … think Chicago x 10. Expect him to walk away with good old Oscar.

The story is presented to the audience as an emotionally engaging, visually enticing, and crystal clear sounding form of entertainment, music history, and biography. The story presents the real people behind their show-biz persona in a tear jerking reality involving show-biz, old fame, drugs, and money. A true Hollywood tale twisting the politics, romance, and greed is brought to life by the writers, actors, director, and of course the producers, who brought it all together.

With bravado performances as actors, singers, and performers, the cast delivers a power-blow to the audience they couldn’t expect. Eddie Murphy reveals a serious drama never-before seen by audiences and portrays “Jimmy” as a struggling star of yesterday trying to make a come back in the new world of music.

The writing of Curtis’ character, portrayed by Jamie Foxx, is very well written because of the drastic emotional, physical, and character arch. Starting from rags and building his riches, he develops a sense of greed and sadly lets it take over his life, including his music, and wife. Many of the other character are written as consistent characters ranging from stubborn, good, and enthusiastic. It’s because of these characters that the audience is allowed to enjoy the transformation of the characters.

I can’t think of one problem with this one. There’s nothing to complain about and if you do … I’d ask you one question:

“What were you expecting?”

CHARLOTTE'S WEB

By Christopher Rice

E.B. White’s classic tale of friendship comes to the screen with a powerfully well adapted punch for movie-going audiences. Dakota Fanning delivers another excellent performance including both Fern’s strong and childish sides to her character. As seen in many movies through out the years, Dakota has brought to characters to life by, what seems to be, being herself and allowing her self to enjoy the moments of the written material – a skill necessary to writers, directors, and actors.

Wilbur the pig, proves to be a truly spectacular pig though I thought the filmmakers went over the top for a split second as the pig completed a back flip in front of a crowd of people. The pig is made of both a live animal actor and state of the art CGI. In fact this might be the first CGI pig audiences have seen sliding around in mud.

The material was just as powerful as the original children’s book due to the well adapted screenplay by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick. The writing was the main driver of the original themes of friendship, love, and faith. E.B. White created a world within a world with the personalities of the barnyard animals participating including the vile, Templeton, voiced by Steve Buscemi, and the misunderstood Charlotte, voiced by Julia Roberts.

This film goes to prove that a good couple of themes combined with a ticking clock and characters with conflicting views will always provide as an insightful and entertaining story to audiences. The one thing that stuck out in this movie as icky to me was that the story fell into a bit of a repetition when Charlotte realized that she needed to provide a better word for Wilbur in order to communicate the message to the people that Wilbur shouldn’t be slaughtered for Christmas. This of course, is driven by the premise and themes of the story and wouldn’t work with out it.

It’s a very enjoyable story, although ending on a happy note, the audience struggles to enjoy the catharsis due to the powerful impact of Charlotte’s death moments before. The film is full of universal themes as well as sub-themes such as “letting go” seen when Wilbur accepts that Charlottes gone and Fern’s mother letting Fern go off with the boy during the fair.

This is one for the whole family and something everyone can enjoy both as a family and friends.

FLUSHED AWAY

By Christopher Rice

As Roddy the mouse sleeps peacefully in his owner’s mansion, a sudden explosion of water spits up through the drains revealing Sid, a sewer rat who reflects the average male in today’s world. Sid takes over the joint, turns the television to the World Cup. Roddy has enough, and attempts to outsmart Sid by insisting he gets into the swirling ‘Jacuzzi’ before the game. Sid suddenly shoves Roddy into the toilet and Roddy is Flushed Away to the underground sewers.

As Roddy swirls down the drains toward the sewer, he hits corner after corner in an old-fashioned kind of comic humor, catches an orange fish who asks,
“Have you seen my dad?” and finally falls into a river of sewer water where he encounters sewer slugs. Originally the slugs only had the bit part during Roddy’s intro to the sewer but because of their popularity and laugh-out-loud visual and audible humor, the slugs appear again and again through out the movie.

The movie is outrageously exciting for the kids and hilariously relevant to today’s world for the adults. The adventure follows two little mice, Rita and Roddy, voiced by Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, as they make a ‘spit-n-handshake’ deal to take on the impossible and head back “up top” to the surface form the sewers in order to get back to Roddy’s home where he then will set Rita on her way with a real ruby – due to the fact that he broke her treasured glass ruby. The characters’ goals a clear, motivated, and classically short-ended producing an emotional climactic ending as they realize their goals didn’t involve each other. The emotion is light, the humor is layered, and the creative sewer world is unlike anything seen before.

The conflict is high, smart, yet light enough for kids; Toad wants to steal a power cable from Rita, whom uses it as a belt, in order to power the giant door to the sewer line to open during the half time of the World Cup. Why? Because like Sid, everyone always waits to go to the bathroom until half-time, which means if the door is open, the city of rodents will be destroyed by a flood of sewage and Toad, along with his army of infant tadpoles, will rule the under world. It’s a great twist on flash floods from a writer’s point of view because it’s not just a flood of water, it’s a flood of everyone's toilets … anyway – the stakes are high for our two protagonists and the comic relief is around every corner – in the form of slugs.

The movie personifies not only the animals superbly but also the situations and characters involved resulting in a powerful message that wealth and loneliness simply don’t compare to love and family. Whether it is classic movie homage or slap-tick humor this movie has it all.

Overall, this movie is a fantastic ride for kids and adults and surprises audiences over and over with new jokes, old jokes, and everything in between.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

By Christopher Rice

Clint Eastwood brings us a character inspired war drama based on The Battle of Iwo Jima and the men that raised the flag and inspired the world and became a patriotic symbol of hope, inspiration, and victory.

William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis adapted the screenplay from the book written by James Bradley and Ron Powers. As the producer, Steven Spielberg takes a step into the non-fictional world of feature war drama with Flags by telling the story of the actual men in the service and their families during that time of World War II unlike, Saving Private Ryan – which can be seen as an obvious inspiration during the battle sequences in Flags. Like Steven and his Director of Photography, Janusz Kaminski, Clint and his DP, Tom Stern, chose to portray the battle as a non-glamorous event by using handheld camera techniques, washing the color out from the sequences, and creating brutally realistic effects consisting of both practical and CGI. An example of great CGI usage in the WWII drama is the sequence when the fleet of ships is heading to the island of Iwo Jima and a small group of planes zoom past our main characters on one of the ships. Clint presents the audience with a panoramic view of the fleet of ships slowly plowing through the ocean revealing its gargantuan size. Then Clint presents us with a in-the-crowd POV with our main characters as they wave their hats and cheer on the fighter pilots as the small group of planes jet by at amazing speed. The sequence is visually stunning due to its size and factually stunning due to its detail. One example is when a man falls overboard and his friends laugh, joke, and casually throw him a floating device … as he continues to scream for help, his friends notice the ship isn’t stopping. A man then states,
“They’re not going to stop. None of them are … they can’t.” his friends suddenly realize it’s the last time they’ll see him as he floats away into the distance.

The gore level in the movie is realistic and factual. For those with weak stomachs, don’t blame the movie, blame the effects of war for that’s what you’re seeing a glimpse into. One shot, I won’t mention which, pulled me out of the movie due to it’s hokey gore feeling – the type of shot that belongs in a bad horror movie. Maybe it will be cut – maybe not … all in all, it reveals my level of conditioning through horror movies and the use of bad gore. The shot captures the realities sporadic war and how you never know when a shell is going to land at your feet. Clint uses a lot of the sporadic casualties as a way to shock the audience. For example, a soldier will comment on someone’s death near the end of the movie, walk ten feet, suddenly a plume of dirt and smoke engulfs him as a bomb hits below him.

On the other side of this story, there’s the political crisis of bankruptcy as well as campaigning. The writers really bring the truth of the historic statue to the surface along with the characters’ feelings of guilt. The audience grows to love the character for who they are and accept them as an everyday man as well as a hero.

This is an excellent story and short history lesson that everyone can enjoy as an American, neighbor, or moviegoer. It is a notch in the history of film on war and deserves recognition by audiences for the fantastic performances, direction, writing, special effects, make-up, and wardrobe. For the little I knew about the event, I found the film uplifting, revealing, educational, and it moved me as a person who was served by those men in The Battle of Iwo Jima and as a moviegoer.

Be sure to stick around through the credits in order to catch a quick glimpse of the memorial set up at the top of Iwo Jima were the flag stands.

My Best Friend Murphy: Or How I realized that anything can happen

By Christopher Rice

Every time I look over my shoulder, the newsstand attendant appears to be starring at me from his little chair, skinny legs crossed, his fragile little cigarette begging to be flicked of dead ash – kind of like when smokers’ cough tries to rid of the dead ash from their lungs … but can’t. Maybe it’s because he’s actually one of thousands of bipedal aliens here to observe the human race inhabiting overlooked employment positions such as newsstand tenants, gas station clerks, taxi drivers, even … Hollywood runners! Or, maybe it’s because I bought the daily trades twenty minutes ago and I’m still parked in front of his stand with a dead battery under the hood of my car. Whatever the reason, he’s starring at me from his little chair, it’s 101 degrees at nine O’clock in the morning, I have work in ten minutes, and my car won’t start. Great Monday.

As a film producer and director, I’m not a stranger to Murphy’s Law, in fact I’m more of a friend because we see each other so often, so I had jumper cables in my trunk as well as a friend at work. Working in Hollywood is like working for Murphy himself; and you have to learn to expect the unexpected, predict the unpredictable, and even fly … well, if you can consistently tell the future then you’re obviously super-human … or alien. It reminds me of the play I saw over the weekend, titled “Peter Pan”. The performers had to be on their feet at all times and improve in case something went unplanned or off-script.

Unfortunately, the runner is somewhat like the editor of a picture; they’re unseen and unheard when they do their job well; like every entry level position in the industry but when they make a mistake, they have to answer to the big cheese with an explanation.
Such as the time I was sitting in for the Big Cheese’s assistant and he asked, with a playful smile upon his face I might add,
“Is there a runner around? Can I get a yoo-hoo.” you might know it as the chocolate drink with the yellow wrapper. The came as a non-pleasant surprise because he usually had juice or soda with a cup of ice in the morning, which was neatly arranged by the assistant’s desk. The other runner is out so I grab my keys and hit the road to the closest gas station imagining what I would do if I didn’t know that gas stations carry yoo-hoos. Thanks to Murphy, the station only carried the Starbucks’ frapaccino drinks. So I drive to the drug store. Thanks to Starbucks, the drug store only carries Starbucks … it’s true, Starbucks is taking over the world – at least we know now. As if struggling to check under a rock on the bottom of the ocean for a spare scuba tank while slowly suffocating, I sped to another gas station and to my surprise, I found the scuba tank! I bought two yoo-hoos for security because for all I knew, a combination of earthquake and a freak-lightening strike could send the yoo-hoo out of the open window and into the opening ravine previously known as Sunset Boulevard and into molten hot lava or send it into an open sewer top where it would break upon it’s impact with the sewer floor … and create four teenage mutant ninja turtles and sensei rat – Hey, it may not be green or glowing but it’s still very potent. So even after all that hard work of getting Murphy’s yoo-hoo, I approach the big cheese with his bottle of chocolate ooze and he expresses a puzzled look on his face. What he said was short and sharp … like the knife in Psycho plummeting into my ears as if following the beat of a metronome. “I didn’t mean go buy one. I have them in my fridge. I just wanted a glass of ice.” Hence, hard work gets overlooked.

On the bright side, he laughed about the incident and to my surprise, I survived another day and became closer to Murphy. After a few bumps with Murphy’s Law, you grow to enjoy the challenges he reveals. Which brings me back to the incident that inspired me to write this article in the first place … my dead car.

After a quick jumpstart, I was headed toward the dealership near downtown … or at least I thought I was. I was heading down Fairfax Ave from Sunset in hopes of banging a left on Olympic but found myself in Venice soon after. I should have known to turn around earlier when I passed Pico because it was the first major street after Olympic. By this time, I know that Murphy and I must be best of friends. After a while of blind navigation, as usual when you don’t have a clue where you’re going, I found the dealership.
“You have to go to 444 Vernon for servicing” or Victor or some street with a V. After a quick trek to the service center, and four hours later, I was driving with a new battery under the hood and 90 dollars less from my wallet. So much for warrantee. Today is another day and surprises lurk and lay around every corner.

I’ve got to run to the bank but as a final thanks to Murphy, I remind everyone pursuing a career in the entertainment industry that Murphy’s Law is a very powerful element in the business. Not only because it can bog you down with unexpected circumstances but also because it can present you with unforeseen opportunity due the after-efffect of "anything can go wrong ... will go wrong". Murphy’s Law can be a best friend to those flying blind into this crazy business because, after all, Murphy reminds us all that anything can happen.

Christopher Rice
President
BackPocket Entertainment
http://www.ScriptDig.com

WORLD TRADE CENTERS

By Christopher Rice

Because the story is based on true events and people, it required a gentle and respectable approach of direction not only for the people the story it portrayed but for the audiences that remember September 11th. Oliver Stone directed the story and subject matter with a sensitive eye creating a brilliant story of true heroism while respecting audiences’ memory of the incident by being unobtrusive and inoffensive.

The sparse morning streets of New York City resemble your memory of driving to the airport way to early but for others, such as cabbies, bus drivers, business people, and police officers, the cold blue color of the morning is the only peaceful moment of their day. The film’s beginning wraps up everyone’s recollection of how the day started … normal.

The film is one of the great stories where a couple characters are the center of the story amongst a national disaster. The relationships are genuine, heart-touching, and identifiable just as the characters are merely your next door neighbors ... that rise to the level of heroism at the right place and right time.

Oliver Stone deserves a round of applause for his unobtrusive approach to the story, for the audience never feels that visuals of the actual incident are jammed down their throats. The story is truly told from the officers’ points of view, therefore, creating an easier story to take part with. The best way to put it is that the story is told from, ironically yet realistically, distant point of view even though the characters are literally under the incident.

As the credits roll and the curtains close, the audience can’t help but look to one another with a loving eye and smile with patriotic love and friendship.

BackPocket's 48 Hour Deadline

By Christopher Rice

BackPocket Entertainment is an organization that produces short films for exhibition in film festivals. Recently, “A La Carte”, the first short for the company, was wrapped after a year-long battle of persistence and determination. “The footage is fantastic,” I would say, “Hughes is doing a great job lighting this picture and it simply wouldn’t come together with out Katie.” But I found myself overwhelmed with exhaustion from lack of communication between key players in the production. One example that really stumped the production was when the main security contact at the location broke his cell phone and I no longer had direct contact with him. Because of these technical difficulties, I ended up wrapping the shoot early and ultimately cutting the short together as an experimental film. Hopefully it will be up on the site shortly. Lesson learned … shoot as fast as possible!

Today BackPocket is doing just that; with the 48 hour film project. The 48 hour competition is an international film challenge and travels to Los Angeles this June where it will meet with the registered film producers and begin the drawing of the elements. The elements will consist of a certain character, prop, genre, and line of dialogue that will be the make-up of every team’s entry. Members of the BackPocket team, including Actress, Katie Christiansen – who’s represented by AdAstra Management and the Dangerfield Agency, from “A La Carte”, and myself started brainstorming ideas for the competition the other night and came up with some strong leads. Although details can’t be revealed, the team has a crime drama in its sights for the competition and we're keeping our fingers crossed for an adaptable genre.

Among the creative team, Jacob Sparks, Mel Novak, and Kevin Nieman are all on board to provide their writing talent for the project and will meet around 8:00pm on June 23 to collaborate. Sparks and Nieman are currently working on “Colours”, a short animation film, for BackPocket that will start preproduction after the summer. Matt Sutphen, comedic actor/flight instructor, will star with Katie in the short and provide his ability of quick improvisation to fill the bulk of the dialogue. Rob Hashemi, associate producer, will direct the EPK and provide the secret location that will add tremendous production value. I have set a schedule for the 48 hour production so that the team is well-paced and on time. After the big brainstorm on June 23rd, the material will be written and finished by the early morning of the 24th. Later that morning, the shoot will begin and end that night. From there, I'll cut, score, and deliver the project to the producers of the competition.

I'm on a roll with this project and the one thing I suggest every producer out there does ... is set their own dead-lines. I know, I know, it's hard because you don't know how long things take but you HAVE to do it. Its something I didn't do on "A La Carte" and that shoot took a year! It may be overwhelming to look at the empty calendar and have to decide when to shoot - afterall, you need at least a week to prepare the script and pre- PICK ANY DATE and go with it. If it helps, tell everyone you know so that there's pressure to go through with your project. Close your eyes, point at the calendar, and call everyone that can help you.

BackPocket, like the team, is still growing. The organization plans to not only produce short films but also develop feature-length screenplays, host screenplay contests, and even supply industry news. BackPocket makes it a goal to strive on creative material while maintaining an artist-friendly environment where artists of all kinds can work on material together and see it come to life on the screen.

Here's what we made!

Gold Fishing

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“Alien saucers have attacked the 101,” The radio announces, “Cars are jammed together in a deadly gridlock as smoke billows in the horizon.” This is my imagination firing every morning while commuting 30 miles South to Hollywood.

My first responsibility as a runner is to pick up the trades for the big Cheese every morning before I clock in for the day. The trades are full of Hollywood news and can found at any newsstand. So what’ll it be? Make it one daily Variety and daily Hollywood Reporter, please. Oh, and one LA Times while you’re at it. When dealing with the trades for the first time, I was lost. First of all, the weekly and daily are placed next to each other and the print distinguishing one from another is point 8 sized text. Remember Tuesday’s Hollywood Reporter is around $5 instead of $3, so bring enough money. The trades are just as important as coffee … but that came later in the day.

Anyway, on with the day – with a parking ticket I might add (Tip: Pay attention to signs or else pay the city … the parking cops can bang out tickets in less than 60 seconds). Today’s schedule entails a production meeting with the entire office so we’re going to need coffee! I like to sit in on the meeting in order to catch on with what “Put a 911 on it”, “Are we going QC?”, and “The Digi-Beta’s and Da-88s are being cloned,” really means. As I’m walking through the upper level, someone hands me a list and a credit the Big Cheese’s credit card.
“Do me a favor,” this is how every run begins I might add, “Go grab some coffee.”
“No problem” I reply. I scan the list from top to bottom as my smile quickly turns to an inquisitive stare realizing that the list hasn’t stopped after eight coffees - which is the maximum amount one person can handle by using two trays.
“How am I going to pull this off?”
I grab the two other runners and we shoot off in my car. As if running around Burbank, Hollywood, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Studio City, Universal City, North Hollywood, Down town, and Santa Monica doesn’t ware on my car enough for one day, 18 coffees were about to take their toll while driving one of the most congested streets in West Hollywood … Sunset.

I punch the skinny one next to the brake and we’re off to Coffee Bean! Upon arrival, we’re presented with the first dilemma - finding a parking space. One of the runners spotted a parking place right outside the building. I freeze when I see the sign. Shortly after starting in Hollywood a few years ago, I learned very quickly that if there’s a sign there’s restrictions. I see frightful phrases like, “No Parking” “Car will be towed”, and “… Will be burned at the stake –“ Well, maybe not, but being stranded after having your car towed, more than 30 miles from home, is just as bad!
“It’s fine!” one of the runners shouts.

We rush inside with about twenty minutes until the meeting and stand in line.
“…Soy, extra hot, sugar-free, extra-foam, no-whip, double-cupped, Caramel Mocha Frappaccino.” The lady says while kissing her apple head Chihuahua.
“You mean, Cappacchino?” The café server asks, “It’s the hot one. What size ma’am?”
“A Caramel-Mocha.”
“No, what size?
“Caramel-Mocha!” she sets the dog on the counter, pulls her wallet.
“This is going to take forever.” I think to myself.
After a while of arguing, I finally step up to order and start from the top.
“One Large Drip, please.”
“What size?” he asks. He’s not listening either so I hand him the list.

As the minutes tick on, the coffees are served and we desperately try to devise a system to keep track of which coffee is which. About 7 down and we’re already confused. I glance out the window to make sure my care hasn’t been towed. I swear I’m not paranoid … just very very afraid of getting towed. If I get towed, I have no inexpensive way to get home … and home is 30 miles away … and I’m a runner! How am I going to work with out a car? This as well as car accidents are the major things on the mind of a runner. Like the pirates entering the dangerous cave whom see skeletons of deceased others that have tried to enter the cave, the runner constantly sees accident after accident on the streets reminding them of just how dangerous it is to be driving.

The drinks keep coming and soon we have several trays full of coffee.
“16, 17, 18 … 19? We only ordered 18.” the new runner states.
“Who cares?” I reply.
We carefully rush out of the coffee house and pile into the car. If this is the time to wonder how getting coffee has anything to do with making movies, this is it! But I don’t care to whine about the small things that don’t seem related to movie making because I know that all of the small things really do make a difference. Runners are paid to do errands and keep the office clean and running smoothly … nothing else. Runners aren’t paid to make movies, but if you peak your head in on the production meetings, ask if anyone needs help, and do other grunt work then you’ll be handed more responsibility. And in this town you only get as much attention as your responsibility. Anyway, I carefully make a U-Turn and shoot out onto Sunset. We’re two minutes away and the meeting starts in five.

I park in the lot; we carry our fair share of coffee, which is a double-decker tray each, and get to the door.
“Open it.”
“I can’t!” Four minutes, three runners, two trays each, and a front door on the one and only Sunset Boulevaaaaaaard! After struggling to knock, the receptionist opens the door and we rush in. The meeting has started! Setting down the coffees in the conference room, the two runners leave and I sit against the window with my notebook ready to learn something.

So to conclude this mess, I’ll just say that everyone ended up with different drinks than and somehow survived. Although they might not seem like they have anything to do with movies, it’s the little things, like coffee, that keep everything running smoothly and everyone happy.

Christopher Rice
ScriptDig.com

“Hi, I’m with the United States Marine Corps, are you Christopher Rice?” My heart pounds out of my chest and my thoughts storm behind the back of my wide eyes. “Could I be in this much trouble?”

Apparently I had actually enlisted myself, on accident of course, via electronic submission into the Marine Corps. This mistake was due to the power of the film that inspired me to make movies. If I weren’t thirteen years old at the time I certainly would have been thrown in jail for tampering with the enlisting process or thrown on to the front line of a battlefield, which, come to think of it, I have been! Welcome to Hollywood!

Hi, my name is Christopher Rice and I’m a Hollywood Runner. I currently work at a large production company located on Sunset Blvd. Here’s how I got here and how you can too…

In seventh grade, a friend of mine gave me a videocassette of an upcoming war film nominated for best picture. I was captivated and watched the film every day before and after school. The film was ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and for me … inspiration.

Inspiration can be tricky and it may falsely lead you to places you don’t want to go … like the Marine Corps. After the Marine tried to recruit me AND my cousin, I figured that I was actually into movies – not the military. So I produced a bunch of experimental scenes and shorts and fell in love with the feeling of presenting it to an audience.

After many more shorts, I talked to a friend’s roommate, who was currently directing a short film called ‘Spoonaur’. We were invited to help out on set as PA’s and see, first hand, how movies were made. I worked up to 23-hours a day as a PA, grip and still photographer at CLU were I learned the basic “grip language” and set activity. I learned about C-stands, 12 x 12 silks, duckbills, the martini-shot – the list goes on!

The summer post of graduation led me onto the set of, “The Caper”, a Bank Robbery feature film shot in High-Def. Although it was a quick shoot, Ill never forget shooting in the porn-studio (quick pointer … don’t touch anything!), setting up the camera in the back of the truck while on the way to the location (true guerilla filmmaking), and shooting at the gay bar during a busy night (There’s no locks on the bathroom doors!). Oh, and not to mention how I drove the truck down a one-way street, hit someone’s fence and fled the scene making it my first and only “Hit and run” … again, another story.

While reading the bookstore’s section on film, which everyone should do, I made a decision to learn to write in order to improve my directing. After all, the director’s job starts with the understanding of a story and script. So while my friend went on to intern on other film sets, I interned with the production companies as a script reader - where I would be issued seven to ten scripts to read every two weeks. There’s no better way to learn how to write stories than to read them. Lots of them!

Ironically, I set up my first appointment while in the middle of the Caribbean and had to schedule a meeting around my situation … casually of course. Shortly after, I landed another internship with a writer management company and before I knew it I was reading more scripts than I could handle. I interned for six months with the companies until I started slipping away to Universal studios every day for inspiration. Later, I moved on to an internship that exposed me to production submissions, script contest judging, and even story consulting. This allowed me to build a fair resume for my age and learn what kind of mistakes writers tend to make for themselves.

Still pursuing directing, I had been producing experimental shorts and eventually wrote a script and went into production with it as my first BIG short film. But that’s another story. I was fired from my day job, so I decided that its time to buckle down and created a revised resume with the help of my girlfriend and her mom. I submitted it via E-mail, via fax, and even made cold-calls to everyone in the Hollywood Creative Directory.

I chased a lead from an executive at a production company, received rejections from others and even worse and most common, I heard nothing at all. This is what actors feel after every audition! I received three rejection E-mails from the 300 resumes I sent out – which simply proves that you only receive about one response per one hundred submissions. One day while waiting for an interviewer to meet me at a coffee house off of Sunset – who ended up never showing, I received a call from a production/distribution company in need of a runner. I met with them the next day, landed the gig, and here I am today fighting my way up the food chain. I MADE IT! Looking back, though, the only reason I got the job was because I kept submitted my resume, they approved of my experience, and they happened to be in need of a runner. This is how I learned about being in the right place at the right time. You may have heard this ten times, but until you actually understand what it means, you won’t be able to take advantage of it.

Use job boards on the net and send out resumes via E-mail (probably your best bet these days), via fax – which will open your chances for employment when they open the resume filing and check for possible new-hires, and produce material for your long-term goal such as screenplays or short films. By doing all of this, you heighten your chance of being at the right place at the right time. I like to think of it as a hallway … the more doors you create for yourself, the better the chance of one opening becomes.

I can’t stress the level of patience and persistence you must exercise in order to land a job in Hollywood, but at the same time, I can’t stress the feeling of actually working in Hollywood showbiz! It’s quite bizarre to walk through the reception area of the production company every day as eager actors wait to audition for the latest role, drive by the biggest studios in the world, and even get coffee for everyone. Why? Because it reminds me that even if you’re at the bottom of this business, you’re still in the business! Right place, right time, plus a little luck and you’ll be driving under the same palm trees as the pros! So to start you off on the right foot I’ll just say one more thing. Good luck!

Christopher Rice
ScriptDig.com