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You finished your screenplay. Now what? You probably want to sell it! Working screenwriter Donald H. Hewitt recently sat down to let us mine his knowledge on the topic.
Donald has 17 years of industry experience and has earned writer credits on Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated films. Now, he also helps other screenwriters with their own careers, teaching students how to construct a solid structure, compelling logline, and dynamic characters for their screenplays.
Donald is best known for his work in Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
“How do you sell your screenplay? Well, you need some good luck, which is probably the most important thing.
You need to make sure your screenplay is the very, very best you can make it. I think that’s something that doesn’t get emphasized enough. If you’ve gotten feedback, and there’s things that could be a little better, and you know that, you need to fix them.
If you have any connections, try and use them. Try and ask friends to read your screenplay. But again, you’ve got to make sure that your screenplay is ready. That it’s good enough.
If you can get notoriety in a contest, that’s really where the ball can start rolling and you can start getting people interested in you. I just started a new class on Wednesday, and there were three or four people who had a screenplay that did well in contests. They got it optioned. One or two of them actually had it made. But they were still in my class learning, trying to get better.
And that’s the thing. You need to always be learning, trying to get better.”
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