Sunday, February 11, 2018

#Scriptchat Transcript: Dwain A Worrell @DwainAWorrell - THE WALL @TheWallMovie via Amazon Studios

Great chat with Dwain A Worrell @DwainAWorrell, screenwriter of THE WALL @TheWallMovie via Amazon Studios. Dwain shared advice on breaking in without an agent, The Black List, taking notes, outlining and more! Enjoy! @jeannevb

Read the transcript below. You can also read it here.

#Scriptchat Transcript: Dwain A Worrell @DwainAWorrell - THE WALL @TheWallMovie via Amazon Studios

#Scriptchat Transcript: Dwain A Worrell @DwainAWorrell - THE WALL @TheWallMovie via Amazon Studios

Great chat with Dwain A Worrell @DwainAWorrell, screenwriter of THE WALL @TheWallMovie via Amazon Studios. Dwain shared advice on breaking in without an agent, The Black List, taking notes, outlining and more! Enjoy! @jeannevb

  1. Good afternoon all, new friends as well as familiar faces! #scriptchat
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    Tired of wrestling with software when you should be #writing? Trade frustration for fun with SoCreate's new #screenwriting platform. Join the Private Beta list to be part of the first platform trials. Space is limited, so SIGN UP TODAY!  https://socr.it/2Efz9ce  #scriptchat pic.twitter.com/uXxsl8hDDD
  3. @Jeanne, excited to be here, it's my first time to have a live chat, cherry popped! #scriptchat
  4. @jeanneevb I also have to admit a lack of Twitter and tech knowledge in general #scriptchat
  5. @DwainAWorrell before we get into getting THE WALL done with Amazon Studios, let's chat about getting on The Black List etc #scriptchat
  6. @DwainAWorrell we'll shoot you question & if you chat from this website, it'll autoadd the #scriptchat hashtag so we can see tweets  http://www.tchat.io/rooms/scriptchat 
  7. The BlackList was exciting, we had a dinner, as well as a networking session with other blacklist writers #scriptchat
  8. @DwainAWorrell How many scripts had you written before you hit BlackList success? #scriptchat
  9. Great thing about being on the blacklist is that agents and managers use it to get meetings, this person is a "blacklist writer" #scriptchat
  10. @DwainAWorrell What was the source material for The Wall? A news article? Personal experience? #scriptchat
  11. the blacklist is voting on by producers and studio execs #scriptchat
  12. So as a writer there is little you can do to be on the blacklist besides write a good script #scriptchat
  13. @john, first thank you. second the script was sort of me thinking about a producable script as well as my love for single locals #scriptchat
  14. @Jeanne, I was repped a few months before getting on the list, I was repped when Amazon bought the script #scriptchat
  15. Interesting thing was Agents & Managers only wanted a piece of me after I was getting paid by Amazon, so they got their cut. #scriptchat
  16. @norma, I've always love thrillers and snipers, its always been swimming around in the back of my head somewhere #scriptchat
  17. @DwainAWorrell @john How do you keep the movie interesting with just a single location? #scriptchat
  18. @DwainAWorrell So you got in the door w/Amazon without help of reps? Can you speak about the hustle of getting your work read? #scriptchat
  19. @norma_perlroth, great question, I wrote it summer of 2014, it was made summer 2016, released summer 2017, #scriptchat
  20. @Colin_Lieberg, I'd say character is #1 for keeping it interesting, keep revealing things about your characters. #scriptchat
  21. I had 3 characters to play with, plenty to keep things interesting. #scriptchat
  22. @jeannevb, ah, the hustle, I played that hustle for 10 years, using inktip, submitting directly to agencies, contests. #scriptchat
  23. Major players won't read without some sort of established relationship AND, the script should also be good #scriptchat
  24. @DwainAWorrell @jeannevb Dwain, do you consider THE WALL to be a war movie, or a thriller that happens to involve soldiers? #scriptchat
  25. #scriptchat @DwainAWorrell How did you submit to agencies if they don't read unsolicted material? 🤔
  26. It seemed like companies were more receptive for scripts in the past. #scriptchat
  27. Now, the writers are expected to jump through hoops just to get to the point that can be allowed to write. #scriptchat
  28. Yes, Norma but from what I've seen around town 2 years isn't bad at all. I know a writer on Black Panther did a 2015 draft #scriptchat
  29. @Al_1701 @norma_perlroth, my agents came to me after I got the Amazon deal, I did submit unsolicited by they ignored all #scriptchat
  30. @Al_1701 it's a catch 22, they're not interested unless your generating business (usually) so get the deal first, then get agent #scriptchat
  31. @DwainAWorrell were you purposely thinking about budget when you wrote THE WALL (ie locations, limited actors, etc.) #scriptchat
  32. @DwainAWorrell Do you live in LA to help with the hustle/networking or somewhere else? #scriptchat
  33. @jeannevb, yes thinking about budget and marketability is important for specs #scriptchat
  34. @wcmartell we're chatting with @DwainAWorrell - former Black Lister & his movie THE WALL was made via Amazon Studios #scriptchat
  35. if you want your spec to be just a sample then it doesn't matter but if you want it made then that's something to consider #scriptchat
  36. @wcmartell I was in China before I got my Amazon deal and agents, but I am here now, though my personality isn't suited to netwo #scriptchat
  37. @norma, sorry, missing questions here and there. Research was interesting. #scriptchat
  38. Beyond the normal reading and wiki-ing, I watched U.S. military documentaries on youtube #scriptchat
  39. While I wrote I had it playing in the back ground to help me find the voice of these characters #scriptchat
  40. #comedy #Hollywood #kevinsmitth #Clerks #acting #movies #scriptchat #writing Enjoy funny shit? Like Hollywood and all the crazy? Check out KEVIN SMITH Spectacular Batman Comics Celebrity Star Wars Clerks Dogma And more  https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/263488497436  @eBay
  41. a soldier would say something and it would end up in my scipt seconds later. #scriptchat
  42. #scriptchat @DwainAWorrell cool.Did the studio give you notes? Were you like ??@#$😂
  43. They wanted to change the major twist of the script and it wasn't until @DougLiman came on that he saved the integrity of it #scriptchat
  44. @FlutterFerret No military background and therefore the research process had to be intense. #scriptchat
  45. Also during the preproduction process, an expert was brought on to assist with accuracy. #scriptchat
  46. @jeannevb, I believe I shouldn't give any because I don't work well with producers and their notes, but... #scriptchat
  47. Communication, don't just say, "uh huh", "yes", "sure", the writer and producers need to be on the same page #scriptchat
  48. Try to find out what their reasoning behind the note is, because many notes strip the script of what makes the wrtier excited... #scriptchat
  49. producers want what's best for the script so they're not 'really' the enemy #scriptchat
  50. @dwain How do you keep communicating with the producers without being confrontational? #scriptchat
  51. so in the very, very, beginning make sure you and the producer have similar visions for the story #scriptchat
  52. Now I try not to be and I definitely back down a lot, but there are certain things worth fighting for. #scriptchat
  53. well... @norma_perlroth, I'm working a television series that I can't talk too much about until we get the green light. #scriptchat
  54. #scriptchat @DwainAWorrell Nice. what screenwriting training and or books have you studied? Anyone you suggest?
  55. @norma_perlroth, well I've read theater books, not screenwriting, though I have read through some of save the cat. #scriptchat
  56. I have friends who swear by screenwriting books and structure, but it's not really for me. #scriptchat
  57. @jeannevb @DwainAWorrell @norma_perlroth I've written shorts but that was very much in college where I majored in theatre #scriptchat
  58. @jeannevb, wow! insightful, I am definitely not an outliner but I'm curious as to how you deciphered that??? #scriptchat
  59. @yesitsdejavu @DwainAWorrell I know that painful process of speaking and no one replying, trust is you'll never really know #scriptchat
  60. @DwainAWorrell I used to be a therapist. haha Kidding. You said structure books weren't for you Reminds me of my writing partner #scriptchat
  61. But truth be told Stephanie, you're doing a lot better than me with 5 scripts out. #scriptchat
  62. @DwainAWorrell my writing partner is @UnkScreenwriter. He's intuitive writer. I'm outliner. He tolerates my insane process haha #scriptchat
  63. @jeannevb @DwainAWorrell interesting, he/she, is probably a lot like me then, I understand the need for structure but... #scriptchat
  64. I don't think about it while I write, I just try to tell an interesting story and it sort of molds itself into structure #scriptchat
  65. NOT recommending this method, we all have what works for us. #scriptchat
  66. F5: SECRETS OF ACTION SCREENWRITING - under $10! How do you write a fight scene? "The best book on the practical nuts-and-bolts mechanics of writing a screenplay I've ever read," Ted Elliott. "Shrek", "Pirates Of The Caribbean"  https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Action-Screenwriting-fully-revised-ebook/dp/B006KTHKSA/secretsofactions  #scriptchat #amwriting #film
  67. Nobody cares how you wrote the script, they only care that it works. #scriptchat
  68. @DwainAWorrell yup. Whatever process works is what's important. Not to get stuck on "you have to do this..." etc. Just write it #scriptchat
  69. @DwainAWorrell any advice you wish you knew before you started a writing career? #scriptchat
  70. and sometimes my non-outlining runs me into some problems in the second act, so... I've started to accept some outlining #scriptchat
  71. @DwainAWorrell thanks SO much for a great chat! Really appreciate you taking the time out to talk with us! #scriptchat
  72. I appreciate you guy taking the time out to listen! Feel free to shoot any questions on by @DwainAWorrell #scriptchat
  73. Going to grab the transcript. Thanks, all. Have a fabulous week... Ping me with topic/guest ideas!  http://scriptchat.blogspot.com/p/chat-topic-schedule.html  #scriptchat
  74. @BakerJohnjoyce we post transcripts on  http://scriptchat.com  - it'll take me about 10 min to grab it, and I'll tweet it out too #scriptchat

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