This is a transcript of SYS 519 – Building Relationships With Movie Distributors With Chad Ferrin .
Welcome to Episode 519 of the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I’m Ashley Scott Meyers, screenwriter and blogger with www.sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today I am interviewing Chad Ferrin, who just did a feature horror film called Scalper, which is actually a sequel to a feature he did a couple of years ago called Night Caller. We talked through this film, how he happened to do a sequel for night caller, and then how he ultimately got this film funded and produced. He’s very candid, has a lot of first-hand knowledge about independent film and really shares a lot of that with us, so stay tuned for that interview. SYS is a six-figure screenplay contest is open for submissions, just go to www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/contest. If your script is ready, definitely submit now to save money. Our preliminary deadline is February 29th. We’re looking for low budget shorts and features, I’m defining low budget as less than six figures. In other words, less than 1 million US dollars. We’ve got lots of industry judges reading the scripts in the later rounds, we’re giving away 1000s in cash and prizes. We have a short film category as well 30 pages or less. So, if you have a low budget short script, by all means, please submit that script. We’ve got a number of industry judge producers who are specifically looking for short scripts. Once again, if you want to submit to the contest or learn more about it, just go to www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/contest. And also, again this year we are running an in person Film Festival in tandem with our screenplay contest, it is for low budget films produced for less than 1 million US dollars. We have features and shorts category in that as well. The festival is going to play take place here in Los Angeles, California from October 4th to October 6th. If you produced a short film or know someone who has by all means please do submit it shorts are easy to program at a festival like this. So, I can run two or three or do a whole section of features. So always so shorts, as I said, they’re just really easy to program. They’re fun, you bring in a lot of people, you really can have a good time. So, we’re definitely planning on accepting lots of shorts for this festival, like we did this past year. Again, features are definitely welcome. And we will be screening some features as well, but just for the low budget ethos of this festival, we really do try and showcase a lot of low budget shorts. If you have a finished film and would like to submit to the festival, you can go to www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/festival, you’ll be directed to the FilmFreeWay page, which is where we are taking all our submissions for the film festival. If you do find this episode valuable, please help me out by giving me a review in iTunes or leaving a comment on YouTube or retweeting the podcast on Twitter or liking or sharing it on Facebook. These social media shares really do help spread word about the podcast, so they’re very much appreciated. Any websites or links that I mentioned the podcasts can be found on my blog in the show notes. I also publish a transcript with every episode in case you’d rather read the show or look at something later on. Can find all the podcast show notes at www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/podcast and then just look for episode 519.
Just a quick few words about what I’ve been working on over the last few weeks. So mostly what I’m spending my time on, I’ve been talking about this and it’s not really screen play, or screenwriting specific. But I’ve been moving selling your screenplay in a number of other sites that I run to a new server. It’s I basically got sellingyourscreenplay working on the new server, but there’s still a lot of little things that aren’t working quite right. So, I’ll be fighting with those over the next couple of weeks. And we’ll hopefully have it wrapped up here shortly. If you do see any errors on the sellingyourscreenplay.com page, please do let me know I’m sure that there are some errors somewhere. Hopefully you won’t see them but I’m sure I have not covered or fixed every single little issue. Hopefully I can get back into screenwriting producing very soon. But right now, as I said, I’m just overwhelmed with some of these technical issues. did hear from our distributor on the rideshare killer yesterday, she sent me an email sounds like they’re putting together a deal for the film which is always exciting to hear. But they needed some audio tracks, some M&E audio tracks just music and effects audio tracks, those get pulled out when you produce a film and you create what’s called an M&E track. And in this case, it sounds like they want separate tracks for the music. The M stands for music, the E stands for effect, so it’s a music and effects tracks. And the reason they need that, they need the opposite the music and the effects and then they for foreign language sales. They’re going to go in and dub and so they don’t want the dialogue because they’re going to dub that but they still need the sound effects. So it’s very typical to need this M&E track these M&E tracks when you start selling your film to foreign distributors, but you know as with everything, it’s not as easy to find these things and track these down and so I had to go through all of our old gr drives and find them and then I’ve got to zip them and then upload them it’s about four gigs worth of audio files, and then upload those that she can download them and then use them for whatever she needs in this deal. Sales are definitely slow slowing down with RFK. So, USA like this is definitely nice, kind of keep us motivated. And hopefully maybe we can do another marketing push here sometime soon and get sales going again. Anyway, those are the things that I have been working on over the last couple of weeks. Now let’s get into the main segment. Today, I am interviewing screenwriter and director Chad Ferrin, here is the interview.
Ashley
Welcome, Chad to the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Chad Ferrin
Hey, thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here.
Ashley
So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background? Where do you grew up, and how did you get interested in the entertainment business?
Chad Ferrin
I grew up in Minnesota, actually on small farm about 30 miles south of Minneapolis. And, you know, I got just a love for cinema my entire life. You know, I just remember you know, at an early age, my father bringing home a Betamax with taxi driver and Saturn five and I was hooked.
Ashley
And so, what were some of your steps to turning this into an actual career? You’re living far from Hollywood, how did you start to make that transition? How did you just start to think I mean, and I think there’s a lot of people listening to this, and we’re probably in the same boat. I myself grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, you know, it was a cityish, but there were not a lot of filmmakers there either. So, you know, I had to sort of strike out and find those people. How did you sort of take those first steps to having a career in the entertainment business?
Chad Ferrin
Oh, well, you know, the earliest, I was going to a career, community college and I took a theater class and just, you know, one of the projects was to write and direct and act in something. So, I kind of did that and had such a joy doing it. And I’m like, you know, what, this is what I want to do for a career. And I remember telling my mother, you know, I think I’m going to move out to California and you know, give it a shot. And she said, well, why don’t I call up… There’s a woman who is your babysitter. You know, long ago, you know, Laurie Leahy is her name. And she’s now married to a producer, Mike Leahy. So let me try and get their number and see if they can get you a job or something. So, she called them up and they said, hey, well come on out, we’re doing the prophecy, he can be a production assistant. So I loaded my car and drove out and started working for them as a production assistant and worked there for a few years on numerous films and you know, kind of learn the ins and outs of filmmaking, you know, kind of doing everything from a production assistant to a camera assistant to, you know, a gaffer, I mean, you know, learning how everything and every job and kind of really knowing how it’s made, and then selling my house in 98 in Minnesota, and took that money and made my first film called Unspeakable. And you know, I’ve been doing it ever since.
Ashley
So yeah, so let’s talk about that. I noticed on IMDb, you’ve pretty much written, directed and produced pretty much all your films, correct?
Chad Ferrin
Yes.
Ashley
So like, the first short that you did bloodbath was this, during the time that you were doing the PA stuff, and you sort of did that on the weekends, you were able to marshal resources from that?
Chad Ferrin
Right, I was working as a production assistant, and I was in a car accident, and I took the money from that car accident made bloodbath, and, you know, kind of, you know, kind of knowing that, you know, every penny counts. So, it was really trying to that was the first little film to realize, you know, you’re hiring a crew, you’re casting it, you’re doing all this stuff on your own while working a day job. So, it was kind of shot it on the weekend, and, you know, edited at the production company, and you know, they were gracious enough to let me use their editing equipment at that time. An avid was, you know, a big deal it cost $100,000 to own one. And they, you know, they had rented one and I was using it, they were cutting another film. So, on the weekend, they allowed me to edit bloodbath, and, you know, it was just one of those things of you know, back then it was really It helped of who you knew, and who had equipment and who had these things, to make these things and get them done. But times have really changed because anyone can make a movie on their cell phone and cut it at home on the computer. And yeah, it’s a good time actually to make films.
Ashley
So how did you just have the confidence to say okay, now I’m going to be a writer, director, producer, just for in yourself and then convincing these other people, the crew and the cast to come on board, you don’t have a lot of experience, you’re young and hungry and energetic, but how do you have the competence to do that and just any valuable insight that maybe you can give us for people that maybe want to do that first shorter feature?
Chad Ferrin
Well, I think you know, if you have a love for it, and you’re going to do it no matter what and money and you know crew and all those things shouldn’t be a limitation. If you have to shoot it yourself. Shoot yourself. If you have to write it yourself, write it yourself. For me, it was I didn’t have the money to buy a screenplay or I didn’t have the money to do you know these certain things. So, it’s kind of just forcing yourself to do those things and you know, writing was something that, you know, is, I kind of, it’s hard to describe of, you know, I don’t necessarily say I have a talent for any of these things, but I have a drive to get a film made. So, I forced myself to whether it’s, you know, read more, watch more films, do whatever it is to help you get become a better writer or a better filmmaker, whatever it is, and just kind of hone those skills. And the best way to own them is to make the film and I don’t go out at any time thinking I’m making the greatest film ever made, because that kind of already sets you up for failure. If you go out and say, I’m going to make the best film I can for $20,000, or the best film I can afford $100,000 And you amass the, you know, the most talented people, you can that have the same drive and the same ambition as you do. And you know, you do the best you can. And that’s really, for me, what it lays down to have just take those limitations you have and try to turn them into an advantage whether it’s, you know, a nine day shooting schedule, or, you know, a script that you have to crank out in two weeks, or whatever it is, and being able to, if you trust your actor, if the actor comes down there and says the line better than it was written or comes up with some ideas that are better than you have them, take them and, you know, take credit for it, because, you know, eventually all lays down on the director, the producer on, you know, the failure or the success of a project. So, you know, I kind of take the talented people that I amass around me and use, you know, to an advantage because, you know, usually, you know, when you’re making these on a nickel, and in a fast amount of time, everyone’s kind of got to have their, their game up. So, I find it exciting and thrilling to be making these on a low budget and in a short period of time, and you just get better and better and better and better.
Ashley
So, as you’re working at this production company, like one of the things that surprises me, you sort of told us a little bit about your childhood and things. And there, you didn’t mention horror as something that you were just super in love with? Was that sort of a love, because you mentioned Taxi Driver as a film, but were you and you’ve done a lot of horror. So were you sort of really in love with heart? Or was that more of just a function of you going to be working as a PA at a production company that was doing hard? And you sort of learn the ins and outs that way?
Chad Ferrin
No, well, it’s just a love of his, you know, cinema in general. And just, you know, you know, I love westerns, I love film noir, I love you know, comedy, that there’s a thing for horror, it was the easiest, and the most artistic and a sense you can have comedy in it, you can have horror, film noir, you can have all these kinds of different elements within the horror genre. And to me, that’s the most expressive and the most fun, I mean, you can, you know, write a love scene in one, you know, second and then have a you know, her head ripped off and the next so this is there’s different elements that you can throw in from all genres of cinema within the horror fantasy, you know, world and I find that the most thrilling and for me, you know, it’s it goes back to being enthralled with the Twilight Zone, or Alfred Hitchcock Presents, or one step beyond or outer limits. So, things that as a kid really shaped me as you know, a filmmaker of things that, you know, go bump in the night, is just more fun for me, I enjoy it, but I you know, would love to tackle any genre if the opportunity arises.
Ashley
Gotcha, gotcha. So, let’s dig into your latest film the feature film called Scalper maybe you can give us a quick logline or pitch for that film. What does that film all about?
Chad Ferrin
Sure, it’s about a psychic who is terrorized by a serial killer. And in the first film, Night Caller, she got a she was a phone psychic, and she got a call from a serial killer, and she predicted his murders before he committed them. So, it was kind of it’s a sequel to that film, but you don’t necessarily have to see the first film it kind of stands on its own. And that was my whole thing of doing a sequel to begin with. If you can make a sequel that’s not necessarily a sequel, it’s able to stand on its own is the best way to do it.
Ashley
And where did this idea come from? What was sort of the genesis of this story idea?
Chad Ferrin
Oh. Susan Craver, who was the star of Nightcrawler. Basically, she, you know, was such a joy to work with that it was one of those things of you know, she said, Hey, I really love this character, would you want to do a sequel at any point, and you know, the ball started spinning in my head and the script came easily, you know, I usually write these things in a couple of weeks and shoot them in 9 to 10 days and edit it in a couple of weeks, and then you know, get it out there.
Ashley
So, let’s walk through your writing process a little bit. I’m just always curious to hear how people do it sounds like you’re very quick writer. But just where do you typically write? When do you typically write? Do you have a home office? You go to Starbucks or you in the morning? Are you late at night? Just what is your sort of writing process look like?
Chad Ferrin
I usually you know, on a script like this, if I have a hook that you know, for this one, it was who I knew the killer was that once that clicked, I would start you know, in the morning usually around 10am right for about five hours. You know, take a break. And then usually, if whatever inspires me, usually if I fall asleep, I’ll hit a dream, scene will click out in the morning, you know, you write it down, I’ll jot notes come back to it. It’s all about, you know, just getting it done as fast as possible for me, because there’s a certain amount of excitement and energy. Same thing with editing, same thing with everything that I have for a project. And I try to capture that, while the excitement and the you know, the inspiration is there. Because, you know, I’ve gotten so many ideas about other films that I like to get this one done, and then move on to the next one. Like, I know, we just finished posting on another one another Lovecraft film. And I’ve got another true crime serial killer film that I have to start writing to start shooting that March. So, it’s all about keeping that excitement and that flow for each particular project before it kind of burns out on it, you know. So, many things, you just you can edit a film over and over, or you can write a script over and over and over and over and doesn’t necessarily get better. The only person that needs to get better for is the Creator. And you know, when it comes to a script, if I feel confident with it, and I feel happy with it, then you know, it’s moving on, because it’s going to become a different animal when you get on the set. And an actor is saying those lines, sometimes the lines sound like crap, sometimes they sound better, sometimes if they improvise something, it works even better for that, or you come up with something on the set, you know, it’s just one of those things where it’s always a living, breathing creation until you know, it’s out, you know, on streaming, you know, or in the theaters or on, you know, VHS or whatever it might be. For me, I try to keep that energy as fast as possible, because I know I’m going to burn out on it.
Ashley
So, I’m curious, and this sort of leads me to my next question. So, you’re going to write a full screenplay, feature film screenplay, starting tomorrow, I guess, and then you’re going to shoot it in March. So how much do you have, and is this typical, how much do you have already prepared? Clearly, you have a strong idea in your head. But have you already done like an outline, do you have index cards, what do you have going into this process?
Chad Ferrin
No, I don’t do really any preparation for any of it, I kind of have to go by my gut. And the next one is based again, on a true story. So, I pull up as much information on this the true character, it’s based on, ingest as much of that as I can. And then the first scene clicks, and I figure that out, visually, the writing kind of writes itself. Or if it’s something that’s not based on a true person, and it’s just kind of in my head, it’s once whether it’s the opening scene, whether it’s the ending, whether it’s whatever character, once I get that click for a certain scene that works for me, artistically, it kind of inspires me, and especially if the money is there, that I know how much we have to make the thing for, then it’s even easier to get it done. Because for me, you know, time is money. So, if I’m just sitting around, not working and getting it done in a certain time, it’s even got less value. So, I tried to, you know, that’s when the two weeks comes up. Because it’s like, if you’re making a $50,000 film, and you know, the script took you three years to write then it’s, yeah…
Ashley
You’re right. It doesn’t justify the time. How do you approach the sort of genre requirements, screenplay structure, that sort of stuff? Are you a Syd Field, you know, act breaks midpoints save the cat with all the inciting incident sort of stuff? How do you approach screenplay structure?
Chad Ferrin
No, I just, you know, again, I kind of go with my gut, and again, watching, you know, multitude of films, and, you know, love doing that. And then whether it’s, you know, a reading a screenplay. I mean, you read, you know, Real Bravo is one of the greatest screenplays ever written. I mean, you read that, and you know, you, whether you’re following that structure, or any of the scripts by Richard Matheson, or it was another amazing writer, and a great script writer. It’s just kind of following what works for me, I don’t really necessarily follow the guidelines of it, or whatever act, it’s just kind of instinctually write what comes in what feels good, and, you know, really all by instinct.
Ashley
So, you’re going so quickly, what is your development process look like? Like, in the case of scalper, it sounds like you would work with this actress before? Did you send it out to her, get some notes, do some rewriting or you’re pretty much two weeks you got a draft and you’re ready to go into pre-production?
Chad Ferrin
No, I always send it out to you know, whether it be the actors I regularly work with, or the producers I work with and just you know, get their notes on it, get their thoughts on it, then take another pass on it and then, you know, send it back to them and that they they’re like – Hey, this is pretty good. Let’s give it a try. Then I’m usually confident enough to say okay, let’s pull the trigger and do it.
Ashley
Okay. So, once you have version of Scalper that you liked you had the script ready to go, what were those next steps? You’re also a producer on the project. So, what is raising money for something like this look like?
Chad Ferrin
Yeah, it’s usually you know, once the script is kind of in a happy place, you send it out to possible investors and the you know, sometimes they come in with 20 grand, 10 grand here, there and you find like five people that are willing to do that. And then you basically have, you know, your budget, you shoot it nine days. And like I said, I usually edit very fast. So, a rough cut is done within a week, send that out to the other people same way as the script, and you get kind of notes on the edit, then you polish it up a little bit. And then after two weeks, pictures locked, send it to the sound mixer and the colorist, and you start, you know, getting the other elements of post done.
Ashley
Do you have any tips for finding these investors? I mean, you’ve been doing so many movies for so many years, I’m sure there’s a lot of repeat business and just people that know you and that sort of stuff. But for someone starting out, how do you recommend someone who they have a screenplay that they want to do low budget, how do you recommend they find some of these types of investors.
Chad Ferrin
You know, that’s really the hardest part of this whole thing is finding people that you know, have, you know, 20 grand here, or 100 grand, or whatever it might be, and getting them excited by it. And sometimes, it’s just like, if they aspire to be an actor, or they aspire to be a producer, that helps. And then they’re like, if they have money, they can put it in, or if they know someone else that has money, it’s kind of like a, you know, a chain letter is someone that down the line, if you if you find an actor, you’re like, hey, this is great for you. But we need another 20 grand to make it and they’re like – Hey, I’ve got a friend who’s a dentist in Oxnard, and he’s got an extra 50 grand, and he’s always wanting to be a producer. Bingo. So it’s kind of just putting the feelers out there to as many people, as you know, and the wider your circle grows by different actors you’ve worked with, or different, you know, producers, and you say; hey, look, we just need another 10 for this or another five, well, I know this guy that he’s always wanted to be a producer, and he’s got, you know, a little bit of money just sold some land, you know, you never know who out there might be interested. So, it’s kind of just going with an open mind and an open, you know, thing to it. If you find someone in, you know, a dentist, who’s like; Hey, I’ve got 50 grand, but I want my daughter to have a role. Okay? So, you know, I’m totally open to that. And you know, able to say, you know, I’m not… my style of filmmaking, and of getting these done isn’t a rigid, it’s an open, flowing thing. So, if this dentist says – Hey, I actually want to be the star of the movie, then, you know, you say, well, hey, let’s screen test you, let’s see how you are. And if it works, and if he’s great, then great, then you’ve got, you know, the budget is solved. But if he stinks, then you try to talk him into say – Hey, would you do this smaller roll instead and kind of massage it into a way that’s beneficial to everybody?
Ashley
When you’re gearing up for a project, do you do like a pitch deck? And you know, that sort of stuff? And then what do you promise these investors? I mean, it sounds like part of your angle is not necessarily promising them ROI, as much as promising them, hey, you’ll get some other value out of this, whether it’s a role for your daughter, or a producing credit, or that sort of stuff. Maybe you can speak to that a little bit. What does your pitch actually look like to the investors?
Chad Ferrin
Yeah, no, I don’t do any of the pitch deck or any of that stuff. I mean, you know, those are, you know, cutting a trailer, doing the synopsis, all those I find are the hardest part of the filmmaking, the selling it in the doing, you know, these things are tough, I just tell them look, you know, we make these movies, you know, fast and cheap, and they get distributed, and they get a little theatrical run, and they get this and you get this, if you’re putting in, say, $50,000, on $100,000 budget, you get x percent of the film ownership throughout the world, whether it’s 20%, or whatever it is, and you get that percentage back from every dollar that comes in, I don’t do the return of investment stuff. Because you know, normally I’m working on these for points, I don’t usually get paid, I don’t usually get anything, it’s just I own 50% of the film, or 20% of the film, film or whatever it might be budget wise. And then every when the film sells, every dime that comes in is split up to all the people that put money in or whatever it might be.
Ashley
Gotcha. Can you give us any advice, as an independent filmmaker myself, I’m always just looking for solid advice on finding reputable distributors. How do you find you know, a good distributor that’s actually going to send you back some money?
Chad Ferrin
Yeah, I mean, that’s probably you know, one of the harder parts is finding someone that will not only give you usually some money up front and minimum guarantee, and then you know, a nice split on the back end and then you know, if they’re getting it out there and you know, check their other products, either other films and talk to their to other filmmakers that have worked with them. And if they give, you know, a high recommendation, then you go with them, and it’s really how much do they love the film. You know, if they’re saying, Hey, we’re going to give you this much up front, we’re going do this, this and this and then nothing else, then you kind of got to be wary, like with breaking glass who I’ve worked with a few times have been fantastic. I mean, they give, you know, a great deal there, where they they’re open. And you know, if I demand physical media with the project or if a theatrical run, they’re willing to negotiate and give that and that’s, you know, a beneficial thing to me as a filmmaker is wanting to get the film out as many venues as possible, whether it’s streaming on whatever, but as well as physical media theatrical, and all the things that I love as a film goer is to see you know, a film on the big screen or to go to my local library and rent it for off the shelf. You know, it’s one of those things where I’d like my film to have that opportunity as well. So, I kind of worked that into the contracts.
Ashley
Gotcha. So, for Scalper, who is the distributor on that?
Chad Ferrin
Breaking glass pictures.
Ashley
Okay, so you’ve worked with him now numerous times, so you have a good relationship with them?
Chad Ferrin
Yeah, I have a great relationship with them. And it’s one of those things of, you know, I let them take a look at even you know, they just looked at the rough cut of my latest film. And you know, it’s seeing, you know, what can work out and then I go to Lionsgate and the other people I know, personally, and I’ve submitted films to before in the past, and you’d see what they’re, if they’re interested in if they have a better offer, or if they haven’t, whatever, and then you kind of see who’s willing to do the best deal. You know, whether I worked with someone before or not, each film, to me is a different thing. So, I don’t necessarily, you know, guarantee it to them, I’ll do the same. What I do with every film is play the festivals, see what kind of reception it gets, if you get into a major festival, that’ll amp up the value of it, and then you’re able to use that as kind of a bartering tool, hey, it played Sundance, so you know that, you know, you’re going to get more money up front, or you’re going to get a better kind of deal because it’s got some oomph behind it.
Ashley
But pretty much all your films, you raise the money yourself, and then you finish the film. And then you take a distributor, even like, now, you wouldn’t pitch a script to breaking glass, and they wouldn’t come in and give you some of the funding, you would you would fund it yourself.
Chad Ferrin
They possibly could. I mean, that’s one of the things that, you know, like, on the next film I’m doing, we’ve got, you know, 50,000 in place, and we need another 50. So, I would go to them and say – Hey, here’s what it is. It’s a true crime film, similar to pink killer, which they also released, which was true crime, and is doing well, so they would say, well, it’s doing this much this much we could offer you, you know, this much. So, they would kind of pre buy it in a sense, they would say, you know, we’d give you 50,000 right now, and that would be against how much we would give you up front when you finish it and release it and kind of thing.
Ashley
Gotcha. How can people see Scalper what is the release schedule going to be like for that film?
Chad Ferrin
I believe it comes out on the 16th. And it’s streaming everywhere. And then they’re doing a little theatrical run, I think on the 19th for about a week and different theaters across the country.
Ashley
Okay. Perfect. And is there anything you’ve seen recently? I always like to end the interviews just by asking the guests? Is there anything you’ve been watching HBO, Netflix, that you can recommend to our mostly screenwriting audience?
Chad Ferrin
Well, I recommend Toby Hooper’s Salem’s Lot because the great David Soul passed away and he was a true icon, so go rewatch Salem’s Lot. The 1979 film it’s an amazing, not only an amazing film, but it’s kind of a tribute to watch it again with to David soul who just passed away.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah, that’s a great recommendation has been a number of years since I’ve seen that. But I do that is a great film. What’s the best way for people to keep up with what you’re doing Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, I’ll get those for the show notes. But if you’re on any of those we can.
Chad Ferrin
Yeah, I’m on you know, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, just type in my name and you’ll find me.
Ashley
Okay, perfect. Perfect. Yeah, as I said, I’ll link to all those in the show notes. People can click over to those. Chad, I really appreciate you coming on the show today and talking about your films. Good luck with this film and good luck with your feature films as well.
Chad Ferrin
Hey, thanks for having me. And we’ll see you again.
Ashley
Thank you. We’ll talk to you later. Bye.
A quick plug for the SYS screenwriting analysis service. It’s a really economical way to get a high-quality professional evaluation on your screenplay. When you buy our three pack, you get evaluations at just $67 per script for feature films, and just $55 for teleplays. All the readers have professional experience reading for studios, production companies, contests and agencies. You can read a short bio on each reader on our website, and you can pick the reader who you think is the best fit for your script. Turnaround time is usually just a few days but rarely more than a week. The readers will evaluate your script on six key factors Concept, Character, Structure, Marketability, Tone, and Overall Craft which includes formatting, spelling and grammar. Every script will get a grade, a pass, consider or recommend, which should help you roughly understand where your script might rank if you were to submit it to a production company or agency. We can provide an analysis on features or television scripts, we also do proofreading without any analysis. We will also look at a treatment or outline and give you the same analysis on it. So, if you’re looking to vet some of your project ideas, this is a great way to do it. We will also write your logline and synopsis for you. You can add this logline and synopsis writing service to an analysis or you can simply purchase this service as a standalone product. As a bonus, if your screenplay gets a recommend or a consider from one of our readers, you get to list the screenplay in the SYS select database, which is a database for producers to find screenplays, and a big part of our SYS select program. Producers are in the database searching for material on a daily basis, so it’s another great way to get your material in front of them. As a further bonus, if your script gets a recommend from one of our readers, your screenplay will get included in our monthly best of newsletter. Each month, we send out a newsletter that highlights the best screenplays that have come through our script analysis service. This is a monthly newsletter that goes out to our list of over 400 producers who are actively looking for material. So again, this is another great way to get your material out there. So, if you want a professional evaluation of your screenplay at a very reasonable price, check out www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants. Again, that’s sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants.
On the next episode of the podcast, I’m going to be interviewing entertainment attorney Joshua Gladstein. He has got lots of experience working with writers, directors, producers and also production companies as a lawyer. I pepper him with legal questions. Obviously, I don’t have a background as a lawyer, I get a lot of legal questions through Selling Your Screenplay, people have various legal questions that pertain to screenwriting. Obviously, I’m not a lawyer. So, I really can’t give, you know intelligent legal advice to anyone. So, it’s nice to just have him on. And as I said, I just pepper him with legal questions. We talk about NDAs and release forms. These are definitely things you’re going to run into as a screenwriter. As you start to submit your script. We talked about options and sales. Hopefully, as you submit your script, you will be presented with some option contracts and some sales contracts where you actually sell your material. So, we kind of go over those how those deals work, how you can find a lawyer to potentially help you with those deals. We talked about getting the rights for a novel if you’re interested in potentially adapting a book or some other intellectual property. We talk about that a little bit and how those sorts of deals work. We talk about how to get a deal and what those deals will look like for screenwriters with streaming companies like Netflix. So, lots of great information for screenwriters. Joshua’s just very practical and really gives a lot of great information. So, keep an eye out for that episode. As I mentioned last episode, I’m only publishing a new episode now once per month so this episode with Joshua will publish the first Monday of March which will be March 4th, so keep an eye out for that episode next month. That’s the show. Thank you for listening.