Entertainment Licensing & Branding Blog

Recently I was asked which screenwriting books would I want to have with me if I was on a island in the middle of nowhere.  My response is below:

1)  Save The Cat by Blake Snyder.

2) How To Make a Good Script Great by Linda Seger.

3) Screenplay by Syd Field.

I would also hope to have actual screenplays to read as samples and a copy of -

Clause By Clause by Stephen F. Breimer as this is the screenwriters legal guide.

Of course, an internet connection in an air-conditioned hotel near the beach with room service would be great.

Hey, nobody said it was a deserted island… lol

Okay. You have a great idea for a story/script and characters.  Now what?

The first thing is to protect it by registering copyright.  Well the fastest way to obtain copyright is to write a short story.  a one or two page synopsis.

The next thing I do is write a 90 to maximum 120 page screenplay and register that with the copyright and Writers Guild.  Then I start shopping the script to the film and television industry.  Luckily, I landed an agency and one of the best entertainment lawyers in Canada, plus optioned two screenplays.

Meanwhile, I then copy the screenplay and paste it into a word processing file and develop the detail more, which expands the story to over 200 pages and perfect for a novel.  Now I have diversified the same concept into two separate markets.  Quick and fast.  Then marketing it commences.

Heck, why not copy and past the screenplay or novel into another file and rewrite the text into a comic series or graphic novel or video game format?  I did and Galactic Gladiators was optioned and published as a comic series throughout North America and Europe.  Still seeking publishing and distribution throughout Asia and the rest of the world.

The point I am making is that the more you diversify your writing the better chance you have of getting a sale or option.  Through query letters into multiple markets I have managed to catch a break for one of my projects via the comic industry, when I had yet to obtain interest from the book or film or television industries.

The more versions you have of your intellectual property, the more opportunities you will gain by word of mouth throughout the entertainment industry.  Trust me - this works!   Good luck branding your idea!!!

Sandford Tuey

info@Playdigm.com

PS: I am a self motivated, hard-working, committed writer and creator of entertainment properties. I blog to continue my give-back to the world community as I once did locally in Vancouver, Canada at the Alliance of Arts and Culture Searchgrad program. My hopes are that my information and knowledge will assist in creating and selling your intellectual material and one day be produced. I have had feature scripts optioned, written for hire, and have made comics, novels and games. I love movies and am dedicated to the art and business of screenwriting and licensing/branding.  Ask me whatever you want and I will try and get answers for you.

Sandford Tuey continues to detail how to develop and market a brand by using his Galactic Gladiators brand as an example.

Stage 4

I purchased Movie Magic software after extensive research and talking with film and television industry contacts. Final Draft and Movie Magic are the most accepted software programs in Hollywood and I chose Movie Magic. I also read every screenplay I could get access to and watched hundreds of movies in the genre.

Writing a screenplay is a daunting task but since I  just finished the first draft of my first screenplay titled, ‘EXIT IN’ I was some what prepared for it. Exit IN is an immigration cop story where Richard Freedman, an immigration removals/detention officer, who during the escort of an illegal alien back to country of origin, loses his detainee and must complete the mission within three days or be fired allowing a major criminal to lead a deadly gang war in North America.

They say ‘write what you know’ and at that time I was working with Immigration Canada.  So I took everything I knew about this subject and added real life details to the fictional script to make it as realistic a story with drama and suspense.  I changed the names of the character to protect me. lol   Great practice for a first time screenwriter.  So practice by writing what you know as it is a great way to start learning the craft.

Stage 5

The main reason for writing Galactic Gladiators was due to some information I came across at the Film Forum during the Vancouver Film Festival (I’ve been attending this business conference since 1988).  One of the Studio types mentioned that for every dollar made at Box Office, there are three to five dollars made from DVD/VHS sales but anywhere from ten to twenty dollars made from the toys and merchandise associated with the movie.

Well it takes the same amount of time to write a drama or love story (without a toy line), as it does to write a screenplay or novel with the possibility of toys and mass merchandise branching off of it.  It made sense to come up with a concept with toy potential.

One day my son (age 8 at the time) asked me, “Dad, if aliens exist, why do they always abduct hillbillies and not the President?”  I didn’t have an answer to that but I came up with one, and that is how Galactic Gladiators was born.

The next installment will be titled Galactic Gladiators Part #4.

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Order my ebook - FROM THE MIND TO THE MARKET - now. It will be available later in 2009. Pre-order by contacting Info@Playdigm.com.

(c) Sandford Tuey All Rights Reserved.