[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag – Plan for Increasing Perceived Value
What I learned: A lot depends on me. Take small steps daily in the right directions. Get out of my comfort zone. Believe in myself as a screenwriter.
1. What is your speciality? Describe your expertise in that speciality in one or two sentences.
I specialize in spiritual horror, ghosts & demons. I feel they represent actual people, exaggerated. My stories have practical everyday messages within them. They tend to be grounded and contemporary.
2. How many producers do you have in your LinkedIn Network? About 50 Film and/ or TV Producers. I didn’t see where it gives a count.
3. Looking at the list above titled “Increasing Your Perceived Value,” please tell us your plan for increasing your value in these three time frames:
A. Today
Watched HIS HOUSE. Highly rated horror. Will watch again to take notes and look up the producers.
Expand LinkedIn connections of producers, screenwriters, and other connected to the film industry.
Keep up with Facebook screenwriters page.
Reading and working on Seth Sherwood’s Scary Movie Writer’s Guide.
Continue Paid Writing Assignments and start Write a Screenplay in 30 day.
Keep writing.

B. In the next 30 days
Complete Write a Screenplay in 30 days. (minus a few days travel to family outing, so end of August)
Expand Film and TV Producer connections in LinkedIN.
Complete Sherwood’s Guide. Start a new book coming in a few days by Stephen Schneider.
Watch lots of horror movies. Become an ‘expert’ . Read Horror scripts.
Keep Writing daily.

C. In the next 6 months
Expand my LinkedIn connections of Film and TV Producers.
Send out my query letter and attract a paid writing assignment.
.
Find the right producer (s) for my contained horror feature.
Watch lots of Horror movies. Read lots of Horror scripts.
Write a screenplay in 30 days.
Keep writing daily.
—————————–

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag — decreased the budget
What I learned: I’m a pretty frugal writer. I tend to be sparse, maybe too sparse – just what’s needed to tell the story.
The story is contemporary, main characters are with casual clothes and hair. Mother wears the same red dress. Many of the scenes are daytime interiors.
What I could cut:
1. Scene of Howard and Wendy getting stuck in the mud. Just show them leaving, maybe so short as Susan saying ‘What’s the rush’ and they go out the door. Cuts 2 pages and keeps the camera in the house out of the storm; a big cost saving. Cut to Mother upstairs in Brian’s bedroom watching them go “they won’t be back til they inherit from you two.” Then they return – Howard comes into Susan’s room and explains how they got stuck. This would also keep Susan as main character and not distract us to the two supporting characters.
2. The drive scene with Susan and Howard could be cut for a micro- budget movie. The information could be conveyed in the living room of the house. This driving scene is a deserted road, daytime, ok weather with the storm threatening. The isolated road fulfilled one of the horror film requirements, however. The characters need this conversation, uninterrupted.
3. One or both of the knife scenes could be cut. There are other ghosts in the back story of this family who could make an appearance. There are many scares that could be done instead, depending on the location.

——————–
MY big budget items that I would like to keep:
1. Aerial View of exterior of house and surrounding area: important to establish how abandoned she is. Could be done with a drone.
2. We also have brief view of the exterior of the house when Susan and Howard arrive.
3. We have exterior of house when Howard and Wendy are on the veranda. Could be just that side. OR could shoot scene in kitchen.

The burial scene adds a location – cemetary- and two, non-speaking characters. It is only the brother & wife, sister & husband with the grave digger and mortician. Could be shot as wide. Mother will come up out of the grave and fly off towards the house. Maybe an aerial view of her red dress flying over the trees could be done with a drone. This scene is important to show she’s buried and comes out of the grave as a ghost.

stunts:
Howard caught in bear trap; fight with Brian. Needs fight design, blood, Horrible scene.
Wendy hanged thru pulley. She’ll struggle for 5 minutes.
Susan falls down the stairs. A Fall to end all falls. Dramatic ending; Mother wins.
Brian strangled by Great Grandfather. He’s almost dead anyway.
It’s a horror movie, the deaths must be horrific.

Huge thunder storm: The approach hurries burial of Mother. Keeps everyone inside of house. isolating. Car stuck in the mud. Spooky: wind and rain beat on house. Lightning clashes – unnerving.

Make up:
Mother has been dead for a long time. We’ll need a cast of her head. Her ghost will appear more normal.
Father has been dead 9 years, Will need a full body cast.
———————-

[Edna]

Hello Screenwriters. Is anyone else taking the Paid Writing Assignments now? I am available to share the producer interviews. Please contact me at edna.hamarstag@gmail.com

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag – Writing Assignment Class 5 – Horror Writing Sample

The story:
Only because the Demonic Mother died, Sister (and husband) and Brother (and wife) have come home in search of inheritance. Life- long hatred has been encouraged by Mother. Now they are expected to kill each other so that she can capture their souls forever.

DINING ROOM
Susan feels gutted, the wind knocked out of her.

SUSAN
Typical Mother trick. I should have known.

She’s devastated that she was so gullible. Remorse flows through her.

SUSAN
How could I be so stupid? I know what she’s like. I know what she does. This is just like her.

Mother struts behind Wendy, arrogant and triumphant.

WENDY
Did she fake her death too?

SUSAN
(to the ghost)
She was never human.

Mother shrugs.

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
With the hangman’s noose in the pulley, Brian retreats to the far side of the upstairs hallway, near his room. It’s a good hiding position along the upstairs banister.
He waits with noose in hand, ready to lasso Susan or Wendy.

BRIAN
(whisper to himself)
Come on, Sister, come on. I’m ready for you.

He waits.
Mother sits on the banister.
As he waits he stretches taller. His clothes are all black now. His hair is blacker and longer. He stretches his jaw open wide and pulls his lips back, fangs lengthening.

BRIAN
Where are my fangs?

He looks at his hands.

BRIAN
Where are my claws?

MOTHER
Out at sea. In the deep.

Brian stares at her and growls.

DINING ROOM
Susan gasps. She stands up sharply.

SUSAN
Where’s Howard?!

Wendy continues to look at the papers, incredulous at the deception.

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY / UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Susan races to the basement door. Brian waits, above, with hangman’s noose.

BRIAN
(to himself)
Too fast.

BASEMENT
Susan comes down the stairs.

SUSAN
Howard? Are you down here?

Susan searches through the basement and into the back room.

BASEMENT BACK ROOM
Susan finds Howard with his arm caught in the bear trap and bleeding. He’s unconscious. She can’t revive him.

SUSAN
Wendy! Help!

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY / DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY
Brian waits, looking over the banister into the hall below, with hangman’s noose in hand, open like a lariat.
Wendy comes out of the dining room. She’s not sure where Susan went. Wary, scared of Brian. But she doesn’t think to look up.
Brian hesitates. He hopes to get Susan.

BASEMENT
Susan pulls the trap open and frees Howard’s arm. He falls to the floor. The bleeding is slower now. He still has a pulse.
Susan looks for something to make a tourniquet. She finds a belt in one of the wardrobes and secures it around Howard’s arm, stopping the bleeding.
Susan lays Howard out flat on the floor, and elevates his bleeding arm. The talisman he found before lunch glows in his pocket; Susan doesn’t notice.

SUSAN
Wendy!

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY
Wendy stands at the top of the stairs, looking down into the dark basement. She’s alone in the hall. The house is very quiet. She turns and looks at the front door and remembers:

WENDY
“If we were smart we’d run.”

Outside, the storm crashes: Lightning flash, thunder, wind and rain.

SUSAN (O.S.)
Wendy! Help!

Wendy clenches her jaw in resentment for the knife threat earlier. She doesn’t understand that it’s Howard who needs help.
Wendy panics, flustered. She won’t go down into the dark basement. She backs away from the stairs to stand on the dark red stain in the floor- boards.
Wendy looks around the house, listening. All quiet and dark. She looks upstairs, but doesn’t see Brian. Mother’s bedroom door is open. She calls out:

WENDY
Howard?

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY / DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY
Furious, Brian drops the hangman’s noose, but misses Wendy. He yanks hard to pull the noose back up before she can turn to see what that was.
She panics, sensing that something was there. But she doesn’t look up.

SUSAN (O.S.)
Wendy help!

Wendy turns but refuses to act.
Brian drops the hangman’s noose again and lassos Wendy. He yanks hard on the rope and hauls her up through the pulley.
Choking, she can’t scream. She struggles and kicks, but that just makes the noose tighter. She claws at the rope.
Brian is patient. He whispers to Wendy now looking up at him.

BRIAN
Five minutes. It takes about five minutes. Then you can join Howard.

She kicks and squirms, trying to get a firm enough grip on the rope to pull herself up and relieve the tightness of the noose, but it’s slippery. Brian explains:

BRIAN
I oiled the rope so it’d slide better.
Wendy swings herself over to get a foot on the stairs, but Brian pulls her up higher, laughing.

BRIAN
No, no. You can’t get out of this. This is my favorite part. This moment, this transition. This great mystery. One moment here, the next moment not. Tantalizing.

Brian watches Wendy struggle. He chuckles.

BRIAN
The end of Wend.

BASEMENT
Susan tries to move Howard towards the stairs. He’s too heavy. She talks to him, trying to revive him.

SUSAN
Howard, wake up. Howard.

She pats his face. She kisses him.

SUSAN
Howard, get up and get in the car. Come on.

Howard moans. She tries again to move him, but he’s too heavy.

SUSAN
Wake up. Get in the car and get out of here.

Susan calls for help.

SUSAN
Wendy!

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY / UPSTAIRS HALLWAY
Wendy is struggling in the noose.
Susan comes to the bottom of the basement stairs.

SUSAN (O.S.)
Wendy! Help me get Howard in the car.

Susan runs up from the basement.
When Brian hears Susan coming he secures the rope to the railing.
Susan is furious to find Wendy, her only chance for help, hanged in the center of the hall.
She screams in anguish:

SUSAN
No! No!

She’s crushed. Dismayed of getting help for Howard, falls to her knees sobbing. Susan is wretched with despair.

Susan stops crying. She clenches her fists. She gets up, traces the rope to where it is secured to the banister. Brian is standing there. She screams:

SUSAN
Untie that rope!

Releasing her lifetime of secret rage and forgetting all caution, she races up the stairs intent on killing Brian.
She’ll undo the rope, revive Wendy and get help for Howard. Susan will set things right.
Brian darts into his room.
Mother suddenly appears at the top of the stairs, full of demonic hellfire. She glares at Susan and screeches, deafening, with jealous rage.
Furious, Mother swells up to monstrous proportions, filled with demonic hate. She towers over Susan as she reaches the top of the stairs.
Shocked and terrified, Susan flies over backwards.
Susan falls backward, arms flailing in search of something to grasp.
She falls and falls until she crashes on her neck and bones shatter.
She tumbles down the stairs where she lies headfirst at the bottom. Dead from a broken neck.
Brian comes out of his room with his loaded rifle, ready to defend himself.
Mother plays innocent, now returned to her more human proportions. She shrugs to Brian:

MOTHER
I didn’t touch her.

Brian comes along the banister and looks down at hanged Wendy and Susan at the bottom of the stairs. He slips down the back stairway.
The sun is setting. The storm is letting up.

LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
The storm is letting up. The sun is setting; full moon rising. The fire is still burning.
The whiskey bottle and two of the four glasses from last night are still on the table.
Brian comes in. He pours the remaining whiskey (the bottle with the pills) into a glass and drinks, gulping.
Brian stirs the fire with the fireplace poker. Flames jump up. He throws on more logs.
He finds another bottle of whiskey in the cabinet and opens it and pours. He collapses into the big stuffed chair and drinks.

BRIAN
No ice, but…

The storm is over, the night is quiet. Light of the full moon and the fire give the room a soft glow.
Assuming he’s the last one left alive, Brian sits in the most comfy chair by the fire, drinking whiskey. Cozy and content.

BRIAN
It’s all mine now.

Success, he breathes a sigh of relief and smiles triumphantly.

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY – NIGHT
Mother stands at the top of the stairs and looks down at Wendy hanging and broken-necked Susan at the bottom of the stairs. She giggles and shimmies with delight.

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY
Mother skips down the stairs with glee.

MOTHER
What happened to your “ignore the ghosts”? Profound until you really need it!
Mother laughs.
At the bottom of the stairs, she stops at Susan. Susan is laying head first at the bottom of the stairs.

MOTHER
It’s kind of sad when the only way to get your children to come home is to die. Don’t you think?

She kicks Susan.

MOTHER
Well, if death interests you so much, have at it. There’s no shortage.

Mother goes to the doorway of the living room where Brian is sitting by the fire, drinking.

MOTHER
Introduce me to your wife? No! But then, she’s afraid of you, what would she think of me?

Mother laughs. She turns and gives Wendy a poke. Wendy swings in the noose.

MOTHER
Apparently there were weddings. Or are you living in Sin? There are many ways to live in Sin. There are many Sins to live in.

She turns back towards the living room and Brian.

MOTHER
How did you explain me to your precious in-laws? That your own Mother was not invited? Now you have to explain me, and your father, and your nasty sister.

She turns to Susan.

MOTHER
Where’s that husband of yours? Never mind, because he’s in love with that.

She pokes Wendy.

MOTHER
Slim and pretty. I warned you! Always such a fat thing.

LIVING ROOM
Mother comes in the living room and looks down at Brian, drunk in the comfy chair by the fire.

MOTHER
Are you going to sit there forever? Well, there is always more whiskey.

She gets another bottle out of the cabinet and three more glasses. She opens the bottle and pours the three glasses.
She hands two glasses to the people in the portrait. Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather come alive in the moonlight and reach down for the whiskey.

MOTHER
Told you so.

She takes her glass and drinks. She turns to Brian.

MOTHER
Your father loves this — ‘liquid gold’ he called it. Why don’t you take him a glass? It’s time for him to get up.

She looks down at drunken Brian with contempt.

MOTHER
I’ll do it.

Mother pours whiskey into one of the glasses and leaves the bottle within Brian’s reach. She goes into the hall.
Brian stays in the chair, barely conscious. The ring falls off of his finger and rattles on the floor.
Great Grandfather steps out of the frame and down from the mantle. He gets the ring and puts it on his finger, a perfect fit.
Brian starts to get up. Great Grandfather grabs him by the throat and strangles the remaining life out of him. Brian’s glass rolls across the floor.

GREAT GRANDFATHER
Nasty little creep!

He throws Brian back down in the chair, dead, his neck broken. He may sit there forever.
Great Grandmother steps out of the frame and down from the mantle with her glass of whiskey. She and Great Grandfather go across the hall to the dining room.

DOWNSTAIRS HALLWAY / DINING ROOM
As GGF and GGM pass Susan at the bottom of the stairs, Great Grandmother looks down at her with sorrow.

GREAT GRANDMOTHER
I warned you.

Mother stands in the dining room doorway. The table is set for eight with linen, the best china, and tarnished silver candlesticks.
Great Grandmother and Great Grandfather come in and take their places at one end of the table, sipping their whiskey.
Great Grandmother snaps her fingers and the candles light. The crystal goblets sparkle and fill with blood red wine.
As she prances upstairs, Mother kicks Susan.

MOTHER
Get up! It’s time for dinner.

Referring to Wendy:
MOTHER
That one can stay where she is. We’ll make a chandelier out of her.

Mother laughs like she made the greatest joke. She shimmies with delight as she prances up the stairs with the glass of whiskey for Father.

MOTHER
It’s lovely to have the house full of family again!
———————-

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag – Class 4 – Key Business Decisions
What I learned: To look at my work objectively as a business.

Business decisions of my script:
Genre: Horror
Title: Buried In A Red Dress. The word buried points to horror. Red dress is never used for burial in any culture. It points to continuing – a party? Ghosts?
Concept: Demonic Mother dies to lure her runaway brats home with promise of inheritance so that she can capture their souls forever.
Audience: Horror
Budget: moderate , $3 M
Lead Characters: Demonic Mother dies to lure her runaway children home with promise of inheritance so that she can capture their souls forever. Sister comes in need of cash, but soon realizes she must kill brother. Brother comes because he’s a villain.
Journey / Character Arc: Mother’s goal is set before movie starts. Daughter initially plans to endure the weekend but comes to determine that she must kill her brother for the sake of the world.
Opening: Mother ranks and raves that no one has come home for her birthday. Ending: Tragic. Only the husband survives.

Which of those decisions could you improve to make your script more marketable.
I need to clarify my concept to make it simpler and easier to pitch.
—————————————————————-

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag My Specialty – Horror

Writing Assignment 3.5:
What I learned: Repeated watching, with specific attention to details and looking for the elements of the film makes a huge differnece in the viewing.

Film #2: NOSFERATU
Classic horror from the original book by Bram Stoker, with references to 1922 film.
Written and Directed by Robert Eggers. Producer Chris Columbus.

Ellen, a woman possessed – sleep walking in the garden. She seems possessed. .

Ellen’s new husband, Thomas, is sent off on a long journey for his work – to help secure a house for Count Orlof in their town. She begs him not to go. She can reach him – Count Orlok, the vampire – even though far away, through her dreams. .

Along the way, there are warnings to not go there. Carriage has no driver.
The door to the castle opens and closes with no one there.
Count will address the papers immediately. Written in strange language, but requires Thomas’s signature. He finds out later he has sold his wife for coin – not at all his intention.

Orlok continues to feed on Thomas, gaining his young strength, while Thomas grows weaker. He attempts to escape, but must jump out the window into the river below. A nun finds him.

Thomas must return to his city and his new wife. He’s aware that Orlok is after her and his main reason for wanting a house in that town. He returns home exhausted

Orlok’s ship arrives, covered with plague infested rats. Disease spreads through the city.

Ellen knows that she is the only one who can stop the vampire. It’s her that he wants and she will keep him in her bed until the first cock crows.

The men seek to find and destroy the Vampire’s coffin of native land and run him through with an iron stake when he has no place to rest. At first cock’s crow, Thomas realizes he’s not coming and rushes home to his wife. He finds her dead in locked embrace with Orlok, also dead.

Isolation – The castle is definitely isolated. Much of the tale is told in the city. This is a switch to Horror movies. But can be pulled off because of the power of the vampire.

Death: The young woman, Ellen, has terrible dreams and sleep-walking that puts her at risk of being labelled insane. There are city-wide deaths from the rats that accompany the vampire’s ship.

Monster: Count Orlok is awful. Bill Skarsgard’s scariest role, he says.

High Tension: Ellen is obviously tormented by her dreams and sleep-walking, although sometimes she cannot remember.
There are several warnings against going to Count Orlok’s castle.

Departure from Reality: Vampires. The sets and costumes are so realistic that we feel like it is really happening. Eggers strives for authenticity in his films.

Moral statement: Since Ellen has called the vampire through her dreams, she must be the one to kill him.

I have definitely seen a great deal more on this repeat viewing than the first two times I’ve seen it. The love between Thomas and Ellen.

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag Specialty
What I have learned: It is much better to get really good at one genre – Horror – than to try to keep up with everything that comes out. It’s important to know the genre well and have the conventions under my skin. Producers also specialize in Horror. Directors, Cinematographers and Sound professionals specialize. When all aspects of filmmaking work together, we can produce a truly satisfying experience for the audience.

Writing Assignment Class 3 Specialty

For my specialty I choose Horror.
I initially chose to pursue this genre because it is conducive to new writers: Low budget, contained, unknown actors, and has a readily available audience. A new writer with low credibility might get a chance.

BARBARIAN (2022) Written and directed by Zach Cregger, Producer Roy Lee.
(Isolation) A young woman Tess drives up to a house, pouring rain at night. There’s no key in the lock box. A light comes on – she knocks. AirB&B is double booked.

He’s OK: Keith. She goes to her job interview. Returns to the house; goes to the basement for toilet paper; gets locked in. No phone, she has the key in her pocket. Finds hidden room with cot, a camera, and a bucket – looks ominous. Bloody hand print on wall.

She waits for Keith to return. Leave immediately!! But Keith wants to see for himself. He doesn’t return and Tess goes after him. (The Big Mistake. She’s been warned twice; she has seen it herself.)

Keith calls for help from a distance. Tess follows. She finds him but then something beats his head against the wall. Can’t really see in the darkness.

Hard cut to AJ in his red car – happy. But no, there’s a rape charge and he’s been dropped by the series. Liquidate the property in Detroit.

But there’s someone there. Someone’s stuff is there. AJ to basement and finds room and tunnels. Measures to add to square footage of house now for sale. Ignores all signs. He ends up in a pit with Tess.

Hard cut to the 1950’s. Nice neighborhood; neighbor selling. Frank to store for ‘baby things.’ He follows a random woman home; puts on coveralls for some utility. In her house he opens a window (to return later?). At home we hear distant screaming from the basement.

Hard cut return to AJ and Tess in a pit. Mother takes AJ out and Tess able to get away to basement window. Narrowly escapes with first view of nasty Mother reaching out the window for her. AJ then able to get away to find Frank bedridden. Awful collection of tapes. Frank shoots himself.

Tess to the police; they don’t believe her. She breaks a window to get in to get her car keys. Mother comes out of the house in a rage; Appears dead on the windshield. Tess goes back to help AJ. He shoots her with Frank’s gun.

Wounded, they make their way to a strange man near the water tower. Mother has never been in that area before, so they feel safe.
AJ starts a conversation about ‘Am I a bad person, or a good person who just did a bad thing?” (This could be a thinkable aspect of the story except for the awful silly music over the end credits. )

Mother comes, strangles the strange man. Tess and AJ run up the water tower ladder, but are stuck at the top. AJ throws Tess off to distract Mother. Mother saves Tess (My Baby) but kills AJ. Then Tess gets Frank’s gun and shoots Mother.

Conventions:
Isolation: deserted neighborhood in Detroit. Only the one house remains like it was in 1950’s. All others are unoccupied, falling down.

Warnings: “You shouldn’t be there” and “Little girl, come away from that house.”

Death of Keith. First we get to know him as a really nice guy, musician, possibly interested in the project she’s interviewing for.

Mother, the monster who we can’t really see in the dark, smashes his head against the wall. She is unrelenting, keeps on coming, very strong, determined. She’s insane.

High Tension Clues: Appearances of cages, wire gates, tunnels underground.

The Casting of Mother with Matt Davie who is 6’8” is extraordinary . This is great because she is well able to strangle anyone.

The casting with great actors is not traditional to Horror, that often does well with unknown Actors, but all were exceptional: Bill Skarsgard, Georgia Cambell and Justin Long. If you have the budget, go for it.

This horror movie doesn’t depart from reality. There are monsters like Frank who keep women in subterranean prisons. The babies who result will be insane.

———————————

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag. Projects and Insights
I have signed the Confidentiality Agreement and Intro myself.
The two projects I will bring to this class are:
Buried In A Red Dress, a contained feature. Five speaking parks and one main location. I expect it could be done for $1M. Unknown actors are often best for horror. This script is almost finished. I think it could be scarier.

Beating Hearts. Shapeshifter, murderer. Could be done for $3-5M. Sketched out and could be finished.

What I learned from the Opening Video: 80% of producers are available to me. I must increase my Credibility. I will concentrate on Horror and become a specialist.
One important aspect of Film Industry is to get along. Producers want to hire a writer they know can do a great job – can get it done. The Contained low budget is less risky, so an opportunity for a new writer.

BURIED IN A RED DRESS is the key to my credibility. If this inexpensive film can be a hit, it will launch my career. “This is possible for me.”

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag Credibility is Going UP!
What I learned doing this class: That I am in charge of my credibility. I cannot stay home and write; I have to get out there, even if only online. I have a long way to go in terms of being up to date with the industry. But my writing sample is good and will be my gateway.

CREDIBILITY CHECKLIST
1. Your Writing Sample: My writing sample – contained feature – is my strongest Credibility.
‘Recommend’ from Coverage: Not yet, but could.
Delivers on the genre in a strong way: Yes. All Horror conventions.
Delivers on the business decisions: Yes. Title, concept / pitch. Contained (90pp).
2. Screenwriting Accomplishments
Contest wins: No.
Smaller deals (options, sales, writing assignments) not yet
Larger deals
Movies produced – My goal.
3. The Google factor: Not yet but could Blog on Horror movies.
Google your name. How many items on the first page show you as a professional screenwriter? No.
Buzz posts, interviews, news reports, etc.. no
4. Your Network: Weak.
How many producers are in your network? 112 but growing. I also have a file on IBDbPro with 213 producers who have contact information.
How many Connections do you have who are connected to producers? 136 Friends on Facebook who have movie industry connections.
So, not a lot in terms of numbers, but the quality is there.
5. Education specific to screenwriting
Degree in film or screenwriting
Master Screenwriter Certificate program at ScreenwritingU – many SU classes, read all the great books, attend lectures etc.
Some crew positions on local projects.
6. Borrowed Credibility: no
Represented by an agent or manager
Working with a producer: My goal.
Connected to a star
Connected to a funding source
7. IMDB CREDITS: no
Go to [url=”http://imdb.com/”]http://IMDB.com[/url] and search your name. What credits show up there for you?
8. Other forms of credibility that is related to screenwriting:
Some subject matter expertise: Working 30 years as health coach, I have insights into how some families work – not nice.
Novels published -no
Producer or director experience: not yet
Experience working with agencies, production companies, film festivals, etc… Not yet.

My Plan to increase my credibility: 1. Shift all my IBDb files to LinkedIn. Greatly expand my LinkedIn network. 2. Continue learning. SU classes – now Writing Assignments then 30 day Screenplay. Facebook interviews with filmmakers. 3. Search IMDbPro for horror producers – add to LinkedIn. 4. Continue to read: My screenwriting is the best it can be. Currently reading Seth Sherwood’s book – Scary Movie Writer’s Guide. 5. Make a routine to keep up with the trades.

————————

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 3 days ago by  Edna. Reason: I had posted Lesson 3 Forums in this spot. This is for Lesson 2

[Edna]

Hello Everyone. My name is Edna Hamarstag. I have taken many classes with Hal and look forward to Writing Assignments. I have writen several screenplays and a pilot & bible (BWTV). My current favorite genre is Horror because is does well with very low budgets, has a ready audience, and is tolerant of new writers. The more I work with Horror the more I see that it underlies all good stories: Live and Death, Supernatural, what’s really important.
What I learned from the opening audio: This is possible for me! I can do this. My credibility is low but I will continue to increase my network thru LI, my writing abilities, my knowledge of cinema. I am a ‘subject matter expertise’ in human families – a great source of horror!

[Edna]

I, Edna Hamarstag, agree to the GROUP RELEASE FORM
As a member of this group, I agree to the following:
1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.
2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.
I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.
3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.
4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.
5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.
6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.
This completes the Group Release Form for the class.

[Edna]

Hi Everyone. This is Edna Hamarstag. I’ve taken several of Hal’s classes. I’ve written three features, one worth reading, and a TV pilot. I plan to focus now on Horror genre. Actually, all good stories have a horror element.
I think I am supposed to be in Paid Writing Assignments now but sound like some of you are in WIM.
Well, if we don’t stay together here in this forum, please keep in touch. My email is <edna.hamarstag@gmail.com> and I’m on LI.

[Edna]

Edna Hamarstag
I agree to the terms of the release form