[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Query Letter

What I learned doing this assignment are amazing steps to make my query letter exciting enough for a producer to want to read it and ask for my script. I love how it is evolving.

Title: Rainbow’s Secret
Genre: Drama, Mystery – Inspired by a true story
Lauren was born having visions of events before they happened. She’s sick of it. What’s the purpose of a vision if you can’t change the outcome? She had visions of the bombing of the Twin Towers. No one of importance listened.

Lauren, a professional psychic, going through a divorce, hates who she is. Needing to find some kind of purpose in having visions and to fill the holes in her empty life, she assists police departments in cases of missing children.

A recent case she worked on had a failed ending. Emotionally overwhelmed, her compassion takes over and she cannot resist the pleas of a woman whose 6-year-old great niece is missing and agrees to help.

Intently following rainbow clues from visions that she believes will lead her to the child, she is led to one suspect after another. She finally discovers the real meaning of the rainbows.

In her frantic search she accidentally finds evidence in what appears to be an abandoned trailer. The trailer disappears overnight.

A treacherous group of pedophiles, behind a series of disappearances of children, unleashes their intention to destroy her. It’s the power of these evil people against everything she is. Should she run in fear from these people or stay and fight them to save the missing girl?

If you like the concept, I’d be happy to send you the script.

BIO: Lindy’s 2-page column appeared in Las Vegas Fun & Fit Magazine for 10 years. She received a Public Service Award from the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office for her volunteer efforts as a rape and assault counselor and was named one of the “Top 10 Psychics in the US” by Globe Magazine. San Diego’s WB5 News did an expose on psychics and astrologers and found Lindy “best” and “credible.”

Lindy Baker
(858) 272-6463
Email: lindybaker007@gmail.com
xxxxx Drive
North Las Vegas, NV 89032

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Synopsis Hooks

What I learned doing this assignment is after I have created a list of my components of marketability combined with my list of hooks, I create a synopsis that will become my query letter.

FIRST DRAFT

This crime drama is inspired by my own true story.
What if you were born having visions of future events? And what if you have no power to stop these events from happening? Added to that is the abandonment and rejection from many people intimidated and confused by your abilities, who simply can’t get where you are coming from because it is just too far out of their box.

Lauren had visions of the bombing of the Twin Towers. No one listened. Lauren, a professional psychic, going through a divorce, hates who she is. Needing to find some kind of purpose in having visions, she works cases of missing children to fill the holes in her empty life.

A recent case she worked on had a failed ending, Even though lacking in confidence, her compassion takes over and she cannot resist the pleas of a woman whose 6-year-old great niece is missing. Intently following rainbow clues from visions, she is led to suspect upon suspect. She remembers and employs one of her psychic skills and locates a town, Rainbow.

In her frantic search she accidentally finds evidence in what appears to be an abandoned trailer. The trailer disappears overnight.

An undercover group of pedophiles, behind a series of disappearances of children, unleashes their intention to destroy her. It’s the power of these evil people against everything she is. Should she walk away from the case or stay and fight these people and locate the missing girl?

Hooks

– The hero resents her ability and refutes its value for herself. She’s an intelligent, educated, and elegant person with a sense of humor but highly frustrated at not being able to stop events before they happen. She appears totally together, but she is hanging psychologically on the edge.

– Even though emotionally off balance, she’s accepted the pleas of a woman to find her missing 6-year-old great niece.

– The mother of the missing child lies about the child’s whereabouts, and then meets the press as if she is modeling for them so her behavior is suspect.
– After a man has reported seeing a woman lead the child away, the beauty shop owner who is the mother’s boss, is caught dressed in a wig and uniform looking very much like a woman.
– After clues of rainbow placards, rainbow dreams, seem to be leading nowhere, Lauren employs a psychic skill she has and realizes Rainbow is the name of a town.
– A second child is missing with the same sequence of events, and it appears there is a serial killer on the loose, but shocking evidence turns the focus to a group of people.
– Lauren checks out a ranch in Rainbow and has a meltdown. Lauren questions her purpose in life and is revolting against this ability that she has that creates a lonely existence, rejections and disconnect with others.
– After a meltdown, finding herself without a GPS for directions, the psychic stops in the middle of nowhere for directions and uncovers a mobile home packed with shocking evidence.
– Upon the arrival of the friend from Los Angeles, who is a cop, the evidence is completely, and impossibly gone.
– Although her cellphone is stolen, she has photo evidence anyway, and it is NOT on the cloud.
– A series of threatening events: being followed, stolen phone, dog killed, detective’s insult.
– Lauren must decide if she is to continue on this dangerous path of faceless criminals with the possibility of being killed, or to walk away without finding the child.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s High Concept/Elevator Pitch

What I learned doing this assignment is to create a logline and High Concept statement that has a hook and gets immediate reaction from a producer.

This story is inspired by a true story. A psychic is having an identity crisis; she hates having visions of events that she can’t prevent, especially because of the rejection from others. Even though she is in a fragile emotional state, she aches at the angst of a woman who is so distraught that her great niece is missing so she agrees to go with the aunt in search. Her visions are very clear, but then are they really? Clues lead first to the child’s mother, then to a beauty supply owner, and then to a neighboring town. When a second child disappears and the body is found, police wrongly suspect a serial killer. After a meltdown over her life and the unclear clues, she rages through back country roads and accidentally discovers a scene that explodes everything that has come to pass so far. Suddenly these faceless people become real threats to her existence.

High Concept
A psychic in the middle of an identity crisis has accepted the heart-wrenching pleas of a woman to help locate her missing 6-year-old great niece, unknowingly ensnared in the center of a group of faceless people who run a lethal child trafficking ring.

Dilemma

How to change the outcome of visions while dealing with naysayers and find the missing child and who took her.

Main Conflict
Lauren wants to be able to stop the events she sees by finding the victims right away and getting evidence to take down the perpetuator.

What’s at stake?

Lauren’s death, the child is never found, the kidnapping ring continues.

Goal/Unique Opposition
Lauren wrestles with her internal conflict: What is the purpose in her having been born seeing visions if she cannot stop the events in them? Her quest is to get the facts she needs to find the children and take down who abducted them.

Elevator Pitch
I’m finishing up the true story of a born psychic who is rebelling against being rejected for her abilities to see the future with uninvited visions. She struggles with breaking through to stopping events by amplifying these abilities to find a missing 6-year-old. She accidentally uncovers a child trafficking ring who intends to take her down.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s 10 Most Interesting Things

What I learned doing this assignment is to look for specific items to brainstorm and choose the most exciting ones that will help convince a producer that I have a movie that will sell. I had to dig deep into what my script contains that would be of high interest to a producer and an audience.

A.
What is most unique about your villain and hero

The hero resents her ability and refutes its value for herself. She’s an intelligent, educated and elegant person with a sense of humor but highly frustrated in not being able to stop events before they happen. She appears totally together, but she is hanging psychologically on the edge.

The Antagonist is not shown as a specific individual. The story has to unravel suspect by suspect. We think it is the mother, then the beauty shop owner, and then major terrifying evidence is found and a series of life-threatening events occur that indicate this is a collection of faceless people running a child trafficking ring.

B.
Major hook of your opening scene

A woman watches the Twin Towers as they are bombed by planes and she envisioned it, but could not stop it even though she sought the help of the Secret Service and FBI.
Twenty years later, she is still trying to find a way to stop or at least change events that she envisions by working on cases to find missing children and the perverts who took them. This case in particular is very important because of the reluctance of police to believe her in a prior case.

C. Any turning points
1) The mother of the missing child lies about the child’s whereabouts, and then meets the press as if she is modeling for them so her behavior is suspect.

2) After a man has reported seeing a woman lead the child away, the beauty shop owner is caught dressed with a wig and uniform looking very much like a woman.

3) A clue of rainbow placards, rainbow dreams, is found to be a city instead, or so we think.

4) A second child is missing with the same sequence of events, so this appears to be a serial killer, but later evidence proves this wrong.

D. Emotional dilemma

The main emotional dilemma is that the Protagonist must decide if she is to continue on this dangerous path of faceless criminals with the possibility of being killed, or to walk away without finding the child.

E. Major twists
1) After a meltdown, finding herself without a GPS for directions, the psychic stops in the middle of nowhere for directions and uncovers a mobile home packed with shocking evidence.
2) Upon the arrival of the friend from Los Angeles, who is a cop, the evidence is completely, impossibly gone.

3) Although her cellphone is stolen, she has photo evidence anyway, and it is NOT on the cloud.

2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer.

– This story is inspired by a true story

– The Protagonist does not fit pre-conceived notions of what a psychic should be, feel or believe.
– This is a low to mid-budget movie.
– It is a contained movie in that it is a smaller cast with few locations.
– It is a strong female lead that could fit Amanda Tosch, Elizabeth Chambers
– Main characters have varied ethnic backgrounds.
– Westerns like Yellowstone and 1883 are hits right now, so the Warner Stallion Ranch adds a bit of cowboy.

[Lindy Baker]

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Lindy Baker’s
Producer/Manager

What I learned today is that the Producer has the goal of finding a movie he can sell and also someone that is easy to work with. The Manager is looking for a client for the long run that will take direction and has, not only the ability to write, but also has other script and ideas so that he can build a career for and make money from long term.

How will you present yourself and your project to the producer?
Before I speak with the producer, I want to do some background research, finding out what budgets their other movies had, googling for their reviews to see if they are hard to work with, checking them out on IMDBpro and making sure my genre fits with what they have produced in the past.

I think I would start with thanking them for their time. Then, that I am the person to write this story as it is based on my own true story and my supporting background. I would mention that I have 10K followers across social media. I’d give them an estimated budget, my genre, and the HOOK.
How will you present yourself and your project to the manager?
I would research background on the Manager. I’d check on IMDB for other clients they represent, in what genres and budget areas and how long they have been a manager. I want someone that knows their way around the industry. I’m more comfortable with a manager that has a relaxed manner, but knows what they are doing. I don’t respond well to those with authoritarian styles. I’d check out their social media postings to see what their style of communication is.

When I approach a manager, if I only have the one script finished, I want to be sure to let them know that I have other loglines, other outlines ready, that I am very earnest about succeeding. I want to show him/her that I have a plethora of future ideas and concepts.

I think classes that I have taken are important to mention so that it shows that I am always moving forward, elevating my skill level. I’d also mention that I have won contests, such as the 1^st comedian to win Mary’s Got Talent, and other writing experience to show my writing diversification, which is different than talking about mastering a genre.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Project and Market

What I learned today are skills in targeting the companies and individuals in the entertainment field in the correct way to sell my script and get my movie made.

Genre: Drama, Mystery
Title: Rainbow’s Secret

Concept: Inspired by my own true story. A psychic woman in the middle of an identity crisis accepts the plea of a distressed woman to find her missing 6-year-old great niece. She becomes the stalked when she discovers a series of abductions are connected and accidentally uncovers major evidence of a child pornography ring.

What I think is most attractive about my story is that it has unique characters and situations, is based on a true story. I really think I’ve written a great story with so many twists and turns that the audience won’t be able to guess who took the girl, if she is found and where. Even the title, Rainbow’s Secret, is a revelation in itself.

I’m focusing on middle producers first and actor’s production companies next. I’ve chosen middle producers as this script is low budget and has only a few locations and a small number of characters.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Marketable Components

What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of knowing the ten Components of Marketability to create a pitch that makes a producer know that s/he can sell it, that it is marketable.

Logline:

This is inspired by my own true story. A psychic woman in the middle of an identity crisis accepts the plea of a distressed woman to find her missing 6-year-old great niece. She becomes the stalked when she discovers a series of abductions are connected and accidentally uncovers major evidence of a child pornography ring.

1.) Unique/High Concept – This story is unique because of its storyline and subtext.

A majority of movies about psychics depict them as superpowers or evil doers. This script shows the psychic as a feeling, normal person. She’s born this way, and her abilities cause conflicts to being able to fit in with others. Why have these visions if you cannot stop the event? She is working toward answering what is the value of it for herself. She is not what most people expect as a psychic. It’s also different as to how the clues unravel in a way that the audience is kept guessing as to where the missing child is and who did it.

2.) True – As a person born clairvoyant (psychic), having been asked to assist some Southern California homicide departments with their investigations and also asked by family members of missing children, this is a story based on one of my cases.

3.) To elevate these two components, I would include my experience and qualifications as a psychic and my certifications/education, along with the fact that I have been in business full time since 1994.

My accolades include:

– Public Service Award by the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office for my part in establishing the 1^st Victim Witness Assistance Program in the U.S. I volunteered as a Rape & Assault counselor.

– Astroblog column in Fun & Fit Life magazine Las Vegas, Nevada (10 years)

– Named one of the Top 10 Psychics in the US by Globe Magazine

– Named Favorite Psychic Medium by readers of About.com |– Certified in Timeline Therapy, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Medical Hypnotherapy Specialist, and as an Emotion Code Practitioner.

– M.Ed. – Cross Cultural Teaching

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Marketable Components

What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of knowing the ten Components of Marketability to create a pitch that makes a producer know that s/he can sell it, that it is marketable.

Logline: This is inspired by my own true story. A psychic woman in the middle of an identity crisis accepts the plea of a distressed woman to find her missing 6-year-old great niece. She becomes the stalked when she discovers a series of abductions are connected and accidentally uncovers major evidence of a child pornography ring.

1.) Unique/High Concept – This story is unique because of its storyline and subtext.

A majority of movies about psychics depict them as superpowers or evil doers. This script shows the psychic as a feeling, normal person. She’s born this way, and her abilities cause conflicts to being able to fit in with others. Why have these visions if you cannot stop the event? She is working toward answering what is the value of it for herself. She is not what most people expect as a psychic. It’s also different as to how the clues unravel in a way that the audience is kept guessing as to where the missing child is and who did it.

2.) True – As a person born clairvoyant (psychic), having been asked to assist some Southern California homicide departments with their investigations and also asked by family members of missing children, this is a story based on one of my cases.

3.) To elevate these two components, I would include my experience and qualifications as a psychic and my certifications/education, along with the fact that I have been in business full time since 1994.

My accolades include:

– Public Service Award by the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office for my part in establishing the 1^st Victim Witness Assistance Program in the U.S. I volunteered as a Rape & Assault counselor.

– Astroblog column in Fun & Fit Life magazine Las Vegas, Nevada (10 years)

– Named one of the Top 10 Psychics in the US by Globe Magazine

– Named Favorite Psychic Medium by readers of About.com

– Certified in Timeline Therapy, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Medical Hypnotherapy Specialist, and as an Emotion Code Practitioner.

– M.Ed. – Cross Cultural Teaching

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Lindy Baker.

[Lindy Baker]

Hello everyone,
I’m Lindy Baker. I have one script written, starts on several others, and a long list of great ideas. I’ve written in one form or another all my life. I’ve signed up for this class because I like the idea of having the Live classes, love the inspiration and motivation, and want to meet other screenwriters and learn all I can about the screenwriting craft.

Other projects I am working on are 2 non-fiction books, which I am presently writing book proposals for in order to get a literary agent to help with selling them. One title is “Legacy of an Enigma: Born Psychic.” The second is an inspiring, motivating instruction and experiment- laden book on how to not only access more use of your mental capabilities, but also how to actually manifest the things you want into your life, based on my own discoveries as I worked with energies in many capacities, include with homicide depts. It is called . Super Intuition: Mind Alchemy.

The script I’m working on is “Rainbow’s Secret”, a drama, based on a true story. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. Lindy

[Lindy Baker]

1. Lindy Baker “I agree to the terms of this release form.”

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.

[Lindy Baker]

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Lindy Baker’s 10 Most
Interesting Things

What I learned doing this assignment is to look for specific items to brainstorm and choose the most exciting ones that will help convince a producer that I have a movie that will sell. I had to dig deep into what my script contains that would be of high interest to a producer and an audience.

A.
What is most unique about your villain and hero

The hero resents her ability and refutes its value for herself. She’s an intelligent, educated and elegant person with a sense of humor but highly frustrated in not being able to stop events before they happen. She appears totally together, but she is hanging psychologically on the edge.

The Antagonist is not shown as a specific individual. The story has to unravel suspect by suspect. We think it is the mother, then the beauty shop owner, and then major terrifying evidence is found and a series of life-threatening events occur that indicate this is a collection of faceless people running a child trafficking ring.

B.
Major hook of your opening scene

A woman watches the Twin Towers as they are bombed by planes and she envisioned it, but could not stop it even though she sought the help of the Secret Service and FBI.
Twenty years later, she is still trying to find a way to stop or at least change events that she envisions by working on cases to find missing children and the perverts who took them. This case in particular is very important because of the reluctance of police to believe her in a prior case.

C. Any turning points
1) The mother of the missing child lies about the child’s whereabouts, and then meets the press as if she is modeling for them so her behavior is suspect.

2) After a man has reported seeing a woman lead the child away, the beauty shop owner is caught dressed with a wig and uniform looking very much like a woman.

3) A clue of rainbow placards, rainbow dreams, is found to be a city instead, or so we think.

4) A second child is missing with the same sequence of events, so this appears to be a serial killer, but later evidence proves this wrong.

D. Emotional dilemma

The main emotional dilemma is that the Protagonist must decide if she is to continue on this dangerous path of faceless criminals with the possibility of being killed, or to walk away without finding the child.

E. Major twists
1) After a meltdown, finding herself without a GPS for directions, the psychic stops in the middle of nowhere for directions and uncovers a mobile home packed with shocking evidence.
2) Upon the arrival of the friend from Los Angeles, who is a cop, the evidence is completely, impossibly gone.

3) Although her cellphone is stolen, she has photo evidence anyway, and it is NOT on the cloud.

2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer.

– This story is inspired by a true story

– The Protagonist does not fit pre-conceived notions
of what a psychic should be, feel or believe.
– This is a low to mid-budget movie.
– It is a contained movie in that it is a smaller cast with few locations.
– It is a strong female lead that could fit Amanda Tosch, Elizabeth Chambers
– Main characters have varied ethnic backgrounds.
– Westerns like Yellowstone and 1883 are hits right now, so the Warner Stallion
Ranch adds a bit of cowboy.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Producer/Manager

What I learned today is that the Producer has the goal of finding a movie he can sell and also someone that is easy to work with. The Manager is looking for a client for the long run that will take direction and has, not only the ability to write, but also has other script and ideas so that he can build a career for.

How will you present yourself and your project to the producer?
Before I speak with the producer, I want to do some background research, finding out what budgets their other movies were, googling for their reviews to see if they are hard to work with, checking them out on IMDB and making sure they are interested in my genre.

I think I would start with thanking them for their time. Then, why I am the person to write this story and that it is based on my own true story. I might mention that I have 10K followers across social media. I’d give them an estimated budget, my genre, and the HOOK.

How will you present yourself and your project to the manager?
Again, I would research background on the Manager. I’d check on IMDB for other clients they represent, in what genres and budget areas and how long they have been a manager. I want someone that knows their way around the industry. I’m more comfortable with a manager that has a relaxed manner, but knows what they are doing. I don’t respond well to those with dictatorial styles. I’d check out their social media postings to see what their style of communication is.

When I approach a manager, if I only have the one script finished, I want to be sure to let them know that I have other loglines, other outlines ready, that I am very earnest about succeeding. I want to show him/her that I have a plethora of future ideas and concepts. I think classes that I have taken are important to mention so that it shows that I am always moving forward, elevating my skill level. I’d also mention that I have won contests, such as the 1^st comedian to win Mary’s Got Talent, and other writing experience to show my writing diversification, which is different than talking about mastering a genre.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Marketable Components

What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of having many of the ten Components of Marketability in your script in order to create a pitch that makes a producer know that s/he can sell it.

Logline: This is based on my own true events..

Even though she is in the middle of an identity crisis, a psychic accepts a woman’s plea to find her missing 6-year-old great niece and finds herself facing a treacherous conspiracy of faceless people who are orchestrating a child trafficking ring.

There are at least 2 components for this script.

1.) Unique – This story is unique because of its two major themes.
One is that this psychic isn’t liking being psychic, and finding herself stuck with it, she is reaching for something inside her to change so that she accepts it as something useful to have and not just something that others are fascinated with – something in it for HER. I haven’t seen any movies of this kind. They always want the psychic to be evil, or solving a mystery, or religious guru of some sort. Even the few people who have been allowed to see the first pages in a writer’s group I belong to wanted a Protagonist with her shi*t together. This story is from her eyes and feelings, doubts and hurdles. She is not what most people expect as a psychic. It’s also different in how the clues keep the audience guessing of where the missing child is and who did it.

2.) True – As a person born clairvoyant (psychic), having been asked to assist some Southern California homicide departments with their investigations and also asked by family members of missing children, this is a story based on one of my cases. My accolades include named one of the Top 10 Psychics in the US by Globe Magazine and a Public Service Award by the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office for my part in establishing the 1^st Victim Witness Assistance Program in the U.S. I volunteered as a Rape & Assault counselor.

There are other components also, but rather than list them here, I’ll move on to the next class.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Project and Market

What I learned today are skills in targeting the companies and individuals in the entertainment field in the correct way to sell my script and get my movie made.

Genre: Drama, Mystery
Title: Rainbow’s Secret

Concept: This is based on my own true story.

Even though she is in the middle of an identity crisis, a psychic accepts a woman’s plea to find her missing 6-year-old great niece and finds herself facing a treacherous conspiracy of faceless people who are orchestrating a child trafficking ring.

What I think is most attractive about my story is that it has unique characters and situations, is based on a true story and contains a number of twists and turns that will leave audiences guessing at the outcome.

Since I have a manager in mind that I’m building a relationship with, for this class I am focusing on producers first and actor’s production companies next.

[Lindy Baker]

I am Lindy Baker. 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.

[Lindy Baker]

Hello, I’m Lindy Baker. I have 2 scripts in the works but none finished. I’m hoping for information that helps cement all I have been studying in the last couple years in a way that I can find other groups to give notes, and ways to connect with others in the industry. I’ve written in various capacities all my life, such as an advice column in Las Vegas’ Fun & Fit Life magazine for 10 years, and a Standup comedian for 6 years. I love movies and always wanted to write one. Now I want to also have it produced. I’m a Clairvoyant Life Coach and Emotion Code Practitioner for 40 years and have some high concept stories from my real life adventures with homicide departments and looking for missing children. I hope to meet some of you and stay current in this class as I sometimes get very busy with all this networking.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Key Business Decisions
What I learned from this lesson is the main list of factors to keep in mind as a guide to what the producer is going to be focusing on. Broken down it is easier to identify and adjust as the producer makes changes.

1. Give us the decisions that are in your current High Budget script:
– Genre – Drama/Comedy
– Title Yellow Rose
– Concept
The Yellow Rose
This dark comedy, Mom’s Yellow Rose, is based on a true experience. When an elderly lady is diagnosed with terminal cancer after being partially paralyzed by a stroke, her two adopted children must decide her care in her final hours. Her son is a lifetime convict anxious to collect his inheritance and her daughter, who intends to protect her mother from his sociopathic mentality, possesses a “secret weapon” to derail his greedy ambitions.

– Audience
Males and females above 25, comedy and action lovers,

– Budget
Budget 5 – 10 Million

– Lead Characters
Eddie is a ruthless criminal, convicted and jailed for a series of violent crimes since his early teens. In prison he is considered a “top dog.” He has a soft side for his sister, who is also adopted, mixed with fear of her. He is released from prison in Texas to care for his mother in her dying days.

Linnie is a soft-spoken housewife/Mom type — until you push her buttons. She can outfox any fox. And strangely, she knows what you are going to do before you do it.

– Journey / Character Arc
Eddie is strong, and virile. He’s also a drug addict who views his dying mother as an opportunity for legal drugs like morphine and Demerol, and a bankroll contained in a pile of high limit credit cards. Circumstances force them to drive their mother from Texas to California in her motor home. Trapped in that small space, he is forced to interact with both women and undergoes a sensitivity training and lots of lessons that get to him worse than prison life.

Linnie is pressured by her husband to return to California, but she can’t leave her adopted mother to suffer at the hands of her criminal brother, Eddie. She’s forced to engage in some shrewd strategies to maintain control of Eddie and convince him to help her repair the motor home and get it on the road to California.

Opening / Ending
A muscular tough looking man in his 40s shoves a duffle bag in the back seat of a van pushing the busty, broad shouldered female driver to the passenger side. A large Afghan hound suddenly sticks his head from the back, barking to protect the woman. He shoves the dog so hard that it flips over and growls, but pulls back in fear. “Why the fuck did you bring the dogs.”

Eddie throws the motor home into gear and speeds away, clucking to himself that he not only got the insurance money, but he also scored the diamond ring and has it all stored in the motor home safe. Linnie reaches into her pocket as she watches him leave, and pulls out the key to the motor home safe, and then the diamond ring. Then she reaches into her bra and pulls out a handful of cash. “A promise to a dying woman is worth breaking some rules.”

2. Tell us which of those decisions you could improve to make your script more marketable.
I’d tighten various areas of the budget to keep the road travel in place, since that can be the most expensive part of a budget.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Specialty — Drama

What I learned doing this assignment is that each movie genre follows specific conventions that guide the writer to what producers will expect to be in the script. It is also important to develop a strong knowledge of that genre by studying movies, reading scripts, etc. Then you’ll be able to go to the producers and get work by showing that genre is your specialty. Having a specialty moves you to the top of the list over writers who don’t have a specific genre.

1. Tell us your specialty.
For this class, I am focusing on Drama because the concept of my screenplay is a dark comedy.

My other screenplay Rainbow’s Secret, is a high concept crime mystery/drama, inspired by a gripping true story of a psychic who reluctantly accepts a woman’s plea to find her missing 6-year-old niece and finds herself enmeshed in a complex set of shocking situations shaped by an extensive group of faceless people orchestrating a child trafficking ring.

However, my real specialty is Comedy since I am an award-winning Standup comedian, who has performed in Las Vegas and California, known for my one-liners.

2. Do a quick Google search for “top (genre) movies.” Select two of the top movies in your genre to watch.

My first choice was PIG, categorized as a Drama/Thriller, starring Nicholas Cage, Alex Wolff and Adam Arkin.
Second choice, Palmer

3. As you watch each movie, take notes on how that movie fulfills the key parts of your genre.

4. For each movie, tell us the following:

Genre: Drama/Thriller
Title: PIG
PIG presents a very different concept in that the movie is about a truffle finding pig, owned by a ragged looking recluse, living in a cabin in the wild of Oregon. It turns out that truffles are worth a lot of money, highly sought after for on the menu. The high stakes come from Rob Feld’s search for his pig after he is attacked and left for dead and the pig is kidnapped. Rob’s journey is about getting his pig back. The plot fulfills the conventions of Drama as it includes challenging and emotionally charged situations, from rage, suffering a beating for money, a love story about Amir’s parents major memory of this scrumptious truffles dinner, visits to people from the past that fill in who is Rob Feld, little pieces of the story, dropped like bread crumbs for Hansel and Gretel to follow to the end when it is discovered that the pig has been dead all along. It is a character driven journey, full of real-life situations.

Outline of the movie, highlighting the parts that fulfill the genre:
OUTLINE
One of the things I found interesting was that the acts are introduced with names, which later in reflection we can see stand for clues as to who the mysterious main character is. The titles are: ‘Rustic Mushroom Tart,’ ‘Mom’s French Toast and Deconstructed Scallops,’ and ‘A Bird, a Bottle, and a Salted Baguette.’

CHARACTER DRIVEN JOURNEY
Initially, we don’t know who this man living in the deep woods is. Throughout most of the film he is leading a hermit-like existence and says nothing. Nicolas Cage is found ravaging through the forest accompanied by his only companion, a pet pig who helps him find and locate truffles in the dense Oregon forest. It turns out that truffles are highly sought after and worth a lot of money. Who knew?

There is no dialogue until a young man named Amir (Alex Wolff), who visits every Thursday, shows up with supplies for Cage in exchange for a supply of truffles. Amir is very talkative and lets the audience know that the man is named Rob, and questions the reasons that Rob lives this isolated life. When he gets nothing in response, and makes it clear it’s all about the money, he drives away.

That night Rob’s cabin is attacked and his pet pig is stolen. He’s been knocked out and doesn’t waken until the morning when he fires up his beat-up truck to head to town to try to find who took his pig. When Rob gets to town, we find that he has been living in the woods for more than ten years, has no point of contact and seems lost in how to approach this tragedy of the pig and where to look for it so he calls Amir who joins him in his quest. The audience is led to believe this pig is sought after for its ability to sniff out truffles.

Rob and Amir go to see one of the big truffles dealers that Amir sells to. Then they are led to some drugged up hippies that seem to be involved in the theft. The hippies had the pig but don’t know how to find the person that wanted it.

Next it is revealed that Robin Feld used to be a big deal of some kind in the town, though we still don’t know why. Rob goes to see an old acquaintance, Edgar (Darius Pierce), who he thinks might have heard something about the pig kidnapping. Rob is frustrated because he feels that his name used to mean something to people, but now no one cares.

The next adventure is looking for an underground fight arena where Edgar organizes fights for the restaurant staff in the area. Rob still has blood all over his face and beard, and now wants to be involved in this fight. (I’m frankly lost as to what this has to do with the unveiling of the plot, except this does seem to be a man’s man movie.). Rob walks up to the fight board and writes his name down for the next round. At this point, we are misled to believe that Rob will end up beating the shit out of people and getting some major headway in the search for his pig. However, that doesn’t happen, and Robin gets beaten to a pulp. He does manage to get an important clue though.

Amir and Rob then go to a restaurant and we start seeing that the name Robin Feld carries some weight, even if we still don’t know why.

We find out that he was the best, most renowned chef of Portland. People adored and looked up to him and the food he made, that had the ability to change the lives and moods of people in trouble. Interesting, a foodie Chef. The story has built him up to be some kind of fierce person to deal with and we find out he was a chef. What a twist!

Rob’s pig was stolen by Amir’s dad, Darius because he didn’t want Amir to be a bigger businessman than him. Darius hired the hippie couple to steal Rob’s pig to put Amir out of business, as if he is protective of his son.

There is a lot of grief and darkness in this film, not only depicted by their emotions, but also it is filmed mostly in dark, dull colors, and Nicolas Cage stays filthy dirty throughout. I mention this because when Rob is creating this special meal for Darius, he has never washed his face, nor his hands and it distracted me from being able to immerse myself in the story, especially when he is cooking.

It comes to light that when Rob’s wife died, he couldn’t handle his grief and that is why he walked away from being this renowned chef and went to hide in the woods. His wife had died and all he had left of her was a voice on a tape that he could not listen to except for the first few words. It unravels in the next scenes that the voice on the tape is his dead wife, Lori (Cassandra Violet) who never appears on screen.

HIGH STAKES FROM WITHIN: At this point we find out that the pig isn’t important because it finds truffles, because we can find them by looking at the trees, but because he loves the pig.

When Rob realizes that it is Darius who knows the whereabouts of his pig, he politely asks him to return her back. The angry, enraged, and grieving Darius tells him to leave and offers Rob money instead. Rob declines and leaves. The audience discovers that this fabulous meal that Amir is always talking about that his parents had was made by Rob. Rob cooks the same meal for Darius, never washing his hands or face for some unknown reason and in a moment of nostalgia over the meal, Dairus tells Rob that the pig died right away mishandled by the hippies. In an overly dramatic gesture, Rob falls to the floor. Rob feels he caused the death of the pig by the chaos his looking for it created.

He goes back to the cabin where he is finally able to play the entire tape with the voice of his dead wife, Lori.

PALMER
Genre: Drama
Title: PALMER
How it delivered on the genre conventions:
Character Driven Journey: Palmer’s star, Justin Timberlake, ended up being the lesser of the characters. The character of Sam, played by Ryder Allen was really the character driving most everything in the film.
Emotionally Resonates: All of the characters had their struggles. Sam dealt with bullying because he is blooming in femininity. Palmer is dealing with life after being in prison 12 years, Shelly, Sam’s Mom, is dealing with a drug addiction.
Challenging, Emotionally-Charged Situations: All of the characters have struggles to combat.
Real-Life Situations: All of the situations are very realistic today.

Outline of the movie, highlighting the parts that fulfill the genre:
Eddie Palmer (Justin Timberlake) has spent 12 years in jail and now is freed to live with his grandmother, Vivian (June Squibb) who has trust issues and is very dedicated to her church. Palmer is able to navigate while reconnecting with friends and living with the grandmother. He’s able to find a job as a janitor in the elementary school.

Next door to his grandmother’s house lives Shelly (Juno Temple) and her young son, Sam (Ryder Allen) and they become a part of Palmer’s new life, too. Shelly struggles with addiction, and she often leaves young Sam to stay with Vivian.

Shelly doesn’t come back for some time. In the meantime, Vivian dies in her sleep leaving Palmer with Sam. At first he’s bothered about the boy and his attraction to girl’s toys and dresses, princesses and fairies, but eventually defends Sam when bullies at school attack him.

Palmer has a short temper and appears to have no fears of returning to jail as a result. He attacks a close friend who physically abuses the boy and smears makeup on his face.

Although Palmer appears to be pretty tough, he softens about Sam and becomes a father figure to Sam, who is the kind of kid that just stays positive and upbeat even though he is faced with one disturbance after another. Palmer finally embraces Sam’s dressing in girl’s clothing and actually gets him a princess outfit.

Sam’s teacher, Maggie Hayes (Alisha Wainwright) helps guide Palmer in the do’s and don’ts of child raising. She and Palmer start a relationship.

Shelly finally returns after a long time and intends to take Sam with her. Palmer visits the courts to become a foster parent, but his past conviction prevents it. Eventually he is able to convince Shelly it is to Sam’s best interest to stay with him while she gets rehabbed for her drug addiction.

What I enjoyed about the movie is that it allows Sam to “come out” as if it is a natural progression without the normal genderal intensity we see in most movies.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Credibility is Going Up!

What I learned doing this assignment is that Linkedin is King. I’m on all social media for some time but now I need to make sure that the focus is screenwriting and work more on Linkedin, which I am not fond of. At least I now have a focus for the future.

1. Based upon the Credibility Model in this lesson, fill in the Credibility Checklist to show us your current credibility.
———-

4. Your Network
How many producers are in your network? Approximately 30 or more
How many Connections do you have who are connected to producers? Unable to estimate
6. Borrowed Credibility
– Represented by an agent or manager
– Working with a producer
– Connected to a star Several possibilities
– Connected to a funding source

7. IMDB CREDITS
Go to [url=”http://imdb.com/“]http:/<wbr>/IMDB.com[/url] and search your name. What credits show up there for you?
Credit as actress/writer for Show Talent Talent Show

2. Make a list of possible things you can do to increase your credibility in the future.
Continue adding the names from my networking groups that are producers, etc. to the excel sheet I started over a year ago.

Send a monthly newsletter to those people on my list.

Post more articles on LinkedIn about screenwriting.

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker’s Projects and Insights

Project 1 – An idea I would like to create.

This dark comedy, Mom’s Yellow Rose, is based on a true experience. When an elderly lady is diagnosed with terminal cancer after being partially paralyzed by a stroke, her two adopted children must decide her care in her final hours. Her son is a lifetime convict anxious to collect his inheritance and her daughter, who intends to protect her mother from his sociopathic mentality, possesses a “secret weapon” to derail his greedy ambitions.

$5 – 10 million

Project 2 – A finished script
Inspired by a true story, a high-class divorcee on a quest to locate a missing 6-year-old girl is blindsided when evidence leads to an elaborate child trafficking network involved with the case, but what they don’t know is that she’s more than a little psychic and can find what she’s looking for.

Tell us what you learned from the opening teleconference.

The opening teleconference makes it clear that a spec script is all about the writer and their point of view and preferences. On the other hand, for paid writing projects it is all about being able to see the vision that the producer has for his movie and being able to match that vision and sometimes help them see the vision clear.

1. The steps are: Connecting with Producers (Last thing that you will do in the class.)

You have a spec script you are marketing and were pitching them and let them know you are available for assignments.

2. The audition
Producers have to audition you to find out if you can write well. So you offer to do a script for them.

3. Making the deal.
Get the steps: Treatment outline, polish, If you do a first draft you should at least get some kind of credit. Pricing is confusing for people.

4. Writing the screenplay.

5. Get the movie made.

[Lindy Baker]

1. Lindy Baker

2 “I agree to the terms of this release form.”

3. Please leave the entire text below to confirm what you agree to.

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.

[Lindy Baker]

Hello everyone,

Rainbow’s Secret is my first screenplay, which is based on a true story. Though not a newcomer to writing, I’m finally at a place in my life fully focused on and determined to get as many of my concepts developed as I can.

I’ve taken the Pro 76 class, Subtext 55, and Comedy Writing from ScreenwritingU. I believe any of the classes offered can assist me in producing the best writing possible. I think this class can move me forward in learning important concepts for my screenwriting and also to earn at it, too.

Honestly, from the time I stepped onto Earth everything about my life is special, strange, unique and unusual. So far, I have 150,000 words of an autobiography called Legacy of an Enigma: Born Psychic. My issue has been what to leave out of my story because there is so much of interest to tell. Also, I’m the oldest of 13 children. I never had a baby doll. I had live babies to care for. For the last 6 years I performed standup comedy in California and Nevada. I’ve worked in tandem with many homicide departments and prosecutors offices on some of their cases as a Professional Psychic, especially in search of missing children. As a Spirit Medium, I see and speak to ghosts. Maybe you can see what I mean in my first sentence about everything in my life being unusual.

I’m thoroughly excited about this class…so much so that it is 2:27 am and I’m attempting to get caught up on the classes after a cyclone of a local move here in Las Vegas where I have lived for the last 4 years. I’d love to get to know you. Lindy

[Lindy Baker]

Lindy Baker Comedy plots

What I’ve learned doing this assignment is that characters and actions that don’t fit together can be funny just because of the pairings or the situation.

1. Fish out of water
A middle aged psychic is forced to take a job at a day care center.

2. Incongruent pairings
Her boss is a 25-year-old college student, majoring in psychology.

3. Hilarious purpose.
She uses her abilities to stay one step ahead of him when he tries to get her fired.

[Lindy Baker]

Title: Lindy Baker’s Funny Scene!

“What I learned from this assignment is a reinforcement of my many classes in comedy. I’ve performed Standup for 6 years. I continue to take classes and took this class to discover any techniques that this ScreenwritingU class might reveal. I’ve learned to get the audience thinking in one direction and then shift them to another. This scene is from Hall Pass, written by Peter and Robert Farelly, Pete Jones and Kevin Barnett. I’m a fan of the writing of the Farelly brothers.

SETUP Do you recognize who this stud is in the blue shorts right here? That’s me the summer I got out of college.

PAYOFF Wow, Dad, you used to have muscles.

SETUP Well, I still got a few.

PAYOFF Where?

PAYOFF They’re hibernating.

SETUP Who’s that girl?

That’s Mommy.

PAYOFF No, the young one standing next to you.

That’s Mommy.

SETUP AND PAYOFF How come Mommy doesn’t wear a bikini anymore? Is it because of her fat ass?

Yeah. I guess.

SETUP What? No. Who said Mommy has a fat ass?

PAYOFF Mommy did.

Words hurt, Gunnar. Hey, honey. We better get a move on. We gotta meet up with Fred and Grace soon.

No, I know, I know. I’m trying.

How long do you think you’re gonna be?

Uh, 45 minutes? SETUP Less, if you help with the kids.

PAYOFF No, 45 minutes is good.

And this photograph is of me in high school. I’m kidding. A joke. Come on. Okay, come on. Bath time. Time to scrub some backs and clean some cracks.

SETUP I miss going out with you on Saturday nights.

PAYOFF I wanna have a new policy of going out six nights a week without the kids.

I think it would be good for us to go out one night a week… – …where it’s just you and me. It would be– – You gotta be kidding. –

What? –

You just checked out that girl’s butt. –

Who did? –

You did. And it’s rude.

What? Do you think she noticed? –

I noticed.

[Lindy Baker]

Hello everyone, I’m Lindy Baker. I’ve been a writer all my life, however this is my first focused attempt at writing a screenplay. I’ve performed Standup Comedy for the last 6 years in California and Nevada. I’m hoping to learn any techniques that Hal might know that I am not already aware of. I read minds…so I’m single.

[Lindy Baker]

I agree to the terms of this release form.

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.