Paul Hallasy
Forum Replies Created
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Paul Hallasy’s Marketing Campaign
• Marketing Campaign #6: Marketing to Producers
Using IMDB Pro, Select:
Titles: Top Moviemeter
Title details:
Movie
Genre: comedy
Production & Release Details: 8/10/2014-8/10/2024
Box office:
Production budget range: $15-40M
I thought of adding the word “gay” under Title Details ((even though that’s not the main focus of the script) to narrow the scope. Good idea? Another word I considered was “80s” or “80s music.”
Email producers I find above. If no email address, use physical mail. (I work M-F 9-6.) -
Paul Hallasy’s Query Letter Draft ONE
How far would you go to see a band before they die?
Paul is a middle-aged, gay stand-up comedian whose dream is to attend the New Wave festival of ’80s bands in LA. Unfortunately, he gets laid off from his day job and also has to deal with a homophobic neighbor and a health crisis that lands him in the hospital.Will he be able to attend his dream concert, or will he have to sell his ticket and give up on his dream?
Although he does eventually make it to the New Wave festival, when he returns to New York he’s still unemployed and being harassed by his neighbor.
Now he has to decide: Is living in New York really worth it or should he go back to LA?
If you’d like to read my screenplay, please let me know.
BIO: I’m a stand-up comedian and the author of a book, a blog and a one-man show. -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 10
Paul Hallasy’s Target Market
1. Make a list of five or more movies that are similar to yours and five actors that you might want to play your lead characters.
80 for Brady
Bros
Trainwreck
Wayne’s World
Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss
Simon Pegg
Paul Giamatti
Jared Leto
Wanda Sykes
Tilda Swinton
2. Using the Targeting process above, go to http://www.imdb.com and find 50 to 100 producers (or more) for your specific project.
3. Answer the question, “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put at the top of your work.
4. Post your title, logline, genre, and the answers to #1 and #2 above on the forums.
All the Bands in the ‘80s
80 for Brady, but younger and with music
comedy -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 9
Paul Hallasy Phone Pitch
Write out your phone pitch along with answers to the questions.
1. Tell us which of the four strategies you are going to use to open your pitch:
• Lead with credibility.
• Lead with a great title.
• Lead with a strong business hook.
• Lead with a High Concept. How far would you go to see a band before they die?
2. Give us your script for phone call pitches, like I did above.
3. Give us a one or two sentence answer to the questions a producer may ask:
• What’s the budget range? $15-$40 million
• Who do you see in the main roles? Simon Pegg and Paul Giamatti
• How many pages is the script? 74
• Who else has seen this? I just started shopping it around
• Why do you think this fits our company? You produce comedies in the $15-$40 million range.
• How does the movie end? The main character leaves in the middle of his stand-up set and flies to Los Angeles.
4. Answer the question “What I learned from this lesson is…?” and place that at the top of your work. -
Paul Hallasy’s Pitch Fest Pitch
Create your entire Pitch Fest Pitch.
1. Tell us your credibility. I’m a stand-up comedian of over 20 years and the author of a book, a blog and a one-man show.
2. Tell us your genre and title. Comedy: All The Bands in the ‘80s
3. What is your one or two sentence hook? How far would you go to see a band before they die?
4. Please give your one or two sentence answer to each of these questions:
• What is the budget range? $20 million
• What actors do you like for the lead roles? Simon Pegg, Paul Giamatti
Give me the acts of the story.
Act 1: Paul is a middle-aged, gay stand-up comedian whose dream is to attend the New Wave festival of ’80s bands in LA. Unfortunately, he gets laid off from his day job and also has to deal with a homophobic neighbor and a health crisis that lands him in the hospital.
Act 2: Although he does eventually make it to the New Wave festival, when he returns to New York he’s still unemployed and being harassed by his neighbor.
• How does it end? (setup / payoff). Paul leaves in the middle of his comedy set for a flight to Los Angeles.
Credibility questions What have you done? I’m a stand-up comedian of over 20 years and the author of a book, a blog and a one-man show. -
Paul Hallasy’s Query Letter
How far would you go to see a band before they die?
Paul is a middle-aged, gay stand-up comedian whose dream is to attend the New Wave festival of ’80s bands in LA. Unfortunately, he gets laid off from his day job and also has to deal with a homophobic neighbor and a health crisis that lands him in the hospital.
Will he be able to attend his dream concert, or will he have to sell his ticket and give up on his dream?
Although he does eventually make it to the New Wave festival, when he returns to New York he’s still unemployed and being harassed by his neighbor.
Is living in New York really worth it after the experience he had in LA?
If you’d like to read my screenplay, please let me know.
BIO: I’m a stand-up comedian of over 20 years and the author of a book, a blog and a one-man show.
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ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 6
Tell us your High Concept and Elevator Pitch.
1. To find your main hook, give us what is most unique about your lead character’s journey from a big picture perspective. Paul’s goal is to see every band that came out in the ‘80s before they die.
2. How can you tell it in the most interesting way possible?
Have you ever wanted to see someone before they died? Have you ever missed the opportunity to see someone before they died? How far would you go to see someone before they died?This is the story of Paul, whose goal is to see every band that came out in the ’80s before they die.
This is in spite of losing his job, landing in the hospital and being harassed by his homophobic neighbor.
• Dilemma
• Main Conflict
• What’s at stake?
• Goal/Unique Opposition3. Using the 10 Components of Marketability, what is your Elevator Pitch? 80 for Brady, but younger and with music
4. After you answer questions 1 – 3, use AI to brainstorm other possible ways to generate a High Concept for your project.
I’m finishing up a story that answers the question, How far would you go to see someone before they died? -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 5
Subject line: Paul Hallasy’s Synopsis Hooks
The key to your success is to select HOOKS to tell your story through.
1. Take your list of 10 COM and 10 MIT for your story.
1. 80 for Brady, but younger and with music
2. 80 for Brady meets Wayne’s World
2. A. What is most unique about your villain and hero? My hero is a gay, 62-year-old stand-up comedian. My villain is a 62-year-old homophobe who lives in the same building as my hero and has been harassing him for 37 years!
3. B. Major hook of your opening scene? Paul loses his temp job shortly after buying tickets to the Cruel World festival.
4. C. Any turning points? After finally making it to the Cruel World festival (and getting a job), Paul leaves New York in the middle of his stand-up set and flies to Los Angeles.
5. D. Emotional dilemma? Will Paul make it to the concert in spite of losing his job and landing in the hospital, New York vs. LA, trying to find a job when the job-hunting process is riddled with bullshit
6. E. Major twists? See C
7. F. Reversals? See C
8. G. Character betrayals? Ivan sort of “betrays” Paul by saying he can’t help him any more with his job search.
9. H. Or any big surprises? See C. Also, Iggy Pop turns up in several scenes, Paul plays with The Cure onstage at Madison Square Garden, Paul imagines living in a scene from the movie “10,” only Bo Derek and the women at a party in the movie are replaced by men, Paul imagines ordering a helicopter to LA from the roof of the building where he’s interviewing for a job. (These are dream sequences.)2. Select 6 – 10 hooks that could give an overview of your story.
Paul’s goal is to see every band that came out in the ‘80s before they die. Shortly after buying tickets to the Cruel World festival (an ‘80s music festival), Paul loses his temp job. Paul embarks on a job hunt, even though the job-hunting process is riddled with bullshit and his best friend Ivan says he can no longer help him. At the same time, Paul is harassed by his homophonic neighbor (who has been harassing him for 37 years). The stress of losing his job, combined with being harassed by his neighbor, and also having an important comedy show coming up, winds up giving Paul a throat abscess, for which he has to be hospitalized. Hanging over his head this whole time is the question of whether or not he will make it to the Cruel World festival.
Two weeks after being released from the hospital, Paul attends the Cruel World festival, but he’s still unemployed. He finally lands a job and returns to the comedy stage, but realizes that the stress of living in New York doesn’t compare to the Hollywood vision he’s been given of Los Angeles, so he leaves New York in the middle of his stand-up set and flies to LA.
3. Organize those hooks into a sequence that makes sense for the story.
4. Using those hooks as an outline, write a first draft of your synopsis.
5. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
6. Include your list of hooks and your first draft. Post those in the forums. -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 4
Subject Line: Paul Hallasy’s 10 Most Interesting Things
1. Go through your project and see which of these specific hooks you have:
• A. What is most unique about your villain and hero? My hero is a gay, 62-year-old stand-up comedian. My villain is a 62-year-old homophobe who lives in the same building as my hero and has been harassing him for 37 years!
• B. Major hook of your opening scene? Paul loses his temp job shortly after buying tickets to the Cruel World festival.
• C. Any turning points? After finally making it to the Cruel World festival (and getting a job), Paul leaves New York in the middle of his stand-up set and flies to Los Angeles.
• D. Emotional dilemma? Will Paul make it to concert in spite of losing his job and landing in the hospital, New York vs. LA, trying to find a job when the job-hunting process is riddled with bullshit
• E. Major twists? See C
• F. Reversals? See C
• G. Character betrayals? Ivan sort of “betrays” Paul by saying he can’t help him any more with his job search.
• H. Or any big surprises? See C. Also, Iggy Pop turns up in several scenes, Paul plays with The Cure onstage at Madison Square Garden, Paul imagines living in a scene from the movie “10,” only Bo Derek and the women at a party are replaced by men, Paul imagines ordering a helicopter to LA from the roof of the building where he’s interviewing for a job. (These are dream sequences.)
2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer. The Cruel World festival this script is based on has a built-in audience of 70,000 people. Also, if there were a soundtrack album, it would be similar to two of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
3. Organize both and select the 10 most interesting things. Post those to the forums.
4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and post it at the top of your work. -
Subject Line: Paul Hallasy Producer/Manager
Imagine you have two meetings set up — with a producer and then with a manager. What would you say and do differently based upon this model?
Answer two questions:
1. How will you present yourself and your project to the producer? I have a project that has a built-in audience of at least 70,000 people and has a soundtrack that’s similar to two of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
2. How will you present yourself and your project to the manager? In addition to this screenplay, I’ve been a stand-up comedian for over 20 years. I’ve written a book, a blog and a one-man show.
3. Answer the question “What I learned today is…?” Agents are only good for helping you negotiate a contract. Managers are good for managing your career. -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 2
• Subject Line: (Paul Hallasy) Marketable Components:
I. Similarity to a box-office success. Two of the biggest-selling albums of all time are soundtracks: Saturday Night Fever and Grease. I see this as a film/soundtrack.
• J. A great role for a bankable actor. Although, ideally, I’d like to star in this myself, a bankable actor I had in mind is Simon Pegg. Another more bankable actor (but perhaps not as good a fit for the lead character) is Paul Giamatti.
Pick one or two components and tell us how your script already fulfills them AND how you might highlight these two in order to elevate the pitch.
1. Tell us your current logline. 80 for Brady, but younger and with music
2. Look through the 10 Components of Marketability and pick one or two that have the most potential for selling this script.
• A. Unique.
• B. Great Title
• C. True.
• D. Timely — connected to some major trend or event.
• E. It’s a first.
• F. Ultimate.
• G. Wide audience appeal.
• H. Adapted from a popular book.
• I. Similarity to a box-office success. Two of the biggest-selling albums of all time are soundtracks: Saturday Night Fever and Grease. I see this as a film/soundtrack.
• J. A great role for a bankable actor. Although, ideally, I’d like to star in this myself, a bankable actor I had in mind is Simon Pegg. Another more bankable actor (but perhaps not as good a fit for the lead character) is Paul Giamatti.
3. Do a quick brainstorm session about ways to elevate those two components for this script and tell us how you might pitch the script through the two components. The music festival this script is based on (the Cruel World festival) has a built-in audience of 70,000 people. Simon Pegg is widely known because of Mission Impossible, but probably not as expensive as the more well-known Paul Giamatti.
Example: If you say your script has a great role, in one or two sentences, tell us how you can emphasize that role as you pitch your concept. My lead character is a fan of ‘80s bands (particularly those from the UK) and a stand-up comedian. Simon Pegg is a comedic actor from the UK.
4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and post it at the top of your work.
Subject Line: (Your name’s) Marketable Components (in the first line of your post) -
ASSIGNMENT_Lesson 1
Title: (Paul Hallasy) Project and Market (comedy producers for $20 million films)
1. Give us your Genre, Title, and Concept. Comedy/Drama, All the Bands in the ‘80s, 80 for Brady, but younger and with music2. In one or two sentences, tell us what you think is most attractive about your story.
The “stars” of my screenplay are the music and musicians I hope to feature.
3. Tell us which you will target FIRST — managers, producers, or actor’s production company — and why you picked that target. I’ve already targeted managers and producers (and agents) and a few actor’s production companies. My biggest need is for a producer because I can’t afford to film this myself.
4. Answer the question “What I learned today is…?” Agents are only good for negotiating contracts; managers are good for managing your career.
Title: (Your name here) Project and Market (put in first line of your post) -
My name is Paul Hallasy. I’ve written a screenplay called “All the Bands in the ’80s” and am trying to find a producer. I just started class yesterday (8/5).