About
The first screenplay I ever wrote was a final project for my Masters at the University of Minnesota. It was a hack job. The reason I call it a hack job is because it was really a stage musical simply converted to a screenplay using Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000.
What bothers me most about such a deceptive act is that no one at the University of Minnesota ever questioned it. This was largely because of two reasons: one, I know no one ever read it and two, no one in the Liberal Studies department would know the difference between a screenplay and a stageplay.
The reason for such a confessional intro is that I believe movies are not just about entertainment. They are also about the quest for truth.
I remain unproduced (as of November 2006), but I’m no longer a hacker. I knew what I was doing at the time and I knew I’d get away with it, which upsets me even more. But, that’s in the past.
That quasi-screenplay, by the way, is currently undergoing serious revision.
My second screenplay was real, although it’s story is equally as frightful. I was covering the Las Vegas film scene (and that’s a bit overblown) for a couple of publications when I got hired by Marilee Lear to write a full length comedy. Marilee Lear ran a top casting agency in Vegas and for years had tried to launch a movie production company. It was a thrill of a lifetime for me. I wasn’t getting paid Hollywood/WGA rates, but I did get paid $7500.
I wrote it in an amazing 3 weeks, at exactly 120 pages, something that will never happen again, to be sure. But then, no one’s offered me 6 figures and if they do, I just might write the damn thing in overnight.
It wasn’t a great script, but definately serviceable. Considering it a draft prior to production, I knew revisions would come once production began. Sadly, it never got the chance to grow. The very day I handed it in, Marilee told me her daughter was going to rewrite it. I knew right then, the script was dead.
But the experience launched a 1000 scripts. Since then, I have numerous scripts-in-progress. I became very serious about screenwriting. I read every book I could find and downloaded tons of scripts from the Internet for analysis. I started tearing movies apart act by act, scene by scene, shot by shot and beat by beat.
My love of film started a long time ago. I am first and foremost a songwriter. In November 2006, I launched JerryFlattum.com, a site featuring original songs and SwitchTrak, a library of production music. The first batch of tunes I ever wrote were for a musical.
I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the time and it was music, dance and theater that sent me off to New York. The reason for calling my blog, “Adventures of a Screenwriter,” is because screenwriting is most definately an adventure.
New York turned out to be a series of twists and turns that with my best dramatic hat on, made me feel like Indiana Jones. I ended up working for an independent movie company, but ironically at the time, had no intentions of writing a screenplay. I worked in a variety of capacities, including a few bit parts, but my goal was to write a theme song. It never happened.
I ended up working for Samuel French Play Publishers and in turn, wrote the score for my second musical. The show ran for 3 weeks at the Nat Horne Theater on 42nd Street. That too, fizzled out and I ended up at CBS working in Music Operations.
From there I ended up performing as a singer/keyboardist and 1/2 of a duo and sometimes trio in numerous clubs throughout the New York metro area. Once again I missed the brass ring by nearly scoring a recording contract. The duo was me and my x-wife.
After the divorce (some scenes invariably get cut) I ended up at the Harry Fox Agency/National Music Publishers Association. After a year as a database administrator and getting fired for blowing the whistle on my boss, I returned to Minneapolis with my tail between my legs.
I obtained a BS in Songwriting and a Masters in Liberal Studies from the University of Minnesota. During my educational quest I played in a variety of coverbands and started freelance writing.
After my second divorce (yeah, I know) it was off to Las Vegas. Film was always a passion but more so for songwriting than screenwriting. Well, as mentioned at the top of this intro, freelance writing got me into the Vegas film scene, getting paid for my first screenplay, and launching my career as a songwriter, screenwriter and freelance writer.
In addition to JerryFlattum.com, I have a second blog here on WordPress called, “Jerry’s Internal Affairs.” The URL is:
A third blog called, “Adventures of a Songwriter,” is found at: http://jerryflattum.blogspot.com/
The same title is used for a column I write at Musesmuse.com
http://www.musesmuse.com/col-jerryflattum.html
Well, a screenplay starts with a story…
