Hey Everyone!
Welcome to another episode of Breakin’ In!
This week we turn to you, the listeners, to ask us a few questions that we think were totally worthy of addressing.
This week’s song is “Can’t Hold Us” by Macklemore. Why? Honestly, damn song has been popping up everywhere this week, so I figured hell…why not have it pop up here?
But enough with the chit chat…let’s get to the show!
Till next week…
or download it here:
Breakin' In! 
Good Q&A! Your takes on the packaging and social networking questions made sense to me. (I hope other writers agree.)
Regarding Final Draft vs. Movie Magic Screenwriter, I think the primary issue for most MMS users (of which in my experience there are many, including myself) is not that it is necessarily “better” than FD — as Cheryl pointed out all programs have their “issues” — but the fact that if you’ve already forked over a couple hundred dollars for one program it is very hard to to justify to one’s inner critic paying ANOTHER couple hundred bucks for a VERY SIMILAR program.
(At least until such time as it is really an issue, such as you get a a manager, agent, or producer who wants rewrites to be in native FD format instead of PDF for some reason, such as to make giving notes.)
Is there any way you can convince the good folks at FD to offer a substantial “competitive upgrade” discount (I think that is the correct term) to MMS users who can demonstrate that they have shelled out a major amount of money for it? (Obviously the discount would not apply to users of Celtx or other free or very-low-cost software.)
Regarding Palmer’s list, I agree with all ten you cited except the very first. I think the problem with “high concept” is simply that it has been over-used and repeatedly mis-used. For instance, nobody would object to somebody describing their screenplay as “a character driven ensemble drama”, because the assumption is the phrase is NOT being used hyperbolically or inaccurately (because to do so would be fool-hardy since hollywood is hardly salivating for such stories).
So, like Randal and his beloved phrase “porch…”, I say those who use the term “high concept” descriptively and accurately — and not merely for hype — should take it back!
In closing let me just say that I look forward to someday kissing babies at Cat and Fiddle!
NEALR, Final Draft does offer a competitor upgrade discount – it is only $129, down from $249.
Wow! That is a pretty good deal. I think I’m going to go for it. Thanks!
Hey guys,
If you really want some more information on packaging, I will be teaching a class on Packaging & Pitching The Indie Film at the story expo:
http://storyexpo.com/?presentation=alejandro-seri-packaging-pitching-the-indie-film
Johnny should be joining me towards the end of the class for some additional useful info.
In addition to this class, I will also be teaching a Thriller Genre class:
http://storyexpo.com/?presentation=thriller-class
Great show Breakin In. We look forward to swinging by again soon with some exciting news!