Why 99% Of Screenwriters Fail - Corey Mandell

Corey Mandell is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter who has written projects for Ridley Scott, Wolfgang Petersen, Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Warner Brothers, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Family, Working Title, Paramount, Live Planet, Beacon Films, Touchstone, Trilogy, Radiant and Walt Disney Pictures.

Corey teaches screenwriting via private online classes using video conferencing to allow participants to see and hear each other in real time. His highly popular classes draw students from across the US, Europe and Australia.

His students have gone on to sell or option scripts to Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox, Fox 2000, MGM, Universal, USA Network and Lifetime. Others have gained admission to the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program, the AFI Conservatory Screenwriting Program and Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab.

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#screenwriting #writers #screenplay

[DoggieworldShow]

Forget the stardom: cry, dedicate, fail, do it for life. People will see you. Make sure your passion is true.

[harryspeakup]

I have no beef with anything Corey has to say about voice and originality and commitment and process. But there is an elephant in the room in terms of the original question asked at the start of the video. This is an industry which has the economic ability to support no more than 20, 000 writers, tops, and that number is going down as production volumes fall from the 2022 peak. And there are at least a couple of million people making serious attempts to do it for a living. So the reason that 99% of then HAVE to fail is that there's only enough paid work to support one in a hundred of those who would like to do it.

[thefutureapocalypse]

Corey Mandell is tha man. Always enlightening and elevating.

[ambrosewetherbee]

To sum up the matter of "improving your process", most writers need to be able to ward off the urge to remain in their comfort zones as well as the need to develop more discipline. Corey's examples of two writers he helped are useful and common issues writers seem to have.

The first example of limiting yourself to one or few solutions for script/story problems instead of working on several at minimum is something many writers must learn. As Corey said, do you want the fastest solution or the best?

The second example is another hurdle many writers must overcome. Being protective of your characters is easily something that restricts a writer from getting to the next level in writing because they will never be open to a plethora of creative directions that are only available once they are open to having characters go through true peril. Protecting characters unnecessarily omits a wide variety of scenarios for a writer.

With the example of Springsteen's Born to Run album, it illustrates the importance of having another party involved at times to help with perspective and clarity of vision. Jon Landau didn't necessarily bring anything new to the table, rather, he helped Springsteen to "regain focus and direction with a fresh perspective". Writers can benefit similarly with assistance from a story editor.

[mikemcginnis]

I'm glad Corey got on his "soapbox, " he nailed it. I learn so much from this guy. Thank you.

[Phoenix]

Incredibly good, practical, useful advice. Thank you!

[DAMON]

In writing concept is king. You then shape it, but you cannot begin without the concept.

[Terrificguyonline]

As a writer from northern Europe I often find Corey to be very LA, but this is something to apply in any art anywhere!

[HaleyMary]

This was a really uplifting video. So true that process is how you create product. It can take many drafts sometimes to even create one song. I sometimes get really perfectionist about a song and will do seven drafts before I'm satisfied with the lyrics. Often, I'll write several verses and decide after writing everything out what lyrics will be part of the chorus and what will be the verses.

[imadivergentandantinormiep]

The problem is that maybe you have a very genuine and unique talent, but then you meet these kind of gurus, those who control the doors and start to tell you about the "process" and about what "Hollywood" likes and it's exactly at that moment that they k1ll your creativity and talent, mainly if you don't have money

[ladyredconstance]

I wish all the new writers well and I hope they make it.

[wonderwomanx]

Superb insight and assessments. Thanks for another terrific interview.

[debrapeebles]

I agree… mostly. I had a good script which at first needed tweaks. I had to be open to make those tweaks. I think you have to be open to change your baby, and see it just might get better. After changing the script, it did very well in film festivals all over the world. No one has chased after my work, but I do feel successful whether or not a producer ever wants to pick me up. I continue to tell stories, and look for mentors to tell how I can improve.

[thumper]

If 99% of writers fail, it is because there are 100 applicants to every job. If there were only 20 applicants the percentage would be 95. If it was only two applicants I could not give you the odds because it would be down to talent, dedication and vibes.

Bruce Springstien is very talented, but he got lucky by getting his foot in the door early in his career.

[imadivergentandantinormiep]

Imagine that you give to any of these gurus a screenplay by Michael Haneke or Lars Von Trier, telling them that you are the writer of "Braking the waves" or "Cache".
They are going to reject you.

They're going to tell you that the first page was too slow and They didn't feel hooked blah, blah.

Those guys like Von Trier and Haneke didn't fail because they make their own movies, they have control over their own projects and aren't jailed by the mediocre standards of Hollywood with its "3 acts", its "The public don't want to watch real life, they want to see something bigger than life (Fast and Furious) lol" and all that crap

[tangobayus]

There is essentially no market for scripts from people who are outside the Hollywood system. Write a book that would be easy to convert into a movie.

[BusterDarcy]

If you’re an aspiring screenwriter and the algorithm landed you here, you have no idea how fortunate you are.

[marcgranger]

Just like anything else when it comes to success. It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know. That’s the key.

[wexwuthor]

Greetings from Asbury Park was ahead of its time.

[justsomeitweeb]

Knowing people to help correct your process is definitely what I would consider "luck." Fully writing off luck is an act of sheer ignorance.