Do you have an idea that you think would make a great movie, TV show or webisode, but have no idea how to write a screenplay?  It is not uncommon for people to have a screenplay idea, but have no clue where to start.

Like many other skills in life, learning to write a solid screenplay takes a good amount of research, practice and repetition. The following are some things that you can do to help yourself learn:

·         Read screenplays

·         Understand the format of a screenplay

·         Watch television shows and movies

·         Study some of the most successful screenplay writers

·         Come up with an idea for a screenplay

·         Develop screenplay ideas through outlines and storyboards

Paul Schrader, who has written some of the most recognizable films of the last 40 years, did not see his first movie until the age of 17. Raised in a strict Calvinist household, Schrader has said about his higher education, “Other college kids had to vandalize government buildings. All we had to do to rebel was go to movies.”

Paul Schrader was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July 22, 1946. When he was seventeen, he was able to sneak away from home and has said in an interview that The Absent-Minded Professor was the first film he saw; while it did not impress him, Wild in the Country, which he saw some time later, did make an impact. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College, with a minor in Theology. He went on to attend UCLA Film School, receiving a recommendation from Pauline Kael, a renowned film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine among other publications. Schrader earned his Master of Arts in Film Studies and became a film critic, writing for the Los Angeles Free Press, and later Cinema magazine. Schrader quickly established a name for himself as a critic with an intellectual approach to film, rather than an emotional approach; a trait that he ascribes to having no adolescent movie experiences.

In 1974, Schrader and his brother Leonard co-wrote The Yakuza, a film set in the world of the eponymous Japanese crime syndicate. The script was the subject of an unprecedented bidding war, eventually selling for the unheard-of sum of $325,000; more than any other screenplay up to that time. Although the film failed commercially, it brought Schrader to the forefront, and to the attention to several Hollywood directors. He wrote the screenplay of Obsession for Brian De Palma in 1975, and shortly afterwards the screenplay for the Martin Scorsese classic Taxi Driver. Schrader has said about the screenplay, “At the time I wrote it, I was in a rather low and bad place. I had broken with Pauline [film critic Pauline Kael], I had broken with my wife, I had broken with the woman I left my wife for, I had broken with the American Film Institute and I was in debt.” Scorsese would turn to Schrader for more screenplays, notably Raging Bull in 1980, The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, and Bringing Out the Dead in 1999. Schrader also wrote such well-known films as American Gigolo, which he also directed. He has directed a total of 17 feature films, in addition to writing; the majority of his films have been immensely successful and many of his films are viewed as classics.

A recurring theme in Schrader’s films is the protagonist on a self-destructive path, or taking actions which are counter-productive—either deliberately or unconsciously. The finale frequently bears a redemptive element, generally preceded by a painful sacrifice. Schrader has said of his characters, “What fascinates me are people who want to be one thing but who behave in a way contradictory to that. Who might say, ‘I want to be happy, but I keep doing things that make me unhappy.’” Although many of the films Schrader has written and directed are based on real-life biographies, he has confessed to having problems with the genre of biographical films, due to the way in which actual events are altered. He has tried to prevent this by imposing structures and stylization instead, in his own films.

While Schrader has not won an Academy Award of his own, many of the actors in films he has written and directed have been nominated for the Oscar. He has been nominated multiple times for the Golden Globe Awards. Schrader has won the Franklin J. Schaffner Award from the American Film Institute, and he headed the International Jury of the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, and in 2011 became a jury member for the Filmaka short film contest.

New Show Studios is a company designed specifically for everyday people with ideas for screens big and small (TV shows, movies, webisodes).  The company has all the resources under one roof to develop your screenplay idea into a concept package and present it to an entertainment company through its exclusive licensing agent, SFM Entertainment.  SFM Entertainment has over 40 years of experience in the entertainment industry. 

Don’t be the person kicking yourself because you sat on your idea only to see it in theaters or on television one day, because someone else had a similar idea.  New Show Studios can help you take action and pursue your screenplay idea.

Remember that even with the best presentation materials new entertainment development is high risk and there is very little likelihood that your idea will be successfully licensed or result in profit to you.

The people who have worked to become a successful TV writer come from many different places and backgrounds.  Many did not even work in the entertainment industry- they were just everyday people with an idea.  Most successful TV writers started at the bottom, worked odd jobs at some point, and overcame some sort of obstacle or hardship to get where they are today.

David E. Kelley is known as the creator of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, and Ally McBeal among other successful television shows. Born April 4, 1956 in Waterville, Maine, Kelley was raised in Massachusetts and attended the Belmont High School. He studied at Princeton University, graduating in 1979 with a degree in politics. He went on to Boston University School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor. While there, Kelley wrote for the Legal Follies, a sketch comedy group which still holds annual performances. He began working for a Boston law firm after completing his degree and in 1983, Kelley began writing a screenplay. Though he considered it only a hobby, the legal thriller was optioned by a studio in 1986 and became From the Hip, released in 1987.

In 1986, Steven Bochco was looking for writers with a law background for a new legal series in the works with NBC, titled L.A. Law. After seeing Kelley’s screenplay for From the Hip, Bochco made him a writer and story editor for the show. Kelley kept his law office in Boston as a hedge in the first year; however, as his involvement in the show expanded, he became executive story editor and co-producer until in 1989, Bochco left the series entirely, making Kelley the executive producer. Kelley left the show after the fifth season in 1991, but was brought back as a consultant when the ratings fell.

Kelley formed his own production company in 1992 after co-creating Doogie Howser, M.D. David E Kelley productions made a three-series deal with CBS, with its first creation, Picket Fences airing in 1992. The show was critically acclaimed but the audience was never sizeable enough to sustain it. Picket Fences ran for four years, earning a total of 14 Emmy awards including consecutive wins for Outstanding Drama Series. Though Kelley did not feel ready to produce two shows at one time, he bowed to pressure from CBS to develop a second show and in 1994 launched the medical drama Chicago Hope. Much like Picket Fences, Chicago Hope would receive high critical praise, but only average ratings. Kelley ended up writing most of the material for both shows, though he only initially intended to write the first several episodes of Chicago Hope, a total of roughly 40 scripts. Kelley ceased day-to-day involvement with both shows in 1995; however, when Chicago Hope faced cancelation in 1999, Kelley came back into production, firing most of the cast members who had been added since he left the show and bringing back star Mandy Patinkin, and resumed writing episodes.

Kelley would go on to write and produce Ally McBeal, which premiered in 1997 on Fox, and later Boston Public, which ran for four years starting in 2000. The deal which Fox made with Kelley, in place for six years starting in 2000, reportedly made Kelley the highest-paid producer in TV history in return for first-look rights at his projects. The same deal produced Boston Legal, which premiered in 2004. From 2007 to the present, Kelley has continued to write for television, with mixed results; The Wedding Bells premiered in fall 2007, but was canceled after seven episodes. Kelley was the creator and executive producer of Harry’s Law which premiered in January 2011; it was canceled in 2012 even though it was the network’s second most-watched drama because its audience included too little of the 18-49 demographic.

In addition to writing for television, Kelley has successfully written several screenplays, including Lake Placid in 1999 and To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday in 1996. Kelley has won 10 Emmy Awards and been nominated for several more, along with receiving four prestigious Peabody Awards.

Anyone can make a TV show, movie or webisode concept presentation package with New Show Studios.  You do not need special credentials, background or a college degree to pursue an idea.  As long as you have a clear idea of what your basic idea is and you are able to verbalize this, New Show Studios is happy to help.

New Show Studios can help you take action and pursue your TV show, movie or webisode idea.  The company has a unique method of creating show concept packages that give network and movie studio executives a professional quality view of your idea.  They can take your idea, develop and package it into a demonstration video and send it off to producers and executives in the entertainment industry. 

Remember that even with the best presentation materials new entertainment development is high risk and there is very little likelihood that your idea will be successfully licensed or result in profit to you.