I've been sitting on this post for a long time now, and I considered posting this a few months ago, but the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes kicked in, so I kinda sat on it for a while.
I've been trying to break into screenwriting since the early 90s. It's always taken a back seat to crises, medical issues and general "I need to worry about not dying" kinda things.
In the last ten years or so, things have stabilized enough that I've been able to concentrate on writing competitions, like the BBC Trans Comedy Awards in 2013 and just recently (after dealing with another life crisis) a Nickelodeon internship and another Paramount one late this year.
This is the first year I've really had "to myself." I had enough of a cushion to sit down and write, so I wanted to make a concerted effort to try and get in. I've been stuck, though, with the strikes and a pinched nerve that made sitting and writing for more than a few minutes incredibly painful.
I did try, though, but overall, the effort doesn't seem to be working. And, frankly, the landscape that I trained up for in the early 90s just so so so much doesn't apply anymore. I know at least two producers, one who was my high school English teacher, but just calling them up and saying "hey, can I write for you" is kinda frowned on these days.
The whole "Dolari Library" was kind of my last hope for getting anything published, and really I was just gonna give it all away for free, cause I'm more interested in getting things read than selling it. But I'd LIKE to sell stuff.
So this is just a shot in the dark, and probably my last hail mary pass, but I'm asking my friends who are there: How do you do it these days? Rather than just spin my wheels in random directions and hoping I can find a crack in the wall, how does one get through the door into the WGA these days?
I'm gonna write, wether I'm in or not. It'd just be nice to get paid for it rather than sit on files and files of ideas, smippets and unproduced scripts.
Gotta admit, the first episode of Dr Who back in 1963 is fantastic. The other three episodes of the story? Not so much....
@pandora_parrot Facebook had that whole 'real identity' nonsense as well that was easily exploited, but yeah. Being able to set lists of who could see a particular post was amazing. Sometimes we need to be able to talk to a trusted group without the rest of the world hearing.
I guess maybe ad hoc discord/slack/telegram groups fill that role now but that is semi-realtime and impermanent.
"Sir, do you know how fast you were going back there?"
"Uh...97?"
"That's a relief...radar gun's working. Thanks for you cooperation."
QT with your favorite movie musical.
I don't even like Pokemon and this is adorable: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GWsw5ux6U9Q
Me: Mastodon is the best. People are friendly, there's no manipulative algorithm, and it's full of interesting content.
Journalist: Amazing, the headline of my article will be "Mastodon is social media's new hope".
Me: Also, there are no ads.
Journalist: Interesting. Let's change that headline to "Mastodon is a toxic cesspool that is already dead".
I talk to a lot of trans people as they're figuring themselves out. A *lot*. It's just... This thing I do. I answer their questions, no stigma, no judgment.
It makes me feel really good to be there for them, when someone needs someone, because members of the community were there for me when I needed it so badly.
Mostly? Mostly they find an answer and move on. I never hear from them again after their first in-person gender support group.
🧵(1/?)
Artist for Closetspace and A Wish for Wings
Creative Text Writer for MTG: Universes Beyond
Writer for Sea of Legends
One enchilada short of a Mexican Platter