Hollywood Toolkit

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PRODUCT REVIEW
"THE WRITER'S HOLLYWOOD TOOLKIT"
- Screenwriters Forum

In The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit, Jonathan Treisman, executive producer of the film Pay It Forward, offers aspiring screenwriters something new and absolutely useful--an inexpensive tool to help screenwriters learn the art of summing up their concepts and storylines into succinct, attention-grabbing loglines. The CD also includes a brief explanation of option agreements and details about how Pay It Forward went from book to film.

Pitching a screenplay idea is something every screenwriter must know how to do, and knowing how to do it well is extremely important, yet there are very few resources available to teach screenwriters how a successful pitch is made. Pitch sessions held at screenwriting conventions are wonderful but require that the writer already be familiar with the ins and outs of pitching, something many writers have never learned nor practiced.

The key to an effective pitch revolves around the writer's ability not only to appear passionate and excited about his or her idea but also the ability to express that idea in only one or two sentences, commonly referred to as a logline. It is often surprising to see how many writers have crafted an incredibly riveting script yet have a difficult time summing up the plot in a logline that is equally riveting. The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit provides writers with a lesson in how to condense your story into a brief and catchy logline that will grab the attention of your pitching audience. Loglines from several current films are used as examples, making it easy for writers to see how a 120-page screenplay can indeed be condensed into only a brief sentence or two. Since crafting loglines and pitches is an area where many writers fall short, we would consider this CD's reasonable price of $15 to be worth it for the logline section alone, but the CD offers other perks as well.

The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit includes a brief explanation of option agreements. The explanation of an option agreement is a broad topic that on its own could take an entire CD to explain--and since the binding terms vary from agreement to agreement, a writer should always discuss his or her individual agreement with an agent or entertainment attorney before signing anything--but the CD includes details about what option agreements are and why an option agreement might be used. The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit also offers a casual and friendly interview-style outline of how Pay It Forward went from book to film. While this section is not as useful to aspiring writers as a writing tool, it is interesting and will give writers an idea of the many steps involved in pitching and selling a film once the screenplay is complete.

The problem with many audio cassette and CD workshops is audio quality, but that was not an issue at all in the case of The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit. The audio was crisp, clean and well put together.

PRODUCT REVIEW
"THE WRITER'S HOLLYWOOD TOOLKIT"
- Screenwriter Magazine

The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit is an audio lecture by Jonathan Treisman, producer of PAY IT FORWARD that is meant to serve as an overview on the craft of screenwriting and how one should go about creating and selling their work to the marketplace. It is also about how to become a Hollywood producer based on Mr. Treisman's career.

The first part of the lecture focuses on Mr. Treisman's theory that the most important aspect of a saleable screenplay is a clear and effective hook, or logline. He uses examples of loglines from many popular films to demonstrate that great ideas can be in varying genres and can appeal to different groups of people, but that most great ideas can be pitched in a sentence or two. He describes the pitch meeting process and the expectations of the writer to sell their story in a 10-20 minute presentation. If an executive does not grasp the feel of the movie within the first few minutes of the pitch, the writer is in trouble and this is why a clear hook is so important.

Mr. Treisman then explains how he came to be a Hollywood producer and how he developed PAY IT FORWARD . He spent 4 years working in various departments at Walt Disney Pictures learning all different areas of the production and development process.

While at Disney, he teamed up with a colleague to produce a couple of short films. His second short, PUPPIES FOR SALE , featured Jack Lemmon and was well received on the festival circuit. He decided to become a full time producer when working on this project. He then met author Catherine Ryan Hyde and asked if she had any new work and she gave him the manuscript for PAY IT FORWARD , which he immediately optioned and sold to Warner Brothers. The film was made quickly with a stellar cast that included Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, and Mr. Treisman now has projects set up at several different studios. He looks for great material that is found off the beaten path.

In the final section of the workshop, Mr. Treisman reviews the basic questions that writers have: how to get an agent, how to write a query, option agreements, structure, and format. He does not give a thorough lesson on any of these topics but does a review of the essential details.

This audio workshop will not replace a general screenwriting text because there is not enough content on the essentials of the craft. The most interesting part of the workshop was hearing Mr. Treisman explain how he broke into the industry and became a producer. Overall, this workshop provides a brief overview of the craft and business of screenwriting and the interesting anecdotes gives writers a unique perspective on how scripts are bought and sold in Hollywood.

PRODUCT REVIEW
"THE WRITER'S HOLLYWOOD TOOLKIT"
- Script Magazine

This 45-minute audio CD is a crash course in the business affairs of the film industry. Its lecture format is similar to that of a screenwriting festival seminar - without the need for airfare or entry fees.

Treisman, the lecturer and founder of Flatiron Films, executive produced the feature film, Pay It Forward for Warner Bros. in 2000. The film starred Academy Award winners Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, as well as Oscar nominee, Haley Joel Osment.

Treisman then started Flatiron Films with the goal of developing and producing quality Studio feature films. The company primarily options the film rights to literary properties such as novels and screenplays.

The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit is a recorded presentation of a Treisman conference seminar. It describes the process that took Pay It Forward from book to film, including the option and development rigors.

Along the way, Treisman explains option agreements from the writer's perspective, and the development process a screenwriter's work will go through following such an option.

Treisman also offers his opinions on what Hollywood is really looking for in scripts - despite what the insiders might say officially. He also offers tips on gaining the interest of a useful agent and writing query letters that might get you noticed when so many disappear without a single read.

He even spends a little time explaining appropriate screenplay formatting (in case you don't use one of the formatting programs discussed earlier) and what software a writer should own - in additional to Final Draft.

While writers who have been at the movie game for some time may already know much of what Treisman has to offer, The Writer's Hollywood Toolkit can serve as a useful tool for beginning writers or scribblers considering a go at the screenwriting game.