Do the economic headlines of today make you feel discouraged and fearful?  Do you worry about  economic gloom and doom and tend to feel anxious or paralyzed by external events, or do you see possibility and opportunity for daily action based on strong personal beliefs and a bold yet pragmatic plan that focuses on rich opportunities, your talents and the value of what you have to offer?

You may well have heard the tale of Susan Boyle, a middle-aged woman of unremarkable appearance from a modest hamlet in Britain.  In 1995, Susan auditioned as a singer on a ‘Star Search’-like British tv show (‘My Kind of People’), only to be shamelessly mocked and insulted.  When Susan recently auditioned and was selected to appear – 14 years later – on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, she defied expectation and literally moved the audience and judges to tears with an exhilirating rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables.  People all over the world are wearing t-shirts of Susan, Larry King interviewed her, Hollywood wants to make a film with her, Oprah has invited her as a guest on her tv show, and Elaine Page, Susan’s hero, wants to perform a duet with her.

J.K. Rowling, reknowned for her magical ‘Harry Potter’ series of books, has become one of the world’s most celebrated authors, reportedly having become a billionaire from her magical writings.  Her books enjoy immense popularity around the globe, critical acclaim and commercial success, having sold over 400 million books and translated into 67 languages.  The last four of J.K.’s series about Harry’s struggle against an evil wizard have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.  ‘Harry Potter’ has spawned an industry, including movies, videogames and themed merchandise, all borne from the creative mind of one woman.  Yet, J.K. Rowling’s private journey was anything but simple.  Her mother died from multiple sclerosis, J.K. was subsequently diagnosed with clinical depression and contemplated suicide, all the while a single parent surviving on welfare while working on her first novel.

Chris Gardner’s story of trial and disappointment is well-chronicled in the film “Pursuit of Happiness”.  Frustrated in his quest to become a stock broker, Chris’ circumstance went from bad to worse during a 10-month interview process with a San Francisco-based firm.  His girlfriend ran off with their only son and all Chris’ belongings.  Soon thereafter, Chris found himself penniless, and jailed for ten days for unpaid parking fines, only to be released the day before his final interview.  Chris showed up for this crucial meeting in dirty jeans and a t-shirt, openly admitting the truth of having lost his son, being broke and released from jail one day earlier, and without a home.  To his amazement, the interviewer was sympathetic, having endured a painful divorce, and immediately put Chris in the company’s training program.  His son was soon returned to him, and together they survived on the streets, later finding the means to live in a $10-a-night motel.  Years later, having passed his broker’s exam and working for a major brokerage house, Chris struck out on his own, securing major clients and never looking back.

What compels some people to quit in the face of adversity and rejection, while others pursue their dream with a single-minded sense of purpose?  Why is quitting not an option for some?  What force of will fuels people to rise above bad circumstances or a string of initial failures?

Anatole France reminds us ‘to accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe’.  Confucius’ wisdom held “our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

Why most give up after a few rejections is not so much a mystery, as a magnficent tragedy.  Lack of belief in oneself is the stuff of emptiness, frustration, dashed dreams, plowed-under human capacity, negative self-image and sadness, whereas persistence and hard work fueled by belief in oneself yields the miracle of joy and contribution, success and meaning.  Is it possible to accomplish your true purpose, live a joyous and richly rewarding life, and enjoy a persistence borne of a balance between head and heart when you’re busy beating up on yourself for a momentary ‘failure’?  Can you imagine what you might accomplish if you held fast to an unshakeable belief in yourself?

Waking each morning, we are given a choice and it is ours to choose wisely.  Do you choose to listen to and consume the fear and skepticism so prevalent in the marketplace of humanity, surrounding yourself with those who encourage anxiety, negativity and limitation, or do you choose to believe deeply in yourself and thoughtfully embrace – both personally and professionally - those who align with your values and life vision?

One choice results in the ultimate injustice of not bringing forth our best and our greatest gifts to be shared, the other choice yields rewards beyond our limited imagination.

When you’re building your career in the film business, access is key and quality relationships are critical.

Please join my free preview call May 13 at 6 pm PST. I’ll talk about ‘Scaling the Great Wall of Hollywood’ and all the strategies I’ve learned over the years and will reveal over the course of this 6 week teleseminar.

Register for this “live” free call by clicking on this link now:

http://www.garywgoldstein.com/3keys1

Every writer I represented as a literary manager had never been represented before. Every film I produced – both studio and independent – was written by a screenwriter who’d never been produced previously. I love working with and launching the careers of amazing talent who simply haven’t figured out how to get in the door of Hollywood.

Please bring any questions you have to the call. I’ll be answering your questions toward the end of our “live” call together.

I’ll be hosting a FREE preview call “live” next Wednesday, May 13, in the evening (6 pm PST) for my teleseminar ‘Scaling the Great Wall of Hollywood’, which begins May 21 and continue for six weeks.

Please come learn how to gain access and create meaningful relationships for your project and career. I want to answer your questions and deliver as much value as possible for you.

Please register for the free preview call by clicking on this link:

http://www.garywgoldstein.com/3keys1

In a recent video, I described how an agent shopped ‘auction-sytle’ the screenplay for ‘The Mothman Prophecies’, only to see it die right there on the spot.

When you’re building your team, how do you determine if an agent or manager is right for you ? What are the questions you can ask to learn if they have a smart strategy for you ? What do you need to know to effectively manage those relationships ?

There’s a success formula that will help you attract quality representation and maintain productive, enthusiastic rapport with your agent or manager, and keep them working hard for you.

I’m excited. I’ve finally decided to re-launch “Scaling the Great Wall of Hollywood” – the teleseminar I just taught for the first time last Fall. It was so intensive, so successful, the response and results have been so significant, that I’m inspired to re-teach all the success strategies I’ve learned over the past 25 years in the film business, representing writers as a literary manager and later producing their films. Getting results, elevating careers to the next level, and closing the gap between where screenwriters are and where they want to be is massively rewarding.

I’ll be hosting a “live” FREE preview call next Wednesday, May 13, in the evening (6 pm PST) and the workshop begins May 21 and will go for 6 weeks.

Please register for the free preview call here:

http://www.garywgoldstein.com/3keys1

I’m looking forward to revealing tactics that move projects and careers forward, and answering everyone’s questions.

What compels some people to quit in the face of adversity and rejection, while others pursue their dream with a single-minded sense of purpose ? Why is quitting not an option for some ? What force of will fuels people to rise above bad circumstances or a string of initial failures ?

The rags-to-riches story of John Paul deJoria personifies the American Dream. Spending much of his youth in a street gang in East Los Angeles, John Paul deJoria was repeatedly admonished by his high school math teacher that he would “never, ever succeed at anything in life.” After a couple of years in the Navy, deJoria aimlessly floated through a series of jobs, from janitor, to pumping gas, to bicycle repair, to selling encyclopedias, insurance and copier machines. Still in his twenties and too proud to ask for help, deJoria found himself homeless, sleeping in his car. Eventually he landed a job for $650 a week with Redken Laboratories, the leading professional hair salon product company. When he was fired by Redken, deJoria approached his friend Paul Mitchell, a leading hair designer and, with $750 of borrowed funds, they partnered in a new hair styling product enterprise. The ‘enterprise’ consisted of a post office box and phone answering machine. Visiting salons door-to-door, they offered to do free demonstrations – a sales strategy never before used in the business. They even offered a full money-back guarantee if a salon did not sell 100% of all their products. Despite their boldy innovative approach, the majority of doors were slammed in their faces. That was then. Today, the company’s annual revenues top $1 billion. Although unable to afford color packaging when starting out, their products bear their black and white brand to this day – a reminder of their humble beginnings.

Fran Harris proudly wears a ring. Playing for the Houston Comets the very first season the WNBA was formed, Fran’s talent as a professional athlete was the stuff of legend. Yet, it’s the personal side of her journey that makes Fran a true champion. Growing up in a modest section of Dallas, Texas, Fran’s mother died when Fran was in her teens and, while two of her brothers went to jail, one of them also suffered a serious issue with drugs. Not having a formidable success model in her world, Fran was nonetheless determined not to be a teenage mother or fall prey to drugs, but to make a better life for herself. Fran began playing NCAA basketball while at the University of Texas at Austin. Later, amidst the politics of the sports world, Fran was cut from the U.S. Olympic Women’s basketball team, and swore she’d never play basketball again. With degrees in journalism, she went on to get her Ph.D. in business adminstration and become a successful young entrepreneur. Then the WNBA was announced. It was 1997 and Fran hadn’t played basketball in over eight years. But her dream was rekindled. She decided on the spot she had to play in the first-ever season of this new professional league. Fran announced to friends inside and outside the sports world that she was going to try out. Every last person gave her reasons not to do it. She was too old, she hadn’t played in too many years, she was out of shape, she shouldn’t risk the business success she’d worked so hard to achieve, she was 30 years old ! Despite the odds – there were only two spots available on the Houston Comets team – Fran didn’t listen. She began training daily and changed everything - the way she ate, the way she walked, the way she spoke - all in pursuit of her single-minded goal. When she entered the gym for final tryouts, Fran faced 250 younger women athletes all vying for the very same two spots. Fran was chosen to play for the Houston Comets, and the team went on to win the first seaon’s championship. Fran wears that ring to this day as a reminder that no force should keep a person from the life they deserve.

John Grisham is one of the world’s best-selling authors, with over 250 million books in print in dozens of languages, and whose books have given us some of the greatest films of our time. Before turning to writing, Grisham was devoted to the idea of being a baseball player. That dream was dashed when he was cut from his college baseball team. Grisham went on to become a lawyer, practicing in a small town firm for a decade. In 1984, having witnessed the harrowing testimony of a 12-year old rape victim, Grisham began writing his first novel. What if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants ? Three years later, he completed a manuscript entitled “A Time to Kill”. The rejections came fast and often, and for a long while thereafter. Publishers and publishing agents seemed unanimous in their response. It was only persistence that finally found Grisham’s manuscript picked up by a small press that printed a limited number of copies of his book. Throughout, Grisham never waivered and busily went to work authoring his second novel, ‘The Firm’, which went on to become the seventh bestselling novel of 1991. Grisham’s novels connected with audiences worldwide, and films spawned by many of his works, including ‘The Client’, ‘The Pelican Brief’ and ‘The Runaway Jury’ went on to enjoy stunning commercial success.

Have you ever suffered a defeat or fallen short of a goal ? When faced with great difficulty or repeat rejection in the past, has your habit been to abandon your vision ? Did you somewhere deep inside feel you cheated yourself or that if you’d only dug a bit deeper or tried a slightly different approach, you might have met with success ?

Either you determine what constitutes the difference between a success in the making and a failure, or you allow others to make that judgement for you. Either you persist and adopt strategies with unflagging determination to realize your result, or you give way to your doubts, fears and perceptions of what others might think.

One of the greatest architects of all time, Frank Lloyd Wright, said “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.” Yet as Seth Godin wrote: “Persistence isn’t using the same tactics over and over. Persistence is having the same goal over and over.”

Having graduated college and determined to become a criminal defense lawyer, a young man had his heart set on working for a particular foundation located in a ghetto that provided legal defense and other social services for its community. This was to be his training ground and leg up to get into the law school of his choice. With no experience, the foundation would not hire him. Nonetheless, he showed up week after week, insisting they accept him as a volunteer intern for one year. Finally, they relented. For one year, he learned legal research, interviewed witnesses, did absolutely anything asked of him and learned everything he could. Near the end of that year, he received a rejection letter from the only law school he wanted to attend. Having given his all, working long hours and devoting himself to the foundation, the community and the work, he was devastated. Upon learning the news and unbeknownst to him, three young attorneys from the foundation had secretly and immediately set a meeting that very afternoon with the dean of the law school. Putting their reputation and that of the foundation on the line, they surrounded the dean, insisting she grant a wild card admission on the spot. Champagne in hand, they returned to deliver the surprise news.

I was that young man. And I was amazed to the point of being speechless. These three attorneys canceled their court calendars for an entire afternoon to do everything in their power to deliver my dream. This was their way of expressing their appreciation for my persistence and dedication, for the value I contributed to make their work and the foundation’s mission a bit more successful, for being a positive and consistent presence, and for volunteering my best.

Have you ever been amazed by people going out of their way to do something extraordinary for you ? Have you ever wondered what inspires people to take such action and be so generous of spirit ? Can you conjure up the feelings of wonder, appreciation and joy that flow from being on the giving or receiving end of such bold and generous moments ?

I’ve always been fascinated by people’s willingness to go above and beyond, to make choices and take actions that might well be considered ‘extraordinary’.

That moment was a powerful reminder of something so central to a successful life. Much hinges on the quality of relationships we create for ourselves, and how fully and authentically we invest ourselves in these primary human relationships. As Aristotle said: “In the arena of human life, the… rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.”

I’ve been slowly writing my book “Tactical Toolbelt for Screenwriters: Success Strategies to Market and Grow Your Passion as a Career”. It’s nearly finished. The real success of my teleseminar – “Scaling the Great Wall of Hollywood” – inspired me massively and, as soon as it ended, I launched back into my book with even more enthusiasm and real world desire to impact others in a positive way.

The astonishing success of my seminar amazed even me. The amount of hands-on, concrete simple strategies I was able to squeeze into that course, and the amount of real-world traction people experienced in just over a handful of weeks exceeded my every hope and expectation.

It was so jam-packed, I had to add two additional Q+A sessions to insure everyone’s questions got 100% answered. And that was on top of the usual hour of Q+A at the end of every week’s regular class. The content, questions and group mastermind elements were unimaginably energetic and value-laden.

The seminar ended the week before Xmas and, over the phone and via an outpouring of emails, the group was clearly disappointed for the course to come to an end. These few dozen completely committed writers and producers participated every week from Canada, Australia, all over the U.S. I’ll continue to mentor quite a few.

The best part: I consistently receive emails delivering more incredibly good news - real world results – from quite a few of the screenwriters and producers in the course. The majority have taken major action based on tailored strategies, and I see more good news is just going to keep coming in.

It just didn’t matter where they’re from, what age they are, what level of experience in the film business. Knowing how to be an effective ‘advocate’ for their film projects only depends on their willingness to get in the game. And this teleseminar proved that in spades.

Using simple strategies, learning how to network in a very targeted way, how to truly get in the door (via phone, email, social marketing and beyond) and get ‘heard’ and get read… that’s the stuff of moving a creative career forward. And that’s precisely what happened and continues to happen.

So the course truly motivated me to launch back into the book and get it done. It proved to me the power and value and need for this very focused approach and set of step-by-step tools for anyone who wants to drastically increase their likelihood of making it in Hollywood.

I was so amped up and inspired by the teleseminar, by the massive response and results being reported, that it lit a fire in me to spend most of the holidays working on my manuscript. I’ve only a couple of more chapters to revise, a few more dynamic tools to layer into some of the various sections, but overall the book as a powerful set of career-advancing tools has clearly come into full focus.

I’m incredibly grateful and appreciative of the many who just spent the better part of two months with me. They deserve enormous kudos for their dedication to growing their careers, for jumping into action, making half an hour a day available to master simple but powerful techniques.

They showed me just how realistic it is to transform valuable information into smart action and quickly achieve results. In less than one year, I plan to publish a series of success stories from this group and celebrate their ‘wins’. I feel genuinely honored to know them and to have mentored screenwriters and producers with this level of commitment.

1. Feature film script should be between 95 and 120 pages in length.
   Never longer. A script over 120 pages needs editing.
   Never shorter. A script shorter than 90 pages is too short.
   The perfect length is 100 pages for comedies, 110 for dramas.
   Cheat your margins if you have to, but better yet write and cut to the correct length.
2. Do NOT use camera directions. Ever.
   (Note: Historically, writers used to employ camera directions, but the practice is no longer in vogue.)
   Do not use words like CAMERA, CLOSE UP, LONG SHOT, DOLLY, PAN, or anything else that refers to the camera.
   Do not use CUT TO or any references to editing.
   At the beginning of the script, you may use FADE IN.
   At the end of the script, you may use FADE OUT.
   Please use a maximum of two dissolves in the entire script. If any.
   Dissolves are not generally well-received, disdained by directors and studio readers.
3. Dialogue should generally be one to three lines long. Only occasionally should dialogue exceed four lines. Keep it short and simple.
   A few monologues may be acceptable, but even they should be broken up with action (e.g. ‘he drags on a cigarette’), so they are under ten lines in length. Long stretches of one character talking are boring and hard to read.
4. Scene description should be kept to a minimum.
   Many studio executives and readers may actually skip over scene description. If they can’t get the story from the dialogue, some may feel frustrated and stop reading.
   Scene description should be one to three lines in length, and never more than five lines without a break.
   When describing significant amounts of action, break the description into logical paragraphs, separated by double spacing.
5. An entire scene – from one slug line to the next – ideally runs three pages or less (it can be as brief as a small fraction of a page). Never more than five pages in length. The average scene should be a page and a half or less. Larger, important scenes can run three or four pages. Please make certain the script keeps ‘moving’ or ‘flowing’ for the reader. If you have a great deal of dialogue or information, experiment with breaking the scene up into multiple locations (e.g. “Let’s get to the restaurant, and I’ll explain…”).
6. Character names should begin with different letters so the reader can more easily distinguish them. Different numbers of syllables can also help (e.g. Stan, Sue, Sam and Sara is far more challenging for the reader than Susan, Drew, Alyssa, Charlie). In particular, characters that talk to one another should have uniquely different names (e.g. not ‘Lyle’ and ‘Kyle).
7. If a particular character has few lines (half a dozen or so) and only appears in one or two scenes, it’s best to refer to that character by occupation (e.g. POLICEMAN, MAID, BARTENDER). This lets the reader know they do not have to worry about this character fitting into the story. Use a proper name only if important to do so or the character has a signficant effect on the story.
8. Do NOT use parentheticals, except when absolutely essential. Typically, a parenthetical is used to introduce a line of dialogue, describing how that line should be read (e.g. angrily, laughing, nervously). Please make every effort to avoid this device and, if you must, limit to four or fewer your use of parentheticals. The litmus test is: is it likely the reader will misinterpret this line (sarcastic: “Sure I will.). Beginning writers often make the mistake of using parentheticals consistently throughout a screenplay.
9. Slug lines – the first line of scene, describing time and place – always begin with INT. (interior) or EXT. (exterior). They always end with NIGHT or DAY. Do NOT use ‘Magic Hour’, ‘Late Afternoon’, or any other such departure. Only use ‘Morning’ or ‘Sunset’ if it is critical to the timeline of the story.
10. Character names are capitalized in scene description only once, the very first time that character appears in the screenplay.
    Sounds are capitalized (e.g. BANG).
    Please don’t use this often or get carried away with capitalizing sounds (e.g. PATTER, PATTER, PATTER of feet as he SHUFFLED; or the faucet went DRIP, DRIP, DRIP as the kettle WHISTLED).
    Stick to loud, important sounds. If in doubt, don’t capitalize.
    Nothing else in scene description should be capitalized.
    (Note: Long ago, writers sometimes included lighting effects, props and other capitlaized items, but these are no longer accepted practices).