David Stem emphasizes that screenplays cannot be perfected in a vacuum. Getting your pages out of your drawer and in front of others is the definitive mechanism for transforming a raw draft into a commercially viable script. If you’re nervous about bringing pages, that’s a good sign. It means that what you’re doing is important to you, and pushing out of your comfort zone is key to expanding your skills as a writer. Reach out to me, @Anna Fermin , or @David Stem directly if you need support or have any questions about bringing your pages to a premium call. Here’s the link to where you put up your casting and your pages. Here’s the link for the Tuesday, May 26th Premium Coach Call. Here’s the link for the Friday, May 29th Premium Coach Call.

I was watching an interview from a french actress who plays in Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest film “All of a sudden”. They presented it to Cannes Film Festival and it’s nominated in a lot of categories. She was telling that the director, before they started shooting, gave her a list of 17 questions answered by her character. Some were completely unrelated to what happens in the film, but all were aimed at getting a better understanding of who the character really was. I thought it was an interesting approach. I’ve been looking all over the internet to try and find said list but it is nowhere. So I thought: why not make our own ? If we were to make that list, which questions would you include?

I'm limited to 1000 characters. This hits it at 995ish. This, of course, is the first thing people see when they come here from a FB ad or insta post: Write characters audiences will love, and agents can't ignore. If your characters feel flat, The Diner Test shows you why. Then the Primal Forge GPT helps you fix it fast. Join Shrek 2 writer David Stem for live coaching + powerful tools built for you by a writer who's sold scripts to Disney, Paramount, Fox, Universal and more. You get: ✅ The Diner Test: Instantly see if your hero is truly alive ✅ Primal Forge GPT: My 24/7 character diagnostic tool ✅ The character-first method I've used to write, sell, and fix scripts for major studios ✅ A New Member session where I personally coach YOUR pages ✅ A community of serious writers doing the work Learn from a working screenwriter with $2.5 BILLION in box office: 🔥 Shrek 2, Jimmy Neutron, and Disenchanted 🔥 Emmy-nominated 🔥 30 years at the highest levels Get custom tools, feedback and clarity so you can finally finish that script you started. Fall in love with writing again. At The Writer's Forge. Join now. $7 Founder's rate. Ends Sunday.

Hi there, I’m Elliot (they/them)! I’m a multi-hyphenate writer and actor, and a whole bunch of other busy things. I’ve had a somewhat unique journey as a professional artist, and I wanted to yap a little bit about the adventure of it all. A few summers ago, I wrote, directed, produced, and starred-in (like I said, very busy) the most- nominated play at the 2024 Hollywood Fringe Festival—vanlyfe. By far, producing my own material was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. And while it opened up a lot of funhouse doors in an external sense (producer meetings, an option agreement, the glory), it was the resulting inner transformation as an artist that has been the most impactful and enduring. Before I shifted my focus to writing, I was a professional actor for 15 years. This gives me somewhat of an edge, because I habitually understand story through the perspective of an actor playing a role, which has been invaluable to writing characters that feel grounded, spontaneous, and fully-embodied. It also means that I read hundreds and hundreds of scripts before I ever sat down to write one. For these reasons, I cannot recommend acting training enough (that said, beware of cults, but that’s for another thread). While I did have some success as an actor, I rarely auditioned for characters that I resonated with. This is in part because of my own freaky life experience, but it’s also because I was trying to squeeze myself into pre-made boxes instead of building my own box (or getting outside my own box?). I went out for hundreds and hundreds of projects in the years I was auditioning in LA, but it was when I found my own voice and told the story that made me feel the most alive, with no lust of result or expectation of success, that everything I was chasing for 15 years literally fell into my lap. The second you decide to step foot in the entertainment industry, everyone dog-piles on you about how impossible it is and how much you have to sacrifice in order to succeed. Which is totally true, but I honestly believe that the secret to good writing is a life well-lived—and no one else has or ever will live your life but you. You don’t have to have lived a batshit crazy life—and I can’t honestly recommend it—you just have to be present enough in your own life to feel the magic. And then sit down and trust yourself to actually write the damn thing.

Hello Writer's Forge Community! It was so great to see so many of you on the call today and I'm really excited to stay in touch with this wonderful writer's group. For those who I didn't meet today, my name is Melissa Verdugo and I'm the Director of Ops & Events, and former Sr. Manager of Career Programs, at Women In Film (WIF). I wanted to offer some 1:1 Business Guidance time slots to any women in this group who might be interested in WIF. And happy to offer any advice I can lend on your projects or careers. Here is a link to sign up for 30 minute Business Chat 1:1s, starting June 8. If you are in a different time zone, please feel free to reach out directly to find a good time. Thanks everyone and happy writing! Melissa