DID YOU STUDY FILM? IF SO, WHERE AND WHAT'S YOUR DEGREE?

With various instructors in Los Angeles area, not in a college program.

YOU HAVE SO MANY WRITING CREDITS FOR TV, FILM, AND BOOKS. LET'S NARROW THIS INTERVIEW TO HOW NEW SCREENWRITERS CAN BREAK INTO FILM, OK?

No, I want to talk about writing for people on the moon.

MANY SCREENWRITERS OUT THERE HAVE COMPLETED ONE OR MORE SPEC SCREENPLAYS. SHOULD THEY EACH TRY TO GET AN AGENT BEFORE THEY MARKET THEIR SCRIPTS?

No, they should try and meet filmmakers, people who get movies made. Finding an agent should be a secondary endeavor. Why? It's very simple.

Agents get 10 percent of what they sell. They want clients who are proven quantities and/or who regularly bring in a paycheck, the bigger the better. For this reason, most agents don't pay much attention to new writers.

On the other hand, if you have a truly spectacular new spec screenplay, particularly one that has won an award at some national contest (not Joe's Got a Web Site Scriptapalooza), you can use that to get someone's attention.

What new writers should also consider is finding a manager who will groom their career and introduce them to agents while marketing their work. These managers also often produce, like Zide-Perry and Bender-Spink.

IF A SCREENWRITER WRITES A SCREENPLAY WITH A CERTAIN ACTOR IN MIND, WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GET THE SCRIPT INTO THAT ACTOR'S HANDS?

Find out where that actor's production company is. If the actor doesn't have a production company, you're often out of luck.

If you got Jack Nicholson to read a script of yours and want to do it, though, you'd have a movie, one way or another.

Many actors' production companies can be found at www.filmtracker.com - their development people are on that board all day long, talking projects, and there are over 500 top companies there. Mainly, you just have to learn who's where in Hollywood and other places.

It's not terribly difficult to get Robert De Niro's partner to look at a script, if you know where they are. If you know that Helen Hunt's producing partner is Connie Tavel at Tavel Entertainment, you're ahead of the game.

But remember this - top actors get offered big bucks to do already-funded movies, so why should they read your script? The only answer is if they are actively also trying to produce, and then they might be looking for things that they might not necessarily star in.

DOES A SCREENWRITER WHO LIVES ANYWHERE EXCEPT LOS ANGELES OR NEW YORK STAND A CHANCE OF BREAKING IN?

Absolutely, but that depends on your definition of "breaking in." I know a writer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, who sold a script to Germany last year. She's also written for kids' shows made in L.A.

In contrast, a fellow who read my "Writer's Guide to Hollywood" came here from a tiny town in Germany, did what my book said to do (took classes at UCLA, contacted some of the consultants listed, got in touch with a couple of the production companies), and he just sold a screenplay to Roland Emmerich of Centropolis.

Now, he must be a very good writer, but he came here from another country, paid attention, paid his dues, networked and met people, and now is working with a top company, well-paid and thrilled.

It's very difficult to do something like that if you are not where the action is -- people like to work with people they can reach out and touch.

ARE SCREENWRITING CONTESTS AN ENTRY POINT OR A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY? SOME CONTESTS SEEMS TO BE A MEANS TO PAY THE READERS.

I think most contests are designed to pay the readers and make a little money for the people who put them on. The only ones I pay much attention to are the ones sanctioned by known major organizations, whose winners have a track record of subsequent success. The Nicholl Fellowship, the Chesterfield, the Disney Fellowship, Austin's "Heart of Film."

One of my readers won the Writer's Digest screenwriting contest - a lovely person who will one day sell a screenplay - but this script was "soft" and will most likely never sell in Hollywood. That's because Writer's Digest doesn't have a clue about screenwriting, by and large, and they're in Ohio.

I have other readers who have won contests, one of them twice, but no one in Hollywood is paying attention, because the contest isn't in town or doesn't take place at some cool place everyone loves to visit, like Austin.

But even with contests in town, you have to watch it. You might be selected to be in the Warner Brothers comedy workshop, but guess what? You have to pay for that workshop. You might be selected as a Disney Fellow, but guess what the contract says? ANYTHING you write during the year in which you're under contract there basically belongs to Disney.

After I was a finalist in two national contests and was a semi-finalist in two other national contests with a stage play of mine, I said to heck with contests and concentrated on writing something that would sell. I think beginning screenwriters get addicted to contests when they should be spending their time selling.

WOULD A PERSONAL WEB SITE TOUTING ONE'S SCREENPLAYS BE WORTH THE EFFORT AND EXPENSE? DO BIG-TIME PRODUCERS LOOK FOR SCRIPTS ON INTERNET?

Most likely not. Why would "big time" producers look for scripts on the Internet when many of them barely know how to do email? And they have top agents and writers calling them all the time about new material.

Their ambitious development people might, but frankly those folks spend so much time on "tracking" chat boards discussing available properties and writers, after a while their eyes blur over.

The last thing they want to do is surf to some Web site and read a script. This isn't to say, however, that if you have a killer opening you couldn't put that up (first 5 or 10 pages) and invite people to read it.

Another problem with reading off Web sites is that if a reader for a production company has "cookies" enabled on their browser, reads a script onsite, isn't interested but later the company does a similar movie, the company could be sued for plagiarism because the writer of the Web site script can prove they had access to his/her script via the cookie record.

The only thing a Web site is good for is to promote yourself, and if you're going more than a few pages, you're wasting your time.

ARE SCREENWRITERS WHO POST THEIR SCRIPTS OR SYNOPSES ON A WEB SITE JUST GIVING AWAY THEIR IDEAS FOR FREE?

I don't look at it that way. If you post a synopsis or logline that makes sense and is intriguing (and I'd vote for a logline over a 2- to 3-page synopsis), then someone might request to see your script. That's what filmtracker.com and similar sites do, and some sales have been made that way.

SCREENWRITERS ARE TOLD TO WRITE SOMETHING FAMILIAR BUT DIFFERENT. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

You can't write something so nuts that it's beyond the norms of movies being made. The only time you can get away with that is if you find some producer with vision or if you make the movie yourself.

So you need to write within established genres to break in as a screenwriter. And then you need to write something truly impressive. And the best thing you can do is write something that just thrills you personally, without trying to second-guess the market.

My friend Dave Ayer took that approach when he wrote "Training Day," about a rookie cop's first day on the job, and he finds out the officer training him is crooked. Instant moral crisis and jeopardy. It takes place in the Ramparts division of Los Angeles, and was written years in advance of the real-life police department scandal there.

We've seen cop movies before, but we've never seen that angle. L.A. Confidential took a similar attack, concentrating on '50s L.A. tabloids and police corruption.

You know what the most written about subject matter in motion pictures is? Vampires, by about a 1/3 margin over any other. So you'd think all those stories would have been done.

Then we get SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE from Nic Cage's company, Saturn Films (he has this THING about vampires). And others followed, but they all have some different take on the vampire genre. I'm just waiting for "Studio Accounting, Nest of Blood-Sucking Freaks." Maybe I'll write it.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN SCREENWRITING - BOOKS, CLASSES, JUST PRACTICE?

A mutual friend told me that Jonathan Hensleigh learned to write screenplays that sell by renting videos of the top 50 movies of all time and watching them with the script of each movie in hand. THAT is dedication, and it worked for him.

You can learn basic techniques - Syd Field's paradigm, Joseph Campbell's myth structure, John Truby's "ghost" (inner need of protagonist), etc. You can read my "Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting," and you'll get a lot of history of storytelling and Hollywood evolution you won't get anywhere else. Bill Martell's "Secrets of Action Screenwriting" will tell you things others won't teach you.

But in the end, you should be reading great scripts and scripts that are selling currently. In addition to that, you should read great novels, and watch a lot of movies.

After a while, technique goes away and art begins, but only when you've immersed yourself in film and storytelling. And after you've written a number of screenplays and done a LOT of rewriting, it should become clear to you what works and what doesn't.

WOULD BEING IN A SCREENWRITERS GROUP AND/OR GOING TO FILM SCHOOL MAKE BREAKING INTO SCREENWRITING ANY EASIER?

Hell yes, if it's in some place where films and TV shows are actually being made. L.A., New York, Toronto, Vancouver, perhaps. Going to film school would definitely help. If you can't make it to L.A. or N.Y., get a copy of the CD program "How to Make Your Movie: An Interactive Film School" at www.interactivefilmschool.com - it's fantastic.

Good writers help other good writers - that's a showbiz axiom - and you probably won't meet them outside of groups.

HOW DOES A WRITER KNOW WHEN THE SCREENPLAY IS READY TO SHOW?

When a number of knowledgeable (about film) people read it and go "Wow."

HOW CRAZY IS A NEW SCREENWRITER WHO ALSO WANTS TO DIRECT THE FILM?

Write a script with minimal locations, preferably no more than two or three.

Get $5,000 and buy a new Mac G4 with monitor and Final Cut Pro software.

Get a good video camera (Spike Lee shot BAMBOOZLED on a $1,200 consumer model). Learn something about lighting and sound. Do a lot of study and practice, and then shoot your movie.

If you're talking about that $60,000,000 action thriller you just wrote with a major star in mind, however, and you've never directed before, please check yourself into the closest mental institution.

SOME PEOPLE WRITE NOVELS BECAUSE THEY HOPE SOMEONE WILL READ THEIR WORK AND DECIDE THE STORY IS FILMIC. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS APPROACH FOR NEW SCREENWRITERS?

If you write a novel you should only do it because you want to write a novel.

DO YOU THINK CABLE AND INTERNET WILL OPEN NEW DOORS FOR SCREENWRITERS?

It already has, particularly with regard to digital filmmaking. Bravo has provided an output deal to digital movies made for around $100,000 via IndiGent Films in New York. More to follow, particularly in the area of short films which get people's attention.

ARE SCRIPT DOCTORS WORTH THE EXPENSE?

If they have clients who will attest to their worth and they have some background in the business that makes sense. Being a reader for a production company for a few months doesn't count, sorry, even if you did get that psychology degree.

I charge people $250. Sometimes I tell them their script stinks and they know nothing about proper formatting. Then I tell them how to fix everything. Much more rarely I refer a script to someone, usually after changes have been made.

I charge that much to discourage people from hiring me, because I'd rather be writing. Some "gurus" (I don't consider myself one) charge as much as $5,000. Are they worth it? I doubt it, but people pay them.

Sometimes writers who don't have professional input keep making the same mistakes over and over, though, so if you get the right script doctor it can work. The fellow from Germany that I mentioned earlier worked with a script doctor and found it very helpful, and he has a studio deal now.

SOME NEW SCREENWRITERS GO TO FILM FESTIVALS TO NETWORK. HOW EFFECTIVE IS THAT TACTIC?

It is a very good idea. Quite often people that want to make movies are so enamored with moving pictures, they don't have a clue about writing stories. They really need screenwriters, and talking about ideas over coffee is a helluva lot better than sending someone you don't know 115 pages of used paper.

MARKETING IS A DIFFERENT SET OF SKILLS FROM CREATIVE WRITING. RATHER THAN TELEPHONE OR WRITE LETTERS, SOME SCREENWRITERS SEND E-MAIL QUERIES. HOW EFFECTIVE DO YOU THINK AN E-MAIL QUERY COULD BE?

It depends entirely on the recipient. A lot of people are now sick of email, spam, etc. Others live by it.

If you learn to condense your central idea into the subject header of an email, or write very short, to the point emails, I think you can get anyone's attention.

Just be patient and don't freak out if a week or two goes by and you don't hear from them. The older producers can take that long to reply.

PITCHING TO PRODUCERS IS SUCH A FORMIDABLE TASK FOR MANY SCREENWRITERS. COULD YOU OFFER ANY TIPS TO MAKE THE BEST POSSIBLE PRESENTATION?

Learn some acting skills. Really give a damn about the characters and the story you're telling them. Acting out some scenes isn't beyond the pale.

If you're truly moved as you tell the story, chances are the producers will be, too, and so will the eventual audience.

It's also helpful to prepare a storyboard presentation (words or pictures or sometimes both) so that the entire screenplay can be explained more easily. If you have to choose, though, pick emotion and good storytelling over corporate presentations.

IF A SCREENWRITER WOULD BE SO FORTUNATE TO ATTACH ELEMENTS, LIKE A KNOWN ACTOR OR DIRECTOR, THEN IS IT EASIER TO SELL A PACKAGE TO A PRODUCER?

If you do that, you're already a producer. Known doesn't matter. Bankable matters. If your favorite soap star wants to be in your movie, it's probably a big so what.

If Mel Gibson wants to be in your movie, he'll produce it himself. Either produce the movie or don't produce the movie and sell the screenplay. Doing things halfway will drive you nuts.

IS THERE ANOTHER WAY TO BREAK IN THAT WE DIDN'T DISCUSS?

Sure. Be Michael Eisner's son. I can't promise you'd enjoy that, but it would work. There's a great deal of nepotism in this business.

Another way is to bring the money, your own or someone else's money. If you do that, you're in the game and getting your scripts made.

IF READERS WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT YOU, WHERE SHOULD THEY WRITE?

skip_press@excite.com - or they could write me at my home address, but only if they bring the money.