We have our weekly New Member Coaching Call on Monday: Here's the link for the Zoom. Instead of just getting to know each other, I want to put a couple of you in the Hot Seat and go through the first few pages of your script. Why? Because NOTHING kills a read faster than your first scenes not jumping off the page! It's the #1 Rule in my 10 Iron Clad Rules for a Writing Life. Make me love you by page 2, or gtfo. The truth is, agents/managers/producers will stop reading immediately if you don't nail the opening. And my way of teaching is... I don't believe in simply telling you what to do, since we all have blind spots. The best form of coaching is when I take YOUR work and put you on the Hot Seat and you get real time feedback on how your material plays live. Now... who's in for some coaching? Drop your first 7 pages below. And I'll see you Monday morning. Oh, and make sure to read everyone's work between now and then so you (and they) get the most out of Hot Seat coaching.

I just got off a call that was supposed to be coaching me on how to make great YouTube content, but the call was way too vague and sales-y for my taste. And reminded me of what I DON'T want to be doing here. This call was basically "Make great content" and you eventually, somehow the algorithm will reward you! But no examples of great content were provided and I found the whole thing fairly useless. Then when the presenter told us we'd need 10 MILLION watch hours on YouTube shorts to be able to monetize, it was apparent they had no real idea what they were talking about. The whole thing made me feel this: If you're going to preach how to do something, SHOW ME SPECIFICALLY how you did it yourself. And SHOW ME SPECIFIC examples of how other people did it. Period. I have plenty of movies I wrote that I'm happy to give examples from in future sessions. How characters were set up, why the audience tied into them emotionally, and the thought process I and my partner used to do that. I want to have kind of a MUST KNOW library of movies to teach from here. I refer to Signs and Toy Story 2 often, because they are masterfully crafted, but I want us to have a community list of movies we are pretty much all familiar with ... and then I will search out the ones I can find scripts for, so we can see SPECIFICALLY what the writers did in creating the characters and scenes we love. This will be part of the classroom/community/coaching philosophy going forward. If you want to be involved and grow as a writer, you'll abolutely need to show up and do the work required - including knowing specific movies and reading the scripts! If you want to be a writer, this should be FUN homework and will really allow us to grow as a community going forward since we'll have a common film language. With that in mind, what are 5 movies you absolutely love and why. I'll create a master list of films and scripts and coaching sessions built around these! So, let's hear it!

After the coaching call the other day. I was excited to start writing my opening scene. I’ve only just started to turn my treatment into my script. Cold open. Prologue leading up to the inciting incident. It’s not too much yet. But as the opening scene is so important. I wanted to try my hand at it. It’s rough. First draft. And most definitely needs tightening. How is everyone finding writing their opening scene? I can’t wait to read more of yours. Of course- if you get a chance to read - thank you as always. And i always appreciate any feedback. I plan to write the next 10 pages this week. That’s my goal for the week. ( hoping to do at least 5- 10 a week ) What’s everyone’s goal for this week? 👀👀 Thank you guys!!

THE SHADOW OF EVERGREEN Genre Epic Fantasy / Adventure / Mythic Drama Tone & Scope Mythic, emotional, and character-driven with grounded spectacle. The film blends ancient prophecy, elemental magic, and political consequence with an intimate coming-of-age journey. Comparable in tone to Princess Mononoke, The Lord of the Rings, and The Northman, with a strong heroic arc led by a conflicted young princess. LOGLINE When a banished elven wraith known as Deimos returns to reclaim the throne of Evergreen, a reluctant princess bound by prophecy must unite fractured realms, confront forbidden magic, and embrace her true legacy—or watch her world fall into eternal shadow. THEMES Legacy vs. self-determination The cost of forbidden power Unity among divided peoples Balance between nature, magic, and rulership Fear of becoming the very darkness one must defeat. SETTING Evergreen is an ancient forest kingdom sustained by elemental balance and royal bloodlines. Beyond its borders lie the Sand Villages, Forest Dwellers, mountain strongholds, and forgotten ruins tied to an ancient Gate—an artifact capable of reshaping the world. MAIN CHARACTERS PRINCESS ALETHEA (Protagonist) Early 20s. Daughter of King Orin and Queen Tari. A skilled but restrained warrior trained in secrecy, Alethea is intelligent, observant, and burdened by prophecy. She fears her latent power and resists the throne, believing leadership will cost her humanity. Over the course of the film, she evolves from reluctant heir to decisive leader who understands that balance—not domination—is true strength. DEIMOS (Antagonist / The Wraith King) An ancient elf once sworn to protect Evergreen. Banished centuries ago for practicing forbidden magic, Deimos has survived by binding his soul to shadow and memory. Charismatic, tragic, and terrifying, he believes Evergreen must be ruled through fear to survive what is coming. He sees Alethea as both a threat and a potential successor. KAELARA (The Exile) A fierce warrior and outcast who lives beyond Evergreen’s borders. Once part of the Queen’s Guard, she was exiled after defying royal command. Hardened by loss, she distrusts prophecy and royalty but becomes Alethea’s most loyal ally. Her bond with an ancient forest guardian hints at deeper mythological roots.

As a writer we can be as creative as we want to be, but as a filmmaker the problem I'm having is the practical part of it. I know fellow filmmakers that write simplistic type stories and can easily shoot and film their projects with reasonable budgets. The problem for me is that my genre is sci-fi and fantasy. Of course a lot more work is involved. So budgets can run extremely high and as a independent Filmmaker do you limit yourself to writing because of that? As a writer you can be as free as you want on paper can create impossible worlds. As an independent filmmaker it kinda drops my motivation because of the difficulty, but as a writer I can see my vision come to life. As a filmmaker and writer any advice or what would you do? Thanks Donovan