“No matter what achievement you have … someone helped you.” Aretha Gipson
Many years ago, one of Hollywood’s most powerful movie producers proclaimed, “Don’t let writers have power!”
From: Current.com:
The writers seem to be unrecognized and underestimated by the general masses as a result of Hollywood attitudes. TV and movie fans are quick to congratulate actors on a beautiful performance, but forget that it couldn’t have existed without someone formulating the concept, etc.
A few years ago I wrote a comedy script and for a few years I tried to sell it with no luck. Some people in the movie industry liked it … but not the cigars! During this time, I tried to learn as much as I could about the screenwriting business, and what I did learn was some pretty daunting news for the writer, etc.
One of the main things that irritated me was that once a writer sold the script to the studio, they no longer wanted it and he was not even allowed to be on set during production. The writer may or may not get the first rewrite of a script, depending on the contract. And I read several stories where the writer sold a script to the studio … and the directors, producers, and other screenwriters wrote and rewrote the script so many times that the original writer didn’t even recognize their script. The actors even jumped into action and offered two cents as well. Talk about frustration for the writer! If the movie is a success … credit goes to the director, producer, and actors! But if the movie is a bomb or a flop … the writer is to blame!
I also learned about age discrimination in Hollywood, and there is so much for everyone. There is a lot of selfishness and greed in Hollywood, so I decided to do something else with my script. I disassembled the script and used ideas from my website and articles. There is too much ugliness in Hollywood for me!
“Imagination is the highest kite you can fly.” Lauren bacall
From: BRE Magazine.com:
Stevie wonder; Carol King; John Lennon; Smokey Robinson; Lionel Richie, etc. What do these people have in common? They are all accomplished composers … highly skilled in the art of creating the very foundation of our musical landscape. In today’s music scene, a group of different producers are called upon to shape the current musical offering and have been praised with the highest credit. The projects are driven by the producers and there is little respect for the creators of the project – the songwriters!
Like millions of people across the country, I have been to a few concerts in my day. I have seen very few singers or members of the band give credit to the author of the song, unless it is one of their own, etc. I’ve seen singers who don’t even introduce their band members to the audience. The singer is the center of attention and the large amount of money … and the songwriter usually takes the shortest part of the pencil, as usual.
Humor writers! Erma Bombeck was once quoted as saying that writing humor is 50 times harder than writing anything else. I agree! I’ve been in the humor business for over 50 years, so I think I know a bit about humor, and it will be the public that will judge whether or not my work is fun!
How many late night talk show hosts would be a lot of fun without their army of humor writers, putting everything together behind the scenes? In the recent writers’ strike (2007-08), live shows did not even go on the air, but were quickly replaced by reruns as soon as the strike began. And who makes so much money? The talk show host, of course! It’s easy to be funny when someone else writes the material. Humor writers are never recognized or recognized. Are you kidding … do you recognize a writer?
From: Hope Is My Anchor.com:
“Our need is not to feel that writing has to be a career to be worth it … nor that it has to be prepared through formal study before it can be satisfying to the writer. If you feel you have an unrecognized talent for writing, or if you just love to write, and want to, my advice is to write. But write without ambition, pride … which makes you feel like it is a “waste” that will never be published. Write to communicate with someone, even if it is literally a person. It is not a waste to write beautiful prose or poetry just for one person’s eyes. ” Edith schaeffer
Funny or not … good writers are good storytellers, and I don’t care if you’re writing a poem; a piece of humor; or a technical article … you have to tell the story. The writer left the plans … the frame of the film; the song or the ad, etc. Because without the writer … there is not much to say!
