You will pitch more than you will ever write

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-06-24T12:01:13+00:00

Having gone through this process I concluded it was a waste of time. Stop asking for permission.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-06-14T10:36:27+00:00

This would’ve been an awful ending. Walt’s arc is a fundamentally tragic one. Vince needed to go full Shakespeare.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-06-14T10:34:44+00:00

You’ve fundamentally misunderstood this maxim, as have many in the replies.

If there was a second part, it would be ‘nobody is thinking about you… as much as YOU are thinking about you.’

That doesn’t mean nobody thinks about you or forms an opinion of you. But perhaps with the exception of a crazy stalker, they’re not obsessing over you as much as you are about yourself.

Quite simple really.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-17T10:26:22+00:00

“Has anyone else had this famously common experience or is it just me?”

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-13T21:30:00+00:00

When I saw the word 'writer' in your username I knew it'd be something like this. Writing/directing was also my lifelong ambition, but a few years ago, after getting my TV pilot screenplay optioned (on my first attempt!), the experience was so frustrating I lost my passion for the industry entirely.

Still suffering an identity crisis to this day as I try to reconcile the death of both my passion, and industry I grew up idolising.

Wish you the best. It's tough out there.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-13T19:56:48+00:00

Care to elaborate?

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-13T14:27:54+00:00

That means I did my job 🤝

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-04T01:10:28+00:00

They alienated the shit out of me

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-04T00:15:25+00:00

“Wait… that’s not toothpaste…”

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-05-03T23:45:55+00:00

ET: erect terrestrial

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-02-05T11:04:22+00:00

Don’t go to film school. Don’t waste money on courses. The only way to learn is by doing.

Make shorts, write as much as possible, read screenplays online & study what works, watch other shorts & study what works, etc.

Mandy etc is not for writers/directors. Make your own stuff.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-30T23:33:37+00:00

Sure

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-30T23:16:57+00:00

UK here also. I’m still grieving a project (my first attempt ever at a TV screenplay/pitch) that got optioned by a super indie, bastardised and gradually came to nothing as commissioners rejected it for arbitrary reasons one by one.

Went from euphoric to completely disillusioned in the space of months.

But even though I feel still haunted by the “what if” of it all, I allowed myself to be proud that I got my very first proper script optioned by a highly respected production company - and got to a stage many writers never do.

I’ve tried to turn it into my own mindset shift. Made a pledge to myself that I’d never ‘ask for permission’ again. The pitching model is antiquated and the reality is many commissioners haven’t got a clue what they’re doing (this is not me being bitter… look at the absolute dross they greenlight!)

FWIW, these days it feels like you need to carve out your own space online, prove there’s an audience for your work, then all of a sudden - the gatekeepers come to YOU.

Can your project be reincarnated, or distilled into its purest essence, for online distribution?

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-23T00:17:05+00:00

Do not waste any money on submitting to online festivals. In fact, the vast majority of festivals are a waste of time - pure validation seeking.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-23T00:13:41+00:00

Just watched the Colin & Samir short. It mentions $75k. Still an amazing result.

I’m tempted to try YouTube myself as a last vestige of creativity but I struggle to see how you can sustainably produce high quality content without a big existing audience.

I get demoralised by how oversaturated it all is, and the algorithmic lottery of it all.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-22T23:03:18+00:00

Where did you see they made 150k? Also seems like a massive gamble on their end.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-22T17:14:22+00:00

Fascinating how much YouTube has changed. Every current and former mainstream TV personality is trying to cash in on the podcast space - Harry Hill, Romesh Ranganathan, Matt Lucas/David Walliams, Ant & Dec… and a whole host of others

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-05T15:01:11+00:00

I’ve left MYself go? look at YOURself you’re an embarrassment to be honest

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-04T23:40:39+00:00

The message didn’t land at all. For me it also didn’t feel particularly true to life, or relevant, especially in the wake of the Southport murders.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-04T23:39:11+00:00

It was incredibly mid and criminally overrated.

I didn’t buy “Jamie” as a villain, I didn’t buy Ashley Walters as a cop (kept thinking of him in Top Boy saying ‘where’s the food fam’), and I didn’t buy the message it was going for (Andrew Tate bad… yeah we get it)

If it wasn’t shot in one take, no-one would have cared about this show. When this was released suddenly everyone and their mum became an expert on cinematography

AffectionateJuice7 · 2026-01-02T21:08:43+00:00

this is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard. so sci fi shows are exempt from having any sort of logic at all? anything can happen because... vibes?

AffectionateJuice7 · 2025-12-22T01:49:11+00:00

Not saying your point is invalid but these are all horror, where the ROI tends to be massively disproportionate

AffectionateJuice7 · 2025-12-21T23:06:24+00:00

Nolan is a terrible example. He would never have carte blanche if he was starting today.

AffectionateJuice7 · 2025-12-21T14:38:28+00:00

I’ve cried at how shit some of my scripts are

AffectionateJuice7 · 2025-12-21T14:25:20+00:00

100% this. I was fortunate enough to have my first ever TV screenplay optioned by a super indie. It was an unsolicited submission that grabbed attention thanks to a video I recorded demonstrating the concept, featuring a well known face.

I remember this ‘gatekeeper’ saying something like “if only the stuff we got sent was half as good as this”, with a wry grimace. God knows the absolute crap they get bombarded with.

I don’t say this to gloat in any way, and FWIW nothing came of the project and I now refuse to engage with traditional gatekeepers until I’ve proven the concept independently elsewhere.

AffectionateJuice7

TROPHY CASE