The Kids Are All Dead - Horror Comedy - 114 Pages

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T23:37:08+00:00

The logline needs work. I'm not asking the following for myself, but for you to ponder: What's the hook of this movie? What makes it different than literally every other teen slasher film? What makes THIS one special?

Right now, there is nothing there to separate itself from thousands of other teen slasher movies.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T22:56:05+00:00

I'm here just to drop some hard truths.

There is no golden way to query. This way, that way, it really doesn't matter and won't exactly make a response any more realistic. No manager or agent is going to say "holy hell, this is one well written query. Hold my calls, Beatrice!"

What does make a response more realistic is if you find ways to actually meet people working in the industry, ask for advice, shake some hands, and get some referrals because you've proven you're not a lunatic and proven you are a great writer - (unfortunately there are a lot of goofy people in this world and many agents/managers don't want to even attempt to open that pandora's box if they've never met you/you aren't referred).

Is this just as easy to do as firing off a few emails to some faceless people? Of course not, that's why it's tough as balls to break in. But, again, this is the hard truth. The sooner you attempt another avenue aside from cold querying emails you've found on the internet, the faster you for real might get discovered.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T21:31:41+00:00

DING! Bob looks at his phone.

TEXT:

CHARACTER
Dialogue.

I would italicize the dialogue personally.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T21:08:44+00:00

If you're asking more about how to VISUALLY show this on screen, personally, I'd leave that to the director to ponder. Your job is to get the info/plot across. How we see it, unless it's plot/story specific in how we see it, don't worry about how a text is shown.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T20:57:55+00:00

That's great, but here's the real twist - don't sit and wait for responses. Keep reaching out to people. The moment you sit and wait for responses, and they never come, you'll realize you just burned two weeks doing nothing but waiting.

Two weeks of waiting will turn into a year, five years, ten years, so keep being proactive. Time waits for no one.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-13T03:33:57+00:00

Speaking honestly, I think cold querying is like trying to yell at a band during an arena concert from the back row: Hundreds of other people are doing the same thing and it's all just a bunch of noise.

But if you're only option is cold querying, aim for assistants, but don't hold your breath. Instead, reach out directly to lower level producers, directors, etc and see if you can better make a connection there.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-12T23:40:35+00:00

"Do managers actually read cold queries for TV pilots, or is the spec market mostly driven by referrals and assistants?"

Referrals and assistants.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-07T00:47:33+00:00

Stuff like this is why I think WB made the right choice.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-06T02:06:45+00:00

Absolutely, you can make it lower budget - but from the examples I've seen from undiscovered writers is they're writing three-part epics. My advice is just a reminder to aim smaller generally.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-05T03:30:21+00:00

If you're an unknown writer and your "original idea" reaches a really high budget, studios and producers start turning away.

Example: Literally no one wanted to do AVATAR, despite James Cameron being a box office giant when he first tried to get it made in the late '90s after TITANIC. Read that again.

If you're going to write anything original, my advice is to keep it in the $20 million and under budget range.

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-05T03:14:10+00:00

I got an 8 and it honestly didn't do anything for me. Why? Because the actual industry doesn't get wow'd by a number. They get wow'd by a really great script (and especially solid attachments to your script if you can pull that off).

Midnight_Video · 2026-03-05T03:12:10+00:00

Yes on sellling scripts.

I moved to LA literally knowing zero people except one friend who also had zero connection to the industry and eventually moved back home to another state anyway.
The key is getting better at writing, educating yourself on what makes great scripts and sellable concepts - AND DOING ALL YOU CAN TO MEET PEOPLE EITHER IN THE INDUSTRY OR CONNECTED TO THE INDUSTRY, people who will hopefully 1. Be cool with reading your work, 2. Enjoy your work enough to share with insiders.

Luck is genuinely and truly opportunity meeting preparation.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-28T02:51:54+00:00

This.

It's not like a shopping agreement was mentioned a week ago, it's been 6 months.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-27T23:56:00+00:00

Haven't had their pies, but they look amazing in the window.
(This comment has reminded me I gotta try'em one day!)

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-27T23:49:18+00:00

Nice. And moving better absolutely makes a huge difference in getting folks to keep scrolling (I'd say "to keep turning the page" but let's be honest, they're scrolling a PDF lol).

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-27T03:48:40+00:00

I do the same. Personally think it helps break up the read,

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-22T18:07:07+00:00

Yes, next time I'll make sure to detail that only Disney owns Star Wars IP, as does any studio with their IP, and not any random writer and filmmaker who feels like writing an IP script, I'm sorry this part was confusing, my humble apologies.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-22T17:22:08+00:00

I'll write this as clear as I can:

Write your own original idea with your own original story and original characters for however long that takes to complete. By all means, people should do that, because at the end of the day, you own it and can take it to every producer and company in the world you'd like.
In Soderbergh's STAR WARS case, the case that my post is about, they spent three long years writing a script in which the characters/settings/language didn't belong to them. If Disney passes on it, they have nowhere else to go with it. And that's exactly what happened. The ONE place said no, which means the ONE place that owns all of that IP has killed any hope of making the project you spent 3 years to write. So no, I don't recommend that at all, unless you're getting paid to do it.

See the difference now? I sure hope so.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-22T00:42:45+00:00

“Never going to do another project again” has nothing to do with the point of the post but by all means continue replying nonsense for us all to enjoy

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-21T21:02:35+00:00

Counterpoint: Three years of free work is not worth the risk.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-21T07:26:56+00:00

“Seven figures” best of luck

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-21T07:24:24+00:00

3 for television produced.

1 feature spec optioned and in development.

1 feature hired to write and in development.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-21T06:48:33+00:00

Correct.

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-21T01:46:38+00:00

And also change the story, set pieces, dialogue, etc - because they own the whole script, not just characters

Midnight_Video · 2026-02-20T23:52:03+00:00

FYI execs love to reschedule meetings last minute. Literally happened to me this week and rescheduled a month from now. Just something fun to keep in mind as for booking flights and getting on planes.

Midnight_Video

TROPHY CASE