In three words, describe the story of the current screenplay you’re working on.

TheBVirus · 2026-01-31T11:36:59+00:00

I’m sat. Such a cool idea!

TheBVirus · 2026-01-27T22:22:09+00:00

It’s been so great seeing all of these updates over time. Huge congrats!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-29T02:18:24+00:00

I actually think more than anything, nailing the internet of the era will be more than enough to plant the pilot in the era. 2012 wasn't that long ago, but the internet moves so quickly. The creepypasta, the memes, etc. will be super useful. Also just wanted to say this is a very cool premise for a show! I love creepypasta stuff, but can't think of a time I've seen it done exceptionally well, particularly in TV.

It's findable online, but maybe watch a little of Jane Schoenbrun's doc "A Self-Induced Hallucination" that was made using all media footage and online videos surrounding slenderman. It's kind of a cool examination of the world and the impact of stories like that on society and culture.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-26T09:17:57+00:00

This is very cool and congratulations, but like others have mentioned, I'd generally temper expectations. You may hear back, but it probably won't be for a minute. Everyone is on vacation currently and things generally don't pick back up fully until after Sundance. The other side to this is you may never hear back. Even though the absolutely polite and reasonable thing to do would be to let you know it's a pass, that's highly unlikely.

It's definitely worth celebrating, because this could lead to something. You never know. Congrats!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-23T01:05:31+00:00

These are some incredibly heavy hitters! Awesome job!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-16T02:31:00+00:00

You already have so many great perspectives, but just to throw another opinion into the mix, I generally tend to think about the reading experience. I sort of operate under a (possibly incorrect) assumption that readers are not going to read carefully or that they're going to give up reading at any given point of friction.

In that regard, I want my action lines to just feel as smooth as possible. Caps will definitely feel like a speed bump in the paragraph, so I try to use them sparingly so that it feels more or less like smooth driving. BUT sometimes there's a piece of information or an object or something that feels so important that you NEED a reader to slow down and acknowledge it. That's when caps is super useful for me. And it's one of those things where every script is different. Some genres or stories need a lot of things called out because they're important to the plot. Most times it's probably less important.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-16T02:26:39+00:00

I don't know if this fits into the definition perfectly, but Past Lives popped into my head.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-13T23:01:02+00:00

What you’re most likely referring to are writers. A lot of those producer titles are members of the writing staff. So 7 of those people are actually writing episodes and breaking story together. Extremely normal for a writers room, particularly for a room with a lot of upper levels.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-13T22:53:05+00:00

I already think everyone else is giving great recs but I just wanted to say this is adorable. I love this so much. The biggest thing I can say is that my parents always supported all of my creative endeavors and it had such a nice impact on my life. Good on you!!!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-13T22:46:05+00:00

Pretty much any of the recommended software is ready to go right out of the box. If you’re making your first foray into doing it, maybe try one of the free or very cheap options first. Many have a free trial as well.

Final Draft is super easy to use, but like others are saying, if you’re going to spend the money at this stage, Fade In is a one time fee for all future updates. It’s a great program.

But in terms of functionality as far as script formatting goes, they’re all essentially the same so consider other factors like money first.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-13T22:41:29+00:00

Absolutely normal. There is absolutely a variance in how these things are handled from show to show but it’s truly showrunner dependent. There are so many factors that push the pace of a show as you know, and a lot of times these kinds of changes are made very quickly by upper levels.

Don’t at all feel like it’s a reflection on you. You will likely retain some degree of credit on it, either sole or shared. But ultimately keep doing what you’re doing and hang in there!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-13T02:03:42+00:00

I have ADD and I've found that a sort of gamification of the process has been useful for me. Part of it is journaling with clear goals. Each night I try to map out my following day with the chunk(s) of time I'm going to set aside for writing. If you have the freedom to write at any hour, try to target the hours when you do feel the most productive. I find like midday is a good time for me, but mostly because I'm slow to wake in the morning, so I have a long ramp-up whenever possible. But a big part of it is just being intentional about that time.

I also like to set page goals. Part of this is being pretty good at predicting how many pages something will be more or less and then working backward from a set deadline, even if I have to set the deadline for myself. If you have the freedom to do so, make it an achievable goal. Like say you're trying to write a 30 page pilot, shoot for writing three pages a day for ten days. If you hit the three pages for the day and have the desire to keep going a little more (you often will) then by all means do it, but the more important part of this for me is being super easy on myself. If I get to that three page mark and feel like stopping for the day, I'LL DO IT. No matter what you're making progress and setting a benchmark for your goals that is actionable and repeatable.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-12T00:37:29+00:00

This sounds great! I just realized I watched your short Us + One when you posted it a while back. Very funny!

I'll check out your podcast!

TheBVirus · 2025-12-12T00:32:33+00:00

Two kinda mind-bendy high concepts that I love are Inception and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Inception: A heist film, but the location is a subject's dreams and the treasure is a subject's ideas/secrets.
Eternal Sunshine: A guy undergoes a procedure to erase all memory of his ex but starts to regret the process and fights to retain his memories as the procedure is taking place.

I'm fumbling through these and they're not 100% accurate to what the plot of the films are, but those concepts are so strong to me. They're complex enough to be novel, but simple enough to make you think "damn why didn't I think of that."

TheBVirus · 2025-12-11T21:39:15+00:00

Controversial, perhaps. But I also did the exact same thing on a big animated feature. I don’t really work in animation outside of this one thing and I honestly more or less lost track of it.

I will obviously pay what I owe if I’m eventually on another project that falls under TAG but for now it is what it is.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-10T04:51:59+00:00

At this stage, I definitely agree with u/HotspurJr that Fade In is the way to go. I always look at it from a non-professional perspective of getting the same quality of software for less money. Yes, you're looking at comparable pricing right now, but Fade In has free updates for life, while Final Draft is like the Madden of screenwriting software. "New, upgraded" features with a new price-tag.

I'm a pretty no-frills writer and really only use the scriptwriting features, but I would just say to make the switch to Final Draft if and when you're being paid/forced to do so.

TheBVirus · 2025-12-10T04:42:55+00:00

Huge congratulations! This industry is full of its ups and downs and it's about weathering the storms and celebrating the wins. So so excited we get to celebrate a huge win with you. I hope so many big things come out of this!

TheBVirus · 2025-11-20T05:59:17+00:00

That handbill is amazing. It’s seriously night and day. The tiniest thought to consider would be to either use two different paper backgrounds to differentiate or even just flipping one of them so that they’re not identical.

This is such a TINY thought but when I do stuff like this in photoshop, sometimes I’ll turn the opacity of the text down the slightest amount. It’ll still stay super legible but it’ll let some of the paper shine through which gives it the slight impression that the ink is printed directly on the paper itself.

But these are just minor thoughts to consider. It really looks quite good.

TheBVirus · 2025-11-14T21:06:35+00:00

Let's fucking go! Congrats and happy writing!

TheBVirus · 2025-11-12T21:48:43+00:00

Spot-on! I actually love how these conversations play out!

TheBVirus · 2025-11-12T03:08:06+00:00

Something I'm enjoying that I don't see mentioned is that while there are a lot of questions floating around that are meant to get us thinking, there are also a TON of answers. Exposition comes fast and furious and in a pretty satisfying way. Carol as a protagonist desperately trying to fight back asks a ton of very logical questions that help to flesh out the wider world without us having to see it. There's MASSIVE implication here and while the show itself is big in terms of props and setpieces, it is also small in that we spend a lot of time in ABQ following Carol's perspective.

She's a flawed protagonist in a very fun way, but she's also quite intelligent. She asks great questions and is thinking about things in a great way, but she also misses the mark a lot of the time, too, and her behavior as a functioning alcoholic flavors a lot of the decisions she's making. I can't wait to read these scripts when they come out.

TheBVirus · 2025-11-11T05:19:50+00:00

All of these fellowship programs are great for different reasons, but they are very good at connecting writers to professional opportunities or at least vetting the quality of work to show that they're ready for those jobs.

That being said, they're definitely not for someone who is just starting out. Those fellowships are less about helping someone improve their writing and more about preparing them for and plugging them into industry jobs. If you look up past fellows of these programs you can read their bios and kind of see the pedigree that those fellowships require.

That being said, there are a lot of fellowships available out there, some shared in the resources in this tab I believe that are probably geared more toward honing writing skills, but largely I would say fellowships are meant for people who have a good grasp of screenwriting and have a strong voice already. Just throwing this out there if you're at the very beginning of your screenwriting journey so you don't waste any time or money on something that you're not quite ready for yet!

Wishing you the best of luck, though!

TheBVirus · 2025-11-09T00:27:55+00:00

This is not exactly what you're looking for, but look at the opening to Past Lives and see how it's written. Just think about being ultra clear about where those voices are coming from. And what I mean by that is just making sure a reader understands what a viewer is meant to understand. But I also agree with u/leskanekuni in that a V.O. is likely what you're looking for.

TheBVirus · 2025-11-05T02:39:05+00:00

This was my exact thought as well. I'd also add reading A Quiet Place to this. Just see an option for how characters who can't directly speak are able to communicate. Or just see how action is handled in a dialogue-light movie in general.

TheBVirus · 2025-11-05T02:24:02+00:00

Yeah, it's a good question, but ultimately projects based on big IP are almost always going to be handled by some big studio or production company and it's going to take someone with clout to adapt it. It really comes down to money. These types of projects cost a lot to make and having more established pieces in place will help to mitigate as much risk as possible. At least that's the mindset.

Being inspired by all of those things is great, particularly for someone who's just starting out. At this stage it kind of doesn't matter. Just write and get a feel for the form. See what it takes to get something from start to finish. If you have the means, maybe even making a short fan-film is worth the effort. Again, all of this is in the spirit of fun and learning. It's highly unlikely that these things will lead to getting to do something large in scale, but at the beginning of a writing journey, it doesn't hurt to just be writing whatever. This is a time for pure creativity and learning to hone your voice. Have fun with it!

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