In my previous segment yesterday I wrote about how to approach a long screenwriting seminar so as a writer you get the most out of it.  This final segment will show you how to behave at one of these events and what to bring.  

The reason I am focusing on behavior is because there were a few gung-ho writers in attendance. While seemingly a positive concept, they actually came off as desperate at the conference. In part one, I suggested that you bring business cards but not to throw them at everyone that passes by you. This happened at the conference and to their detriment I feel this particular writer and their projects suffered as a result. I hope I’m wrong, however.

Ask yourself: “Who is my audience at this seminar?”

If you need practice pitching, by all means ask another writer to listen to you, but don’t jump into every conversation and pitch your story with the assumption that one of us is powerful enough to produce it. You have to listen carefully, and join in when appropriate. This is simple group dynamics 101. 

Your audience is the producer you are paying to pitch your project.  Everyone else is a wonderful networking opportunity. Act accordingly.  

You can do that by:

• Staying sober at all schmoozing events (I would hope this is obvious)
• Engaging a producer with a thoughtful question if you see them in the hall. 
• Not pitching to the producer in the restroom.

Are you at this seminar to network and learn, or to have fun?

If you’re there to have fun, might I suggest you choose Disneyland instead?  Most conferences include schmoozing events which you MUST attend to network, however, if you get drunk and say something stupid to a producer in attendance, you’ll have to pray to the porcelain god the next day they won’t remember you insulted their previous projects or their lovely companion.

Stay in control of yourself at these events because you’re not there to make friends, you’re there to create potential business partners, and sell your scripts. The atmosphere can be deceptive, I admit, but if you rehash your goals every day, you won’t get lost in the merriment. 

What should I have on my person when attending?

This is a list you’ll be grateful I made for you. We did not have the luxury of knowing about some of these items before arriving at the conference. Many people commiserated about wanting to be forewarned so I’m doing it for you now.

This is a fairly straight forward list of absolute must haves:

• Bring snappy, memorable business cards. They will create conversation for you. For ideas, read this excerpt from “How to Sell Your Screenplay” by Lydia and Joan Wilen.  
  
  
• Bring a solid medium-priced notebook, a folder and a couple pens. Have one pen to lend out because someone always forgets their pen. I brought a blank 8x10 lined journal so that any amount of abuse wouldn’t destroy it. By the end of the conference, it had suffered a fall or two, was scratched to hell, and the corners were bent, but the information was intact. It also acted as a desk when one was not available.
   
• A good tourist map of the city where the conference is being held because you may not have a car, but someone will and they might invite you to tour the city. 
   
• Where will you be? Is it a lower or higher altitude than what you’re use to? Prepare accordingly…seriously. Santa Fe is 7000 ft above sea level and in the most delicate terms, it kicked my butt the first couple days I was there.
   
• For the pitches themselves, this one piece of information is the most valuable and a new writer may not know this: Bring a “one sheet” for every project you pitch. A “one sheet” is simply your contact information, the title, genre, logline and synopsis on one page so that a producer can make notes on it and reference it later when you send them your script (if they requested it).  Note: your synopsis should be double spaced. 
   
• Lastly, bring your game face. 
  
  It’s show time. You’re representing yourself. You’re an amazing writer, so stand up straight, tuck away your bad habits and pretend to be an extrovert. Most writers are introverts, so you may have to practice being social on other people before you arrive. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’ll get more out of the conference if you set your demons aside.

No matter the outcome of your pitches, you did all that you could to get every drop of  knowledge out of this conference, because damn it’s expensive and you can’t waste anything they’re offering.

In conclusion, everyone should attend at least one and not more than three screenwriting seminars of this length. In your path to greatness as a screenwriter, a seminar with a pitch fest can be the closest link to show business when you live outside of the Los Angeles bubble. 

On the flip-side, do not rely on seminars to make yourself a better writer. Because why?

Only you can make yourself a better writer.

Write on brother. Write on sister.