Hi! I have a question about becoming a scriptwriter. I am training as a scriptwriter at the moment, but I have a severe fear of flying, so much so I can't travel abroad. Is it possible to be a scriptwriter and not travel to other countries to sell them these days? I live in England and ultimately the USA would be my main place to sell my scripts. thanks Mike
It could be very hard to sell scripts to Hollywood at least without at least traveling to (and very possibly living in) LA...
LOL! Or maybe a submarine? Maybe teaming up with someone isn't such a bad idea and getting them to do the necessary pitching. There's a job role their for anyone living in LA, become an overseas script pitcher, it even has a nice ring to it!
You could always take an hour lesson in a Cessna at your local municipal airstrip, probably runs less than 100 dollars (35 here for first lesson). Then you get to fly around a little bit, maybe convince the instructor to do a few dives and turns for you or show you how to do them yourself. You'll probably feel a lot better about tooling around as an international superstar script writer once you've been trained in a light aircraft. Plus then you could use that experience to write some movies. I've always wanted to see another sequel to the Airplane! franchise.
I'm a walking, living, breathing Mr Bean. I was okay once, I even flew to Canada from England. Then I went in a plane over to Minorca and we got caught in the mother of all storms, lightening, thick cloud, you know the movie scenario. Just recently I convinced myself I was being daft and tried again, if only the same damn thing didn't happened again! Now I'm so scared of flying, writing just the mere word breaks me out into a cold sweat! I'll just have to hope my scripts are so damned incredible people will travel miles just to sign them ... I shouldn't give up my day job should I? I would like to add, I am infinitely more attractive than Mr Bean! LOL!
Rowan Atkinson is a race car driver though. I mean seriously. He races in all sorts of sports car series and even wrecked his Mclaren F1. What do you think he'd tell you to do? Life's too short to worry about plummeting to Earth at near the speed of sound while the plane disintegrates around you and the engine's over-reved whine is almost, but not enough, to drown out the screams of your fellow passengers. I know flying through a storm is scary. But the thing you should take away from that is the damn plane made it, hell, I bet you didn't even miss an hour past your ETA too. Those pilots are professional folk.
Alternatively, write your scripts, find an agent in the UK, and THEN worry about this non issue if you must. It is NOT necessary for a screenwriter to live in or even visit LA--are you for real? I knew someone who never travelled abroad because he was looking after a severely disabled son, but he still wrote many screenplays for the BBC, both TV and radio (plays and book adaptations). Now he is going deaf, but he still writes--though mostly novels and essays now. I would look up the BBC website, if I were you. And there are plenty of independant film makers and competitions being held, which are based in the UK.
Statistically, more people die and get injured in vehicle accidents so it's safer to just take the plane. When it's your moment to die, it's your moment to die, and there is nothing you can do about it. I really doubt you're going to die because of a plane crash. Would you be willing to give up a career in script writing just because you're afraid to fly? Just take a breath and move forward. You could be missing some great opportunities if you let your fear of flying get in the way.
From what I hear people only travel over to L.A. for a boost in the business. Mainly in sheer hopes of meeting someone there who can get them a step ahead of everyone else. If you're serious about this you should be thinking about starting lower down. If you live in the U.K. I know the BBC has a lot of money in radio plays. This is as good a starting point as any. This industry requires a reputation build up that'll start slow, but it'll pick up. A fear of flying is only a minor setback. I have an uncle who's a playwright turned producer,so he's told me a lot, plus I also know a lot about the industry. Good luck to you, and don't worry, it barely even qualifies as a setback.
listen to mad's sound advice... but you don't need to restrict yourself to uk agents... if you want your screenplays to make it big in hollywood, go ahead and query hollywood agents... and if you've written the next major blockbuster, they'll either let you be the publicity-rich reclusive eccentric and stay home, or bring you to la-la-land by luxury liner and train, if you still don't want to fly!...
Don't let the phobia get in the way of your scriptwriting dreams; hell, I've got a script done about some siblings who are in the FDNY (I portray the two identical twins) and I am **** scared of heights!! haha
Flying phobia is a limitation but not something that should hold back your creativity. Just concentrate on your writing, if your writing is good enough believe me you'll find a way. I mean if your writing is not good enough no amount of travelling is going to help. P.S. People become life partners from online profiles and video chat. A business deal using those electronic mediums is nothing in comparison
Best way to get past a scary plane ride that I've found is to bring a laptop and watch a long show or movie. Make sure it's good enough to distract you and spend the whole flight glued to the screen. That way you get more immersed in the fake reality than the real one.
