#15 - Ryan Dixon - Indie writing vs. Studio writing The Practical Filmmaker

Aiming to be a consistent and dependable writer will serve you just as well if not better than aiming to write for big studios.

Ryan Dixon, writer, producer and the founder of Tartan Valley Ventures, a Los Angeles-based creative development consulting firm, compares and contrasts writing for studio projects/big names and the independent feature.

He has written projects for Disney, Amazon, Universal, and for stars including Dwayne Johnson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Josh Gad.

He also gives some fantastic tangible first-steps for aspiring writers just starting out.

Key Points:

1:54 - How he got started
5:38 - Writing for studios
7:30 - Writing creatively vs. writing what the market will sell
7:52 - The writers that get the jobs
9:06 - What to expect when writing for a studio
11:47 - The sweet spot between writing for studio films and exercising creativity (development consulting)
14:07 - How the Writers Guild works with independent writers
14:54 - Getting a writing job (TV vs Features, Agents, etc)
17:06 - Craft writing vs. Inspiration writing
22:00 - Creativity vs. business
26:07 - Covid/Streaming changes on the horizon and what to write for it
30:21 - The role of social media in being a writer and getting hired
31:41 - Listener Questions
Opinions on Packaging DealsBest way to get your script on a major producing platformFinding the correct agent/managerTimeline to expect when breaking in as a writer40:05 - Best compliment: "It's a movie" - and the elements that need to be in there

43:19 - What are different companies looking for in a script?

45:15 - The questions I wish I would've known to ask

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