The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider's Look at Getting Your Script Sold and Produced / By Kathie Fong Yoneda [Paperback]

Kathie Fong Yoneda (Author), Pamela Wallace (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

Explains the processes of developing, pitching, and submitting stories. The book includes such unique information as a 10-point checklist for a completed script, the eight most common reasons why a script can be rejected, what really happens to a script once it's submitted, how to navigate within the industry, and much more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Yoneda is an industry veteran, currently under contract to Paramount TV in their Longform Division, and an independent script consultant whose clientele includes several award-winning writers.

Wallace began writing screenplays in the mid-1980s, and in 1985 she won an Academy Award for co-writing the movie Witness. She has written and co-written several other films, including the award-winning HBO film If These Walls Could Talk, the CBS movie of the week Borrowed Hearts, and the ABC movies of the week Lovers of Deceit and Alibi.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941188442
• ISBN-13: 978-0941188449
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #935,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for screenwriters at the start of their career, May 18, 2007

By 

W. Thielemans "script editor extraordinaire" (Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider's Look at Getting Your Script Sold and Produced / By Kathie Fong Yoneda (Paperback)

An industry veteran of 25 years, Kathie Fong Yoneda is both a story analyst at Paramount and a script consultant. Her background as a development executive gives her an excellent perspective for helping screenwriters can break down the gates to Hollywood. And this book aims to do just that.

The book is divided into four major parts: working on the script, meetings and pitches, submissions and relationships. It is a very clearly structured guide to the do's and don'ts for writers looking for their breakthrough (hint: the first step is to WRITE A GREAT SCRIPT!).

Yonada includes advice on how to behave towards executives, how to find an agent, the special vocabulary used in Hollywood, how to start a writers group, even how to prepare for a conference. All of this is written in a clear manner, making the book a very useful reference.

The downside to this is that most of this information is out there already. If you read screenwriting magazines and keep up with recent books on the business side of screenwriting, there will be very little here you don't know already. Moreover, the book is very "pro-system" -- there is no criticism of the way things are done, and the advice is very much "mainstream" common knowledge.

I don't think this book has very much to offer veteran writers who are already well acquainted with the vagaries of getting their scripts through the Hollywood maze. For writers who are starting out, however, the book will serve very well to inform them about the basics of getting your script sold to Hollywood.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best I've Read for Info and Tips, August 1, 2003

By 

Phoenix Reader (Minnesota, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider's Look at Getting Your Script Sold and Produced / By Kathie Fong Yoneda (Paperback)

The Script-Selling Game by Kathie Fong Yoneda is one of the best books I've read on marketing screenplays and the movie business for writers. Full of clear, concise information with examples, organized logically and with an eye to reality in Hollywood, this book confirmed most of what I've learned the last 4 years marketing to Hollywood and triggered more ideas for my current projects. Highly recommend for screenwriters both new and veteran.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great info for novelists, too!, August 25, 2003

By 

Sandra E. Johnson (Columbia, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider's Look at Getting Your Script Sold and Produced / By Kathie Fong Yoneda (Paperback)

"The Script-Selling Game" is a "must have" not only for screenwriters, but also for novelists and narrative non-fiction writers who are interested in seeing their books made into films. Fong-Yoneda provides step-by-step information on essentials such as how to create high-impact log lines, compelling pitches, and effective marketing techniques. "The Script-Selling Game" helps authors to turn dreams of having their books optioned for film into reality."