Video requests for 2019?

*BUT WHAT ABOUT MY SHREK FANFICTION!?*

That was the nicest way of saying “they don’t give a shit” I’ve ever heard

I have a very heartwarming story from when I was a lot younger. Basically, i’ve been writing stories since a very young age. I eventually came up an idea that 10 year old me pitched to Cartoon Network with hopes of it becoming an actual show. I wrote in a letter, put in the artwork in the envelope, and waited for 3-4 months. Eventually I thought there was nothing to come of it. That was until I got a letter in my mailbox. I still have the letter somewhere, it went something like this. Dear, MineTherapist Unfortunately, we do not accept unsolicited work. However, we liked your idea, and we still encourage you to pursue a career in television or another media outlet. Signed, (Her name from what I remember) Jasmine Taylor (Head of Public Affairs) She also wrote her signature at the bottom. Needless to say, I was extremely happy that at least they saw it. To this day, i’m still encouraged to write stories, and i’m currently doing journalism, and writing a novel. Thanks, Cartoon Network.

So basically, you gotta have connections and moneh.

Okay, so I'm guilty of sending something to Austin in a moment of bravery, but the next morning when I woke up, I was mortified that he may actually watch the video I sent, so I'm grateful that he will never open my email. #hiddenblessing

Instead of writing Batman I'll write bootman.

20 years from now someone’s gonna thank you in their acceptance speech!

youtube comments are the worst form of unsolicited content

I have a childhood friend who's an aspiring writer. I remember them telling me a few years ago they were writing a Star Wars (basically fan fic) full length novel. One of the (many) arguments I had with this person was basically me telling them "No, you'll be hit with copyright if you self-publish, and they won't take it." and them responding with, "No no it's totally fine! I heard from my friend's brother's friend that his friend got his book published and they have like contests and stuff and we'll be famous and they'll make it into a movie..." In the end I felt bad, because one: I never heard about this supposed breakthrough novel again after they said they finished it, and two: the writer never learned from their mistakes. Even if your dream is writing for a specific universe, I think that you'll end up finding much more satisfaction in writing your own stories. They of course most likely won't give you as much success but you're at least making more progress than sending in your possibly amazing stories to be thrown away or sent back.

5:28 "They get paid when you get paid, so it's literally their job, to help you find suck pee" nice work subtitles.

I worked as an intern when I was 16 for a publishing company and part of my job to reject unsolicited manuscripts and artwork. If you send in an unsolicited manuscript to a publishing company they give it to a 16 year old work experience kid and that’s the only person at the company who will read it. Sorry to everyone who’s tried to get a book published by sending it in unsolicited lol.

Short Answer: It’s probably not that good, copyright, and they don’t have time Long Answer: If you care so much watch the dang video

Sincerely yours, your biggest fan. This is stan.

"So this is why my flawless revision of The Last Jedi was sent back to me..."

So what you're saying is.. you didn't read my Harry Potter fanfiction?

Nintendo won't accept my Zero Suit Samus porn movie pitch either, it's okay.

Alright,I'm on a streak right now,KZfaq actually notifies me when a video comes out! and NOT 3 hours later! good job KZfaq

*Because it’s not actually that good*

Bonus hint for anybody: start very soon. This will allow you to improve at a much faster rate than others and make you capable of writing a great narrative at a really young age (like, 17 young). I managed to end up being a niche within my high school as one of the few people in the school that writes music and I had been directed to various contests for composition as a result. I'm trying to convince my band teacher (who also leads the drama club) to put on a musical I'm writing and it's opportunities like these that can help you develop an audience.

tl;dr, no, they won't make your fanfiction into a movie.

I had no idea about those agent scams. My mother used to write and submit stories to TV Writers Vault who charge a monthly fee for the service. At first it was more for fun and no one was expecting anything to come from it, but then the pitches started getting “reviewed” by production houses so she kept paying. We stopped after a few months because it never went further than that. I never would’ve guessed it was a scam though, since it featured a lot of big name production houses.

Anyone want to read my science fiction story?

It's funny how the Universe works...Austin, I've been subscribed to you for about a year, love your content because it's so eclectic...I have been sitting on good movie ideas for 15 years, but just recently decided to dig deep and become a screenwriter, realize my ideas, you know? I needed this advice and it only happened because i just so happened to be subscribed to you. Funny how the Universe works. Thank you, my friend.

Why are people sending story ideas to Austin in the first place? He made a movie and it stunk, remember?

This reminds me of a Stephen Fry anecdote regarding JK Rowling where at Book Signings and fan events her security detail would always seize all letters her fans tried to give her. The reason being that if the last few books bore any resemblance to any fan theories she could assert in court that she never even touched the letters.

This was really informative. I've had this idea for a comic book character bouncing around in my head for quite some time now and seeing stuff like this really inspires me and has me hope that I'll one day see my character up there with the likes of Batman or spider-man. Keep up the good work and know you're helping and inspiring people to live out their dreams.

So basically if you want to make it you just need to be incredibly good.

Last night I had a dream about you. You were visiting Germany and I recognized you on the street. It was awkward, but you were a nice guy.

I had somebody steal the very basis of my video and submit it to a film festival. Stole it premise for premise, joke for joke, character for character, only not good at all. I hate bragging on myself but at least we put thought into it while they ripped my friends and me off. This was because my digital media teacher innocently showed her teacher friend our video who in turn innocently showed her students who in turn dickishly ripped us off because they have more money and better cameras with the mindset of “$$$=BETTER”. Their video didn’t place at the film competition by the way. So yeah watch out for people like that because if it can happen to my dad joke filled video it could happen to you.

A few years ago my dad brought a script in an italian movie production company and they rejected his idea, a few years later the same company comes up with the same story and even some of the lines are identical (including half the title of the film) he filed a lawsuit and somehow they got away with it, they made more than half million euros in the first weekend and 1.5 million in 6 weeks, I'm still pissed.

*If they won't hear my pitch, then I'll just make my own studio with blackjack and body pillows.*

Thank you for this. I wish I was told this many years ago. Now I just need to get over my nihilistic bent and get back into writing.

Most consistent and entertaining/informative videos I swear

Everytime I watch your videos it reminds me how much I want to write. I've always felt like my stories are worthless though so I haven't really pursued it

I am constantly surprised by how.. genuinely helpful and thoughtful and just... generally GOOD- your content is. Videos like this one, no doubt informed/helped a new/young aspiring writer... and I find that... so rare these days. No one is 100% GOOD. NO ONE. But (based on what I’ve witnessed as a subscriber for the past 2+ years), you’re far more kind and helpful than most. Thank you. KZfaq would be a much worse place without ppl like you. ❤️

I understand it, my dad works for a production company that actually accepts unsolicited material, he had to sort it out and I swear, the company had tons and tons of thousands sent to them everyday, they just couldn't handle it, and now if you look at their website, they now refuse to except unsolicited material Did I mention that usually whoever sent the unsolicited material would expect a response and when they never got one, they would send millions of angry letters, almost as if expecting that this company could see and develop all of these ideas when they already had many projects on their hands Honestly? It's better this way

unfortunately the public domain route is becoming less and less relevant/possible as time goes on due to changes in copyright law and retroactive removal of works from the public domain via copyright trickery by big names. i do agree with your premise otherwise though

Thank you for making this. I've written a book and have been looking for advice with literary agents. Very helpful.

Enjoyed your video. And I met Daniel (in the ad) at the Louisiana Book Festival a couple of years ago!

The closed captioning at 5:30 reads "It's literally their job, to help you find suck pee." I need an agent. Now.

Why don’t we have a big old writing community, where all the subscribers here could submit their ideas to one another and have a group-analysis of peoples content :)

Hi Austin, i have a friend who wrote a post-apocalyptic neo-western and a studio was interested in it (this is in Australia and during covid so they wanted tourism). The studio wanted to make the film but wanted to change a lot of his ideas and characters to suit current social issues. He disagreed (he’s a bit of an artsy guy and wants his work to be how he intended it). The studio and him went back and forth, he wanted a specific actress to play the main villain of the movie and they disagreed, and so he just gave up and cancelled everything. He wrote a novel instead and now he’s getting it published, and plans on writing like 11 more novels of the same series. I’m happy for him and also happy that he’s happy, i’m glad he didn’t let the studio ruin his work as so many do with indie filmmakers these days.

Awesome video, Austin! I'm a small-time writer and have tons of other small-time writer friends who are always talking about making it big and how hard it seems to be with the market so crowded these days. I'll definitely be showing this video to them! Thanks for sharing your advice!

Nice video! I really liked the backstory of The Martian, I never heard that before.

Dear Austin, I wrote you but you still ain’t callin

This was probably the most helpful video I've seen in a long time, and I don't even write manuscripts.

You don't understand how much this helped me, thank you so much Austin and keep up the great work!

Becuase it reads like fan fiction

5:31 alright, who put "suck pee" instead of success in the subtitles?

Just wanted to say, this is very inspiring! I have an original script I'd like to write but I've never written a screenplay before because I can't realistically see anyone reading it / adapting it. That's why I write mostly fiction. Who knows, maybe I'll give the screenplay thing a shot and see if I can get some interest in it.

I have an AMAZING movie idea. It's about a pet rock. It gets abandoned when the owners move out. No one finds the rock. No one comes back for it. It just sits there for 2 hours. There's no dialog, no commentary. Just a rock.

But, how can they know if you have send them unsolicited submissions in the first place? I mean, it's hard to tell if something contains a idea submission or a complaint by just looking at the envelope. Right?

There’s only one thing you need to do to be successful in the writing industry. Be Steven Spielberg.

This was very helpful - thanks, Austin!

austin: don't write fanfiction after: 50 shades of grey: me: wwwell

"I have this great Star wars Story but Lucasfilm won't take it. What do I do?" "Find an agent and create you own, original world." "But what about my star W..." "Establish your own franchise, how hard can it be?!" Edit: Don't take this seriously, my God... Why is is so hard to make jokes on the Internet without pissing someone off?

I actually just finished collaborating with a contact Penguin Random House on a book and was about to send them some original materials for critique. Thanks for the heads-up. I won’t waste my time. Do you have any more tips for building a following?

Interesting video, as always, thanks. You don't really need all the stock shots, though...you're an engaging speaker with great presence! Always fun to watch. Cheers.

This video actually inspired me to reimagine how I might be able to rethink the thing I'm writing. Thank you!

*inb4 this is another 11 minute ad for skillshare*

You deserve recognition Austin

Very helpful information, which I thank you for. As a person who wants to go down the road of film and directing, this was a good wake up call.

Im not a dude aspiring to write a book, but I super appreciate a video that, instead of talking down to dreamers, it gives them some helpful tips on how to actually start progressing along the path they are aiming for.

Yes A new video I like Star Wars my name is Luke

so where/how to get an agent?

I love that your videos use your face now, its really cool to have all your editing tricks and movements still there - but its much more personal now. Good job, keeping making great content.

unsolicited screenplays are just the hipster version of "hey check out my soundcloud mang"

"I want to tell everyone this is a farce, that I had all the ideas for Star Wars and everything." -N.Hornblower

Because you subscribed to T-series instead of PewDiePie ...I dunno, I'm early. I'm just happy for more Austin.

Thank you very much Austin! I'm planning to be a screen writer when I get older (and no this isn't one of my "hmm maybe I'll work as this when I'm older". No this is something I've been thinking about a lot very long time on and I hope to succed it) So this video was very helpful! I just wanted to say thanks and I'm so glad I've been watching you and getting advice from you! Keep it up Pal!

love it Ausitn! merry christmas!

5:26 turn on captions

"Work on your craft, take shots here and there" I always knew I was meant to be like Ernest Hemingway =D This was really inspiring, Austin. Thanks for this! I needed it to get out of my rut.

Ive been working on a book for so long...this video is very informative for someone thats trying to get a book out there.

Lot of great info here. Thanks for sharing!

They don't speak Chewbacca

Serious question: why do these companies even have public mailing addresses that normal's can send things too? If they don't read the letters, they clearly aren't filtering based on content, which must mean that all mail sent to that address is returned. It seems like a money sink for them that could be avoided.

I'm not even a writer and this was such a fun watch. Big fan, Austin. Watching out for your next work! Consider me a follower willing to pay ;)

Excellent stuff, aaah I feel like such an ass for sending in my screenplays now XD

“Unsolicited materials” makes it sound so smutty. Every time it reaches my ears I think, “Oh that’s filthy!”

We don't need a studio. We can do it our way. Yep, I have been on that train for awhile. Self-publishing and making YT videos, that's me.

Great video, Austin, have a great holiday!

The subtle music editing at 9:45 is pretty good man

Hey, read my comment. Hah, joke's on you, you just read an unsolicited comment.

I've got this script idea for Charlie's Angels, only all the angels are men, and RuPaul plays the voice of Charlie. Can I run the first draft past you?

Wow. As an aspiring writer/film maker every single one of your videos are so inspiring. I'm currently working on a Batman script but have felt lost as a writer, and I think this video put into perspective a lot of the problems I have as a writer. Truly, thank you for being such a good KZfaq creator.

There's something special in your story telling don't ever give up. Cant wait to watch your movie one day :D

"The only thing keeping you from an audience is the quality of your work" is a nice sentiment, but is it really true in a world where influencers get creative opportunities handed to them on a regular basis? I'd wager that a very high percentage of rejected manuscripts are better than the first drafts of vlogger book deals and TV projects, and yet...

Because it sucks,easy

The video wasn't loading on my phone, so the entirety of the time I was thinking you where refering to yourself in the title

Thank god for information like this I was really lost on this

Two words: Connections, Marketability That is all

Your name doesn't end in stein or berg

Thanks for the advice I'm gonna get to work on my original screenplay right now

I appreciate all you're videos!! you're so smart and creative!!

Forst

Jesus will read it

I have no idea what you really do, as I create with metals, BUT you are a wonderful communicator! I feel as though I just listened to a mix of a modern Dale Carnegie and Anthony Robbins. You would make millions in the inspiration, self-improvement, character or professional development genre (not sure if that is exactly what I mean, but I suspect you understand). You are wise to not open those emails, I deal with patented products for my customers and we destroy all information beyond the general idea so we know to never build anything in those product 'worlds'... I appreciate my clients and will never break the trust they give me when I build their ideas... Keep up the good work!

Fantastic message! This channel is a hidden gem.