The Big Idea here
So … what the hell is this? A screenwriting contest? A paid editing service? One of those enticing “We can get you into Hollywood!” scams that sucks you into an overpriced monthly membership in return for vague promises that end up doing nothing but drain your bank account, your confidence as a writer, and your faith in human decency?
Actually, the plan here is to be the opposite of those things. In fact, between us, it’s kind of revolutionary.
A Writers' Revolution
The goal of Craft Services is to create a dynamic, diverse, and unprecedented community of talented new screenwriters and writer-directors from all over the world and to help them launch their creative careers. For free.
The Ugly Truth
The truth is that Hollywood – with all due respect – sucks at nurturing new and unexpected talent from outside Hollywood, and always has. The entertainment industry is basically a career ladder that’s missing a bottom rung. There’s no reliable first step; no orderly way to get into it; and zero advice that anyone can give aspiring screenwriters beyond the knee-jerk “Move to Los Angeles!” or “Try and get coffee for Steven Spielberg!” or “DM Jordan Peele!” that is beyond most writers’ abilities and, frankly, beneath their dignity.
You’re a writer. Your potential as a creator of movies and/or television shows should lie in the power and quality of your writing, not in the luck of your geography or the impressiveness of your social connections or your willingness to fetch powerful people’s lattes. If you don’t happen to live anywhere near Beverly Hills – or have the money, flexibility, or interest to move there – that should not halt your creative career before it’s even gotten started. In fact, believe it or not, your distance from Hollywood should be your strength, as you have the precious ability to tell fresh and original stories in fresh and original ways that Hollywood and the global film and television business need now more than ever.
Robinhooding Our Asses Off
So where can you find the support and attention required to get your shot at telling those stories for the industry that’s dying for them? Craft Services is looking to provide that bridge from talent to professionalism that, in showbiz, has never existed. We are taking the traditional power and privileged connections, knowledge, and opportunities of Hollywood and dispersing them, for no money, around the world. And—equally important—we’re building real friendships and community in the process.
How Does It Work?
Well, first of all, and here’s the hard part: you have to be good. Craft Services has a quick application form where you can send a sample of your writing and a summary of yourself as a writer that will help us make sure you’ve got the blazing skills and massive potential that this hypercompetitive industry demands.
Because if you’re good, we’ve got your back. For no fee – and with no mandatory attendance or weekly requirements, and all absolutely at your discretion and convenience – we will welcome you into our global community of hundreds of fellow writers and directors who are working to support and advise each other, trading feedback on scripts and projects, cheering each other along, and participating in the following services that Craft Services provides:
- Two Zooms per week of consultation, advice, and conversation, catered to your time zone and hosted by Craft Services founder and Los Angeles-based producer Nicholas Weinstock.
- Two Zooms per month featuring a guest speaker from the entertainment industry (usually a film and/or television executive, producer, agent, manager, actor, screenwriter or director) who is eager to answer your questions, provide you with insider insight, help you navigate the maze of showbiz, and get to know you and your fellow Craft Services members as promising talents of the future.
- Access to our 24/7 online forum, through which you can meet, talk to, bond with, and exchange ideas and advice with peers from across the globe who are also getting going as writers of movies and TV.
- The use of our weekly writer's workshops, steered by an industry professional, to give you constructive feedback on your script or screenplay and help you improve it until it’s ready to be exposed professionally.
- The opportunity to submit your scripts and screenplays to us, once a year, so that the working professionals behind Craft Services can help you with them creatively; expose them to active and hungry managers, agents, and producers; and potentially help you get represented and get your script seen by industry decisionmakers eager for the next cool writer and big idea.
Join the Best Writers of the Future
So that’s the deal. No cost. Only camaraderie, real professional opportunity, and fun.
But it’s not for everyone. We are picky about our members, as we are aiming to create an elite roster of emerging writers: a sharp-witted, open-hearted, and highly skilled next generation of screenwriters from all over the map. This is not a casual hang-out to gossip about Hollywood or try and meet famous people or fling around half-hearted projects in the hope of randomly getting rich. We have members from all over – from Los Angeles to Lagos, from Indiana to Iceland, from Harvard University graduates to avant-garde Burundian artists – and we don’t care if they went to film school or have any fancy connections or have ever been outside their home countries or hometowns. But we do care that they are practiced at writing, passionate about improving their own work and helping others, and as dedicated to craft and creativity as we are.
If this describes you, we’d love to help you get your footing in the cruel, chaotic, illogical, and exciting world of professional screenwriting, in the hope that we can provide a little sanity and warm companionship amid the madness. We would be honored to have you join the supportive and propulsive network that is Craft Services. Apply anytime.
Nicholas Weinstock, Founder of Craft Services
