BiographyLike so many writers in Hollywood, I've sold scripts and had lot of things "optioned" by movie companies that don't show up on the IMDb.com. For example, my three young adult "You Solve It" mystery novels were almost a TV series on the late Nashville Network. Selling two screenplays within a couple of months of each other, with money in the bank to make both, and then the movies not getting made, caused me to turn to writing books, which I still prefer. Now that I'm back to screenwriting, I get paid to rewrite scripts all the time; often, no one knows. That's Hollywood. I've had a lot more stories and books published than scripts made. They call it "Tinseltown" because it looks pretty, but it's insubstantial... I'm obligated on this bio page to tell you of my youth, so let me be brief... there were 13 people in my graduating high school class, 753 people in the town where I lived, and you couldn't sneeze without someone offering you a handkerchief. And that's all right, it keeps you in line... ... and I'm writing about it now. Despite hardships, growing up in Texas was idyllic in many ways, and certainly brain food for an aspiring young writer. I know this - from there, I was inspired to see the rest of the world. On a visit to the Washington D.C. in 2002, we took in a number of sites including the Jefferson Memorial. My kids thought I looked "just like" our nation's third President, which is interesting because at one point I planned to do a one-man show about him. Of course, I'd need to lose some weight. What do you think? My daughter Holly outside the Eisenhower Building in Washington, D.C. My then 10 year-old proudly noticed it was opened on her birthday. She doesn't miss a thing. Later that day, as we entered a 34th story New York apartment overlooking Central Park South, she exclaimed: "This is perfect for me!" Holly Olivia Press, future President. With future Oscar winner Haley Press and Pete Jones, winner of the first "Project Greenlight" contest with the film "Stolen Summer." My kids and I liked the movie because it was about something meaningful. Remember movies like that? (My son Haley, by the way, is now as tall as I am and the strongest kid in his high school class.) I've never been able to fully decide between fiction, film, journalism, television and Websites. I've won awards you've probably never heard of, had plays produced you never attended (although the L.A. Times did, and liked). I've written for television shows you probably never saw, and had optioned and sold scripts you've never seen on the screen. I even wrote about pink river dolphins for Reader's Digest. I'm a nobody to most and a highly successful somebody to many. The electronic version of my "How to Write What You Want & Sell What You Write" was a non-fiction finalist in the first Epic Awards for ebooks in the United States. But you never heard of those awards. OK, how about this? The three editions of my "Writer's Guide to Hollywood Producers, Directors and Screenwriters' Agents" have become Hollywood how-to bibles for aspiring screenwriters all over the world. I know, because they email me every day and tell me. (Come on, you've heard of that one.) My "Complete Idiot’s Guide to Screenwriting" was reviewed as best of its kind by the Writers Guild of Canada and translated into Russian and published by Triumph Publishing of Moscow. You don't read Russian? Me neither, but they actually paid for the rights... My "Your Screenwriting Career” course is available in over 1,200 schools. I know, so what. OK then. I have a FREE writing discussion group on Yahoo! called "Skip's Hollywood Hangout." Oh, NOW I have your attention? I started the group to give me breathing space I needed to return to writing my own projects. (Lots of emails asking questions, you know?) I'm back to working on my own scripts, books and novels as well as teaching and consulting and trying some producing. Still, I know it's my destiny to hear from every single person on Earth who is writing a screenplay. I live in beautiful almost downtown Burbank, California with my teenagers. (I'm single, in case you're wondering.) I try to write something brilliant every single day, because I'm too dumb to quit and no one will hire me at a real job, anyway. I'm not complaining...  Writer in progress... |
 Myself and John Presley, my best friend from high school over 30 years after we were on the state championship golf team. He looks like Mark Twain. About Achieving Success A large part of my life has been spent investigating the mind and spirit. I've discovered a lot, but still not enough to know conclusively what will always work for anyone across all religions and races. Meanwhile, I fell into teaching, probably because life has a way of guiding you into service to your fellow humans. Like J. Krishnamurti said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." In 2005 I discovered what divorce is like; it's horrible. My ex-wife told me she felt like she fell into a black hole while pursuing the divorce. I thought there was hope. She destroyed the family, anyway. That's ego for you. All this might have made some people give up (and some weak people expected me to), but I've lived through extreme hardships in my life. In seeking answers to these challenges, I came across the writings of Orison Swett Marden, the founder and publisher of Success magazine, which was edited by the great Napoleon Hill. In Marden's book "Making Life a Masterpiece" in the chapter "Keeping At It As A Miracle Worker" I found the following passage, which might be of help to you as well: "What would become of a sea captain who whenever he saw a fog settling down on the waters, or a storm coming up, would turn his ship around and sail back to the port he had left? You know he would lose his job and be branded as an incompetent and a coward. Every sea captain keeps his ship true to the compass and he plows through fogs, storms or hurricanes to his distant goal. You are the captain of your life ship, and it is up to you to bring it into port grandly. If you haven't the qualities of a good sea captain your ship is in danger. "Downright hard work, a purpose which never flags, a grit and nerve which never retreat; these are the qualities that make life victorious." ******** I haven't found another partner in life yet, but my life is otherwise fulfilled. Perhaps one day we'll raise a glass to your dreams and victories, or to mine, or both. Good sailing to you. Skip |
||
|
