John Zaozirny
@johnzaozirny
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Literary Manager and Head of @bellevueprods . Producer of INFINITE, PARALLEL, ELI, and ALWAYS WATCHING. Selected threads pdf at website link below.
Joined September 2015
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Everything about the MICHAEL CLAYTON script is top-tier, obviously, but the character descriptions are a particular favorite of mine.
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Weird to me to denounce AI as destroying & devaluing screenwriting and then use it for concept art or cover pages, etc.
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As an intern, I slagged off the writers of a bad movie. My boss gently corrected me - pointing out the people to blame are the ones who had the most power on the project. Typically either: the director, the lead actor, the studio exec, or the producer. 1/
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Weird to me to complain about "so many production companies logos on this indie film" and then complain about how we need more funding for indies.
If one of those logos wasn't there, film wouldn't get made. Better to have to sit through 9 logos than not have a film, I'd think?
NINE fucking production companies in the opening .. I felt like I was being punked
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THREAD: In a time of IP obsession, it bears repeating that the public domain is a writer’s friend and worth tracking what’s new to it.
The Trick is figuring out what’s still resonant in the public mind and how to have a fresh take on it. 1/
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Pitched a client to an exec today and the exec goes, ah, I just heard about her from someone else.
Turns out an exec the client had a general with on Monday loved the client so much that she told all her friends about her.
Take every meeting. Never know what may come from it.
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I would say that 50% of query letters I receive don't contain a logline. Which means there's nothing to help me decide if a script is intriguing to me. So strange!
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Heard from a legendary screenwriter yesterday who said the marketplace for writers is the worst they've seen in 30 years...
And this is from someone at the top of the A-List. Sobering.
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“We’re looking for our BARBARIAN” - everyone who turned down BARBARIAN multiple times.
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I’ve signed clients via query letters, via
@theblcklst
website, via
@ScriptPipeline
, via client referrals, via
@austinfilmfest
script competition, via
@PAGEawards
… any way that puts a great writer on my radar.
Repped writers, how did you find your manager and/or agent? What wisdom can you share with the unrepped? Would love to see a thread here of all the myriad ways it happens.👇
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I’ve signed a ton of writers off query emails and the only thing I ever look for in the initial query is a logline that intrigues me.
That logline gets me to request the script and everything else flows from there.
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Very proud that
@bellevueprods
clients had seven scripts on this year's annual
@theblcklst
! A wonderful way to close out the year.
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One of the best screenwriters I know broke in with a script full of dual dialogued dialogue and pages of chunky paragraphs.
That script launched his career and he now writes huge franchises films.
Great writing is great writing.
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A lot of buyers would call this type of film a “streaming movie.” Deeply happy that Sony is proving them so incredibly wrong, as it nears grossing 200+ mil worldwide.
Sony's Anyone But You passed the $100M international mark this weekend.
The film grossed an estimated $7.8M internationally this weekend. Estimated international total stands at $104.2M, estimated global total through Sunday stands at $189.0M.
#AnyoneButYou
#BoxOffice
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The Austin Film Fest is Coachella for Screenwriting Twitter.
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If you don't go see original movies in theatres, then you've forfeited your ability to complain about a lack of original movies in theatres.
Crazy, I know.
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The writer is there to serve the agenda of the people with more power than them. If they don’t, they get replaced.
They are the only “above the line role” on the project that can be replaced without causing any major issues or news stories about “drama.” 2/
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In a way, being rejected by one contest with the same script you placed in another one is great training for Hollywood, where the network will hate the outline that the studio loved or the exec will despise the rewrite that the producers adored.
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INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is one of the most painfully accurate descriptions of working in the arts and I appreciate it more every year.
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Saying No is easy. No one gets fired for saying No.
Saying Yes means taking a risk. Yes means having to do work. People get fired for saying Yes.
So, a big part of the job is to make saying Yes as easy as possible. It'll never be easy, but it can be made easier.
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To give a sense of the volume, I get about 150 queries a week and maybe request 2-3 scripts from those.
So it's a longshot, but the good news is it costs you nothing but time to do so. And it can & has worked out.
I’ve signed a ton of writers off query emails and the only thing I ever look for in the initial query is a logline that intrigues me.
That logline gets me to request the script and everything else flows from there.
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If you’ve ever worked in studio filmmaking you know this.
If you haven’t, now you do. 3/
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FWIW, I’ve never taken out a spec script over 120.
I’ve signed a writer or two off a script longer than 120, but then worked with them to get it below 120 for us to take it out.
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My mother-in-law just informed my wife & I that she's been watching the 1984 David Lynch DUNE to prepare for watching DUNE: PART TWO this week.
She had no idea there was a DUNE: PART ONE from 2021.
She assumed it was just a 40-year delayed sequel.
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Excited to be back at
@austinfilmfest
this year and to be doing a panel with my
@bellevueprods
colleague Zack Zucker and two of our clients (and good friends)
@IanShorr
&
@Balance510
. Looking forward to catching up with lots of friends & making new ones!
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I see people saying that the decision makers only care about profits nowadays.
Fwiw, that’s how it has ALWAYS been.
Jack Warner & Louis B. Mayer were not looking to make art.
And yet great art got made. Which I find inspiring since it means the same can & will still happen.
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Got the Chaplin booth at Musso & Franks. What a way to dive back in.
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I'm pretty open that I'll talk to any organization that wants to send me writers to consider.
And it's wild how there are multiple well-known "screenwriting" companies whom I (or anyone I know) have had ZERO interactions with. I honestly don't know what they do...
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To clarify, I suspect the rest of this year will be difficult for feature spec sales (as well as staffing and tv sales) as the focus will likely be on getting existing projects back up & running. Just my opinion. As for next year…
Just got back from the
@NoHoCineFest
panel with
@johnzaozirny
@SeanTwoNames
and others.
Well, the future isn’t looking too bright to be a genre feature writer, but what the hell, I got nothing better to do. 🤷🏻♀️
I think I saw
@avishaiw
in the crowd.
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One of my favorite things is seeing complex conspiracy theories that imagine the entertainment industry is run by people who are playing 4D chess and planning things out years in advance, rather than people who are simply making it up as they go, week by week.
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Very excited for Bellevue client Brian T. Arnold and producer
@pauldavidson
who are working together on the remake of '80s cult classic ELECTRIC DREAMS!
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This paragraph, from Roald Dahl’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is so, so painfully accurate.
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While I’m on the subject of queries, the lack of a response IS a response. It’s a pass.
Reps get so many queries that we can’t pass for time reasons. Plus there are also legal reasons.
People are only going to respond if they’re interested. No response = no interest.
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This Saturday at 4:45 PM, I'll be doing a panel at the Austin Film Festival about "The Writer Manager Team" with
@IanShorr
,
@Balance510
, and my colleague Zack Zucker. Excited to see everyone there who's able to attend!
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I get the draw of a tweet like this (execs bad!) but the reality is most execs love tv & film. And with so many getting laid off recently (including almost everyone at Participant), it’s a very rough time for everyone out there.
Just spitballing here….but maybe we let people who genuinely love movies and TV be movie and TV execs.
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If you haven't watched THE NOVICE, the award-winning debut film by
@bellevueprods
client Lauren Hadaway (and produced by Bellevue's Zack Zucker), it's now on
@netflix
! A truly phenomenal film with an incredible lead performance by
@isabellefuhrman
!
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Congrats to Bellevue client
@SheridanKevin
whose script BACKCOUNTRY just made the 2023 annual
@theblcklst
!
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Queries can work incredibly well if they’re properly targeted to the producers and reps the logline should appeal to.
All about having a logline that resonates with the recipients.
Plus they cost nothing but time.
Updating since a lot of people were curious how this was gonna go: Already heard back from one producer (who made a movie I really enjoyed last year). Meeting in 30 minutes. Good vibes are welcomed.
#screenwriting
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Please never do this.
Writers, do you send your script to entertainment friends for notes and watermark the script with their names?
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Very excited to have just signed Ian & Christian Hayden - whose incredible script INCARNATE we found via
@theblcklst
!
Read highly-rated work like INCARNATE by Ian Hayden & Christian Hayden on .
#BlackListWeekendRead
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One thing to consider is that the most typical “feedback” reps see on submissions is “thanks for sending but not for us.”
That’s it.
And that’s IF they give a response at all.
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Everyone thought 3D would be the savior of the theatrical experience but it looks to me like it’s IMAX.
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The moment I realized the trades are a marketing tool, not a legal document, was a very freeing moment. Makes them a lot more interesting to read, honestly!
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And this is why we can’t respond on query letters that aren’t of interest. (And if we do respond, why we need a signed release form.)
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Congrats to Bellevue client Chris Parizo whose script KAZAN just made the 2023 annual
@theblcklst
!
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Cobweb is now available to stream on Hulu!!!!! Huzzah!!!!
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I still remember when Chris sent us the first pages of COBWEB. Amazing to see the poster for it up now in theaters!!!
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COBWEB coming to Hulu October 20th... the perfect spooky movie for spooky season!
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A few contests are good about distributing their winners to reps & producers. I’ve signed people via judging and those intros. So it’s all about doing the research to see which ones are worth it. 1/
I've come to the conclusion... stop normalizing screenwriting contests. Win or lose, most contests provide nothing more than bragging rights. And okay, maybe some sense of validation that you're a technically strong writer, but do you need to spend money on a contest for that?
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Extremely excited for one of my best friends, who's also one of the hardest working & best agents in town (as well as being the agent for
@ElyseHollander
and
@acidinyourmouth
!)
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Chow Yun-Fat is so cool that despite killing his character off in A Better Tomorrow, they simply brought him back for the sequel as the “long-lost twin brother” of his character.
That’s star power.
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One of the fascinating side effects of posting up lines from an acclaimed script are the inevitable (thankfully few) comments about how it’s “bad” writing or “breaks rules.”
Happens every time!
Truly wild.
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Doing an in-person signing meeting gives me that warm mid-2010s feeling!
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Excellent news!!! Now do Stunt Work.
The Academy will now recognize casting directors during its annual awards ceremony starting in 2026, the organization’s Board of Governors announced Thursday.
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If you don’t write any words whatsoever, just imagine how much white space you could have in your script!
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This is the best piece of advice out there. Simple and yet devastatingly true.
A harsh and unfortunate truth about screenwriting:
Most loglines are bad because the idea is bad. No amount of rearranging the language or format will change that.
Get the idea right first. Do that, and you will get a great logline out of it.
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This is the boldest, wackiest lawsuit I've read about in a while - imagine writing a sequel to one of the most famous trilogies in history, trying to publish it for profit, and then suing the actual estate because they "stole" your idea!
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So excited that
@rizwanahmed
and his Left Handed Films have come on board Bellevue client
@imranjkhan
's debut feature MUSTACHE -- which won
@sxsw
's Audience Award!
'Mustache': Riz Ahmed & His Left Handed Films Board Imran J. Khan's SXSW Prize Winner As EP
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Congratulations to Bellevue client
@nbmckearin
who just won an Emmy for her work on LIFE BY ELLA!
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I'd hope that industry journalists will devote even half as much time writing about how & why BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE was a smash success this weekend as they will about MADAME WEB disappointing. But I suspect that will not be the case...
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My knowledge of the script notes service industry is clearly minimal since the idea of someone charging thousands of dollars for a set of notes is mind-boggling.
Worked in the industry for 20+ years, but I guess you learn something new every day.
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Love existing in a time where art is either the greatest of all time or the absolute worst trash ever.
And judgement is rendered immediately, as quickly and loudly as possible.
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Quick and dirty thread on my thoughts on page count.
[OBLIGATORY NOTICE - These are just my thoughts & opinions, based on my experiences.]
Sort of can't believe this is a discussion we're having but I also sort of can?
@nickchiosa
The reality is that the spec script is not intended as the final version of the project - it's merely (hopefully) an initial step on a long journey towards production. I feel like that's part of where we're differing here.
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So excited about going to Austin tomorrow that I have opened a can of my treasured Coca Cola Starlight to celebrate.
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A major reason the film industry is based in Hollywood is to avoid having to pay Thomas Edison’s MPCC, based on the East Coast, for the patents they controlled.
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was.
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One of the best (non-client) scripts I've read in years and love to see
@Allanmandelbaum
putting it all together! No surprise as he has some of the best taste in town! Congrats Allan and all involved!
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If you do it properly, you’ve got something that already has a degree of public awareness and interest. That’s helpful in making buyers feel like there’s an audience for the project and a hunger for it. END
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There is nothing I find more aggravating to read than a (unnecessarily) watermarked script.
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So appreciate
@SPMJM
and the
@ScriptPipeline
for flagging Jamie and Josh's latest script for us. It's a fantastic, thrilling screenplay that we're very excited to take out in the new year!
Also love that Pipeline continues to advocate for winners several years after they won!
Pleased to say:
Our 2017 (not a typo) Screenwriting winners Jamie Napoli and Joshua Paul Johnson have signed with managers Zack Zucker, Maddy Weese, and
@johnzaozirny
@ Bellevue!
The Pipeline team helped develop their latest script "Savage" over the last year--
/🧵
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Very confusing to read this website - this list charges money for scripts to appear on it (which none of the well-known annual lists do.)
It also doesn’t list a single actual person involved. Just lots of “we.”
Super duper strange stuff imo
@americanmegalo
Hi - chiming in: this isn’t a Coverfly sponsored program but rather one of the many programs we host submissions for on our platform. It is not a list that we promote in an official capacity (like The Red List)
More info can be found on their website:
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Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to tweet a hot take and remove all doubt
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Feels to me like there’s a belief on Film Twitter that something being nominated for an Oscar is the Most Important Thing Ever and automatically elevates that film or performance into the cultural canon.
And that is just truly bizarre to me.
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I’d also add that it’s not just about a particular work, but recognizing that concepts like teleportation, parallel universes, reincarnation, and yes, even vampires & zombies are in the public consciousness and IP in their own right. 2/
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Extremely sorry to hear this. Stephen Emery was a great guy with a true passion for movies and making great ones. He'll be deeply missed.
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An industry “journalist” stunting on the resume of successful screenwriters for online clout is really just doing a great job of exposing how little they know about how the film industry actually works.
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Congrats to Bellevue client
@ozzyinguanzo
whose script OUR MAN IN MIAMI just made the 2023 annual
@theblcklst
!
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It’s worth spending time thinking about what public domain concepts, characters, myths, legends, stories, and other things are still resonant today and you could have a fresh, intriguing take on. 4/
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Congrats to Bellevue client
@jake_disch
whose script THE ADULTS IN THE ROOM just made the 2023 annual
@theblcklst
!
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One of the most classic Twitter interactions is someone complaining how they never make X type of movie anymore and then, when someone in the replies suggests a recent movie in that genre, the OP says “oh, I never saw that.”
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I’ve found that the only things we can control are the quality of our work and the quantity of it.
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Why is it only negative feedback that’s accused of being written by AI?
Normalize accusing positive feedback of being AI! WALL·E is a huge fan of your intriguing concept and thought you formatted your script extremely well!
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One of the reasons
@IanShorr
and I were so excited about INFINITE (which was adapted from
@EricMaikranz
’s novel) was that reincarnation was a concept that everyone knew but that had rarely been tackled onscreen and almost never in an action context. 3/
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I had an office job that summer and my older co-worker was convinced THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT was real and was obsessed with it, all in advance of it coming out.
When I finally let her know it was a fictional movie, she was so heartbroken that I actually felt a bit bad.
Weird to see so many dunking on that "nobody knew whether it was real" BLAIR WITCH tweet. Brilliant marketing fooled A LOT of people. But "it would've been police evidence!" Not everyone was an Internet expert back then. I knew several people who did in fact think it was real.
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Congrats to Bellevue clients Aaron Goldberg, Alex Goldberg & Michael Goldberg whose script WE GOT NEXT just made the 2023 annual
@theblcklst
!
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Help me unseat my colleague Zack Zucker as their most listened to episode!!!!
One of our most listened to episodes
#2writerstalkingshit
feat. Manager
@johnzaozirny
🔥
@TroubleJones
@KalaGuess
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Very exciting news tonight!!!
My daughter climbed to the top of the stairs in less than a minute!
Was there something else going on?
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Absolutely loved Barbie and now that I’ve seen it, a great deal of the conversations on here about it have taken on a deeply bizarre irony.
How can any “film bro” see that film and then presume to lecture anyone, let alone women on it??? Did they miss a huge chunk of the film?
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Feels to me like the world “literally” is used incorrectly about 99% of the time.
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The only thing that
@SeanTwoNames
leaves out is that if you see him in Austin, you have to come to him and tell him how he changed your life. It’s just how it is. I don’t make the rules, I merely know them.
If you're gonna find yourself at the Austin Film Festival next week, here's a thread I did right before the '22 fest. This will be year 6 for me, and my 2nd year as a panelist. Hopefully there are some good bits of advice for you here - and I hope to see you there!
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