James P. Mercurio Story Analysis Services

Current Deals Through January 2012 - Discounts for Champion Entrants

2011-12-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Writers,

Happy New Year!

I will be reading 100 quarter-finalist scripts for the Champion Competition in January, so if you sign up now and can wait a few weeks, here are some current deals.

All Entrants to the 2011 Champion Screenwriting Competition can have a 5% discount on my Professional or Comprehensive Analysis Services. Quarterfinalists can have 10% discount since I will be reading their script anyway.

Also, I will be offering any extra seats in the Champion Lab to quarterfinalists and entrants as soon as I announce the dates. There will be a huge discount for those who know they want to attend and sign up immediately after the announcement.

For All Potential Coaching and Mentoring Clients

Sign up for Coaching or Mentoring and you can attend the Champion Lab or the Ellen Sandler TV lab that will probably be in February. (2011 Champion Entrants who sign up for coaching or mentoring will receive a $100 travel reimbursement/stipend if they attend.)

Or you can receive one of the first produced copies of my multi-disc Screenwriting DVD set I am finishing up. It will have 6-10 DVDs, a minimum of 10 hours or material and a retail price between $259-$399.

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Champion Development Notes are always available. Just email us at info@champ...iting.com. Fill in the blanks (ionscreenwr).

Visit my site or email me with any questions.

Peace,
Jim Mercurio

Notes on Shorts

2011-11-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

Notes on Shorts

A Champion entrant asked me about a notes service on shorts. We didn't have one, but I made one up. Here are the details.

A PAGE OR SO OF NOTES FROM MY DEDICATED CHAMPION SHORTS READER
Six pages or less: $65
Fifteen pages or less: $80
Email me at info@champio---eenwriting.com. Paypal is Jim@a-lists---enwriting.com

NOTES FROM ME FOR 15 PAGES OR LESS
Comprehensive Shorts Analysis: $200
Professional Shorts Analysis: $400
Take a 5% discount if you were a 2011 Champion Entrant, take another 5% if script is less than seven pages. Discounts are cumulative.

Q: OMG! Why are the prices 30% of what a feature costs when the page count is only one-tenth?

A: The set up for the notes, the discussion of style and story takes just as long for shorts. I gave 12 pages of notes on the last 3-page script I read. I would imagine these notes would be in the range of three to ten pages.

Contact me through my consulting site: www.jamespmercurio.com. Paypal is Jim@jamespm---urio.com

Deals for ISA Folks and a New Testimonial! Good till end of Month!

2011-10-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Thanks for checking out my site and blog. Mention ISA or my Consultant Blast and sign up this month and you can take advantage of one of the deals below. And check out the testimonial from one of my most recent clients.

FOR COACHING AND MENTORING CLIENTS

1) Free seat in one of the Champion Labs or Ellen Sandler's TV Lab near the end of the year... probably January.
2) One of the first produced copies of the Screenwriting DVD set I am working on. 4-8 DVDS, 10-20 hours...don't know the exact details yet but the retail value will be $2-400

(If we are starting with a completed script, first round of notes will be in early November and December, respectively for first two sign ups.)

FOR PROFESSIONAL OR COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSES

1) Free copy of Killer Endings or Theme. (Professional = both) ($50/$100 value)

2) 10% AFM Discount. Save me some time...let's do a lunch or coffee meeting at AFM as a way to save 3-4 pages of notes. You will still get 8-14 pages of notes.

COVERAGES

I am not going to be able to fit in any more coverages this year, but you can sign up for Champion Development Notes at my site. You will receive approximately four pages of notes for $250 from one of my senior Champion readers.

TESTIMONIAL FOR MY MENTORING/COACHING SERVICE

"After working with Jim for a brief time, the one word that pops into my head is - "WOW!" I've worked with and spoken to many of the top script consultants in LA, but Jim is truly the BEST OF THE BEST!

This is how I would like compare Jim to the other top notch script consultants in LA:

The Normal Script Consultant Approach - Find everything wrong with your script, then tell you everything that you MUST take out because it just won't work... period.. Any solutions? Nope... but you can always work on it more, then pay me for another service.

Jim's Approach - Find everything that isn't currently working (in a non-criticizing, non-judgmental way) then use creativity, originality, and knowledge to try to find a way to solve the problem and make it work. If a scene, subplot, etc. just isn't working, Jim will offer a solution.

Bottom line, Jim evaluates screenplays from an entirely different approach than all the rest. He's the Master when it comes to character development and using the "Sequences Approach" to properly structure a screenplay. Jim is also funny and extremely easy to talk to. My only regret - I wish I would've found Jim 5 years ago when I started screenwriting. It would've saved me a lot of money and a lot of time."

Kevin Lehr

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Let me know if you have any questions.

Peace,

Jim Mercurio

Script Coaching Bonuses

2011-07-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Twenty months later, I just finished working on the feature I was directing. So I have space for a few more clients. If you want to take two scripts all the way and get a master class in screenwriting during the process, sign up for script coaching. And there are a few cool extras I can throw in to the next for clients who jump aboard this offer.

Here's my schedule for Coaching:

One to start in August.
One to start with concept/treatment in August or script in September.
Another one to start with concept/treatment in Septmber or script in October.
One to start in October. or later.

For the next four clients, sign up this month for and you will receive one of the following:

1) Free seat in one of the Champion Labs or Ellen Sandler's TV Lab near the end of the year.
2) One of the first produced copies of the Screenwriting DVD set I am working on. 4-8 DVDS, 10-20 hours...don't know the exact details yet but the retail value will be $2-400
3) $100 Discount (toward travel) and $250 credit toward any classess I do. Am working on a weeklong workshop in Taos.
4) $150 Discount (toward travel), two tickets and invitation to some festivities at one of the upcoming film festivals I will be attending. Might have to sign NDA from producer.

Also am really open to bartering for Frequent Flyer Miles or Travel Vouchers - Am going to be going to a lot of fests this year.

Check out coaching and let me know if you have any questions.

Peace,
Jim
jim (at sign) jamespmercurio.com

CREATIVITY IN DEAL MAKING

2011-04-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Cutting to the chase. The economy sucks. This business is tough. I just found 3000 hours to direct a movie over the past 18 months for a salary less than I charge for Script Coaching, so I get it. ;-)

I have been willing to offer payment plans for clients and even accepted a Guitar Center Gift card as barter. ~~But I still need $500 Gift card for the American Telecaster. Mostly kidding.~~

With this idea in mind, I canvassed parents, step-kids, wife and dog to come up with an official list of acceptable barter. And, you know what, I don't judge. Employee discount, Regifting...I am not going to hold that against you.

Gift Cards: ~~Guitar Center ($600ish max),~~ (made deal for Telecaster) Best Buy, National Sporting Goods Chains (sadly, no limit), Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Zingermann's (And Canters, Juniors and Jerrys, I guess, too), Lowes/Home Depot (300 max...let's not create more work), Chipotle (maybe 100 max), Kohls, Airline Travel, Apple Store, Verizon

Other: Frequent Flyer Miles, Airfare vouchers (A dozen or so film festivals on the horizon), Time Shares, Place to Stay in Paris for two (teenager whines about France=Stay with stepmom for two weeks), In London for Four, Steelers Tickets, Eagles Tickets (Shh, don't tell my wife), Pokerstars $$ (when it's legal again, LOL), Planned Travel Situation for Italy for the 'rents

Services: SEO, Final Cut Pro training for a friend, possibly design and am open to other ideas.

From my dog: Petsmart Gift Cards as well as gift cards to Mortons, Ruth's Chris and Cheesecake Factory.

Okay, the last one was from me.

Contact me at your own risk.

Peace,
Jim
The man who says yes to too many things

Experimental YouTube/Facebook Online Scene Class

2011-03-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Cheap, Fast and Good!

Sign up for my online scene class and you can apply the entire $39.99 toward my Pro or Comp Analysis within 30 days. Or just take the class. Send a short scene in by Monday and then watch some Youtube clips and read the feedback whenever you can.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs040/1102444973224/archive/1105248988186.html
See the above link for all of the details.

Peace,
Jim

Scene Writing Analysis - Temporary Service

2011-03-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

I got a two-month extension on the scene writing book and because of copyright issues, I am going to have to use scenes from unknown writers, so not only am I offering a service for below my hourly rate, I may be checking to see if some of you want to have your scene(s) included in the book for a modest licensing fee. It would be completely optional.

Since I am in the scene-writing zone, I am offering a 10-page analysis of the scene writing craft in your script. I will focus pretty intensely on as many scenes as I can and then summarize the areas and principles on which you should focus.

This will help intermediate and advanced writers hone their craft with micro-level analysis that is special in two ways: no one else offers this sort of feedback and I am exceptionally good at it.

My background as a filmmaker is part of the reason I am suited for this sort of criticism. I have watched the same scene performed 400 times in one week during auditions. I have wrestled with a scene for a month as a filmmaker. I have rebuilt sets from scratch a year later to pick up the one thing we missed from the original scene. I have my Malcom Gladwell 10,000-hour Certification on scene writing. ;-)

I did an extensive analysis of a scene here but this was from a novice writer's very first script. I think this service is more suited to intermediate and advanced writers who have written a few scripts and want to find a new way accelerate their craft.

Use the same Paypal address at jamespmercurio.com (jim@) and send script in FD or a form where I can put notes in the document itself and make cuts and changes for the sake of rhetoric. Actually, PDFs work well. The rate is $500.

Topics: subtext, subtexting (my word), getting in late and out early, blocking, action description, beats, the event, importance, moment before, what am I fighting for?, theme tweaks/reframes, props, motifs, role-playing, use of setting, exploitation of concept, humor, making the movie castable and a zillion other things...

SIGN UP BEFORE APRIL 25 AND GET FREE SCENE WRITING CLASS TOO! See below or above.

Valentine's Day Special - 10% Discount on Love Stories

2011-02-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

10% discount on Coverage or Comprehensive Analysis for all love stories if you sign up between now and Valentine's Day! Subplot, Friendship, Rom-Com, Revenge-against-the-ex....I am flexible...if you say there is a love story in there somewhere, I will believe you.

Friends of Sean Kanan Promotion

2011-01-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Hey,Thanks for checking out the site. Mention where you saw the promotion and you can have a 10% discount on any of the following services at my site: Coverage, Professional Analysis, Comprehensive Analysis, Coaching. The first two who sign up for Coaching will also get a free seat in the next Champion Lab where, schedule permitting, Sean will be reading with us again.

If you are willing to get an audio version of the notes (not coaching) instead, you can have a 15% discount.

Click the "Story Analysis" link to the right or click here. The offer is good till the end of the month. You can book the deal now and then send me the script when you are ready.

Here is a photo of me and Sean on the set of March. I directed, he produced and was the star, and our high school friend Dean wrote it. And Sean's mother took the photo!

Email me with any questions. Thanks for your support of Sean!

Consulting - Monthly Payments

2011-01-04T05:41:00.000-08:00

This has come up a few times in the past year. I know the economy has been brutal lately. For Professional Analysis, Coaching and Mentoring, I am open to discussing making installments. My coaching clients and I jump into the trenches together for months to improve their script. It's a big commitment from me and you, so I want to make it a bit easier.

Check out the link in the post below to a testimonial from a current coaching client.

Testimonials From 2010 Champion Lab

2011-01-04T05:31:00.000-08:00

Cool testimonials from my Champion Lab and check out the kinds words from Coaching client Mark Reinisch about the work we did on the lab and his high-concept comedy.

20% Discount for Champion Quarterfinalists

2010-11-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

2010 Champion Screenwriting Quarterfinalists receive a 20% discount on any of these services: Coverage, Professional Analysis, Comprehensive Analysis or Script Coaching on their Quarterfinalist script.

All entrants in the contest receive a 10% discount on any of the above services on any of their features.

This offer is only good until either I receive ten scripts from entrants or the end of the year. I expect that it will be closed by early December.

My coverage service, with this discount, is one of the best deals I offer. These will be the only 10 scripts I read in the next year as a consultant for this price. Quarterfinalists receive an additional benefit: my affiliation with the contest allows me to incorporate ideas/comments from other readers and judges.

Email me if you have any questions.

Peace,
Jim

FREE CLASS FOR COACHING AND MENTORING CLIENTS

2010-11-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sign up for Coaching or Mentoring this month and you can come to your choice of classes in Los Angeles next month.

Don't compare the Mentoring service to "a set of notes" -- compare it to like a year in the UCLA Professional Program. You will have 30-40 hours in class with me, several hours working on your individual scenes and then up to 40 hours of one-on-one time with your script via phone, Skype, email, written notes and in-person. We will also spend time analyzing similar movies and discussing the market for your work. This is like a private class spread out over six months or a year.

I know it's a big step, so email me with questions or to set up a quick pressure-free phone call.

Jim Mercurio signs book deal for "The Craft of Scene Writing"

2010-11-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

I just signed deal with Quill Driver (parent company is Linden Publishing) for The Craft of Scene Writing: 14 Steps to a Better Screenplay. I believe this is the first book on scene writing craft for screenwriters and will be a much-needed complement to all the books that focus on structure paradigms. I will be offering a related service -- one that focuses on only scenes -- as part of my immersion into the book next month. Special thanks to my agent Jessica Faust and to Erik Bauer who dragged me into this niche back in the day and who has helped me stay sane by making two of my last four movies with me.