An Intro From Geoff Hall:

It’s amazing who you can meet during the Stage32 November Write Club. I met Sandra Isabel Correia and we have been talking to each other ever since.

In one of our conversations, Sandra talked about the ‘soft skills’ of business needed by the screenwriter, if they are to see their projects move into production. Along the way, we also discussed the writer as an introvert (Sandra’s perceptions – below - are amazing and worth spending a moment with, just to take it in).

We also looked at issues like ‘how commercial is a project?’ as well as finally delving into the ‘social responsibility of the writer’.

This latter theme, I’d covered a little with my lounge post ‘A Text in Travail’. You can find it here.

On Stage 32 we are often told that we need to know the business, the industry, if we are to connect to Producers/Execs/Investors, but I think perhaps there's another aspect; namely how we conduct ourselves in the room; the 'soft skills' Sandra mentioned.

Sandra Isabel Correia's Soft Skills:

Any entrepreneur or writer must have the following soft skills:

1. Embrace the script or idea with all your heart. Believe with your whole heart.
2. Be resilient. Do not give up after the first, second, or third round; instead, try to improve the concept.
3. Maintain your patience and perseverance. You can do it if you believe! See the idea or script as a whole and what you want to achieve with it. Most of the time, I look at the big picture first and then the small picture.
4. I never go from the present to the future. As an entrepreneur, I think about the future and then come back to the present. I think that is what makes me successful.
5. If we receive negative feedback about our idea or project along the way, that is not good, and the market does not need it. We must be humble enough to abandon this idea and pursue another.
6. The most important skill is networking. Go to events, make relationships with people, go deep into the environment, and ask for help or an introduction.

Your idea or script must answer a society's need and, at the same time, contribute to humanity's evolution. If the movie industry needs your story, all of them come to you. Investors and executives, you need to answer a need and be different with love and passion. It will make lots of money.

We must be confident without fear of failure. If we fail, we learn and rise again. We need to say who we are, and what our goals are, and let others know how to join us. We need to be able to talk to each other clearly and politely.

GH: How can we help screenwriters develop these ‘soft skills’? Does it take a paradigm shift in our mind which is still enforcing that our own nature is profoundly introverted?

SIC: We need education in skills we don't have or aren't used to, in my opinion. For example, I dislike financial, numerical, or Excel work, yet when I first started my business, I needed to manage the financial side of things. So, I took financial classes to help me handle it as best I could, and a year later, I hired a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) to help me, but he was always under my supervision. I become a financial specialist, yet if I can, I avoid it! On the other side, we must improve our emotional intelligence, shift our thinking, and accept our resilience. Breaking down the barriers that stand in our way is a wonderful concept.]

GH: It seems to me that in this relationship, the writer may be the introvert and the entrepreneur the extrovert. How can we balance that in our minds and be both at the same time throughout the process?

SIC: Not every entrepreneur is an extrovert, but you should be or learn to be one to succeed. How do you achieve your ideas, business, and aspirations if you are not an extrovert? Being a screenwriter is a lonely process, much like being an entrepreneur. We must create all the concepts of our business (what we call a business plan in the business field, and in screenwriting, the material – pitch decks, outlines, screenplays, etc. and the next stage is to go outside, create relationships, attend networking events, share our idea, or concept, and pitch the business plan, just like a screenwriter must do with their own script. The only way to balance our minds is to develop our emotional intelligence, start with little circles, and gradually expand them. At the same time, develop self-confidence.

You will succeed. I guarantee you that! Only because you are not walking alone!

Sandra Isabel Correia's Entrepreneur’s Path

I believe it is similar to The Writer Path, which I learned about here on Stage 32:

1. Come up with a business idea.
2. Conduct market research to determine market demand. If the market requires it and we go to meet that need, we are on the right track. Otherwise, it is not a good idea.
3. Create a business project or plan (mission, objectives, strategy, action plan, financials, and timeline).
4. Make a pitch to the market (business angels, investors)
5. If you are successful, start the business with financial partners (business angels or investors) and do not give up control of the business. People who invest are putting money into the business owner, not just the idea.
6. If he does not succeed in the first or second round, the entrepreneur starts his own business and grows it until it starts making money. He then pitches again at a later date.

GH: Meeting society’s needs? That to me is a difficult one, as it's generally perceived that the industry doesn't know what it wants and needs to be moved in the right direction, to see that need. You know the old adage, yes, of film Execs wanting something new that they've seen before! There seems to be a pretty basic difference here when it comes to writing something. When I have an idea, I’m swept away with passion for my story. I don’t put the hand-brake on and look around to see if there’s a viable route to take. I just write it; that’s where the flow takes me. Generally, when it’s complete, that’s when I put on my business hat, look at where and how it needs to be marketed, and who may be the best Producer (If it’s not going to be me). So, how do we find the right Producer?

SIC: To find the right person, you must search for those who match your business or script genre, and after following your intuition, follow the person you feel can help you. Intuition never fails. Do it from what you feel.

GH: Bearing what you have said there, can we slant it a little and focus on another possibility? Simply put, we are instructed that there are two paths for the screenwriter to take: the Studios or an Independent Production Company. However, I think there’s a third path and that is sponsorship.

(Laurie Ashbourne recently had a lounge post about an article in The Washington Post. It looked at this phenomenon and in particular the work of Producer Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere, Origin). It focuses on the social responsibility of the writer and this third path; of sponsorship. You can read it here. I found this inspirational – thank you Laurie – and it shows how this third path may be explored and utilized to fund the production of our screenplay. Now, I must say that I write this as a writer/director so this may be less relevant to screenwriters whose only wish is to sell their screenplay.

In our conversations together, we pursued this theme and you mentioned the ‘social responsibility’ of Companies and how Europe is lagging behind America on this front. Could you say a little more about it please and the Next Generation EU goals for 2023-2050? How can this can help filmmakers find sponsorship today?

SIC: Yes! The European Union's (EU) Next Generation EU is a financial program designed to help Europe emerge stronger from the epidemic, reform our businesses and communities, and construct a Europe that works for everyone.

It has five big areas: make it Green; make it Digital; make it Healthy; make it Strong; and make it Equal.

Each one has goals for governments to reach between 2023 and 2050, and failure to do so will result in financial penalties. To attain the aims, each country must obey. Their industries need to alter and adapt to these new goals, and if they do not, each industry (companies, businesses) will be financially penalized.

Under the large Make it Equal and Make it Strong, European corporations must improve their social duty to achieve goals, and it is here that sponsorship begins in Europe. Because corporations must demonstrate that they are adapting to the Next Generation EU, the changes we are seeing in Europe will allow more filmmakers to get funding than ever before.

Social responsibility is a cultural phenomenon in the United States, not yet in Europe.

GH: And when I talk about social responsibility I’m not talking about preachy, dogmatic, or moralistic films. We have to entertain and as a writer/director, I aim to provoke, inspire, and challenge the audience; to excite the imagination first and not the intellect. I write my stories and create worlds from perceived social needs but without soapboxing. I would make the case that the audience doesn't need to understand every nuance of a story, (Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ comes to mind!) they just have to experience it - and then once I've caught their attention and imagination, they can search out those nuances. I write out of conviction, not amusement to stem any boredom or tedium in life. I believe that STORY is a catalyst for social change and transformation. Here I am at 66, I have learned to be resilient and never believe that the word NO is the final judgment on any script that I write.

SIC: You have the same vision as I do. Geoff, you see the big picture, and that must be the mindset of a screenwriter-entrepreneur. That is what will bring evolution to the audience who sees your films and lives the experience. It's no longer enough to think beyond the box; there isn't one anymore. We must first push ourselves with our story and the direction we want to go (studios or independent production companies). Second, go for it because you know it won't be easy, but every journey is worth it. But a yes is possible! Third, we can effect social change and modify society for the better; this must be our goal—to contribute to humanity's progress.

GH: Thank you, Sandra, for encouraging us to move in this new direction. It may seem a little daunting, but like you, I think we can do it. It will take a little homework into which philanthropic foundations we approach, but then we need the mindset of the entrepreneur to form a business plan for our projects so that we can reap the benefits and help mobilize our audience to work for social change.

SC: I am excited for this new adventure, and I appreciate the invitation, Geoff.

GH: Thank you for being a part of this, Sandra. I’m really excited to see where our conversation and relationship leads!

SC: I am happy for this new journey for me, Geoff. Dreams do come true, and that is our legacy.

Let's hear your thoughts in the comments below!

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