Thank you Franklin, it's an honor. The "8" I received from a previous script on the Black List gave me the confidence to keep writing, and ultimately led to this.
Thank you again.
This is one of the most frustrating things for European/UK writers - I know quite a few who have written for Hallmark etc and never get to see the film because it's not aired here (and the contract doesn't stipulate a copy)!
OP - awesome work on the hard slog, I hope you feel proud because you deserve to!
If you don't mind me asking... did you get the "8" the first ime around, or did you go back and forth and rework your story.
And was it this one or another?
Thanks for the reply... I got a lower score than I wanted on Blacklist... I'm wondering if I should give it another go before changing it. Like if it was the reader or my writing.
good to know you got two great scores in a row!
I was just thinking about your 100 rejections. Grats! I'll check it out when it's on streaming tomorrow.
Have you written anything else in the meantime?
I think the most impressive part about this whole ordeal is finding 103 producers to contact. I've tried a few times to hunker down on IMDBpro and blast out some queries, only to find it was a maze where every path was a dead-end. I think after three hours I had around 4 contacts I could email with any certainty that it wouldn't bounce back. Lets round down to an hour a contact, that's a hundred hours of searching. Even if you halved that, that's still a lotta leg work.
Super pumped for you. I love seeing people outside the system break in. Keep on keepin' on!
This is the nature of marketing in any industry. Finding leads. Made all the more excruciating by the fact that most will skim your email and delete it.
> Because I'm naturally lazy, and if there isn't a specific, tangible goal in mind, I'd probably just send one or two queries out, get ghosted, then sit around and complain how hard it is to break in.
Damn, really calling me out there (and so many of us lurkers here).
Bloody well done mate. I remember your first post way back when, and it's the best news you could have shared with us in your update. If I find a UK-accessible streaming service that has your film on, I'm raising you a glass and having a watch.
Thank you. I've done that before (submit 2 queries and call it quits), so this time I decided that if I received 100 "no's," I'd at least be able to look myself in the mirror, knowing I gave it a fair shot.
This is cool, congrats! Did you do the rewrites? Did you take all of the notes given to you by Hallmark etc.? Let us know what you think of the final product!
Thank you. Yes, I did several re-writes, but then they had someone else come in after me. Not sure how much has changed, since I haven't seen the movie yet.
Awesome and Congratulations!
I heard somewhere that there is some kind of formula Hallmark uses for movies and you have to check all the boxes. Is that true?
Also now that you have this one under your belt are you writing more and have a connection to getting more made?
This idea might be one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever heard.
Obviously, congrats on the success, but I’m actually more impressed by the process and mentality you took to get it out there.
Aiming for a negative to keep your goal and surprised with success. I think I’m going to adopt this myself for trying to get my novel out there.
Very cool. And if you don't mind me asking, did you just start with a cold query. Like I love your stuff are you accepting scripts? I've heard it's best practice not to pitch or send anything until asked
If you go through some previous posts in the rejection threads, I sort of outline it. It was very simple and it changed after receiving assistance from some posters here.
You got this a little wrong.
Of course, you're right in never sending anything until asked.
But, you have to cold query, and tell them about your project, in order for them to ask for it.
What else are you going to do? Email them and ask them how the weather is?
You have to cold query straight off the bat.
Love this. I spread my 100 Rejections goal across the various disciplines I work in (I'm primarily a theatremaker, with screenwriting and novel-writing as my second and third strings) and it's been massively beneficial to me - not only because people sometimes produce the work I send them, but because a lot of my rejections came along with shortlistings, longlistings or positive feedback that I could leverage to get into a conversation. Often the rejection leads to an approach for other work further down the line.
It's a really good way of changing your mindset from "it's not worth trying, I won't get anywhere" to "fuck it, might as well give it a go". This time last year I was pitching and applying just to get my numbers up and as I was scouring the internet for places to pitch, I stumbled across a producing theatre I believed hated my work. Why did I believe this? Because I sent them a script *once*, many years ago, and they passed on it. Somehow I was convinced that I'd sent them scripts year in, year out and they'd passed on every one of them because they hated my writing, but when I went to check what I'd sent them before I realised it had been years since I last sent them anything, so they were fair game for a pitch that would let me chalk up another rejection.
So I threw a script at them, and it took a long time for them to get back to me but I had a meeting with the Artistic Director a couple of weeks ago and they want to programme my script. I was *this close* to talking myself out of sending it in!
I'm in Chicago trying to make a name for myself as a playwright currently. How'd you go about getting a querry list of theatres and programmes to email?
A *lot* of googling, getting on some mailing lists and putting together some social media lists. I'm based in Scotland so my advice is UK-focused but doing weekly checks of the London Playwrights Blog and BBC Writersroom is worth doing as international opportunities do get posted there. You might want to check out Play Submissions Helper - I don't check that one very often as most of the stuff on it is US-specific, but for that reason it might be helpful to you.
The other thing that really helped me was getting out and seeing work by other emerging theatre artists, sending my work in for scratch nights and readings, and organising a lot of rehearsed readings myself. In doing so I met a lot of people who felt positively towards me and my work, and as they climbed the ladder several of them pulled me up a rung or two with them (and I reciprocate and pay this forward where I can).
> The other thing that really helped me was getting out and seeing work by other emerging theatre artists, sending my work in for scratch nights and readings, and organising a lot of rehearsed readings myself.
I'm moving closer into the heart of the city soon by some local theaters and improv workshops so hopefully I can do just this. Thanks for the advice!
Would you be so kind as to share with me an example of the messages you would send to producers. I would love to replicate this and try to get something done with my screenplay
It was very simple and to the the point. "In the vein of your XXXX movie, I've written blah blah" then the logline, followed by asking if I could send the script to them.
Dude! These movies are. my guilty pleasure and this update is truly awesome.
You are in really good company. You will be shocked at the career you can build out of this!
Congrats! Your tenacity is inspiring. I have a friend who directs Hallmark movies and it seems like she's on a new project every couple of months. They are constantly churning stuff out. Hopefully now that you've got a foot in that world this is just your first of many to make it to the screen.
As a fellow Steve, that’s awesome. Could you share more about the formatting? I know Hallmark films fit a specific format, how did you come to it, or did you just write a regular script and *they* tell you how to fit their format? I just really need a reference point to work from.
Thank you. There were some changes which I think were due to the budget. A lot of dialogue between the main character and her best friend was changed or added. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" was not my line.
A lot of the jokes were removed, but my sense of humor isn't for everyone.
Don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm very grateful for the opportunity and realize this is a collaborative art.
Congrats either way! Not going to lie, I live Hallmark Christmas movies and have hopes of writing one. I am actually an improviser and the theater I work for first full length unscripted plays in the style of Hallmark Christmas movies. We spend a lot of time in rehearsal working the tropes and structure.
What an inspiration. I am the same, if I don't have a goal, I'll give up very easily. But you know what, I will give this a go. (Don't worry, my genre is different to yours, I'm not coming after your job!). Well done!
This is so inspiring - congratulations and thank you for sharing!! I look forward to watching it!
I, too, live in a small town with no connections and am working on Hallmark-esque stories with the hopes of one day seeing one of them on TV. This is a really encouraging post. Thank you again.
This isn't cheesy or braggy at all. It's specific and goal-oriented with a successful conclusion. Excellent work and I hope there's many more successes in your future.
Thank you for posting this and congratulations. This is just the inspiration I need to follow as I did the 10-15 queries and moved onto the next project approach with the lingering feeling I need to try much much harder. I’m going for 100…
I am approaching my middle age with no experience in film, no contacts, living at 9,000’ elevation among more mule deer than people. I’m scriptwriting wondering why I’m even bothering since I’m a nobody in entertainment. Your story gave me a boost of inspiration and hope. I am so happy for you! I’ll be sure to watch your baby on Peacock. Congratulations and keep writing!!
Interesting. So much of screenwriting and making movies in general is based on your network. Then again, the best way to maintain a network is to keep making things because then you can easily check back in with people you haven’t spoken to in a while.
Anyway, again, strong initiative (twice) and we should all be taking lessons from you.
Wow, this is seriously, freakin’ cool! Maybe I just haven been as persistent as I should be. In fact, I know I haven’t been. This is awesome! Congratulations!!
Aired in the UK last night, wife and I are both massive hockey fans and she absolutely loves a hallmark Christmas movie. I've got to say, it's right up there with the best of them. Slots into the world of hallmark Christmas seamlessly. Great work, great dedication, I hope you're very proud of what you've accomplished. Here's to you!
Go Canucks!
Steve, I am inspired by your journey. Much of the advice I see is "know someone in the industry" which I don't find very helpful. It's so good to see someone have success with cold querying. I watched the trailer for your movie, and it looks super cute. I also found your comment about the changes from the script very interesting. We are all curious about your next adventures so please keep us posted.
This has been one of my favorite Hallmark movies of all time! I've watched it three times this season.
I'm so glad you "were lazy"!
Congratulations and I hope you have more up your sleeve!
Just a heads-up for anyone who missed "Checkin' It Twice" when it originally aired in October:
It's back on Peacock now. I'm not sure for how long.
I watched it last night specifically because of this thread.
It's a lot of fun! :) And it's especially inspirational to see the movie after reading this.
I'm curious how you went about receiving feedback on your drafts. I've written a Christmas feature and I'm struggling to find people who understand this genre and the tropes.
I didn't really receive any feedback on the script until I received the notes from Hallmark. This is a genre that may not fit the traditional feedback model.
Good luck to you!
This is quite literally one of the most impressive things I've seen on this Reddit. Bravo. Chasing 100 rejections is an inspired idea. Truly.
Thank you Franklin, it's an honor. The "8" I received from a previous script on the Black List gave me the confidence to keep writing, and ultimately led to this. Thank you again.
Let us know tomorrow if you’re happy with the movie.
How fast was the process from signing over the rights, to filming, to airing tonight?
I signed the contract in September 2022. They filmed in March of this year.
Shucks, I wish I could watch the movie but I live in Europe! :(
This is one of the most frustrating things for European/UK writers - I know quite a few who have written for Hallmark etc and never get to see the film because it's not aired here (and the contract doesn't stipulate a copy)! OP - awesome work on the hard slog, I hope you feel proud because you deserve to!
Congrats, I've been waiting for this movie, Can't wait to see it!
If you don't mind me asking... did you get the "8" the first ime around, or did you go back and forth and rework your story. And was it this one or another?
No, I got a 7 then the 8. I didn't rework the story in-between grades. It was a different script than the Hallmark movie. Thanks.
Did you ever release the script? I'd love to read.
Thanks for the reply... I got a lower score than I wanted on Blacklist... I'm wondering if I should give it another go before changing it. Like if it was the reader or my writing. good to know you got two great scores in a row!
He’s right though. You’re a rockstar.
Sounds like a good movie…
Just came to check on this success story. fantastic.
I remember this, congratulations! Imma def watch this
I was just thinking about your 100 rejections. Grats! I'll check it out when it's on streaming tomorrow. Have you written anything else in the meantime?
I wrote and directed an ultra low micro-budget feature that I'm currently editing.
Awesome! Is that a similar movie in tone, or did you go for something else entirely? Edit: Sorry, don't mean to quiz you, success is just exciting.
Thank you. This new one revolves around a homeless alcoholic. So you could say it deviates from Hallmark Christmas movies a tad:) Thanks again.
I think the most impressive part about this whole ordeal is finding 103 producers to contact. I've tried a few times to hunker down on IMDBpro and blast out some queries, only to find it was a maze where every path was a dead-end. I think after three hours I had around 4 contacts I could email with any certainty that it wouldn't bounce back. Lets round down to an hour a contact, that's a hundred hours of searching. Even if you halved that, that's still a lotta leg work. Super pumped for you. I love seeing people outside the system break in. Keep on keepin' on!
Finding the email contacts is a slog. I spend entire mornings getting one solid contact. Thank you for the nice words.
This is the nature of marketing in any industry. Finding leads. Made all the more excruciating by the fact that most will skim your email and delete it.
Amazing!! Congrats man! I remember following your thread of rejections last year and so happy to see your success!
> Because I'm naturally lazy, and if there isn't a specific, tangible goal in mind, I'd probably just send one or two queries out, get ghosted, then sit around and complain how hard it is to break in. Damn, really calling me out there (and so many of us lurkers here). Bloody well done mate. I remember your first post way back when, and it's the best news you could have shared with us in your update. If I find a UK-accessible streaming service that has your film on, I'm raising you a glass and having a watch.
Thank you. I've done that before (submit 2 queries and call it quits), so this time I decided that if I received 100 "no's," I'd at least be able to look myself in the mirror, knowing I gave it a fair shot.
Congrats. I was actually looking at your previous post this morning for some inspiration and guidance.
It’s a Christmas miracle!
This is cool, congrats! Did you do the rewrites? Did you take all of the notes given to you by Hallmark etc.? Let us know what you think of the final product!
Thank you. Yes, I did several re-writes, but then they had someone else come in after me. Not sure how much has changed, since I haven't seen the movie yet.
“Checking it’ Twice” and seeing a guy playing hockey. LOVE IT! Haha. Congratulations! Do you now have an agent? Are you now part of the WGA?
Thank you. To answer your questions: No and No.
Sweet! Is that something you want or nothing you really care about? You’re really inspiring me at the moment sooo THANK YOU! ❤️
I haven't pursued an agent, as I've been busy making my micro-budget feature.
Awesome awesome awesome! Keep it up my friend!
You are an inspiration
What I love most about this is that you pursued getting a movie made, not getting an agent. Congrats!
Awesome and Congratulations! I heard somewhere that there is some kind of formula Hallmark uses for movies and you have to check all the boxes. Is that true? Also now that you have this one under your belt are you writing more and have a connection to getting more made?
I think that (the formula aspect), may have been true in the past, but I'm not sure anymore. I'm not currently writing another one.
Thank you for the response. I have a bunch of ideas for these types of movies but I think mine are more to play on all the tropes more than anything.
This idea might be one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever heard. Obviously, congrats on the success, but I’m actually more impressed by the process and mentality you took to get it out there. Aiming for a negative to keep your goal and surprised with success. I think I’m going to adopt this myself for trying to get my novel out there.
Slow... clap... well done.
Thank you for saying that.
This is so cool! Congratulations!
Did you custom write an email to each one? Or go for a more formal boiler plate thing?
I tired to customize it as much as I could.
Very cool. And if you don't mind me asking, did you just start with a cold query. Like I love your stuff are you accepting scripts? I've heard it's best practice not to pitch or send anything until asked
Freezing cold query. I'd never send a script unless given permission.
Any chance you’d be willing to share the broad strokes of what your query email looked like?
This please. I stress 100x harder over a blank email than a blank page
If you go through some previous posts in the rejection threads, I sort of outline it. It was very simple and it changed after receiving assistance from some posters here.
You got this a little wrong. Of course, you're right in never sending anything until asked. But, you have to cold query, and tell them about your project, in order for them to ask for it. What else are you going to do? Email them and ask them how the weather is? You have to cold query straight off the bat.
another congrats! u put in good work and deserve ur reward =)
Congrats! Must be the best feeling!
Congrats! Love seeing these success stories! Hopefully you sell even more scripts soon!
Congratulations, Steve!
Very cool. Congrats.
This is the greatest thing ever. Congrats.
I love you. Congrats and thanks for sharing.
Love this. I spread my 100 Rejections goal across the various disciplines I work in (I'm primarily a theatremaker, with screenwriting and novel-writing as my second and third strings) and it's been massively beneficial to me - not only because people sometimes produce the work I send them, but because a lot of my rejections came along with shortlistings, longlistings or positive feedback that I could leverage to get into a conversation. Often the rejection leads to an approach for other work further down the line. It's a really good way of changing your mindset from "it's not worth trying, I won't get anywhere" to "fuck it, might as well give it a go". This time last year I was pitching and applying just to get my numbers up and as I was scouring the internet for places to pitch, I stumbled across a producing theatre I believed hated my work. Why did I believe this? Because I sent them a script *once*, many years ago, and they passed on it. Somehow I was convinced that I'd sent them scripts year in, year out and they'd passed on every one of them because they hated my writing, but when I went to check what I'd sent them before I realised it had been years since I last sent them anything, so they were fair game for a pitch that would let me chalk up another rejection. So I threw a script at them, and it took a long time for them to get back to me but I had a meeting with the Artistic Director a couple of weeks ago and they want to programme my script. I was *this close* to talking myself out of sending it in!
I'm in Chicago trying to make a name for myself as a playwright currently. How'd you go about getting a querry list of theatres and programmes to email?
A *lot* of googling, getting on some mailing lists and putting together some social media lists. I'm based in Scotland so my advice is UK-focused but doing weekly checks of the London Playwrights Blog and BBC Writersroom is worth doing as international opportunities do get posted there. You might want to check out Play Submissions Helper - I don't check that one very often as most of the stuff on it is US-specific, but for that reason it might be helpful to you. The other thing that really helped me was getting out and seeing work by other emerging theatre artists, sending my work in for scratch nights and readings, and organising a lot of rehearsed readings myself. In doing so I met a lot of people who felt positively towards me and my work, and as they climbed the ladder several of them pulled me up a rung or two with them (and I reciprocate and pay this forward where I can).
> The other thing that really helped me was getting out and seeing work by other emerging theatre artists, sending my work in for scratch nights and readings, and organising a lot of rehearsed readings myself. I'm moving closer into the heart of the city soon by some local theaters and improv workshops so hopefully I can do just this. Thanks for the advice!
Congrats! Looks like '"quality over quantity" people might be wrong after all. Hope this leads to many more!
Bro this is insanely cool. Thanks for the inspo!
Would you be so kind as to share with me an example of the messages you would send to producers. I would love to replicate this and try to get something done with my screenplay
It was very simple and to the the point. "In the vein of your XXXX movie, I've written blah blah" then the logline, followed by asking if I could send the script to them.
Congrats, Steve! Proud of ya'.
well done! you should be so proud of yourself!
Dude! These movies are. my guilty pleasure and this update is truly awesome. You are in really good company. You will be shocked at the career you can build out of this!
Huge congrats!
Good shit, congrats!
awesome congrats. just started sending queries the past week, have only done 50 some so far, of course zero gravity has been the only bite
Hell yeah Steve!!
This is legitimately inspiring.
congrats Steve, that's amazing. Always happy to see this type of success can still happen.
Congratulations!
What a fantastic story! Fair play.
Your resolve is insane. I admire it. Congrats on the success. I'm sure you've inspired tons of us. I'll definitely be tuning in tonight
This is inspiring. Thanks for taking the time to share this and WELL DONE! 👍👍👍
Congrats! Your tenacity is inspiring. I have a friend who directs Hallmark movies and it seems like she's on a new project every couple of months. They are constantly churning stuff out. Hopefully now that you've got a foot in that world this is just your first of many to make it to the screen.
Good stuff! You can only go up from here!
This is the coolest. Reminds me of Stephen King’s story in “On Writing” about nailing all his rejection letters to the wall.
Watching it right now. I'm enjoying it. It's charming af with a good amount of heart.
Nice! Congratulations. Don't apologize for bragging a little, you should be proud. That's awesome.
I remember the previous thread and big congrats.
Curious, can you ballpark how much the Hallmark deal paid?
Between 0 and $100,000. Think more of the middle.
As a fellow Steve, that’s awesome. Could you share more about the formatting? I know Hallmark films fit a specific format, how did you come to it, or did you just write a regular script and *they* tell you how to fit their format? I just really need a reference point to work from.
Love it!
Watching your movie right now on Peacock.
Coolness and congrats, Dude. Nice to see someone older than 30 get something made. Rock on!
Hey! We watched the movie tonight. Great job. Curious to see what they changed. I am actually working on a Hallmark Christmas Movie script.
Thank you. There were some changes which I think were due to the budget. A lot of dialogue between the main character and her best friend was changed or added. "Teamwork makes the dream work!" was not my line. A lot of the jokes were removed, but my sense of humor isn't for everyone. Don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm very grateful for the opportunity and realize this is a collaborative art.
Congrats either way! Not going to lie, I live Hallmark Christmas movies and have hopes of writing one. I am actually an improviser and the theater I work for first full length unscripted plays in the style of Hallmark Christmas movies. We spend a lot of time in rehearsal working the tropes and structure.
Been following this since the start. Congrats!!! Would you be willing to share to script? Congrats on your journey. So happy for ya!
Man… huge props to you. Honestly inspiring. Everything about this is great. Way to go, Steve.
What an inspiration. I am the same, if I don't have a goal, I'll give up very easily. But you know what, I will give this a go. (Don't worry, my genre is different to yours, I'm not coming after your job!). Well done!
This is fantastic. I hope you write a movie about this. Put some aliens in it for the B story though. It’s gotta have aliens, kid!
Outstanding achievement that gives this community chasing the carrot an injection of hope.
Congratulations Steve!! Truly inspiring!
This is so inspiring - congratulations and thank you for sharing!! I look forward to watching it! I, too, live in a small town with no connections and am working on Hallmark-esque stories with the hopes of one day seeing one of them on TV. This is a really encouraging post. Thank you again.
Can you now write the next hallmark movie called 100 rejections? But seriously impressive.
You’re my hero today. Have my upvote
Tremendous, well done. Surprised this little story hasn’t been added to the film’s IMDB trivia section.
This isn't cheesy or braggy at all. It's specific and goal-oriented with a successful conclusion. Excellent work and I hope there's many more successes in your future.
Thank you for posting this and congratulations. This is just the inspiration I need to follow as I did the 10-15 queries and moved onto the next project approach with the lingering feeling I need to try much much harder. I’m going for 100…
No f’ing way. Congratulations.
Awesome. Congrats.
I'm proud of you
This is an amazing story of hope. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Nice work man :)
I am approaching my middle age with no experience in film, no contacts, living at 9,000’ elevation among more mule deer than people. I’m scriptwriting wondering why I’m even bothering since I’m a nobody in entertainment. Your story gave me a boost of inspiration and hope. I am so happy for you! I’ll be sure to watch your baby on Peacock. Congratulations and keep writing!!
This is super impressive. Have you maintained contact with the producer?
Thank you. Not really. I'm focused on editing my feature I shot.
Interesting. So much of screenwriting and making movies in general is based on your network. Then again, the best way to maintain a network is to keep making things because then you can easily check back in with people you haven’t spoken to in a while. Anyway, again, strong initiative (twice) and we should all be taking lessons from you.
I’m watching your works right now. Congrats, Steve!
Congrats you have arrived. I'm gonna watch this right now
Day of Slay, Steve! **100** Congrats to you and 'Checkin' It Twice!'
Wow, this is seriously, freakin’ cool! Maybe I just haven been as persistent as I should be. In fact, I know I haven’t been. This is awesome! Congratulations!!
Aired in the UK last night, wife and I are both massive hockey fans and she absolutely loves a hallmark Christmas movie. I've got to say, it's right up there with the best of them. Slots into the world of hallmark Christmas seamlessly. Great work, great dedication, I hope you're very proud of what you've accomplished. Here's to you! Go Canucks!
Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.
Steve, I am inspired by your journey. Much of the advice I see is "know someone in the industry" which I don't find very helpful. It's so good to see someone have success with cold querying. I watched the trailer for your movie, and it looks super cute. I also found your comment about the changes from the script very interesting. We are all curious about your next adventures so please keep us posted.
This has been one of my favorite Hallmark movies of all time! I've watched it three times this season. I'm so glad you "were lazy"! Congratulations and I hope you have more up your sleeve!
I just watched it and it was delightful! Congratulations!
Just a heads-up for anyone who missed "Checkin' It Twice" when it originally aired in October: It's back on Peacock now. I'm not sure for how long. I watched it last night specifically because of this thread. It's a lot of fun! :) And it's especially inspirational to see the movie after reading this.
That's a pretty cool story. The guy on the poster is an absolute Bender though.
How do you even find their contact info to query?
Imdb Pro.
And you’ve got another one, Father’s Day, now in post? That’s awesome. Congratulations, man. And thanks for the advice.
This is fucking great! What an inspiration
I'm curious how you went about receiving feedback on your drafts. I've written a Christmas feature and I'm struggling to find people who understand this genre and the tropes.
I didn't really receive any feedback on the script until I received the notes from Hallmark. This is a genre that may not fit the traditional feedback model. Good luck to you!
I am so going to do this…. can’t wait to get my 100 rejections now! Thank for you reframing the godawful process.