Why I'm Going to Work With What I Always Warned You to Avoid...

Written by Geoff LaTulippe

Well…howdy! My name is Geoff LaTulippe, and I am a screenwriter. I sold my first script in 2008 and have been lucky to be able to trick people to keep working with me ever since.

My first and only movie was released in 2010 – Going the Distance, starring Justin Long and Drew Barrymore.

Going the Distance Official Trailer #3www.youtube.com

Since then, I’ve continued to drag myself through what’s been, thankfully, a relatively steady, slightly manic, career. I’ve sold original scripts, I’ve adapted a couple books, I’ve taken on rewrites, I’ve been hired to be the go-to guy on set a few times.

I’ve carved out a pretty decent, if frustratingly inconsistent, little corner of my own in this ere town. I’m proud of that. I also wish someone would turn any of my other scripts into another goddamned moving picture already.

In any event, today, I meet you well, with good tidings and maybe even an opportunity.

If you’ve followed any part of my 15-year professional screenwriting career – and statistics show you haven’t – you’ve heard a constant refrain over the years:

Don’t. Spend Money. Learning to be. A screenwriter.

Contests? No.

Coverage services? No.

Pitchfests? No.

Consultants? Good Christ, no.

Why have I taken these stances? Because traditionally, and more or less since the beginning of time, these pursuits and events were run and overseen and staffed and populated by people who didn’t have the experience or talent to help you better yourself as a writer.

With few exceptions, they were charlatans either on the fringes of the film industry or attempting to sneak back into the game after being chewed up and spit out of it.

Paying for notes and advice was simply throwing your hard-earned money into a void and hoping to hear it hit the bottom.

There was never a bottom.

Consistently, I repeated: if a legit service ever changed that landscape, I’d go to work for them.

Well, the landscape has, indeed, been altered, at least in my opinion.

And as luck would have it, they’ll have ME.

That’s right: I’ve teamed up with Roadmap Writers, and I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this “side-hustle” (gross) that I hope becomes a big part of the permanent fabric of my career. Because I believe they’re doing this the right way. With the right people.

First of all, if you go to the Roadmap website and read through it, you’ll find an astonishing lack of guarantees. First green flag for me.

All they promise is a wealth of resources and options for connecting with creatives working all over the entertainment industry.

Not posers.

Not wannabes.

Not neverwases.

Real working creatives with talent and knowledge and experience that they VET THOROUGHLY BEFORE EVEN BRINGING THEM INTO THE FOLD CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. There are so many paths to choose from, whether you’re just getting started or you’ve crossed the Rubicon forwards and backwards and need that last push to crash through the door.

And yes, they have REALLY expensive packages available. But they also have a slew of low-cost options as well, and one of the things I’m looking most forward to implementing with the team there are some services I can offer at no cost to you.

They have the right intentions. They’re clear and up front. They promise nothing other than connection with experienced creatives. They VET those creatives thoroughly. And what do they have to show for it? So far, in just a handful of years, they’ve helped almost 400 writers find representation.

Do you know what a relief and joy it is to type those words and mean them?

Perhaps we’re finally moving towards a future where aspiring writers have access to resources that AREN’T scams or money pits or dream-vaporizing dead-ends? In my personal opinion, so far, what I’ve seen is one of the first legitimate beacons of hope that you can get good, quality mentorship and meaningful feedback on your work, and you don’t have to live in LA and spend years networking to get there.

We might be witnessing the honest-to-God beginnings of a system where you can write from anywhere and get your script read by someone who matters and wants to help you shoot your best shot. Potentially a drastic lowering of the barrier to entry in an industry that is almost impossible to break into even if you ziptie yourself to a studio gate.

It’s the first real “hack”, as I believe the kids say. Am I using that correctly here? I think it’s a hack. And for me, personally…I was so beyond lucky to come up with unbelievable mentors and colleagues and creative partners, and I’d have gotten NOWHERE without their help.

I’ve spent a (wonderful and gratifying) chunk of my career trying to pay that forward. And now I might be able to do that, but on a larger scale and for people who might otherwise have been heretofore shut out of their artistic pursuits.

God, I’m rizzed.

That’s what they say too, right? Rizzed? Did I use that correctly? Like if I said, “Rizzed to be joining forces with Roadmap Writers and giving up-and-coming scribes access to every bit of knowledge and expertise I contain,” I totally nailed it, yeah?

Maybe this all sounds a little too optimistic, and you’d be more than wise to treat my enthusiasm with skepticism. But also ask yourself the question, “Why CAN’T this work?” It was always only a matter of time until a group of non-lowlifes built a machine that ran on professionalism and standards and accountability. Why not Roadmap?

And after all of THAT glee-barking, you may be asking yourself, “Well, Mister Steven Spielberg, what can I expect from Geoff should I retain his services?” I’m glad you asked.

Yes, I bring 20 years of experience in feature film development to the table – 5 years as a studio reader, and 15 as a working writer with a produced studio credit under my belt. But those two decades have been full of highs and lows, peaks and nadirs.

I’ve had big successes and traversed through DEEP valleys. I’ve been there. I can help you climb skyward. And I can help navigate the darkness.

What I’ve really focused on the last few years is giving notes, advice and guidance based on where YOU are and where YOU want your script to be. That means, far more often than not, setting aside my personal tastes and prerogatives and focusing on making sure your work is the best example of what YOU hope it to be.

That starts by asking a LOT of questions. Is this a studio project or something smaller? Do you want to direct? Is this work you’d ideally take out wide, or more a sample of the height of your talents? Something to catch the attention of reps?

LET’S FIGURE IT OUT, STEVE.

Finally, the big wheel of cheese: what is it about me that makes me believe it’s worth your time and finances to engage with? A writer who got ONE movie made TEN years ago and hasn’t sniffed cameras rolling since. A guy who, compared to his peers, has had a pretty low-hum career and lives at the very bottom of the Screenwriter’s totem pole.

And my only answer is this: even being on the bottom rung over the screenwriting world, I am really, really goddamned good at what I do. At all levels of script development. I may ride the bench more often than not, but as far as writing goes? I’m still in the NBA. And I continue to stick around, and even work occasionally.

All that has led me to, as part of what I want out of my life, helping other writers who have the talent, drive and temerity to make it even further than I have. I feel it’s a duty. And just as importantly, I know that after spending some time with me, you’ll part ways after our time together a better writer. I’m worth it.

And so it came to be that I’m working with the enemy. I’m taking a chance (and so is the enemy). Hoping to matter to some of you. Find me on Roadmap.

Find me on Twitter. Reach out and ask me to explain further anything you wanted to go deeper on here, or to clarify my thoughts and feelings on the matter. All I care about is helping you get to the next leg of this journey with your bags packed and ready to get lost during your layover in Denver.