How I Picked My Next Spec Screenplay | The Brew

Are you thinking about writing a feature spec script? I’m breaking down the 4-part stress test I used to pick my first big-screen project in five years.

Today on The Brew — an intimate 5AM StoryTalk series on the struggles and successes of life in the arts — I’m sharing the exact process I used to identify and fall in love with an idea that would also have commercial appeal. Whether you are a screenwriter, author, or graphic novelist, the logic remains the same — what is relevant to one medium has applications across all others.

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Join the 10,000+ members of the 5AM StoryTalk community at Substack mastering the craft of storytelling (and the art of life) together: https://colehaddon.substack.com/

ON THE ITINERARY THIS WEEK

• THE ARTIST’S INTERROGATION: Why you must constantly challenge your creative process and the way you pursue your art.
• THE PILOT POISON: How a decade of writing TV pilots "ruined" the feature-writing process by favoring aborted character journeys over definitive endings.
• THE BULLSEYE STRATEGY: A breakdown of the four-part stress test used to find the precise intersection of passion, commercial logic, theme, and sequel potential.
• THE "COMMERCIAL" MYTH: Why writing for a large audience is a moral case for cinema rather than "selling out".
• THE LAVA CAKE STRATEGY: Learning to hide your most serious, "grim" themes inside a high-octane "sugar cake" of entertainment.
• THE JAMES CAMERON SCHOOL OF GOAL-SETTING: Why setting ridiculously high goals ensures that even your failures land above everyone else's success.

🔒 EXCLUSIVE BONUS EPISODE: "WEAPONIZING CURIOSITY IN SCREENWRITING: BUILDING THE NARRATIVE HOOK"

🔑 UNLOCK THE BONUS AT SUBSTACK: https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/weaponizing-curiosity-screenwriting

🔑 UNLOCK THE BONUS AT APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-weaponizing-curiosity-in-screenwriting-building/id1807437928?i=1000763998965

LINKS:

• Watch/Listen/Read "'Project Hail Mary' Is the Blueprint to Save Hollywood (and Our Future)": https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/project-hail-mary-blueprint-save-hollywood-our-future
• Watch/Listen/Read "The Brew | 'Hustle Culture Is Killing Me'": https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/5am-realtalk-feb-23-i-cant-do-this?utm_source=publication-search

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CREDITS:

• 5AM StoryTalk acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which this podcast is recorded, the Djarra people of the Kulin Nation and pay respects to Elders past and present.
• This podcast’s music is by ⁠⁠Cary Brothers⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.carybrothers.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠