Discover how to market your script to fit a networks brand, build industry relationships, and master the art of emotional storytelling for greater script success.
In this episode, we delve into tailoring screenplays for networks like Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix, highlighting how understanding their brand and tone can boost script acceptance. We cover key strategies for building industry relationships and the significance of emotional character development in scripts. Learn how to adapt your screenplay to meet specific network styles and foster connections to enhance your screenwriting career.
Transcript
[0:00] This is the Christmas Movie Screenwriter Podcast, episode number 17.
Introduction:
[0:11] Hello and welcome to the Christmas Movie Screenwriter Podcast. I’m your host, Caryn McCann. The Christmas Movie Screenwriter is a podcast about writing, producing, and selling Christmas movies. You can check out a transcript of this interview on the website.
Just go to christmasmoviescreenwriter.com and look for this episode, which is number 17. A quick few words about what I’m working on. My faith-based script is out to readers. With any luck, I’ll be contacting my target buyers starting next week. And now, here is the main segment.
[0:46] Jesse Ikeman has been in the media and entertainment business since 2000. He most recently produced Christmas Island and Take Me Back for Christmas, both premiering on Hallmark Channel. Jesse directed Inn Love by Christmas, which premiered on Lifetime Network.
He recently executive produced The End of Sex, TIFF 2022, now on Paramount Plus and Showtime, starring Emily Hampshire. Jesse produced When Jews Were Funny, winner TIFF 2013, Best Canadian Feature Film. Jesse has also provided production services for Spotlight, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2016, and All is Lost with Robert Redford. He has produced or executive produced over 50 hours of network television. Well, Jesse, welcome to the podcast.
[1:30] Excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
[1:32] Now, I’ve told the audience a little bit about you, but why don’t you take a minute and tell us about yourself and your business?
[1:38] I am the Chief Creative Officer at a company called Vortex Media. We’re based in Toronto and do a variety of kinds of movies. Additonally, we do theatrical films, made-for-television movies, made-for-platform movies, a lot of Christmas movies, obviously, and some romantic comedies. Additionally, we also have a distribution arm as well. We’re distributing around 50 movies a year in Canada.
[2:06] So lots of stuff, all fun. But I know today we’re here to talk about Christmas.
[2:13] There you go. Well, let’s start with what are some key elements that you look for in a Christmas screenplay that would motivate you to produce it?
Understanding the Basics
[3:06] When you just curious, when you have a writer that wants to pitch a Christmas script, let’s say it’s not for you. Do you expect, and you want to hear other ideas, is there like, your advice would be to writers, at least have X number of ideas ready to pitch in that meeting? Like five ideas or?
[3:27] I don’t think it’s ever about the number of ideas. Where an idea comes from can sometimes be a very, it’s never a straight line is the truth. What we’re looking for, and it’s not always a fully baked script either. Again, we’re looking for writers who we know can write, either have a great script that they’ve written before, and they’re people that we want to work with.
Market Your Script: Finding the Right Idea
And that can come really in any form. It could be somebody who’s been a union member and written lots of Christmas movies before or other kinds of movies. It can be a new writer, somebody who’s never written a script before.
Union and Non-Union Writers
I’d say a lot of our movies, in fact, the majority of the movies that we’ve made, have been actually from non-union writers. We’ve had non-union writers as well, but I’d say it’s a basket of both union and non-union. For us, again, it’s talent, but it’s not always a fully baked script. I think that’s something that might be a big takeaway for people listening to this. It is usually an idea, a jumping-off point, because, you know, the Christmas market in particular, since we’re talking about Christmas.
Market Your Script: Creating Unique Stories
[4:39] There’s a lot of stuff that’s been done before. And if you thought about it, somebody else has probably thought about it too. So it’s always about a unique way into a story and then having a writer that can execute on that idea and really develop relationships between the characters that the audience will relate to and that will have some resonance with.
[5:07] Now, Christmas movies, some critics will say, are formulaic. How can writers, now you mentioned original, a new way into it, how can writers make their scripts stand out?
Understanding the Formula
There are a lot of tropes and things that people expect to be in a Christmas movie. But I think it comes down to tone, brand, and characters. Characters, but not formula. If you think about a movie from the perspective of formula, I actually think we’re going to end up with something that feels derivative. The audience will intrinsically feel that they’ve seen it before.
Market Your Script: Avoiding the Derivative Trap
A writer, and I’m talking from the perspective of a writer, will often come in with pitches thinking they’ve ticked off all the boxes. This happens especially with new writers. They come in, believing they’ve nailed it by ticking all the boxes on their bingo card. There’s such a thing as Christmas bingo. If you’re listening to this and have ever watched a Christmas movie, you’ve played Christmas bingo, right?
[6:24] That’s right. That’s right.
Embracing Christmas Bingo
[6:25] There’s nothing wrong with Christmas bingo, by the way. I love Christmas bingo. Also, I am a big proponent of Christmas movie bingo. My wife and I play it all the time. Her friends play it all the time, too. But it’s not like if you try to actually take the bingo card, and I’m using this as a metaphor for what I think is an overgeneralization, right? It’s like, if you tried to do it, you wouldn’t actually have a movie that was good. You would have something that felt very derivative. Yes, you really would.
Market Your Script: Avoiding Overgeneralization
So that’s the problem when someone thinks about a Christmas movie from the perspective of formula. Because they’re thinking about, and it’s not just a Christmas movie. That really applies to any movie, to any genre. But if we’re talking about Christmas movies, you might think, oh, I’ve got to have a snowball fight. Got to have a skating scene. And I’ve got to have a toboggan scene. Plus I’ve got to have the hot cocoa scene. And I’ve got to have the Christmas market scene.
Avoiding Trope Overload
[7:30] Right, right.
Market Your Script: Fresh and New Execution
[7:31] And it would feel, again, derivative. The audience doesn’t actually want that. What an audience wants is a great movie. First and foremost, the audience wants a great movie with great characters executed in a way that feels fresh and new and can be touching. So I always caution, especially when we’re talking to writers or when we’re even talking internally about scripts and projects. It’s about the characters and relationships inside a familiar setting because the audience does want something that feels familiar.
You can’t make a Christmas movie that doesn’t feel familiar. To emphasize, you want it to feel familiar, to turn on the channel and feel like it’s a cozy thing. So you can watch it with a hot cup of cocoa or put it on in the background while you’re baking cookies at Christmas.
Market Your Script: Emotional Resonance
[8:47] However, what you want at the end of the day is a movie that feels like a movie with emotional resonance and characters that you fall in love with. We did a movie earlier this year called “Take Me Back for Christmas.” And in the movie, and spoiler if you haven’t seen it, the main character sees themselves in an alternate reality.
They go back, kind of like a “sliding doors” scenario, to see what would happen if they made a wish and lived another life. In the other life, she had everything she wanted, including her mother who had passed away in her real life, except for her husband. The main narrative arc of the movie was about her trying to get her husband back after realizing she had everything she wanted in life but not him.
Connecting with Audiences
That one piece, that nugget, was super fresh, super new. It connected with audiences on an emotional level. So when I talk about emotion and character relationships, that’s the thing I’m really talking about. And spoiler alert.
[10:21] Is that the one where she was on the couch and they’re watching an old movie and they have popcorn and she gives them blankets?
[10:29] Yes, that’s right.
[10:31] You’re right. That is a tearjerker. It was great.
[10:33] Did you see it?
[10:34] Of course, I saw it.
[10:35] You saw it.
[10:36] I loved it. I loved it. And good for you. You really have a fresh attitude because, you know, a lot of writers who want to get into this space, we read some blogs or we, some blogs say it’s got to be Christmas in every scene. Thus, you got to have them making cookies.
Have to have them drinking hot cocoa. So it’s almost like, it almost is like a formula. I like your attitude better. It’s like, okay, let’s go with the fresh idea.
Focus on Good Writing and Craft
[11:02] Idea but yeah it’s again it’s just about it’s about good it’s about good writing and craft, and a lot of that is it starts with the character it starts with an emotional journey it starts with making sure that you have a character that again it’s kind of like I don’t want to say screenplay basics but you can forget the basics right?
It’s really easy to forget the basics and so we spend a lot of our time just reminding ourselves of what the basics are and you know in the basics it starts with character and it makes it’s starting with the character right who starts in one place and ends in another right they have to have an emotional journey and so what tends to happen going back to the what you were talking about before what tends to happen.
When you try and fill out again the metaphor of the bingo card when you try and do when you try and check the boxes, you actually land up forgetting about the emotional journey, which is actually the reason why people tune in.
Market Your Script: Emotional Journey and Relationships
[12:10] And Take Me Back for Christmas was a great movie. I loved it. So good on you. Now, this next question you sort of already answered, how do you find scripts? Do you tend to hire WGA writers or non-union writers? And you sort of alluded to this earlier. Do you want to expand on that?
[12:27] Sure. We will hire either. And again, it’s not about the relative experience of the writer, because we will spend a lot of time developing a movie. It’s always about whether or not we think the writer can get there in the end. And that’s the most important point. And, you know.
[12:58] The reality is that these movies are hard. They’re quite challenging. And I think it’s easy to relegate the genre of the Christmas movie into something that is easy or tropey or you’ve seen it before so you can copy the formula. And obviously, I talked about that at length as I have strong opinions about it. But I think it’s easy to forget that it is one of the more challenging, in fact, most challenging things, I think, to write well and to write new.
And the reason is because people think it’s easy, but in fact, it’s really hard to do a thing that’s been done so many times before and to do it in a unique, fresh, you know, and to give it a fresh spin. I mean, this year alone, there were some wonderful movies on the networks this year that all had very new ways into stories.
I mean, I’ll obviously call it one, which was, I believe, Hallmark’s number one movie, number one rated movie on the network this year, A Biltmore Christmas.
[14:06] Right, right. I saw that. Yeah.
[14:08] It’s a wonderful movie. It’s truly a remarkable movie. And it was done in such a, I mean, it felt familiar. It had all the things that you would associate with a Christmas movie, but it did it in a way that felt fun and entertaining and fresh and had the kind of callbacks to the genre that you would expect in a Christmas movie.
So it had all of that, and I think that’s just, it’s a great movie to point to. We had another movie, one of our movies called Christmas Island, That was also on Hallmark this year. I would say one of the differentiating factors in it was, just to give an example, there was a big city girl who went to a small town, but she was a pilot. And she got stranded on an island.
[14:56] Oh, okay.
[14:57] Got stranded on Christmas Island. So if you think about it, well, there’s this enterprising woman who’s a pilot, which was a profession that I’m not sure it’s ever been on before.
[15:06] Yeah, yeah. You never see that. You never see that.
[15:08] I don’t think we’ve seen it before. four. I could be wrong, so I don’t want to say definitively, but I haven’t seen it in recent times. And they get caught in a storm and they have to land. And where do they land? They land at Christmas Island. So she’s in a smaller town. So it’s the same thing. It was an enterprising woman that went from a big city to a small town, but in a way that audiences haven’t seen before.
[15:32] Right. That is great. I will get that on my DVR soon. I haven’t seen that one. And that one sounds wonderful.
[15:40] Well, there’s a lot to watch out there.
[15:42] Yeah, yeah. I have a list. Now, can you talk about what your ideal budget for a Christmas TV movie would be?
Budget Considerations
[15:52] Yeah, I think it would be, I mean, look, from the perspective of a writer, I actually wouldn’t worry about budget too much. Just don’t set it in space. Watch the other Christmas movies that are out there. Get a feel for what the edges of a movie are. And you’ll very quickly, if you’re watching these on the various networks, get an idea for what the edges of a budget are.
Feedback
Because as long as you’re writing towards what you’re seeing on screen, you’re not going to go offside. A lot of the time, you’re working with a network, and they’re providing you some feedback along the way and sort of telling you. And you’re working with them as well. You know, what can you do? What can’t you do? But as a writer…
Market Your Script: Embrace Creativity
[16:41] Your job is to dream a bit and, you know, sometimes you might fall over the edge. But if you were, it’s almost a little bit better to fall off the edge and pull back than not try. You know, it’s funny because we’re talking right now about a new movie that we’re developing to hopefully put into production later this year. I was just talking to the writer about this, and she asked me, “What can we do with this?
How big can we go?” And I said, “If you can dream it, we will do one big thing. Dream whatever you want. Just dream that big thing, and we will find a way to do it.” So there’s always room for that one big idea. I mean, obviously, again, we’re not strapping anyone to the side of an airplane. And we’re probably not jumping into the Grand Canyon.
Finding Creative Solutions
[17:30] Although, arguably, we could have somebody jump into the Grand Canyon. So there’s very little that, with some ingenuity, you can’t accomplish. A lot of these movies have accomplished a lot. I mean, you look at, again, you look at a Biltmore Christmas. It was a period movie; it was a lavish movie. If you can dream it, there’s a lot you can do. So when it comes, and again, I’m making this point from the perspective of budget, right? And right, excellent, which is I wouldn’t self-censor.
If you’re a writer trying to write something, don’t self-censor yourself. If it’s at all within what you would consider as a writer, something that you think, “Oh, I could see this in this world,” go for it, put it on the page. Because the honest truth is that if you can’t do it, there’s always another way to get to that same emotional beat, that same core. What the scene is always going to be about is something.
[18:25] Right, right.
[18:26] But if you’re doing a big set piece, which is really what we’re talking about, we’re talking about set pieces. If you’re doing a big set piece and it actually fell outside of the scope of what was feasible, you would still take the same emotional beat of a scene and write a new scene that was a little bit more contained for whatever the budget was. So I wouldn’t think about budget when you’re writing. If you’ve watched enough movies and you’ve got an idea for what the edges of.
[18:56] These things are, I do think you can get away with a lot.
[18:59] That’s good to hear. Now, can you share how you market and monetize your Christmas movies? Do you utilize, for example, sales estimates to attract sales agents? And what strategies do you employ to recoup your investment?
[19:11] Oh, this truly is a business podcast. Oh, Oh, I love it. I love it.
[19:16] Okay, here we go.
[19:19] A great question. So there’s two kinds of movies out there that are, and I’m just going to put this into two buckets. There are movies that are made on spec, and there are movies that are made for a network. If you’re working with a network, because that’s what most people sort of associate with traditionally how these made for um tv made for platform movies are now I’m going to have to get a little granular here.
Because you’re making network then you got or a platform you’ve got everything from uh a massive Christmas musical on Netflix to a slightly more contained Christmas movie on maybe one of the um maybe one of the one of the smaller channels I’ll just say that right.
[20:08] OK.
Market Your Script: Navigating Network Platforms
Development Execs
You’ve got Apple. And so if you’re working with a platform or network, and specifically networks, there’s going to be a lot of development. There’s going to be a development executive. They’re going to be part of the financing of the movie. And so they’re going to be intimately involved with, again, going back to things like budget and the financing of your project. They will be part of that conversation. So you are not making the movie outside of those boundaries.
Market Your Script: Independent Film Space
[21:12] Those financial pieces. That’s in that kind of network bucket. In the independent film space, I would call that more of a spec model. So as a company, we do a lot of spec projects, which means we will finance and produce the movie ourselves. Instead of, and I’ll just, the formula kind of gets reversed. Instead of selling it and then making it, you’re making it and then selling it, right?
It’s the opposite. So what we do as a company is we independently finance, produce, and then sell the movie. Not all of our movies, but some of them. We do as a spec-based business. So we are the studio and we finance the way any studio would. Finance, make, and then sell the movie in that order. And that’s the important part.
Market Your Script: Christmas Movie Financing
[22:11] So to your question, which is, do we go to the market and try and pre-sale? I would say that’s more of a feature film model if you’re doing indie film. The Christmas space, however, there isn’t really an indie film financing model for Christmas movies. I’d say you’re either working with – there could be some outliers to this, but they’d be very few and far between if there are.
You’re either working with the SVOD platforms or networks, or you’re making a movie on spec with a producer or production company that has the budget and financing to put a movie like that together, and then take it into the market to sell it afterwards.
[22:48] So those investors are not in the independent model, you’re not getting the money from the platforms and networks. Upfront, you are going into the market for high net worth individuals or some kind of entity. Is that it?
Market Your Script: Simplifying the Independent Film Space
[23:04] No, not exactly. I’m trying to make this as simple as possible for those who are listening. Because look, it’s not easy to kind of wrap your head around. The independent film space, which I think is slightly different than the Christmas genre, is very specific. In the independent film space, you’re working with equity financiers, foreign sales companies, pre-selling, private investors, tax incentives, and banks. You’re putting all those little pieces together, which can be lots and lots of pieces.
Market Your Script: Cobbling Together Financing
[23:39] And you are then making your movie by cobbling it all together and then making your movie. If you’re talking about the Christmas space, and again, I’m being ultra-specific to the Christmas space, I actually think it kind of splits into two buckets only. What I just mentioned isn’t one of them because that’s the indie feature film model.
In the Christmas model, I really think you’re talking about one of two models. One is you’re working with a network or platform, and they are, for the most part, financing your movie entirely.
Market Your Script: Network and Platform Financing
All movies, by the way, have some kind of tax incentive. So when I say entirely, it’s usually that plus some tax incentives or local or regional funding, especially if you’re shooting in some other country, which happens a lot. You might get some financing from another country. But again, those movies are being driven and financed by the network or the platform. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, that kind of stuff.
[24:35] Okay.
[24:36] So that, again, so that’s kind of that first bucket that I was alluding to. And the second bucket is just this purely spec-based model, which is that you’re working with a production company slash financier. Usually they’re the same entity. We are that, for example. So our company, we do both. But one of the ways that we make movies is just by financing them ourselves.
Right. making them with our own capital, and then bringing that finished product into the market to sell afterwards as a finished product. And that’s kind of an acquisition-based model. So it’s kind of like this pre-sale model versus an acquisition-based model, if you want to think about it that way.
[25:17] Yeah, that’s very clear. Thank you for that. Was it clear? I’m not sure it was clear.
[25:24] So you tell me. If it was clear, I’ll move on.
[25:26] No, it’s very clear. It’s very clear. The Christmas movie market, like I was at the AFM recently, and a lot of people do Christmas movies and they sell them, but I’m just curious if that is the right avenue for a writer to go to sell a script is one of these markets.
[25:49] Some of these markets are focused on finished films.
Market Your Script: Research and Relationships
[25:53] If I was a writer and I wanted to sell a Christmas movie, which might be another way to ask or reframe the question that you’re asking, I would do two things. First thing is I’d research all the companies in the business that are making Christmas movies. There are a handful. It’s not a massively long list. It is a fairly curated list of producers. It’s of good size, but it’s fairly curated.
I would look at all those places and I would try and develop through either your agent, if you have one, or directly, if you don’t, some kind of relationship with those producers. Because that will honestly be the best way, I think, for a new writer specifically.
Market Your Script: Breaking into the Space
[26:45] Not necessarily established writers who have written lots of these kinds of movies before or have worked in some cases and in lots of cases directly with the network. Work newer writers who are trying to break into this space I think should establish relationships as best they can with the production companies directly or if they have an agent which a lot do to try and ask your agent to get in touch usually with samples or providing some kind of samples with these companies.
And again you don’t always need to have a finished Christmas script as a sample. What you need to do is have a good script, preferably in and around the genre that you’re trying to pitch. So if you had a good romantic comedy that, for example, that wasn’t necessarily a Christmas script, but it was a good romantic comedy that could show that you could write, well, that’s great.
Market Your Script: The Importance of Craft
That, you know, that shows the producer, I’m not just talking about myself, would show any producer that you’ve got the craft. And then from there, the conversation might be like, oh, hey, I’ve got three ideas. And the producer would say something like, great, you know, send me a paragraph on each or a sentence on each or something like that.
Usually these ideas, especially in the Christmas space, they’re developed from the ground up. Not always, but a lot of the time they’re developed from the ground up because what happens is, and I’ve seen this a lot, so that’s why I’m saying this. What happens is a writer will go out on a limb to write a spec Christmas movie.
Market Your Script: Staying Relevant
[28:14] And while that’s great, because the market is always changing, you’re not necessarily on the pulse of where the market is or where the market’s going. You might have written something that is either out of date, being produced already. The version of that is there’s already a movie of that in development with the network.
And that happens a lot. Or just isn’t the thing that the producer is looking for. So, again, a good writer with a good script that can just show that you can write with some ideas is sometimes just as good, if not a better approach, than trying to hone and craft the perfect, you know, for you as the writer, the perfect Christmas script.
Market Your Script: Demonstrating Versatility
[29:18] And the second one, you mentioned there was two ways. If you were a writer starting out, there was two ways to get your script made. One is to connect with production companies and start a relationship. Relationship, the second one.
[29:29] A second way? Well, I mean, really, it comes down to getting in touch with producers directly or secondly, if you’ve got an agent, have your agent reach out to those companies. I mean, ideally, the way into the market, I would say, is easiest as a newer writer through a producer that has made movies in this space before. That would be the path. would be the path right.
[29:57] Okay that’s good.
[29:59] You know listen oh listen another great hot tip okay I get a lot of pitches like this too hot tip um if you’ve got a colleague who is a writer that is willing to vouch for you that knows the producer get them to reach out on your behalf and say you know hey my friend you know john he’s a great writer he wants to get into the Christmas face, you should take a look at him, right? So having somebody who already has a relationship with the company that you want to have a relationship with, get them to vouch for you. That’s a good tip.
[30:34] That’ll get you in the door. That’s a good tip. Good tip. Okay. So how important is originality? Now, you sort of alluded to this earlier. How important is originality in a Christmas TV movie script? And what advice would you give a screenwriter looking to put a unique spin on a well-loved holiday trope?
Recognizing the “New Great Thing”
[30:53] Oh, that’s a great question. You know, I don’t, I’m not sure I have a great answer for it though, because it’s one of those things where you know it when you hear it or when you read it or when you see it. I don’t know what the version of that is, but it’s like kind of like saying, hey, how do I come up with the new great thing? What’s the new great thing? If I knew what the new great thing was, I’d be doing it all day long. And you know, one of the great things about working with great writers.
Market Your Script: Fresh Takes on Established Ideas
[31:23] Or again writers who can write is they will come up with new ways into established ideas which is always the thing that you’re looking for. So I don’t have all the answers and I don’t want to have all the answers. My goal is I want to be working with great writers who have all the answers or who have their own uh their own vision unique take spin on something that they’ve seen before.
Wducate yourself on, if you’re a writer, educate yourself on the different tones because each platform, each network will have a different brand recognition, a different tone, a different cadence to the movie. I can tell you that if you watch a movie on one network versus another network or one platform versus another platform, they don’t all feel the same.
Market Your Script: Understanding Brand and Tone
[32:45] Exactly. I don’t think you’d see a Christmas cowboy on GAC Network. This is Christmas cowboy was famous for supposedly a sex scene. And I’m like, yes. Did I blink and miss it? But anyway, it was great publicity.
[33:00] It was wonderful publicity. That was on Lifetime.
[33:04] Oh, Lifetime. Right.
Market Your Script: Embracing New Ideas
[33:05] It was on Lifetime this year and it’s very exciting, but it’s something new, right? They tried something new and they did something new and it brought attention to the network. Super exciting, fun, you know, to do. And listen, there was a time when, and I’ll just, I mean, this is more just historically accurate.
There was a time when diversity wasn’t as big on the networks and it has, you know, since in the years since say some of the earlier Christmas movies has become a big part of what you see now regularly. You know, it’s not even, it’s like, it’s less so it’s just a regular part of the conversation, whereas previously it wasn’t.
Market Your Script: The Evolution of Storytelling
And that is, and so this scene that you’re talking about, well, it’s just something new, you know, it’s just, this is something new. Every year there’s something new. There’s things that are different. And naturally, there are things that you haven’t seen before. You’re like, oh my god, I never thought I would have seen that on or in a Christmas movie. So that’s what’s fun because every year there’s an evolution in the quality of the storytelling.
[34:15] Do you think that the Christmas TV market is oversaturated or is growing or stagnant?
Market Your Script: The Changing Landscape
[34:22] I think there has been a decline in the Christmas movie space. I think it’s a harder space now than it was. I think there was a bit of an arms race between some of the platforms and networks for Christmas movies. If you look at the number of Christmas movies, just the sheer absolute value, the number of Christmas movies that were made over the course of the last four years, you’ll see a spike and then a slowing decline.
It’s still a very competitive space. There’s still a lot of Christmas movies being made, but I would say it’s more competitive. It’s more curated.
Market Your Script: Demand for High-Quality Stories
The need for talent is greater, and the need for stories that resonate at a much higher level. I’m using that statement kind of broadly, but I think there is a demand for better storytelling in the space, which just means, you know, there’s a very general, it might be a hyper generalization, but less but better.
[35:25] Right.
[35:26] There might be more resources going into slightly fewer product. Which is kind of how things go, right? You spend a lot of money to get a lot more. Then you realize, hey, you know, maybe we can make a few less.
[35:41] Right.
[35:41] But make the lesser amount all that much better.
Competitive Space
[35:44] But there have been new entrants. Sorry. I was going to say quality over quantity, but you were saying?
[35:50] Yeah, no, exactly. To a certain extent. But there have, again, been some new entrants in the market as well. Right. True. it’s um overall I would just say though it’s a more competitive space than I think it has been okay.
[36:04] That’s good all right now if you could give advice to your younger self about producing Christmas movies what would that be.
[36:10] Uh I don’t know what would I advise about Christmas movies um I it I’d say in this, This would be more of a advice for maybe the executive or the director, but also very much for the writer. It’s kind of more of a holistic viewpoint. It’s always about the relationships between your number one and number two.
[37:04] the audiences will tend to enjoy movies in this space well.
[37:09] That’s, that’s, that’s good to hear. It’s good. It’s very relevant for writers or directors, executives, because, you know, you need to focus on number one and number two. So that’s good. Now, what is the best way for screenwriters to connect with you or submit their ideas or scripts?
[37:26] Well, our website is Vortex Media, and there’s a little contact button there, and there’s a way that people can get in touch with us if they so choose. And that’s where I am. And I’m on TikTok at my name, Jesse Eichmann, where I like to talk about screenwriting and the business of film.
[37:50] Okay. Well, you sort of answered my last question, and I’m going to just repeat those social media details. Oh, sure. To wrap up, would you like to share any social media details so our audience can keep track of what you’re doing? And can you repeat those social media links?
[38:03] Oh, yes, absolutely. At Jesse Ikeman on almost all the platforms. But mostly I spend a lot of my time on TikTok talking about film financing, the business of film, and the craft of screenwriting, which are all things that I love to chat about.
[38:20] Well, excellent. Well, Jesse, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. Thank you for coming on the podcast today.
[38:27] Oh, you’re very welcome. Thank you so much for having me on it. It’s just so it’s so much fun to talk about. I could probably talk about this for hours on end. So I appreciate what you’re doing. And thank you.
[38:36] Oh, thank you. Thank you, Jesse.
And now for my checklist of actions to take from my interview with Jesse.
1 Focus on Relationships in Writing:
- Prioritize developing strong, emotionally compelling relationships between characters in scripts.
- Ensure that character development and emotional journeys are central to the story.
2 Understand the Brand and Tone:
- Research the brand and tone of networks/platforms producing Christmas movies.
- Tailor scripts to fit the specific requirements of these networks or platforms to increase the likelihood of acceptance.
Here are some examples of band and tone from a few major distributors.
Hallmark Channel’s Brand and Tone:
- Family-friendly and heartwarming.
- They focus on traditional values and feel-good stories.
- Often features small-town settings, romantic plots, and happy endings.
- Examples: “Mystic Christmas” and “The Santa Summit”
Action steps to Tailor your script to fit the Hallmark brand and tone:
- Focus on creating warm, romantic, and wholesome stories.
- Ensure a happy ending and incorporate elements of traditional Christmas celebrations.
Lifetime’s Brand and Tone:
- Similar to Hallmark but often with more diverse storylines.
- Slightly edgier and sometimes incorporates real-life issues within the festive context.
- Mix of romance, drama, and comedy.
- Examples include: “A Cowboy Christmas Romance” and “Mom’s Christmas Boyfriend”.
Action steps to Tailor your script to fit the Lifetime brand and tone:
- Develop diverse and relatable characters.
- Be open to addressing contemporary issues within the festive context.
Netflix Brand and Tone:
- They have a wide variety of tones, ranging from lighthearted and whimsical to more mature and complex stories.
- They’re willing to take creative risks and explore unconventional narratives.
- Their films often includes elements of fantasy, adventure, and more diverse character backgrounds.
- Examples include: “The Christmas Chronicles” and “Christmas as Usual”.
Action steps to Tailor your script to fit the Netflix brand and tone:
- Explore unique and creative storylines.
- Consider incorporating fantasy elements or unconventional plots.
UPtv’s Brand and Tone:
- Focuses on uplifting and inspirational stories.
- Family-centric with strong moral lessons.
- Clean and wholesome content suitable for all ages.
- Examples: “Yuletide the Knot” and “Christmas Lucky Charm”.
Action steps to Tailor your script to fit the UPtv brand and tone:
- Write inspirational and morally uplifting stories.
- Keep content family-friendly and focus on positive messages.
ABC Family / Freeform Brand and Tone:
- They target a younger audience with contemporary settings.
- They often feature coming-of-age stories, modern romance, and light-hearted comedy.
- Mix of traditional Christmas themes with modern twists.
- Examples: “The Nine Kittens of Christmas” and “The Truth About Christmas”.
FYI The Walt Disney company owns ABC Family and rebranded the channel it as Freeform.
Action steps to Tailor your script to fit the Freeform brand and tone:
- Aim for modern, relatable settings and characters.
- Infuse humor and contemporary themes appealing to a younger audience.
3 Build Industry Relationships:
- Actively connect with producers and companies specializing in Christmas movies. Leverage personal and professional networks to get introductions and build relationships that can open doors.
- Use Social Media for Networking: Engage with industry professionals on platforms like TikTok. Follow and interact with producers who share insights on film financing and screenwriting.
4 Leverage Existing Scripts:
- Have a portfolio of good scripts in the same genre ready for submission.
- Focus on quality and relevance to the market.
Well that’s the show. Thank you for listening. To show your support – please give us a 5* rating on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. You can check out other great podcasts and blogs on our website at christmasmoviescreenwriter.com.
On the next episode of the podcast I interview screenwriter Isabel Dréan. She discusses building relationships in the film industry, how emotion more important than originality in Christmas movies and her upcoming book on screenwriting as well as her Christmas masterclass.
I’m your host, Caryn McCann. Thanks for listening! And I’ll see you on the next Christmas Movie Screenwriter podcast. Bye!
The Christmas Movie Screenwriter Podcast – Episode 17
Producer, Writer, Director Jesse D. Ikeman
Show Notes
HOST: Caryn McCann
Website: https://christmasmoviescreenwriter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChristmasMovieScreenwriter
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MerryScriptmas
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryn-mccann-5718058/
GUEST: Jesse D. Ikeman
Website: https://vortexmedia.com