Donald L. Vasicek | Donald L. Vasicek

Author: Donald L. Vasicek

Award-winning writer/filmmaker Donald L. Vasicek studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute under the acclaimed Dov Simens and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. He studied screenwriting at The Complete Screenplay, Inc., with Sally Merlin, daughter of the famed Hollywood Merlin family of screenwriters and writers, as his mentor. Don has taught, mentored, and is a script consultant for over 300 writers, directors, producers, actors and production companies. He has also acted in NBC’s “Mystery of Flight 1501”, ABC’s Father Dowling starring Thomas Bosley, and Red-Handed Productions’ “Summer Reunion.” These activities have resulted in his involvement in over 100 movies during the past 23 years, from major studios to independent films including MGM’s $56 million “Warriors of Virtue”, Paramount Classic’s “Racing Lucifer”, American Picture’s “The Lost Heart” and “Born To Kill” starring the Charles Bronson of Korea, Bobby Kim, and his internationally-known brother, Richard, who directed, Incline Productions, Inc.’s “Born To Win”, 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard II” starring Bruce Willis with Rennie Harlan as director, and Joel Silver as producer, Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Haunted World” with Emmy-nominated PBS Producer Alison Hill, and Olympus Films+, LLC’s “Faces”, “Oh, The Places You Can Go” and the award-winning “The Sand Creek Massacre” documentary film. Don also has written and published over 500 books, short stories and articles. His books include “How To Write, Sell, And Get Your Screenplays Produced” and “The Write Focus.” He has been a guest screenwriting and filmmaking columnist for Hollywood Lit. Sales, Moondance International Film Festival’s e-zine, Screenwriter’s Forum, Screenplace, Screenplayers.Net, Screenwriters.Net, Screenwriters Utopia, Spraka & Kinsla (Swedish), Inkwell Watch, and Ink On the Brain. Writing recognition includes Houston’s WorldFest International Film Festival, Chesterfield’s Writer’s Film Project, Writer’s Digest, The Sundance Institute, The Writer’s Network, and the Rocky Mountain Writer’s Guild, Inc. Don completed producing “The Sand Creek Massacre”, a documentary film project that includes the completed and award-winning documentary short, a book, a classroom video, Interactive Media, a study guide, and a lesson plans. The film is being distributed by Films Media Group. Don is on the board of directors of the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston. He is the founder and owner of Olympus Films+, LLC, a global writing and filmmaking company and a screenwriting volunteer on AllExperts.com. Don’s screenwriting agent is Robin Kaver of the Robert Freedman Dramatic Agency, Inc., 1501 Broadway, Suite 2301 New York, NY 10036, 212-840-5751.

Page length is determined by genre. For the most part a rule of thumb
is to have no less than 90 pages and no more than 110. Any longer or
any shorter page length, and the writer is immediately in trouble with the reader.

Formatting is most vital. Cole & Haag’s “The Complete Guide To Standard
Script Formats – Part I: The Screenplay” is the standard by which the film
industry follows.

All camera angles, camera anything, should be avoided in the writing of
spec scripts. Spec scripts are scripts written by writers in hopes of selling
and/or getting it optioned. Writing camera angles in spec scripts shows
writers to be amateurish since camera angles are written into shooting
scripts. Shooting scripts are usually written from spec scripts and the
director is usually directly involved with the screenwriter in writing the
shooting script. Directors know what camera angles they want.
Screenwriters do not because they are not directing the film.

Getting produced usually helps the screenwriter become more liberal in following
these rules. Until then, screenwriters should use a grain of caution in how
liberal they are when writing their screenplays.

An Academy Award winning cinematographer has expressed interest in working with my company, Olympus Films+, LLC and Ellipsis Studios LLC on our feature documentary film,”Metromorphosis”. It is a film that explores the root of socioeconomic and environmental problems and proposing a global change to the economic system to save life on planet earth and will take us around the world. I am directing and co-producing the film. More information will be forthcoming…

We need celebrities for this film! dvasicek@earthlink.net for more information. Thanks

Pass the word!

Author: Donald L. Vasicek

Screenplay Page Length-Writing Camera Directions-Formatting

We Need Celebrities for Our Documentary Film about Changes Our Planet Needs to Survive.