By Elia Esparza
You’ve spent months, maybe years finishing a masterpiece of a script. Finally, you’re ready to shop it around. Your friends and family all love it. Only problem is, your script is far from ready for film, TV executives or project green-lighters to read. This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail according to writer Jessica Lopez. “They strive for beautiful metaphors, awesome dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: engage the audience’s’ imagination, ignite their passion, and hook them in emotionally.”
At this point you need a real pro to analyze your script, provide a summary of notes and take it to the next level, someone like Lopez, a well-established writer and story analyst in the industry.
Lopez is best known for her work in television comedies such as NBC’s Kat & Kim and FOX’s I Hate My Teenage Daughter. She’s been a writer for Nickelodeon’s Dora and Friends: Into the City!, MTV Tr3s’ Rock Dinner, which she also story produced, as well as Disney’s That’s So Raven, Cory in the House, Jessie and most recently, Elena of Avalor and Hulu’s breakout hit series East Los High. However, what most people don’t know is she’s one of the most sought after writer’s resource in Hollywood—a virtual walking encyclopedia of writer’s resources.
Regardless of writer’s stumbling blocks encountered or the genre —romantic comedy, drama, studio screenplay or half hour multi-camera TV programs– Lopez is known to resolve it. In fact, several major studios including Warner Bros. Entertainment and networks like NBC Universal, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon send scripts to Lopez for her feedback. She provides notes, coverage, script analyst, specific recommendations for dialogue, story structure, character arcs – and all things related to classic storytelling.
After obtaining her B.A. from USC, Lopez worked for six years at Lowrider magazine. Imagine that—Lowrider! She was the only female staff writer.
“If there was ever a place to inspire a sitcom or a film, Lowrider was it,” Lopez chuckled.
Working at Lowrider made her more eager to write the bigger story. She adapted her magazine experiences into a comedy screenplay, Lo-Writing, which was selected by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) to be performed as a staged reading in Tucson, Arizona by the American Repertory Academy. She has since gone on to write the comedy pilot based on this time of her life, titled My Low-Life. Clearly, Lopez has a sense of humor that’s perfect for television.
I asked the Mexican-American writer about her childhood dreams that led her to Hollywood. “I wanted to be just like Farrah Fawcett,” she recalled laughing. “She was a triple B: Blonde, Buxom and Beautiful. I studied her every move for the entire hour-long episodes.”
But as Lopez grew a little older, she realized that though she could pour a bottle of peroxide in her hair, get plastic surgery and pack on the makeup, she was never going to be Farrah. “This experience helped me realize that there are very few Latinos on TV for other Latinos to look up to,” Lopez said. “It fueled my passion to write for film and television, always aspiring to write more realistic roles for Latinos.”
In high school, Lopez would write and produce school plays for talent shows. Later at 16, she became a young mother but this didn’t stop her from becoming the first to graduate in her family. She then was accepted into the University of Southern California, where she honed her craft as a writer. And, all as a single teenage mom with a baby in tow.
Photo Credit: Laura Sixtos
LatinHeat: You went from Lowrider Magazine to becoming one of the most sought-after story analysts. Tells us a bit about this journey.
Jessica Lopez: After graduating from USC, I got my first writing job at Lowrider Magazine. I was the only female writer on staff. Actually when I went in for the interview I got mistaken for a model, which is hilarious because I’m barely 5 feet tall!
I wrote car features, interviewed rap stars like Too Short, Xzibit and Snoop Dogg (which I ended up getting a contact high because he [Snoop Dog] smoked pot during the entire interview)! It was also when I fell in love and got dumped by the World Championship Lowrider car hopper… It was a really interesting/comical time in my life. There was quite a cast of characters and storylines to work with there, that’s for sure.
During that time, I took a screenwriting class from Josefina Lopez, who encouraged me to write the screenplay, which I’ve since turned into a sitcom pilot. But I also wanted to learn how to write for television and Josefina introduced me to Danny Mora, a veteran actor and TV writer. As our relationship progressed throughout the years, we became great friends and he gave me a shot, and a couple of extra bucks, to start doing coverage on scripts that he received from other writers trying to break into the business. He sent over some sample coverage and I read a lot about how to analyze screenplays. Books like Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, Stuart Voytilla’s Myth and The Movies, and Joseph Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces were a tremendous help in learning how to bring a character to life on the page and discovering the mythic structure of films overall.
LH: Sounds like you had a natural ability to read a script and know what works and what doesn’t.
JL: Well, I did study every aspect of storytelling and these books I mention are the story bibles every writer should read and have in their libraries.
LH: What additional education, courses, classes or degrees have helped you the most in your present position as a sought-after script analyst and/or TV writer?
JL: I actually graduated with a degree in Ethnic Studies and Journalism, which got me the job at Lowrider that led to my being a TV writer, but reading a lot of scripts and watching a lot of television certainly helped. I was also chosen to be in the Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship, and that definitely helped shape my writing career. I learned so much about writing during my time there. But I would say that my life experiences have probably prepared me best for becoming a TV writer. I had my daughter when I was sixteen. I was the OG teen mom. But it worked out to my advantage because I landed some pretty big writing gigs on network shows like FOX’s I Hate My Teenage Daughter and NBC’s Kat & Kim, which both centered around single moms trying to raise their unruly daughters.
I’m not saying to go push out a baby to get a writing job, but I think that all showrunners will agree that it’s those true-life experiences that you bring to the table that connects with their show, that will get you the job.
LH: Is your current title when reviewing scripts, Story Analyst?
JL: Yes or Coverage/Script Reader.
LH: What is a common problem you find in scripts that you review?
JL: For the most part, I would say most writers encounter problems with the overall structure of the script. I have read some really amazing stories, with some great writing and characters, but I think new writers struggle with story sense and how each scene should help the story move forward. For the most part there is a tried and true formula in Hollywood about how a script should be written. Again, I think that Vogler’s The Writers Journey is excellent at pointing out the 12 steps of the hero’s journey and breaking down the three acts, etcetera. Personally, myself, I need to clearly see where your first act ends, your second act starts and so on. There is somewhat of a rule on what page each act should end or start, but I don’t necessarily think that’s the case when I’m reading, but it better be close. I want to see that the story is moving forward and that the “hero” of your story is growing and facing new challenges as the script progresses.
LH: How do you deal with a writer who is not thrilled with your feedback?
JL: Well, I totally understand when a writer feels insulted. I mean we pour our hearts into writing a script for weeks, months, even years sometimes, and all we want to hear is, ‘This is the best script ever, it’s perfect, put Steven Spielberg on the phone right away!’ But I don’t think that happens too often. I always advise them to read the notes, put the script away for a few days and start rewriting. Just because I give a writer feedback doesn’t mean they have to take every single note. As resistant as I’ve been at times to change parts of my own work, when I did take the notes, it pretty much always translated into a much stronger script. I also explain to new writers that everyone gets notes, so it’s not something he/she should take personal. Ultimately rewriting is how we grow as writers.
LH: You’ve pitched comedies for TV, what advice do you give to anyone preparing for a pitch?
JL: That depends if you’re pitching an original idea or pitching an episode for an existing show. If it’s an existing show, all I can say is do your homework. Watch as many episodes of that particular show as you can, read through the EP guides [episode guides] and ask for a script or two to read. I once made the mistake of pitching a couple of ideas for a show that were very similar to something that had already aired, so I learned my lesson. It’s the most awkward feeling on the planet to have a showrunner say that they already did something close to what you just pitched. I usually walk in with three or four ideas ready to go, for both A and B stories.
LH: And, to pitch an original idea?
JL: Pitching an original idea is a whole other animal. I usually start with how I came up with the idea, set up the logline, talk about the characters and then pitch the pilot episode, which should take you no longer than five minutes, otherwise the executive will start yawning.
LH: Before submitting a script to someone like you to review, what do you recommend the writer first check in their script?
JL: I don’t usually recommend any script. I only help with coverage notes. I’d like to think that I helped in the process of rewriting before submitting to an agent, manager, writing contest, or producer, etcetera. But again, I don’t expect them to take every note. They can take what they agree with and can think about the rest. I’ve often heard that some notes they didn’t take were same ones given by another person who read the script. If anything, it helps the writer to have fresh eyes read their script and remove themselves from their work for a minute. But in the initial stages when they are thinking of submitting their script to me, many writers are hesitant because they are nervous about receiving any type of (constructive) criticism. Again, we all want to hear that our work is awesome and ready for the big screen. So I tell them to just relax, I’ll take a read and give them my honest feedback, so i guess in that sense I just ask them to do the best they can and submit as clean of a draft as possible and we go from there.
LH: You’ve written for some very popular TV shows, tell us how you came to be on your agent’s radar, because we’re assuming you got these gigs through an agent OR did you get these on your own?
jL: For the most part, yes I did get these jobs through my manager or agent. But as you make your rounds in Hollywood and take meetings people get to know you and your work. I have been asked to go in and pitch an episode for a particular show, which was the case on Jessie. My first TV writing job was on That’s So Raven. When that show ended the showrunners created the spin off, Cory in the House, so it was easier to get my foot in the door because I had already worked with them. As far as Elena of Avalor is concerned, I actually had met Silvia Olivas on a few occasions, so I just asked her if I could send over a sample for consideration. I got a pass the first time, but I was determined to write for Disney’s first ever Latina princess, so months later, I cornered her and asked again to submit another script and I got the greenlight to write an episode.
Thank you, Jessica Lopez!
Follow Jessica Lopez on Social Media:
Comments