Writer and Actor Michael Coleman
Writer and Actor Michael Coleman

A jack of all trades when it comes to storytelling and an avid fan of Blake Snyder’s books and philosophies, guest blogger Michael Coleman is an established voice-over performer. Some of his more notable roles include working on X-Men: Evolution, Hello Kitty, The Transformers, Dragonball Z, The Power Puff Girls and Inuyasha. Michael has also built a solid resume acting on camera with projects like Once Upon a Time, Fringe, Smallville, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, Eureka, Psych, Supernatural, and many more. Michael is a multiple award-nominated and winning writer and director for the stage, and thanks to Blake Snyder has switched in recent years to writing  optioned feature films and pitching the studios in LA that he’s always dreamed of pitching. In 2006 Michael opened a school dedicated solely to film, television, and voice-over acting. It is now one of the largest schools in Western Canada.

Hello, my name is Michael… and I am an actor that also writes scripts….

(For those of you that played along with a “Hello Michael,” I thank you for playing).

I started out in this industry as a film and television actor. It was the mid 90s in Vancouver and you could simply book work because everyone in your category was already working on another set. But I wasn’t satisfied with the day player roles and wanted more.

I had this brilliant, and completely original, idea of writing scripts that I would eventually star in. I met another actor on a set that had the same idea — I know, what are the odds, right? The two of us had decent careers, read lots of scripts, we were considered funny in living rooms… how could we fail?

The coverage we received from our manager’s company was constructive and we decided to incorporate the notes we liked and disregard the rest. We went out to a bunch of parties that were willing to give us a first look but we didn’t get a bite. We were blown away. How was the best script ever written not in a multiple offer situation? Especially when the writers were also willing to star in this thing! Had Hollywood gone mad?

A short time later my writing partner, who had moved to LA, called me in Vancouver and said he refused to speak to me again, until I read this “Feed the Cat” or something like that… I bought Save the Cat!® that morning and thought I’d skim through it and learn just enough to get my writing partner to talk to me again. But I couldn’t put it down. I read it cover to cover, right down to the testimonials and “published by” stuff. I remember finding Blake Snyder’s e-mail address at the back of the book. I thought, if he’s crazy enough to put it out there, he is clearly asking for loins like me to start casual dialogue. So at roughly 3:00 am I sent him a letter with questions and thank yous.

I was floored when I woke up five hours later to find he had written me back from his personal account with words of advice and encouragement. After a few more friendly chats, we decided to meet in person and grab a dinner — Blake, my writing partner and his wife, and myself. One of my favorite dinners, all time. Face to face proved invaluable and I went back and re-read his book two more times right away. Since that first book I have read all three in the series more times than I can count and added the software for my laptop and iPhone as well.

Blake completely shifted my paradigm in this industry of storytellers. I no longer desire to star, or even need to appear in anything I write. When I am a writer, I am a writer. When I am an actor, I am an actor. I worked hard to be a good enough actor to work in other people’s scripts and I have now become a good enough writer to have other actors work in mine.

I have re-read these books over and over and can quote them like an old southern preacher can preach verses from the Bible. These books changed my life and are the main reason I get to pitch the rooms I now pitch and write the movies I now write.

I use my acting training in my writing and my writing training in my acting. One of the first things I do when I get an audition now is check the page number to see where the writer is in the story.

I have made Blake’s books mandatory reading for everyone of my acting students and it is also mandatory for them write a Save the Cat!-friendly feature-length script. I am blown away by the pitches I am hearing from theses actors and how articulate they are when discussing any element of story, thanks to Blake’s teachings and “language.”

Our industry continues to evolve and we are seeing more and more opportunities for actors to approach this business like frontiersmen in the old west. As it becomes more and more cost effective for actors and filmmakers to make their own work, it is becoming more imperative than ever to understand the key ingredients in an engaging story.

My first produced feature is being released this month and I have another feature that has been optioned by the same production company, with a bag of pitches and spec scripts ready for next steps.

Being a writer takes more than reading a few scripts. More than reading hundreds of scripts. It is a learned skill. And like all learned skills, I believe anyone can do this if they are willing to do the work. That is the Kool-Aid. Hard work. Work harder than everyone, don’t take short cuts, and start all endeavors with the end in mind — for when you know what the end looks like, you can reverse engineer your path. Be prepared for ups and downs and be willing to put in the time.

How do I spend my days? Thinking up really cool universes and exploring theories and questions that fascinate me, then pitching them to people who can make them realities. I couldn’t imagine any other life. Thank you for this life, Blake. Sincerely. Thank you.