Within my two and some change years of film school, I have learned a lot about how the film industry works. My professors are very successful figures in the entertainment industry and I am lucky I get to hear from their own individual perspectives, regarding their own specific journey. They have helped me to understand the industry, but to also notice the discrepancies within the field and I got to thinking, why is Hollywood attempting to stifle creative intent with overdone structure and formula? Is there really a need for this overbearing format?

The main reason I found myself wanting to pursue a career in film and television was that it was an unconventional, fairly unstructured, industry to work in. I long to use my creative talent and imaginative sense of self in my career path and screenwriting fit that description impeccably. However, understanding what it takes to work in the industry has made me understand that it is an industry filled with structure and strict formatting, but as a general public, we are unaware of this concept.

The industry tends to fall victim to guidelines and formatting that has been done before, even in the cases of the movies that have "changed" the game for filmmaking; they are all still following a very strict format that Hollywood pushes on writers. This format I keep referring to is the concept of what we call a "Beat Sheet" in the industry. Every publicly acclaimed movie has multiple beats, or scenes, within its' content. These beats are usually following the guidelines found within, Save the Cat, a book about concocting a film script and getting it produced onto the big screens. This book has been Hollywood's bible for years and many creators, artists, and producers have followed these guidelines strictly since its' publication.

I then pose the question, if a book instructs writers how to compose a script, what elements major companies are looking to purchase, and how to begin and end your script adding a little fluff in the middle, how can writers and creators truly say they are artists? How can the industry say they are creative and imaginative people coming up with original content when they all follow the specific guidelines of a book written by an individual with the same beating heart as all of us? Human beings long for the difference. As much as we hate to admit it, humans crave change and a different perspective. This is part of the reason why television and film that stray away from the normal Hollywood construct are most often widely received.

The issue I have with this notion is that Hollywood tends to have multiple excuses ready for the writers who dare to break the normal construct. The ever-so-popular Oscar-winning, Get Out, was one of the films I have seen recently that dared to stray away from the normal Hollywood writing format and was incredibly received by audiences around the globe. I imagine that when this story, script or even the mere idea of the film was brought to a pitch setting, that so many studios turned it down, yet the general public adored the concept of the storyline. Even after the studios seeing the acclamation that this film received, Hollywood still uses the excuse, "Well that's Get Out, this film isn't that one."

This is an extremely pessimistic quality of the film industry and I hope for it to change. No one knows what the public wants to see, besides the public themselves. The studios, even with their immense power and billions of dollars, don't know what will sell or do well in theaters because it merely isn't up to them. It's up to the opinion of the public on whether they want to take a chance and see the difference in creativity, which I believe is the entire ideology of creativity, but studios tend to stifle or drown out of the creative minds of the industry.

I know that I have chosen this path in life obviously not for the money or fame, considering a very small percentage of us ever receive this adoration, but for the ability to use my talents to give back to the industry that shaped the person I am today. Stifling creative talent is not ok and should be fought against, but we as writers only have a small portion of power. The studios have the power to produce change and new ideas and by following this book, we are stopping creativity and assuming to norms created years ago. I challenge everyone to be different and long for uniqueness within our worldly ways, not only within the entertainment industry, but within your sense of self, every day lives, and personalities. LONG TO BE DIFFERENT AND NEVER BE SCARED TO BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF!