Screenwriter Mike Rich


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Mike Rich is the author of three screenplays that have made it to the screen: "Finding Forrester," "The Rookie," and "Radio." His career path reads a bit like the dream of many writers.

Mike started working in radio in 1982 in Oregon, eventually settling at KINK-FM in Portland. Getting up at 3 A.M. everyday to do the morning show, he then went home to write, and, in 1998, finished his first script: "Finding Forrester." He went through the usual struggle trying to sell it, or at least get it noticed, but everything changed when he won the annual Nicholl Fellowship competition, sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

As one of five winners, selected from 4,500 scripts, Mike's screenplay was sold in less than a week. The rest, as they say, is history. After "Finding Forrester," Rich wrote "The Rookie," and his latest movie, "Radio," hit the screens in the fall of 2003.

Mike Rich is a long-time Mac user, starting out with a Mac Classic. As he says, "I don't do Windows. I liked Apple's whole philosophy and decided that if they ever gave me a reason to switch, I'd switch. I've never found a reason."

Mike's not a real computer fanatic; he only owns a 17-inch PowerBook, an iMac, and an iPod. He uses his Macs to work, and doesn't see them as much more than tools. He also doesn't use any additional peripherals. "It's pretty much just me and the computer." But he buys new Macs pretty frequently, and the longest he has even owned one was about two years, "and that was really an exception" he says.

Nevertheless, Mike defends the Mac ardently. He feels he has made a better, more informed choice.

"My slogan has always been The few, the proud.'" He especially likes the fact that he doesn't need to worry about viruses. "Viruses? What are viruses?"

Like most screenwriters, Mike Rich uses Final Draft (www.finaldraft.com) to write his screenplays. He also uses the main Mac OS X programs, such as Mail and Safari, and uses Microsoft Word for word processing. "And, of course, the most important program on the machine: iTunes."

Mike Rich's favorite Panther feature is, like Arthur Golden, Expos . "I usually have about a dozen windows open at any time. Being able to bounce around without having to close a bunch of windows is great." And he's delighted by Mac OS X's stability: "I can't remember the last time I had a machine freeze on me."

With Rich's success on his first three screenplays, it's clear that he'll be writing more on his Macs soon. But he still hasn't given up his roots and continues doing a weekly show on KINK-FM, where he reviews the latest movies. .

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The Screenwriter’s Word Processor

As anyone who has ever considered writing a screenplay knows, your story can be about anything, but one part of your screenplay has to follow rigid rules: its formatting. Entire books have been written about formatting screenplays, and even if you’ve got a good story, incorrectly formatted screenplays won’t make it past the slush pile.

Final Draft is a word processor-designed for writing screenplays and formatting them correctly. You don’t even need to learn the standard formatting rules; Final Draft automatically paginates and formats your script according to industry standards. Final Draft even includes templates for films, plays, and dozens of TV shows.

Final Draft has dozens of features for screenwriters: you can view your script on index cards or as an outline, it automatically changes formats as you press Return, it lets you import scripts written in other word processors and quickly apply the correct formatting, and its SmartType feature lets you enter common words and expressions (such as character names and locations) and type them with just a few characters.

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How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Panther
How to Do Everything with Mac OS X Panther
ISBN: 007225355X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 171

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