Mr. Settle gets blacklisted by Hollywood?

Not yet, but it probably wouldn't hurt my fiction sales as you'll see below. But first here is something the great Kelli Maroni (star of the cult horror movie “Night of the Comet”, and who nowadays consults others in the horror genre and who is married to Email Players subscriber Dan Ulin) said about my Zombie Cop screenplay after hiring to her to consult me through the story & business-side of the the gruesome Hollywood machine. Here goes: === Hi. Kelli here with an update. What a great zombie story! First----Congratulations on a great script!!! With original monsters, well-justified action, great characters, backstory, and the location seems very doable. I hope you're letting yourself enjoy this! It's a real and enviable achievement. This is a zombie story that only you can tell, and to do it justice like this is no mean feat. The very idea of new zombies and different species and all of their "whys" is a real twist, and the Biblical references really ground the whole concept as a very real part of the equation that no one else has explored. It's in the Bible, you're not just making it up. Even if you were, it would still be cool, but it's real. I had no idea about the history in the Bible, etc. Extremely randomly, I came across some YouTube videos on the Book of Enoch. They are very conspiracy-theory driven and just popped up in my feed suddenly. I was going to look all of that info up, but it didn't even wait for me. I think this could be a great franchise. You've got a great mix of well loved horror genres--small-town/townspeople horror, improved zombies and other species that horror has only touched on so far, religious/satanic/devil possession horror, "Kids on bikes" (that's what they call this genre) in the flashbacks ala STRANGER THINGS, coming-of-age/high school, bullying--I can't think of another script I've read that touches on so many of our beloved tropes. === None of this means anything will happen, obviously. And she still wants to rip the script apart and it almost certainly needs it. I am way too close to be objective about it either way. And the odds are totally against anything ever happening at all. But it is a good sign.. More: I am also hiring one of my roommates from when we interned together in Hollywood back in the 90's (I found the town skeevy as hell and wanted to leave the whole time I was there... but he stayed and is now a casting director, teaches acting to other A-list celebrities, etc) to rip the script apart too, and advise on the business side as well. As much as I usually don't care to hire coaches for most things there are some exceptions I make. And navigating an entire new cutthroat industry & venture is one of those times. Like I was telling Greg Perry (who publishes my novels): Even if it got outright rejected across the board from everything, I'd spin it into a way to make more book sales - which was the whole point of writing the screenplay in the first place. That can happen whether it gets made, optioned, or even (especially...) if got blacklisted for some reason. "Blacklisted by Hollywood!" would make a great line on the cover.. Just like "Banned by Amazon!" would if it ever got de-platformed from there. The older I get the more I realize Matt Furey ain't just whistlin' dixie when he says: “nothing bad ever happens to a writer” This all has me thinking about two more points. Both about profiting from trolls, reviews, anything “negative” that happens. 1. Trolls always have to resort to lies and making things up about whoever they are trying to parasite off of for traffic, attention, or clout. But they need not do that with me. In my case, these dorks need only read (assuming they know how to read) my Enoch Wars novels and they can cherry pick out many disturbing things in them (there are lots) to try to psycho analyze me and troll me about that. All I ask is they spell my name right.. 2. My above thought about being blacklisted, etc may or may not ever be viable or make sense but it is an example of something I teach up inside the March Email Players issue about monetizing trolls, bad reviews, or anything negative. It’s based on some powerful sales psychology. And I go deep on it inside starting on page 18. I also include an email showing how I have used it. Don’t want to leave anyone all dressed up with nowhere to go… On that note: The deadline to subscribe in time for this issue is in a couple days. Here’s the link: [https∶//www.EmailPlayers.com]( Ben Settle This email was sent by Ben Settle as owner of Settle, LLC. Copyright © 2024 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. Click here to [unsubscribe]( Settle, LLC PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA