STEP UP ALL IN Writer John Swetnam on How to Sell Blockbuster Specs

Screenwriter John Swetnam talks about breaking into Hollywood and successfully selling several spec scripts before being brought on to pen the latest installment in the half-billion dollar dance movie franchise, Step Up All In.

Swetnam said he was a fan of the Step Up series even before he was brought on and he recalls having a great time during a set visit on the film on Vancouver, which culminated in a huge dance party with cast and crew at a local club.

“I weirdly got in to dance movies, but I’m not – I mean I like to dance when I’m having a good time - but I’m not a dancer by any means.”

But his directorial debut for his latest film Breaking Through, is also a dance movie. “I had just done Step Up All In. Because Step Up was so good, every other dance movie that comes out, in my mind, is trying to rip off Step Up.”

He points why this is very difficult to do, since Step Up had such incredible production value and was done on a grand scale. “I actually loved Saturday Night Fever and Flashdance, the first Step Up. So I kind of wanted to do my own version of a dance movie.”

Swetnam explains that while trying to come up with concept, he researched what types of underground venues were featuring the latest dance styles, and while doing so, discovered that the new sub-culture of dance is really the Internet itself.

“If you go on YouTube, you have all these people who have hundreds of thousands of followers and they make and post these amazing dance videos, and there’s kids from all over the world with huge followings. So I wanted to tell that story, so I could merge the Internet with dance.”

He discovered some incredible dancers for the movie and says it is more of a character-driven feature, much of it shot in a raw, hand-held camera style.

On writing the action thriller Into the Storm, Swetnam said this was his first experience with big studio movie, “the one you kind of dream about.” He recalls taking family members and friends to the premiere for the first time in his career. “It was that sort of experience you always dreamed about when you’re a writer.”

He said that in the case of Storm, producer Todd Garner already had a concept and he provided a spec script for it.

“To me, it’s all about the concept. If you give me a concept, it’s fucking incredible, I would write that anyway, I would spec it on my own to sell. Why wouldn’t I take that idea and roll with it.”

Swetnam says he considers himself a concept guy who can hang everything else on a good initial idea.

“When I come up with a concept, I put it through a really rigorous test. Like what’s the budget going to be, literally what are the numbers going to be, what does that one-sheet look like, what does the trailer look like. I’ll write a trailer for a movie before I write the movie, to make sure it comes together cohesively.

“If I can’t see it opening at a theater on 3,000 screens on Friday. If I can’t see that poster next to Hunger Games, then I won’t do it.”

He’s now set up his own production company, Mad Horse Films, to develop his own projects and get more in to producing and directing, which he says he came to Hollywood to do.

“The biggest thing I learned for me, going forward, was to have more of a say, and to be part of the process… I want to make movies, that’s it – so getting into producing and directing – to be a part of the process.”

Speaking to aspiring writers, he said they have to remember that the script remains theirs until it sells, and even then, they might want more of a role in the film.

“If you want to be a part of the process, and that movie is important to you, then you can’t sell it sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes you have to attach yourself to it in a certain way, or you have to get it done independently and make sure your deal allows you to be a part of the process.”

Watch the full interview to also hear Swetnam give tips for getting noticed in Hollywood and to hear how he was able to write screenplays while also holding down a full-time job.