Q. Are movie trailers out-sourced? Does the director or editor have input?

Since I'm new to all this, I guess my biggest question to Franklin Leonard would be: How do i get my spec script on the Black List? Do you email it or how is that process done? I'm from Sweden so I'm not a US citizen, is that a problem? Do you need representation to get on the list? Or is it just enough that the right person reads it and you get recommended? And of course, who is the right person? So to sum it all up: What should I do to make my spec scipt get on the Black List? Regards Filip Benko

This has been bugging me for a little bit... Most movies are filmed out of order (scene wise, I mean). Do actors still memorize scripts and go off book? If not, how do the prep for filming? I know this is less a writing question and more of an acting question, but it's been nagging at me for a few weeks now.

Since writers really have the control in television, how much creative freedom does a director of an episode (especially a heavily story arced show like LOST) have? Do the executive producers sit down with the director and make the final edit?

I always wondered what the "Hollywood Assistant" means. Been seeing a few of these people sell spec scripts lately. Is that just a fancy term for travel planner and bag holder? Also could you talk about the process by which scripts find their way to actors? How does Brad Pitt come to learn about the new hot script on the market.... Thanks Frank!!!

They are outsourced: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2012/01/15/145227280/the-art-of-the-modern-movie-trailer

Let's say a writer and her team believe she has a script that can work as a movie and as a video game, and possibly TV, books, etc... How might something like that get packaged? Do you pitch the video game people just like you'd pitch the movie people, or can an agent put a comprehensive deal together?

Indeedy do I have a question: It is my understanding that for film the sound/dialogue is recorded during a take but is then "overdubbed" or re-recorded with the actors in a studio later. Is that really true? If so, how do the actors recreate the performance? Is recreating the performance a problem? Also, does that ever happen with TV? Particularly sitcoms? Or is it all recorded on the spot?

I have a question. Where can I get my hand on animated TV scripts? I mean, I can get some of them. Batman: TAS, Family Guy and American Dad and The Simpsons, but I would like the more vague, cartoony ones, like Looney Tunes Show, MLP, KungFu Panda, and so on. I'm aware that more animated shows are more or less written a treatment (I'd like to see these, too), then go straight to storyboards. More recent toons have been scripted, though, especially the CGI and action ones, and seeing how they're done would be extremely helpful.

What is the best way for an unknown writer to find and agent or manager?

Why do Blu-ray discs these days have much less bonus material on them than DVDs used to? I just watched Rise of Planet of the Apes on Blu ray, and there were no featurettes showing how they did motion capture, no deleted scenes, nothing besides the movie, not even trailers. By contrast, when I saw, e.g. Galaxy Quest on DVD there were deleted scenes, featurettes, even a "fake" featurette (befitting the movie's theme). For some DVDs (e.g. Gone with the Wind), I could even rent a second disc for more bonus materials. This is not what those commercials promoting Blu ray promised. Are studios getting lazy with discs as people switch to watching streaming video?

When television studios go looking for new shows to set up, do they buy pitches or already written pilots? Do they only take meetings from established show runners and creators, or does a producer ever hitch his wagon to a pilot written by an unestablished writer to get it in front of decision makers eyes? I'm curious, since a lot of the purchased pilots seem to be written by people that already have or have had shows on the air.

I think many of us are mostly familiar with how the business side works when it comes to writers. But what about directors? I've always wondered how a new director can break in, what happens when a new director breaks in, how a new director scores meetings and gigs etc. This would be very helpful. Thank you!