Claire Bendtschneider asked Elan Mastai:

I am studying to become a screenwriter, much like you. How did you ever reach success in a competitive industry? I am also about to be a college graduate so any advice would be great!

Elan Mastai Claire, it's a challenging time when you're about to graduate and your ambitions for yourself can seem faraway and suspect. But like most things in life, it's all about small manageable goals. As a screenwriter, I started by writing short films, making them with friends, learning the difference between how something reads on the page versus how it sounds when shot and performed. I worked for film festivals and met other filmmakers, both established and aspiring, building relationships with likeminded creatives. And I wrote—a lot. My early scripts showed promise and drew interest, but I got better by writing and writing and writing some more. Write stuff, make stuff, get it out into the world however you can, apply to festivals, attend festivals, meet people, make friends who might become colleagues, keep writing, keep making stuff, be great to work with, find the balance between being passionate and hardheaded, be objective about both your strengths and weaknesses as a writer so that you can keep improving, be bold, be kind, be careful about who you choose to work with, and always be writing something new.

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