STATON RABIN (www.ScreenplayMuse.com) has read and evaluated thousands of scripts and books for movie studios, a major film agency, screenwriting competitions-- and writers like you. She's a tough script analyst-- with a heart-- and has never lost her optimism about the chances for talented writers (of any age!) who hope to break into the film business or write a successful book. After all, it happened to her.
Fresh out of NYU film school many years ago, around the time she started working as a freelance story analyst, she wrote a film treatment, turned it into a novel, and the rest is history. BETSY AND THE EMPEROR, later published by Simon & Schuster, was the talk of Hollywood. Stars like Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, and Al Pacino, clamored to play the lead role of Napoleon Bonaparte in the film version. The book is now published in l6 languages around the world and was previously in development as a major Hollywood production.
Staton has also won an international screenwriting competition, and is the author of six published books, two musical plays, and over l00 published articles and short stories. She's seen the film business from both sides of the desk, so she knows what agents, studios, publishers and independent producers look for in a book or screenplay. But she also knows what it feels like to be a writer. She knows what it's like to get story notes or editor's comments, and receive enough "rejections" to paper a room. She knows how it feels to have to pitch to a producer while you're sweating bullets, and that to really succeed in this business you have to "make it" not just once, but over and over again. She knows that it's possible to win screenwriting contests or get published or produced.
A Senior Writer for "Script" magazine, her blog at www.scriptmag.com, "BREAKING IN", has found a loyal following. She's taught screenwriting, coaches writers on their pitches and stories, and was a frequent guest speaker at New York University, where she lectured on how to get one's script to a movie star or famous director, helped writers refine their pitches, and was an occasional "sub" as a teacher of advanced screenwriting.
She also provides detailed story development notes for a book publisher, guiding their book authors through the delicate process of revisions. Five of these books were published in the past year. Staton works one-on-one with book authors and screenwriters-- from beginners to established pros-- helping them find their own 'voice" and develop their ideas into successful projects.
Staton's unique approach to story analysis combines realistic optimism about the business, a keen analytical mind, an encyclopedic knowledge of movies going all the way back to silent pictures, a wry sense of humor, and a determination to help writers by unlocking the key to what makes their script or book "tick". Too often, she's seen writers go from script analyst to script analyst, or win contest after contest-- and their career still stays stuck in first gear. She's convinced this shouldn't happen, and believes that getting the right kind of advice can make all the difference in moving this logjam.
Staton reads scripts and books in every genre. She's also available for consultations by phone, about any aspect of writing or selling a script.
For information and rates, write to: Staton@statonrabin.com or see the "Services" page of this web site.
