Pseudonyms?

[aimeej]

I'm really curious as to what peoples thoughts are on using pseudonyms. I feel that after reading an article on women and romantic comedies, and why both apparently suck, it put things into perspective for me. Do "industry folk" see the title page, catch a glimpse of the name and create a bias? Whether it be subconscious or not?

If I were to create a pseudonym at what point in the process do the "big reveal' so to speak?
Love to hear your thoughts. Hope to add an act or two in the Acts section soon.
=)

Here's the article if your interested.

jezebel.com/5426065/fuck-them-times-critic-on-hollywood-women--why-romantic-comedies-suck

[oz]

That's the problem with using pseudonyms. If you use one that truly hides your gender, as you're suggesting, then you have the stress and true negative issue when the 'reveal' comes to fruition.

If you're just changing it for the sake of keeping your writing name and your 'life' name separate, it's not an issue.

I say put all your energy into writing a script so great they won't care who wrote it. Sure, that article talks about the boys club but it also emphasizes the women in the industry who aren't playing fair with each other. It really doesn't speak to female writers not getting a fair shake.

I say get there. Then fight the battle.

[violet]

This is actually something I've thought about quite a bit recently, since I got toward the end of film school. Male filmmakers just have a completely different (and much more often very traditional) attitude toward filmmaking, from my experience. As a woman, I find the lack of strong, interesting women characters appalling. I took a several acting classes and could barely find a monologue for a twenty-year old character that wasn't about being in love with somebody. For the record, romantic comedies are up there with teen comedies (don't even get me started on the flat depictions of teenagers) and horror films as my least favorite genres.

I'm writing mostly dramas, mostly with female leads who are more interested in their careers than their boyfriends or their shoes. Which is not to say they aren't feminine. And I am afraid that someone will look at the title page of my script and assume straight up that my story is sex and the city meets devil wears prada or julie and julia. And that's just not the first impression I'm interested in giving.

So yeah, I'm using a gender-neutral pseudonym. I'm still working out what exactly it's going to be (right now I'm leaning toward a first name like Sid ). As for the reveal... well, as long as I get them to look past my name and flip the page without expecting a "chick flick", then it's all on me to blow their socks off with my writing, and hopefully if they want my script, then they won't care if I'm woman, a man, or a chimpanzee.