Shiwani Srivastava On Her Journey to Selling Her Film 'Wedding Season' to Netflix

Discover your own path to screenwriting Learn the value of taking feedback Develop the right relationship with market trends Develop a method to fight writer’s block Understand your artistic taste and tailor those elements to your own work Find collaborators you trust Discover your own path to screenwriting ScreenwritersVGstockstudio/Shutterstock Shrivastava has always been a writer, but not a screenwriter. “I think a lot of writers sort of have the circuitous route,” she says. She studied journalism and English at NYU, and later got a Master’s degree in South Asian Studies. “It felt like it wasn’t for me,” she says of film school. “I didn’t see people who look like me, even though I think in my heart of hearts, I’ve always known I’d wanted to try screenwriting.” Instead, she spent the first part of her career working in journalism, publishing, and copywriting. When she turned 30, however, she took a leap into creative writing and enrolled in a class with “One Fine Day” screenwriter Terrel Seltzer, who eventually became a mentor. “That really launched my whole journey into writing.” ↑ BACK TO TOP Learn the value of taking feedback Dolemite is My Name“Dolemite Is My Name” Credit: François Duhamel/Netflix Shrivastava says she worked on “Wedding Season,” which is partly inspired by the dynamics in her Indian-American family, for about 10 years. It’s her first script, technically, “but I often joke that it’s my first, second and third script because it changed so many times.” Each round of notes that she received, whether from screenwriting contests, friends, or classes, helped sculpt her narrative. “When I look back on the first version, I think the essence is the same. The characters are the same in many ways. The story is the same, but if you look at it page by page, three-quarters of it [has] been rewritten.” She urges writers to try and avoid getting defensive about feedback, and instead look at it as an opportunity to try something else. “If something’s not working for somebody, or people don’t get what you’re saying, then you haven’t done your job as a writer,” she says. “You have to take a step back and say, OK, maybe I don’t like the solution they propose. But I have to understand why this isn’t working and propose something that makes it click. And I think when you realize that you get less defensive and it starts becoming like, no, it’s not good or bad, but just figuring out what isn’t working.” ↑ BACK TO TOP Develop the right relationship with market trends ScreenwriterGalacticDreamer/Shutterstock Don’t stress so much about “the market,” and just focus on getting your script made and ready, Shrivastava advises. She didn’t let the omnipresent think pieces heralding the “death of the rom-com” stop her from what she wanted to write: a rom-com—one with Indian-American main characters, being an even rarer bird. Over the years, things started changing, first with the rise of Mindy Kaling and her commitment to bringing diverse characters to screens, and with mainstream movies like 2004’s “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.” “I remember thinking it felt like times were changing,” she says. “When I saw these brown faces on TV, I thought, now is really the time I want to be a part of this.” “If I had tried to write what was popular then, by the time it saw the light of day, that would have been old news,” she says about trying to follow the trends that were moving away from rom-coms. “I think if you try to chase market trends you’re fighting this losing battle. You just have to say, what do I really want to see? What’s the void I can fill? And if you write that, I think there are ultimately people who want to see it.” RelatedHow to Become a Screenwriter How to Become a Screenwriter ↑ BACK TO TOP Develop a method to fight writer’s block Adaptation.“Adaptation.” Courtesy of Sony Pictures To push through writer’s block, Srivastava relies on a toolbox of self-imposed deadlines and productivity methods. She uses these main methods to meet her writing goals. Setting deadlines + utilizing writing sprints When she was taking screenwriting classes all those years ago, the expectation of turning 10 pages a week in for feedback forced her to write regularly. Now, she’ll set those deadlines for herself. The first half of the day is typically writing-focused, with 25-minute Pomodoro sprints with shorter breaks in between; and the second half is focused on admin, both personal and business, which could mean organizing her kids’ doctors appointments or working on the pitch materials for her projects. Crafting a focused story description before getting started It also helps her, she says, to come up with tight, compelling descriptions for her stories, then fill in the blanks from there. It’s something to work off of, but also a great tool for getting started and answering the age-old “is this something?” question. “One of the things I do right away, if I’m thinking I’m serious about developing ideas, is write the logline…a two-sentence version of what the story is where you have to set up the story, explain the conflict, and say why it’s interesting in like two or three sentences,” she explains. “Sometimes I don’t find that in an idea and that means maybe it’s not a movie, or maybe it’s just not a movie yet, and I need to put some more time into it. But it helps me figure out what’s missing from the idea, or what’s good about an idea, so I try to actually do that pretty quickly just to see if there’s something there.” ↑ BACK TO TOP Understand your artistic taste and tailor those elements to your own work ScriptTenkorys/Shutterstock They say to write what you know, but that’s not the only thing you should write. A lifelong fan of Nora Ephron, Shrivastava says she definitely believes in the writer’s “everything is copy” credo. She loved rom-coms like “When Harry Met Sally,” but, “I felt like an element of detachment… It didn’t really reflect my life.” So she found a way to take the things she felt an appreciation for (rom-coms, mother-daughter stories like “Gilmore Girls” and witty banter for example), and connect it to her own experience. “I wanted to show immigrant families and the way that we really are in that light,’ she says. “We talk about pop culture and I think it was sort of this wake up call that there was an avenue for me to tell my stories in that same way.” She cautions against feeling beholden to writing only what you know, though. It’s about taking the interesting elements and emotional truths and giving them to your fictional characters. “I actually have a fairly functional relationship with my family, but there’s lots of their seeds of lots of like funny arguments we’ve had here. They’re really, you know, recurring themes we revisit and that has made it into all my work.” ↑ BACK TO TOP Find collaborators you trust ScreenwritersVGstockstudio/Shutterstock Most importantly, a screenwriter needs to understand that though the first draft process is a solo event, revision and production are team sports. After making “Wedding Season,” Srivastava realized that her collaborators were just as invested in making a great movie as she was. “Everybody’s just trying to make a movie that people will love and nobody knows for sure going through the process if they’re going to do it,” she says. “We’re all figuring it out. And then you kind of realize that you’re actually collaborators. You’re partners in crime, and you’re trying to help each other through this. I think that gives me a lot more confidence because I realize they want this to be good as badly as I do.” HOW A SCREENCRAFT WRITER SOLD HER FILM 'WEDDING SEASON' TO NETFLIX Shiwani Srivastava, screenwriter and ScreenCraft Comedy Competition winner, offered up her tips for success. by Kole Lyndon Lee on August 2, 2022 Shiwani Srivastava is a screenwriter whose star is on the rise. Back in 2018, her script Wedding Season placed in multiple screenwriting competitions, including the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, Final Draft's Big Break, and the ScreenCraft Comedy Competition. After winning the ScreenCraft Comedy Competition, the ScreenCraft team introduced her to an executive at Netflix, as well as her literary manager at Affirmative Entertainment. As a direct result of those introductions, Wedding Season was sold to Netflix and is premiering on the steaming platform this month! We sat down with Shiwani and discussed the path she took toward success, as well as her approach to the craft. Watch the full interview below and then continue on for our favorite takeaways. Table of Contents There is No Timeline for This Get External Motivation Develop Your Voice Have Something on Deck Shiwani's Pitching Process Don’t Beat Yourself Up THERE IS NO TIMELINE FOR THIS Shiwani received a master's in South Asian Studies, had a different career, and had kids (twins), but still pushed herself to pursue her passion — screenwriting. There is no right or wrong way, no right time or wrong time. The fact of the matter is if you care about it and constantly have it on your mind, even if you have not written for ten years, you can still go for it. Shiwani Srivastava ('Wedding Season' screenwriter)Shiwani Srivastava (photo by Mike Hipple) “It wasn’t at all an immediate success. I don’t think [my script] broke through to quarterfinals or semis or anything, but I think what was helpful, especially being off in San Francisco, there was not a lot of people to get notes from and people who had already seen it. I used the contest to get notes and keep revising. And I think it had been...probably four years of that before I submitted to that ScreenCraft contest.” Wedding Season was actually the first screenplay Shiwani finished. She did not let her inexperience stop her. She learned as much as possible about the craft first, then she wrote her script. But even after that, she spent a lot of time getting notes (from Screencraft) and polished up her script until she felt truly confident enough in it for competitions. Finally, she started submitting. But even after all that, it was her second/third time submitting when she started to find success. Now, her movie is being released on Netflix. So, remember, there is no right or wrong time, and it is never too late. Focus on yourself, your process, and the craft. Patience is key. Most importantly, never give up. You never know when an opportunity will come. More info coming soon | Remind Me GET EXTERNAL MOTIVATION Shiwani took a remote UCLA screenwriting class while in San Francisco where she learned the ins and outs of the craft, but the most valuable aspect of it was the community. She found people who could give her outside feedback on her work. Plus, having the deadlines and the accountability from other people gave her great motivation to continue pushing. “...it was like — this semester we are finishing the first half of act two, then the second half of act two, then act three. That’s really how I finished the first draft — was by being forced. By signing up, I forced myself to turn in pages every week. Because otherwise, I just found there wasn’t the incentive with everything else that was going on. I think some people are more self-motivated, but at the time I needed the external motivation.” It can be very hard and lonely to work on this alone, so make sure to find a community you trust to support and motivate you — and you do the same for them. Oh, and do not take criticism personally. Harder than it sounds, I know, but you will not make it far in this industry if you do not know how to take criticism and integrate it into your work. 'Wedding Season' (Netflix)'Wedding Season' (Netflix) DEVELOP YOUR VOICE Finding and developing your voice is the most important thing you can do. Do not focus as much on what the market wants. Yes, it is important to consider, but what makes people want your script is that it has a unique voice that no one else has. Yours. “I asked my manager once, ‘How did you know you wanted to sign me?’ And he said, ‘Well, I liked your voice.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘You know, it’s funny… You know when reading something that has it and you know when you’re reading something that doesn’t.’” How do you find and develop your voice? Shiwani’s approach was by watching her favorite movies and figuring out the essence present in all of them — the essence that made her love them. Pull from the movies that influenced you the most. Emulate them. Practice and practice until you find your voice, then strengthen it every time you write. HAVE SOMETHING ON DECK Shiwani found success through the ScreenCraft Comedy Screenwriting Competition, but even after winning, there is still work that needs to be done. One of the key assets you need to have on deck is a second (and third and forth and fifth!) script ready to go. And no, it does not have to be in the same genre. Going back to what we touched on earlier, it should exemplify your voice. This is why it is so important to develop your voice over everything else. For Shiwani’s second script, she wrote a comedy pilot. Though she tackled the same genre, she showed her range and flexibility in working in a different format. 'Wedding Season' (Netflix)'Wedding Season' (Netflix) Most of the time, the first thing a manager, agent, or producer is going to ask you when they meet with you is, “Can I read something else?” They want to know that you are not just a one-hit-wonder. They want to know that you have something unique in you that will enable them to help you find more success, which in turn, finds them more success. SHIWANI'S PITCHING PROCESS So many of us writers are not even thinking about pitching our scripts or ourselves when we first start out, but the reality is that it is a prominent part of this business. Learning to pitch your story so that other people can resonate with it is a skill that needs to be practiced. Here is Shiwani’s rough process for pitching: Yourself: Why are you the best person, the only person, who can tell this story? Talk about why you are passionate about it. Make a personal connection with the people you are pitching to, then lead that into the story. Theme: Delve into some of the major themes of the story and why they are relevant right now in our society. Why will people care about this story? Characters: Talk about the characters. Why are they interesting? Why and how will people connect with them? How will they resonate with people today? Story: Lastly, talk about the story. You can go chronologically if you want, but the most important thing you want to do is paint a picture. Capture the essence of the story, the tone, the style, and make the people you are pitching to see the movie in their minds. Most importantly, focus on emotionally impacting them. 'Wedding Season' (Netflix)'Wedding Season' (Netflix) A few additional tips Shiwani shared: 20 minutes is a good length of time to pitch, but this is relative and depends on the situation you are going into. The most important thing is to prepare but not become a robot. Leave room for improvisation. DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP “I think I read at some point that the average age of a screenwriter on a studio movie is 46, and I held on to that. I think we all love stories of young success, young geniuses, and of course, I think they are amazing, but I think the vast majority of people slog and don’t necessarily find their success until later. And I think that’s okay, and I think sometimes you have more to say when you’re older. Not expecting or needing it too soon and going because you have something to say is really important.” That is a direct quote from Shiwani. It is so easy to get sucked into the social media machine that paints this picture of young people finding success, but that is not the reality for most people. Not only that, but so many of us are not able to give up everything to follow our passion, and that is okay, too. Just look at Shiwani as a perfect example. Not until later in life, after going to school for something else, having a career in a different field, and starting and raising a family was she able to find success. And now, she is absolutely killing it. So, if there is anything you can take away from the interview we did with Shiwani, it is that you can do this, too. Do not beat yourself up for not being where you think you should be. That will only hold you back more. Focus on what you can do right, find people you trust, work on your craft, and always look forward. Don't forget to watch Wedding Season, which premieres on Netflix on August 4th! TAGS interviews, Netflix, Shiwani Srivastava, success stories, Wedding Season