ScreenwritingColumn07[SAVE|SEND]

Screenwriters
needtogetinto
thegame,iffor
nootherreason
thattheycan
affordtoquit
theirdayjobs
andconcentrate
ontheirart.

23StepstoaFeatureFilmSale
byTerryRossio
There'sthisgreatbitinTHEPLAYERwherethedirector
characterissteadfastthathisendingmustbedownbeat."Idon't
thinkthisisevenanAmericanmovie,"hesniffs.Later,though,he
changeshismind.Hisdevelopmentassistantisastonishedtolearn
thathe'ssoldouthisartisticinstincts."Areyoukidding?"the
directorsays,"DidyouseetheresponsecardsfromEncino?They
hatedit!"
Somethingabitsimilarhappensduringthescreenwriting
process,forwritersjuststartingout.Theinitialdriveisoften
purelyartistic.Thepowerofthevisionthewriterseesinhishead
fuelsthewriting.Onlyafterwards,whenthescreenplayisdone,
doesthewriterdealwiththerealitiesofsellinghiswork.It'sa
littlelikethatdirectortheprioritiesstarttoshift.
NowI'mabigbelieverinwritersmakingthesale.Screenwriters
needtogetintothegame,iffornootherreasonthattheycan
affordtoquittheirdayjobsandconcentrateontheirart.
Screenwritersshouldgivesomethoughttocommercial
considerationsbeforetheysitdowntowrite.Intheend,we'realla
littlebitlikethatdirector.Wedowanttosell.Andifyou'regoing
tofeelthatwayafteryourscriptisdone,you'dmightaswelladmit
ittoyourselfbeforeyoustart.
Agoodfriendofmine,Steve,atechnicalwriter,lovesmovies
andwantstowritescreenplays.Heaskedmestraightouthowto
breakintothebusiness.He'sapracticalguyandwantedapractical
answer.Justwhatdidhehavetodotomakeasale,whichwould
lethimquithisjobwhichwashisdefinitionofbreakingin.
Itwasfuntolookattheproblemfromapurelypracticalangle.I
gavehimafilmconceptthatheliked,andIwrotehimaletter
'23StepstoaFeatureFilmSale.'Thesestepsofferadifferentway
oflookingatafilmproject.It'swritingtowardapurpose,toward
makingthesaleyetIdon'tthinkit'satoddswiththecreative
process.Acopyoftheletterfollows.
Gee,theadviceIgiveyouhereistheadviceI'dgivemybest
friend!

DearSteve,
Hereitis,aswediscussed,23simplestepstoyourfirstfeature
filmsale.Shouldn'ttakemorethanayearortwotoaccomplish.
Notethatsomestepsoverlap,andcanproceedsimultaneously:

Putbluntly,ifit's
agreatscript,

1.Makesure(asbestwecan)thatasimilarconceptisnot
alreadyindevelopmentatthestudios.ScanningVariety's'Filmsin

you'dbebetter
offnothaving
anyoneattached.

theFuture'listisoneplacetostart.Andwecangetouragentto
checkintowhat'sgoingonaroundtownandletusknowif
somethingsimilarsurfacesinthefuture.
2.Alongthesamelineswecancheckout'DoneDeal'andother
siteswhichliststuffindevelopmentaroundtown.Weneedtoread
throughthereforstuffsimilartowhatwe'replanning.Wedon't
wanttoputinayear'sworthofwork,andthengetbeatento
marketwithacompetingproject.
3.Compareyourwritingabilitiestotheindustrystandard.Ineed
tolookatyourlatestscreenplayandseewhetherit'suptopar
technically.(I'llgiveyoucopiesofGODZILLA,ZORRO,
SINBADandSANDMANtoreadsoyoucanmakethesame
determinationaboutourskills!)TedandImaybeabletoidentify
areaswhereyouneedtoimprove,orspecificmistakesyoumaybe
making.Youcandothisonyourownbybuyingseveralgoodfilm
scripts,andselfassessingwhereyou'reat.Ifyouneedmore
technicalfacility,youmayneedtowriteoneormore'interim'
screenplaystofurtherdevelopstyle,understandingoftheformat,
etc.,whileweputthisideaonhold.
4.Learnthebasics.There'ssomestuffthat,walkingintoany
storymeetingintownit'sassumedthatyou'veread,soyou'dbetter
makesureyou'vereadthem."AdventuresintheScreenTrade"by
WilliamGoldman."HerowithaThousandFaces"byJoseph
Campbell.SydField'sbook"Screenplay"."TheArtofDramatic
Writing"byLajosEgri."MakingaGoodScriptGreat"byLinda
Seeger.Inaddition,there'sothermaterialIhighlyrecommend:the
videotapeseries"WordintoImage."The"ComicsJournal"Alan
Mooreinterview.Allofmyohsoveryimportantnotesonwriting
screenplays(thesemustbememorized).Truby'sstorystructure
course,whichIhaveonaudiocassette.There'resomanymoreI'll
havetomakeaseparatelist.Anywaygetthisstuff,readit,know
it.
5.Determineyourwritingpartnersituation.Basically,doyou
wanttoworkwithapartneronthisoronyourown?Remember
that,theimpactyoumakeintheindustryiswhatwilldefineyouin
theindustry'seyes.Ifyoucreateanimpressionofbeingpartofa
writingteam,that'swhatthey'llthinkofyouas,andtheonlyoffers
youmaygetwillbeofferstowriteasateam.

You'redone,
you'rethrilled,
youwanttogetit
outthere.But
thatignoresthe
oneadvantagea
firsttimewriter
hasoverthepro,
whichistime.

6.Determinethe'deal'betweenyouandme.Basically,ifIgive
youthisconcept,andhelpdevelopthescreenplayasproducer,this
iswhatIwantinreturn:we'lldiscusseverythingandmake
decisionsjointly,butinthoserarecases(Ha!)wherewecannot
agree,Igettohave'finalsay.'Thisappliestoeverything,including
title,characters,plot,scenedescriptions,linesofdialog,
submissionstrategy,etc.(Theideabeing,I'vedonethisbeforeand
perhapscandoitagain.)Whatyouget:thescreenplaywillbe
completely'yours'intermsofpayment,yournamegoesonit,and
yougettouseitasawritingsample.Ifitdoesn'tsellinoneyear,
thenitrevertstoyousolely,andyouthenhave'finaldecision'on
everything,includingalloftheabove(inotherwords,youcan
changeanythingaboutityoudon'tlikeormaybeneveragreed
with).Thisistocoverthecaseof"Ifit'sgoingtobemywriting
sample,thengoddammitit'sgoingtobewhatIbelievein,"and

alsocoverthecase,"IknowthethingwouldsellifonlyTerry
wouldchangethestupidtitlethatIneverliked!"Duringthelifeof
thescriptI'mattachedasproducerandIcanattachother
producers(likeTed)orothercreativepersonnelasIseefit.Sucha
deal!
7.Researchmovies(televisionshows,plays,old"OuterLimits"
episodes,whatever)thataresimilarinsubjectandstyletowhat
we'retryingtodo.Evenbadfilmslike******and******
*****shouldbeviewedtoshowhowitshouldn'tbedone.Let's
rewatch**********andothergoodfilmstogetafeelofstyle,
pace,andtone.Theprocesshereisstraightforward:identify
applicablefilms.Buythem.Viewthem.Repeatasneeded.
8.Moreresearch:wemustbecomeknowledgeableaboutbooks
thatmayhavebeenwrittenonthissubject.Therehavetobelots!
Ifwe'reinluck,wemayevenfindabookworthyofoptioning.
Somethingclosetowhatwe'replanning,orevensomethingso
gooditchangeshowwefeelaboutwhatwewanttodo.We'llhave
tocheckmysteryandsciencefictionbookstores,postquestions
ontheinternet,askfriendswhoreadalot,questionaficionadosof
thegenre,scopeoutmysteryandsciencefictionconventions,etc.
9.Moreresearch:actualeventsrelatedtotheconcept.There
havebeenmanycases,I'msure,where(******).Weshouldbuild
alibraryofsuchreferencematerialwe'llbecometheexpertson
thesubject.I'msuretherehavebeencasesofactual(******).We
shouldknowitall,andthismaterialwillnodoubtsuggest
situations.(I'llbehappytobudgetour'referencelibrary.')
10.Collectideas,jokes,information,situationsrelatedtothe
topic.ThiswasthemethodtheyusedinGHOSTBUSTERS:
Ramis,AykroydandMurrayspentseveralmonthsjustcomingup
withabunchoffunnystuffandneatideasaboutghosthunting.
Thatgavethemsourcematerialtousefortheeventualscreenplay.
(Aykroyd'swritingstyleseemstomatchyourownbasicallysit
down,andspewoutabunchofstuff,letithappenonthepage,and
worrylaterabouthoningit,abouthowtomakeitwork.)Whatyou
wantisascreenplaythatisSTUFFED(thinkoftheoriginal
BACKTOTHEFUTURE)withcool,funnyideasandmoments.
11.Characterdesign.Sincewe'llprobablyendupadopting
someoftheconventionsofthegenre,weshouldtakeevengreater
careonthoseaspectsofthefilmthataredifferent,especially
designingthecharacters.What's'offered'totheaudienceinthis
typeoffilmisfirst,theuniqueconceptandsituations,andsecond,
theuniquecharactersandtheirrelationshipsnotnecessarilynew
plottwists.(Inotherwords,wecanprobablyuseaconventional
plotifwedoitreallywell,orarereallyfunny.)THEMASK
illustratesthis,asdoesDUMBANDDUMBER.Theplotswere
conventional,theconceptsandcharactersunique.Thestorybeats
ofthemaintwocharactersareespeciallyimportantthisisa
buddyfilmandperhapsaromanceaswellasa**************.
12.Plot.Ofcourse,there'snothingwrongwithcomingupwith
auniqueandcoolplot,too.Youknowthedrill:we'llstartby
makingupaboardwiththestorybeatsonit,maybeevenanother
boardwith'visualdevelopment.'Oneplaceforyoutostartisto

lookatclassicfilms,andpickaclassicstorystructureorgenreto
playaroundwith.SUNSETBOULEVARD,forexample,startsoff
withadeadguyinapool,andtellsusthestoryofhowhegot
there.I'mnotsayingthatthat'stheplottouse,justthatit'sagood
ideasometimestobeawareofandworkoffanidentifiablegenre,
anddotwistsontheclassicstorybeats.Evenifweeventuallyuse
nothingfromtheclassics,it'sagoodthingtoknowwhat'sgone
before,sowehaveanideaofwhat'suniqueandwhatisn't.
13.Theme.Weshouldlooktoclassicliterature,aphorisms,
poetryandquotationsforourtheme.Weshouldbeabletoclearly
articulatethethemeofourmovieitanswersalotoftone
questions,andnarrowsdownsomeofthechoices,providinganice
touchstone.Thethemecanbecomeanorganizingelementofthe
movie.
14.Reviseboard.Weneedtopitchtheboard,rearrangethe
board,reviewtheboard,questiontheboard,showtheboardtoTed
andothers,challengetheboard,rethinktheboard,overandover
againuntilweareutterlyconfidentthatwearenotgoingtowaste
actual'writingtime'meanderingdownthewrongpath.Thisisthe
DisneyanimatedfeatureapproachthatTedandIlikewefeel
thatoneortwodraftsofthescreenplaycanbeleapfroggedby
workingitoutontheboardfirst.Notethatnoteverybodywould
agreewiththis!OnequoteI'vealwaysliked:inagoodscreenplay,
everythinghasapurpose,andtheaudienceissocontrolledit'snot
allowedtofeelanythingelseotherthanwhatyouwantthemto
feel.Structuringoutthatrideisourgoalatthisstage.
15.Finally,ACTUALLYWRITETHESCRIPT.Thisisyour
job.Howeveryouwanttodothisisfinebyme.
16.Determinesubmissionstrategy.Aswemovealong,we'll
discusssubmissionstrategies,crucialtothebusinessendofthings.
Basicallywetrytoanswerthequestion,whogetsthescriptand
when?Whendoweattachother'elements,'likeadirectororstar
orproducer?Thisisanareawheremyroleasproduceris
potentiallyatoddswithyourdesiresasawriter.Putbluntly,ifit's
agreatscript,you'dbebetteroffnothavinganyoneattached.(For
example,aproducermightshyawayfromdrivingupthepriceina
bestcasescenariobiddingwarifanotherproducermeis
alreadyattached).Youmaybeinahurry(financially)togetsome
heatontheproject,makeasale(ortakeanoptionoffer),whereasI
mightbemoreinclinedtofollowamorestrategicapproachand
evenshyawayfromsomeproducersorcompaniesthatareonly
goingtoscrewitup.Anotherquestion:whendoyouuseittoget
anagent,whichagent,dowefollowtheiradvise,andwhendoyou
starttousethescriptasawritingsample(togainassignmentsand
income?)We'llhavealottotalkabout!
17.Submitscriptforcomments.Thisdoesnotmeansendthe
scriptout!Thatwouldbeacommonmistake,andabigone.You're
done,you'rethrilled,youwanttogetitoutthere.Butthatignores
theoneadvantageafirsttimewriterhasovertheprofessional,
whichistime.Paidscreenwriterscommonlyworkunderdeadlines
measuredinweeks.Thefirsttimescreenwritercantakemonthsto
honehismaterial.Andheshould.It'sonlybyhoningthematerial,
andtakingtimewithitthatitcanstandoutfromthecrowd.But

youdoneedtogetfeedback.We'llshowthescripttojustafew
professionalswhoseopinionwetrust,andgettheircommentsfor
thefirstrevision.(Ted,forexample,I'msurewillhavelotsofgreat
ideas.)
18.Revisethescript.Afterthescripthasbeensetasideforabit,
we'llgobackandmakerevisions.Alotofthiswillbesmallstuff
(wordchoice,stylechoice,dialogpolish)butsomeofitmaybe
big(wholescenesthrownout,newsequencesinvented,etc.).
19.Revisethescriptagain.We'lldoareadthroughfromthe
pointofviewofeachcharactertomakesureeachcharacter'sstory
isworking,andthe'voice'ofeachcharacterisconsistent.We'll
lookforthingstocut,thingstosimplify,stuffthat'sstillinthere
becauseweloveditatonetimebutdoesn'tfitanymore.Again,
therevisionmayincludesmallandlargechanges,andeach
revisionwillprobablytakeaslongtoaccomplishastheoriginal
scripttooktowrite.
20.Polishscript.We'llreadthoughforcontinuityproblems.
We'llreadthroughfortyposandspellingerrors.We'llpolish
dialogsomemore.(Thisreadthroughisbestdone,Ibelieve,'on
thepage,'notuponthecomputerscreen.It'samazingthestuffyou
catchonlyafterit'sprintedout.)We'llreadtheentirescreenplay
outloud,whichisanothergreatwaytocatchmistakes.
21.Finalizesubmissionstrategy.Ideally,we'llhaveinterestedan
agentbynow,andwiththeagent'shelpthescreenplaywill'hitthe
market'overaweekend,withafew'key'peoplehavingthescripta
fewdaysinadvance(fishingfora'preemptivebid').Orabigname
willhavealreadybecomeinterested...
22.Submitthescript.Simply,weexecuteouragreedupon
submissionstrategy,crossourfingers.(Ifamurderisn'tsolvedin
thefirst24hours,orthefirsttwodays,orthefirstweek,there'san
everdecreasingchancethatitwilleverbesolvedatall.Samewith
sellingascript.)Ofcourse,there'salwaysthesecondprize:the
scriptdoesn'tsell,butgeneratesmeetingswhichcouldleadtoa
storyassignment.Or...
23.Weacceptamidsixfigureofferagainsthighsixfigure
backend.WelcometoHollywood!"Youcancheckoutanytime
youlike,butyoucanneverleave..."

BackTOPNext

WelcomeForumsColumnsIndyProsCompanyArchives
Copyright1997TerryRossiowww.wordplayer.comMail