I received an email today from the International Screenwriter's Association (ISA) asking me if I wanted the ad I put up weekly on Craigslist to spread the word about the Sages' blog to go out to 40,000 screenwriters. The site owner apparently culls ads such as ours on Craigslist and sends out mass email soliciting folks who might want to post to the ISA's exchange. It made me think about creating awareness and "buzz" around one's blog/website. In a similar vein, our webmaster approached Randy and me about the urgent need to starting "twittering" daily on our website in order to ramp up the traffic to the site/blog. We kind of had a senior moment about the whole thing. It was like deja vu all over again in that we had the same experience when deciding to start up this blog in the first place: Are we screenwriters or "tweeters?" Are we part of the literati or webheads? Are the two mutually exclusive? Complementary? Something in between?
A buddy from my high school days is crazy about potato chips. He's something of a gearhead and started a hobbyist website on all things related to chips and snacking. Someone at Yahoo really liked the website and promoted it on My Yahoo! It was recognized as an 'it' website and written up in industry publications. Long and the short of it is that in the heyday, my buddy's hobbyist website was so busy he needed to buy a dedicated server for his apartment because of bandwidth issues; most intriguing was the extra income the site created for him; he had so much traffic the Google ads on his site were working overtime generating revenue.
Make no mistake his "hobbyist" website was consuming his life and its "care and feeding" would easily take from 15-20 hours a week. This was above and beyond his day job in the tech industry.
Part of the initial strategy of the Script Sages in starting our blog was to let the game come to us. As screenwriters, you can be made to feel like a supplicant constantly knocking on doors to an entrenched, elitist film industry. The internet is the great leveler. By being an opinion leader with something worthwhile to say you can bypass the gatekeepers completely. The world is truly flat and we benefit from this with our a blog, in that we can directly dialogue with the everyday screenwriter and the media mogul alike.
The rub for me personally is that writing for a blog is not the same as writing creatively. Print journalists who are having to make the jump to digital and on-line platforms have much the same dilemma. If you signed on to be a journalist and suddenly find yourself writing the company's blog...is that going to be as fulfilling as what you originally bargained for? Change has come. There's no putting the genie back in the bottle. You can let the game come to you. But I, for one, still have to wonder what the hidden costs are.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
An Analysis of Script Analysis
You've finished that script, and now you're thinking of getting an analyst or a consultant to give you notes. Should you do it? The price tag can be lofty. On the low side, maybe it will cost you $80 or $100. On the high side, we're talking $300 or $400-- even up to $1,000 for some of the top consultants in the business. Perhaps given the economy these days, those rates have dropped, but shelling out even $200 for notes on a script is no small decision.
First, if you have friends or colleagues whose opinions you trust, go with them. There's no better judge than a friend whose voice you can depend on for solid feedback. However, the drawback here can be turnaround time. Friends are busy and doing you favors, so maybe they won't get to your script for three or four weeks. For some, that can be a long time to wait. And then, what your friend gives you can be not as much as you are looking for, namely detailed notes on holes and problems in the script. Friends may give you broad thoughts but no notes and specific suggestions.
So it's at this time you might consider turning to a professional who will give you five pages of detailed notes in less than a week's time and who can do phone consultations to boot. Most consultants are professional and competent, but it's always worth checking them out and getting recommendations prior to enlisting their services. Be careful that if they promise five pages of notes you actually get five pages of notes and not four pages of a summary (which you already knew) of your script and only one page of recommendations. You also have the right to bargain. Some of the tip top analysts might not be open to bargaining but others will be--and they are just as good as some of the big names (they just don't have as much notoriety).
One other thing to watch out for are script services that are attached to agencies or management companies. You may query an agency, and they'll tell you before they can look at it you must get professional notes (for a fee of course). Or the reverse happens, you send a script to a management company which likes it, but in order for them to pitch it to producers or studios it must first get professional analysis (for a fee of course). It's not illegal for companies to do this, but to a certain extent some are taking advantage of writers' naivete. A writer gets jazzed up because a company has some interest in his or her script. So paying $200 to improve it seems like a small price to pay to get that script in shape for the company. But more often than not the script won't go anywehere and the writer is out $200.
This should not discourage you to seek out good analysts. There are many out there. Just do your due diligence before you open up the wallet. Joe and I would be happy to recommend several consultants if anyone is looking for one.
-Randy
First, if you have friends or colleagues whose opinions you trust, go with them. There's no better judge than a friend whose voice you can depend on for solid feedback. However, the drawback here can be turnaround time. Friends are busy and doing you favors, so maybe they won't get to your script for three or four weeks. For some, that can be a long time to wait. And then, what your friend gives you can be not as much as you are looking for, namely detailed notes on holes and problems in the script. Friends may give you broad thoughts but no notes and specific suggestions.
So it's at this time you might consider turning to a professional who will give you five pages of detailed notes in less than a week's time and who can do phone consultations to boot. Most consultants are professional and competent, but it's always worth checking them out and getting recommendations prior to enlisting their services. Be careful that if they promise five pages of notes you actually get five pages of notes and not four pages of a summary (which you already knew) of your script and only one page of recommendations. You also have the right to bargain. Some of the tip top analysts might not be open to bargaining but others will be--and they are just as good as some of the big names (they just don't have as much notoriety).
One other thing to watch out for are script services that are attached to agencies or management companies. You may query an agency, and they'll tell you before they can look at it you must get professional notes (for a fee of course). Or the reverse happens, you send a script to a management company which likes it, but in order for them to pitch it to producers or studios it must first get professional analysis (for a fee of course). It's not illegal for companies to do this, but to a certain extent some are taking advantage of writers' naivete. A writer gets jazzed up because a company has some interest in his or her script. So paying $200 to improve it seems like a small price to pay to get that script in shape for the company. But more often than not the script won't go anywehere and the writer is out $200.
This should not discourage you to seek out good analysts. There are many out there. Just do your due diligence before you open up the wallet. Joe and I would be happy to recommend several consultants if anyone is looking for one.
-Randy
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Is There an "LA Style" in Screenwriting?
Joe and I have fared decently when entering contests, but we never broke through in the Nicholl or Disney Fellowships and could not seem to crack any of the top tiers when it came to some of the bigger, more well known screenwriting contests. In fact, the contests that we placed or advanced in were generally not ones that are LA-centered. We really don't enter too many contests anymore, but we always wondered --all scripts being equal-- do scripts with an "LA style" fare better in contests and the industry at large?
Someone could say our scripts just aren't up to snuff. Naturally, we don't think this is the case, and since our material has been well accepted by those in LA we're pretty sure --while trying to remain humble-- that we have quality material to offer.
But given that most big contests are centered in LA and have readers who are in the "biz" and live in Hollywood, it's not a stretch to imagine that two scripts, equally compelling in terms of character, story, and dialogue, might be looked at differently based on which achieves that slicker, more "LA style." As Boston denizens and writers, and having been schooled at Boston University, it's possible our writing has a more academic, Yankee look and feel to it.
This feeling may have been confirmed recently when we spoke with our manager friends in LA regarding the epic, spec project we are working on with them. These managers sent us a few sample scripts to read for pace, style, and general slickness. These scripts were written by pros with oodles of credits, and though we didn't think the minds who crafted these were somehow off-the-chart geniuses, the screenplays did have a certain look and feel that caused them to leap off the page. That certain look and feel was, in fact, the common denominator in the scripts we reviewed.
The descriptions were cute; the writers played with the words and took chances. They used CAPS and ... and small, quick, staccato paragraphs to push the story forward. The style was markedly different than ours: we dubbed this an "LA style," one which we needed to emulate to give our project a sheen that would attract buyers.
Wasn't that, after all, why they had sent them to us?
Writers in Boston and Hollywood are both using Final Draft or Screenwriter software so there's no real difference in the basic platform writers here and in LA are employing, and I'll be darned if those living in LA have a monopoly on talent and desire. But there may be a difference in how an LA writer puts spit and polish on his or her script, and it's something we in Boston and New England should take to heart when looking to compete in the marketplace
-Randy
Someone could say our scripts just aren't up to snuff. Naturally, we don't think this is the case, and since our material has been well accepted by those in LA we're pretty sure --while trying to remain humble-- that we have quality material to offer.
But given that most big contests are centered in LA and have readers who are in the "biz" and live in Hollywood, it's not a stretch to imagine that two scripts, equally compelling in terms of character, story, and dialogue, might be looked at differently based on which achieves that slicker, more "LA style." As Boston denizens and writers, and having been schooled at Boston University, it's possible our writing has a more academic, Yankee look and feel to it.
This feeling may have been confirmed recently when we spoke with our manager friends in LA regarding the epic, spec project we are working on with them. These managers sent us a few sample scripts to read for pace, style, and general slickness. These scripts were written by pros with oodles of credits, and though we didn't think the minds who crafted these were somehow off-the-chart geniuses, the screenplays did have a certain look and feel that caused them to leap off the page. That certain look and feel was, in fact, the common denominator in the scripts we reviewed.
The descriptions were cute; the writers played with the words and took chances. They used CAPS and ... and small, quick, staccato paragraphs to push the story forward. The style was markedly different than ours: we dubbed this an "LA style," one which we needed to emulate to give our project a sheen that would attract buyers.
Wasn't that, after all, why they had sent them to us?
Writers in Boston and Hollywood are both using Final Draft or Screenwriter software so there's no real difference in the basic platform writers here and in LA are employing, and I'll be darned if those living in LA have a monopoly on talent and desire. But there may be a difference in how an LA writer puts spit and polish on his or her script, and it's something we in Boston and New England should take to heart when looking to compete in the marketplace
-Randy
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The First Ten Pages or Bust?
There's a great scene in the movie BOWFINGER where Jerry Renfro, the fictional agent played by Robert Downey Jr., is at a swank Hollywood restaurant taking a meeting about a script. He reads the first page of a script then flips to the last and says looks good, bring me so-and-so the actor and you have a movie! It takes him less than 30 seconds to assess the script as being a whiz-bang project.
I think the reason the scene is so funny is that it's so easy to recognize the kernel of truth to it. In a similar vein, Randy and I once had a producer heap high praise on our screenplay about Whitey Bulger saying, "Hey, I made it to page 50!"
The rule of thumb is that the first 10 pages make or break a screenplay: a screenplay must be popping within those first pages or else it won't hold the reader's attention. Unlike the more languorous medium of the novel, the screenplay is, for the most part, read by decidedly "non-literary" types with a specific eye toward translating it onto the silver screen.
Personally, I've gone to movies that get off to a slow start and enjoyed them and I've read screenplays that get off to a slow start and enjoyed them as well. As a literary sort myself, I'm inclined to give the writer more of the benefit of the doubt. However, if I'm honest, I have to admit that the great books, movies, plays, and screenplays I've experienced get off to a strong start. They come roaring out of the gate!
So, is it first 10 pages or bust? Not exactly... But, it behooves us as writers to get those first pages right because that's where the vast majority of folks make their decision on whether this is a movie that will have them on the edge of their seats or merely be an expensive outing.
I think the reason the scene is so funny is that it's so easy to recognize the kernel of truth to it. In a similar vein, Randy and I once had a producer heap high praise on our screenplay about Whitey Bulger saying, "Hey, I made it to page 50!"
The rule of thumb is that the first 10 pages make or break a screenplay: a screenplay must be popping within those first pages or else it won't hold the reader's attention. Unlike the more languorous medium of the novel, the screenplay is, for the most part, read by decidedly "non-literary" types with a specific eye toward translating it onto the silver screen.
Personally, I've gone to movies that get off to a slow start and enjoyed them and I've read screenplays that get off to a slow start and enjoyed them as well. As a literary sort myself, I'm inclined to give the writer more of the benefit of the doubt. However, if I'm honest, I have to admit that the great books, movies, plays, and screenplays I've experienced get off to a strong start. They come roaring out of the gate!
So, is it first 10 pages or bust? Not exactly... But, it behooves us as writers to get those first pages right because that's where the vast majority of folks make their decision on whether this is a movie that will have them on the edge of their seats or merely be an expensive outing.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
A Juggling Act
We all know that life is a juggling act: there's work, friends, family, and on. Throw into this grand mix the writing projects you have on the side and the juggling act can feel like a whirlwind.
What makes The Script Sages' juggling act feel like whirlwind at the moment is the types of projects we are working on. As we press forward on a rewrite of our sweeping, historic epic, we've also taken on a far different project. The Sages have recently been hired to work on a web series--or "webisodes" to use the correct jargon. We're not at liberty to disclose too many details about the project, but it's a fun concept set in Boston which would see five episodes a week, each lasting 4-5 minutes.
As to the juggling act, well, one can imagine the challenge of moving back and forth between the large canvas of a Civil War-era screenplay, a la "Glory," which would be bound for the big screen of a movie theater, and the very confined space of a story that would be seen entirely on a computer screen (or even an I-Phone or Blackberry).
Instead of juggling three tennis balls, this could be more like keeping aloft a basketball, a trash can lid, and a pineapple.
Many writers face these same situations, and if there's any advice we can impart it's to keep multiple projects going. You never know when one particular project will lose steam, and if all your eggs are in that basket then you can suddenly find yourself with quite an empty basket. So keep the juggling act going, even if it feels precarious at times.
-Randy
What makes The Script Sages' juggling act feel like whirlwind at the moment is the types of projects we are working on. As we press forward on a rewrite of our sweeping, historic epic, we've also taken on a far different project. The Sages have recently been hired to work on a web series--or "webisodes" to use the correct jargon. We're not at liberty to disclose too many details about the project, but it's a fun concept set in Boston which would see five episodes a week, each lasting 4-5 minutes.
As to the juggling act, well, one can imagine the challenge of moving back and forth between the large canvas of a Civil War-era screenplay, a la "Glory," which would be bound for the big screen of a movie theater, and the very confined space of a story that would be seen entirely on a computer screen (or even an I-Phone or Blackberry).
Instead of juggling three tennis balls, this could be more like keeping aloft a basketball, a trash can lid, and a pineapple.
Many writers face these same situations, and if there's any advice we can impart it's to keep multiple projects going. You never know when one particular project will lose steam, and if all your eggs are in that basket then you can suddenly find yourself with quite an empty basket. So keep the juggling act going, even if it feels precarious at times.
-Randy
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