Script to greenlight panel
The WGA is hosting a panel discussion on studio feature development that should be worth checking out:
Panelists include:
- screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh (Armageddon, The Punisher, The Rock)
- JC Spink from BenderSpink management
- development executive Navid McIlhargey (Sr. VP of Production at New Regency; previously of Silver Pictures)
- producer Derek Dauchy (President of Davis Entertainment)
- studio executive David Beaubaire (VP of Production at Paramount; previously studio executive of DreamWorks and Warner Brothers – he knows how each works)
- and a Surprise Guest.
(No, I’m not the surprise guest.)
It’s hosted by the WGA Writers Education Committee, and open to WGA members in good standing (plus a guest).
Thursday, February 26, 7:30 p.m.
WGA Theater
135 S. Doheny Dr., Beverly Hills
You need to RSVP: (323) 782-4602.
Articles
February 25th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Hey, I’m not a member (poor college kid really) but if anyone doesn’t have a friend to take I’d love to go…I’ll even throw in dinner! email me @ (redacted so he won’t get spammed).
p.s. I’m not creepy; promise
February 25th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Sounds interesting indeed. I believe on Craig Mazin’s blog, he says it’s also open to film students and alumni from USC, UCLA, and NYU Tisch west too, if that applies to you Jordan.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
@Jordan:
I strongly suspect you can get in if you’re a student with ID. Worse comes to worse, just show up and ask a random WGA’er if you can be her guest.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Derek Dauchy!
I am fucking going then!
February 26th, 2009 at 6:02 am
How about a live blog from the event???
It’s not like we don’t already expect the world from you… lol
February 26th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Thanks for the advice John, ends up I have a test in my late class so I can’t go…damn geology lab!
February 27th, 2009 at 7:41 am
Being in another country doesn’t help, what about a podcast, or a reader of this blog recording it somehow! This would be so helpful it doesn’t even bear thinking about.
February 27th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I was at the event. For me, Hensleigh and Spink were by far the most interesting speakers, while the producers/execs came off as dull and predictable, saying all the things you’d expect them to (we have to make movies the public is going to want to see, less acceptable risk now that we’re run by multinational corporations, etc., etc.).
I was particularly impressed by Spink, who seems to be amazingly adept at straddling the line between being a strong advocate for writers while staying in the good graces of the studios. He also had one of the best lines of the night — when discussing the glut of pre-branded properties being made into films (Transformers, G.I. Joe), he joked that he’d considered acquiring the rights to Stairmaster.
February 27th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I particularly enjoyed Hensleigh and also thought Spink was great, but enjoyed the producers/execs as well. I think artists often do not have a healthy enough appreciation for what it means that ours is such an expensive medium, so hearing their ( I thought earnest) perspective on what it’s like to do their jobs was great. I’ve heard similar things from friends who are producers and execs and who often face an uphill battle fighting for projects that are commercial but that may not fit the formula de jeur. I do think (and have long thought) that there are some benefits to seeing ourselves as engaged in a shared endeavor (to make movies) and not as adversaries.
I found the discussion of free rewrites refreshingly honest. I found fellow writer Hensleigh’s response especially interest (in a nutshell, he said, “do them”). I think the takeaway from this discussion was that there is a process to getting a movie made and that process includes the script being in a shape that the studio is likely to respond to positively (and, yes, the producer or exec is likely to have more info about this than the writer does). So the question becomes whether you want to do free rewrites with the producer or exec for a shot at a more favorable response from the top, or do you want to not do that. I thought fellow writer and moderator Michael Tabb’s perspective was also really interesting. In a nutshell, he says he’s avoided doing free rewrites by making sure the draft he turns in is actually good (he does three drafts for every draft he turns in, which sounds about right).
I think Hensleigh and Tabb both make good points. Hensleigh’s applies particularly well to writers at the top of the pay scale, as he is, since certainly for seven figures, you can do the extra work necessary to actually get the movie made (and since those fees would more than cover Guild minimums for all paid and “free” steps if you were to be a stickler about it, it’s hard to argue against it). Tabb’s approach seems more workable for writers who earn less, but who should still have an interest in turning in polished work at each step of the contract (which would require that you do more than one draft for every draft you turn in). This is not unlike what you do when you write a spec — you polish it up before you show it to people. I think it was Tabb (and I could be mistaken) who said that some writers turn in work that they know isn’t there yet because they figure it’s going to get developed anyway. I for one share Hensleigh’s view on this, which is don’t be lazy. Tabb’s experience may or may not be representative, but I’m guessing that a writer who delivers strong drafts at each step is less likely to be asked to do free rewrites. But let me say that I’ve never been asked to do free rewrites, so my insight on this matter is admittedly limited. Still, I thought the different perspectives was interesting. It was particularly amusing to listen to the producers/execs who sort of had an “of course we ask for free rewrites” perspective. They didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it.
Anyway, interesting, robust discussion.