Shooting shorts
Is it worthwhile for an aspiring writer with no experience or job prospects to write and direct a short film if he thinks he has the right idea for an entertaining, short, and cheap film, as well as knowing people who can shoot it?
–A.A.
Absolutely. That’s what my very talented former assistant Rawson Thurber recently did. He wrote and directed a funny short film called "Terry Tate: Office Linebacker," which he later sold to Reebok and turned into a series of commercials that debuted in the Superbowl. He now has a movie to direct at Fox with Ben Stiller.
That’s a pretty extreme success story, but even if Rawson had followed a more typical career trajectory, the short film would have served him well. He could have gotten it into film festivals, hopefully attracting enough attention to land him an agent, and possibly the opportunity to direct videos, commercials or other projects. And since Rawson is also a writer, it was a good combination with the comedy script he’d written.
Making a good short film is an incredible amount of work, but it’s absolutely worthwhile if you have directing ambitions.
How many pages
I have written a few short stories that turn out to be 5 or 10 minutes. Now I am currently in the middle of writing a full-length screenplay and was wondering, what is a good amount for a full length? I heard that there is an amount that, if it is under, studios will not except it. Is that true, and if so, what is that amount?
–Ross
Most of the time, you’ll hear 120 pages, which is a good rule of thumb. Honestly, a script could be anywhere from 100 to 145 pages and still be a reasonable-length movie, but the majority of scripts that go into production fall between 110 and 120 pages. That’s generally what I aim for.
I thought it was Hollywood urban legend, but Warner Bros. actually has in their screenwriter contract that a feature-length screenplay can’t come in at more than 120 pages. I suspect they made an exception for the recent Harry Potter movie, which based its running time, probably weighed in at more than 140 pages.
Drafts and revisions
I just have a question (or a few questions) about drafts. How many drafts do you normally do? How much do you change from one draft to the next? Is it possible to be 100% happy with a first draft and leave it with that? Thanks.
–Simon A.
Depending on your definition of a "draft," which I’m going to define as a revision that changes more than five percent of the script, I would say most of my projects that have made it to screen went through at least twelve drafts. Some of these went went through massive overhauls, like throwing out 70+ pages, while others were much more focused, like changing a villain’s motivation or clarifying a character’s backstory.
That said, my first drafts tend to feel very much like the final movie that gets made. Even if a fair amount does end up getting changed before hitting the cameras, I always make sure the first draft I show people could actually be shot. Anything less than that – i.e. a rough draft – should be for your eyes only.
Finding the rights
My friend and I translated a French novel whose English translation has been out of print for many years. We have found no takers for our translation, but also have a screenplay, which we think could be a blockbuster for the right studio. The only problem is that the author of the original novel is dead and securing rights, let alone locating them, is a difficult task for two college students. Is it worth seeking representation in hopes that a studio would like the screenplay and do their own research to pick up the rights?
–A
You need to hire an honest-to-goodness copyright attorney, preferably one that speaks French, and have him or her investigate the copyright situation on the original novel. Since you obviously speak French, you might be able to track one down in Paris or Montreal who could handle it. Another option would be to consult the French business league in either New York or L.A. and look for a contact there. One final thought would be to find a small American pubisher that specializes in French translations and try to sweet-talk their rights department into giving you a hand. It’s one case where being college students might help you out.
I think you’re much better off doing this homework at the outset, because no buyer will be interested in reading a screenplay based on work they may never be able to buy.
Choosing character names
How do you develop and decide on names for characters?
–Lauren
First, decide if you’re usually going to refer to this character by their first name, last name or some other nickname. In GO, Ronna and Claire are always referred to by their first names, whereas Gaines and Singh are last names, while Tiny and Junior are nicknames.
Once you’ve decided which part of the name is most important, pick one that sounds appropriate to the character. How you choose that name is up to you. Some people use baby names books or the telephone directory. For some reason, I name a lot of characters after streets in my neighborhood. If you’re really stuck, Final Draft has a names database that can be helpful in a pinch. However you find the name, it should start with a different letter than any other name in the script, just to avoid reader confusion.
Now pick a first or last name to go with it. Often, I’ll just pick a letter at random and start sounding out names until I find one that seems to work. As a final check, I always wrack my brain to see if I remember anybody else with that name. It’s creepy how often I’ll end up with somebody I already know.
Good writing vs. the idea
If your screenplay is good enough will that guarantee it recognition or is it more in the selling of the idea?
–Brett
A screenplay that is "good enough" won’t get any recognition at all. Unless it has an ingeniously compelling (and marketable) idea, a script has to be ungodly well-written to attract much attention. Of course, the best scripts have both a brilliant idea and brilliant execution, but that’s not your question.
Let’s say you decide to write a family drama. Unless it’s about a family of killer robots, the "idea" of the story is not what will make it sell. So you better have some fantastic writing in there to make it compelling.
On the other hand, the family-of-killer-robots script could conceivably sell even with some sub-par writing, if it does a good job presenting the idea and studios happen to be in the market for killer robots with a twist. Here’s the big difference between the two kinds of scripts: if you write a extremely well-written script that no one buys, you’ve still written a great script. On the other hand, if you write a crappy script (even with a great idea) and no one buys it, all you have to show for it is a crappy script.
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