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What happens when you disagree with what a director does with your script? Has that ever happened to you? Is there anything you can do about it?

–Jane

Disagreements can and do occur between writers and directors, and at least in terms of feature films, the director almost always wins. After all, it’s the director who is responsible for getting the film up on the screen, and every department needs to support this effort.

However, it’s important to distinguish between bad disagreements and good disagreements. Bad disagreements are easy to spot, because they often involve shouting and name-calling and vows never to work together again. While there may be genuine issues at hand, more often the battle is over ego, turf, money and fear. These kinds of situations are movie poison, and usually hurt the film.

Fortunately, most disagreements between writers and directors are good disagreements, where they may have different opinions on characters, scenes or plotlines, but argue only with the intention of making the best film possible. Remembering the first rule of disagreements (the director almost always wins), a smart writer will try to figure out not only what the director wants, but why he wants it, and how to best achieve the outcome without hurting the script as a whole.

In my experience, many directors use their writer conversations during development and pre-production to answer their own questions about the project: What will the movie feel like? Why is this moment important? How will I direct that actor? The more confident and secure a director feels about the material going in, the better the movie will hopefully turn out. So it’s generally worth it to set aside your defensive tendencies and let the director explore the material. Hopefully, you’ll find yourselves trying to make the same movie.

Disagreements during production are more treacherous, because exhaustion breeds paranoia, and every hour of filming is literally costing thousands of dollars. Often writers aren’t very involved during production, but if they are, the most important thing they can do is make sure the story is still being told, despite the obstacles and changes that arise.

In post-production, the director’s primary collaborator is the editor, and the two of them will have the same kinds of disagreements as the writer and director had during pre-production. The writer’s involvement during editing is unfortunately rare, but can be extremely helpful. The writer generally has the best sense of how the story was originally constructed, and can help nudge it back into shape.

I was wondering, do you read reviews of films you’ve worked on? When you’re in a bookstore, do you go to the film section and check out how many stars Maltin or Ebert have given the films?

–Brenton

Thanks to the Internet, not only can I read what Maltin and Ebert say about my movies, I can find out what the Pioneer Press and the Times of London thought. And yes, I read them obsessively when the movie comes out, to the point where I’ll be at my computer from midnight until 2:30 a.m. reading the Friday morning reviews online, before the papers are even printed.

In addition to the "Reviews" links on IMDB, I love Rotten Tomatoes because it gathers the reviews from thirty or forty different sources. I also read the "User Comments" section on IMDB, and sometimes the various be-your-own critic sites.

Honestly, my fondness for reading reviews is more a function of pride than vanity. I don’t get excited reading my own name, but rather seeing what someone thought of my baby. And of course, my attachment varies based on my involvement. For GO and CHARLIE’S ANGELS, I was a veritable soccer mom. TITAN A.E., on the other hand, was like a friend from summer camp you were never sure you’d see again.

I have just finished my first feature APPLESEED LAKE which I wrote/directed/produced on a very low budget. I am now at the stage where I am preparing to show it to people whilst at the same time writing my follow up script. Would it help me get (writing) representation by showing agents the finished film? Or should I just stick to showing prospective agents scripts that I have written?

–Peter

If you’re interested in both writing and directing, you’ll obviously want to find an agent who handles both fields. Both your screenplay and your feature will be important at some stage.

Because of the time commitment involved, not many agents are apt to pop in a videotape to check out a low-budget movie from someone they’ve never heard of. The odds of suckage are just too high. They are, however, more likely to crack open a script. Your instincts are right.

If your film gets into some festivals, however, that can be a great way to get the process started. Say an agent sees your film and introduces herself. That’s a tremendous opportunity to talk about the scripts you’ve written and offer one to read. Most writer/directors at a film festival don’t have representation going in, and smart agents will always be looking for new talent.

I would like to get my script evaluated by a professional. How do I know who is reputable, honest and skilled at this? And how much (approx.) should it cost?

–Anonymous

In Los Angeles, it’s pretty rare for the writer to pay for notes or coverage. Usually, it’s done as a favor, either by friends who work in the industry, as part of a class, or in exchange for work done at an internship. Professional readers and story analysts are generally paid by the buyer, either a studio or production company, and spend their days reading through the material submitted for consideration.

I worked as a reader for two years when I first moved to L.A., first as an unpaid intern, then later for TriStar. It’s a good first job for any screenwriter, as you get the opportunity to read a lot of scripts, and eventually earn enough to pay rent.

There are some freelance analysts who will read and critique your work for a fee. You can find listings for them in the back of Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and the various screenwriting magazines. While I’m sure many of them are dedicated and conscientious, there are a few things I would ask to see before writing a check. First, they should show you a sample of the coverage or story notes they write. Ask yourself, if you were handed this document, would it help you write your next draft? Second, they should be able to give you some references, both in terms of writers they’ve helped and places they’ve worked. Third, you need to have some sort of contract or agreement that makes it clear that they are working for you on a one-time basis, and that you’re not signing over any rights to them. Many freelance readers are also aspiring producers, and you need to be clear what the boundaries are.

Obviously, these are the kinds of guarantees you’re looking for when you’re dealing with a complete stranger. If you’re dealing with a friend, acquaintance, or friend-of-a-friend, you’ll probably be a little more flexible in your requirements.

How much should you pay? Like eye surgery, you really don’t want to shop for the cheapest rate you can find. I could imagine it costing as little as $100, or as much as $500. Only you know how much it’s worth to you.

There’s one online service I’ve seen that does coverage and story notes, called ScriptShark. This is in no way an endorsement, because I don’t know if they’re any good. But if any reader has worked with them or any similar service, I’d love to hear about your experience, so I can pass it along in a future column.

Help! Everytime I think of a cool screenplay idea, and start developing a treatment, I find out later that practically the exact same idea is already in development somewhere in Hollywood! What should I do? Ditch the idea and move on, or stick with it?

–Frustrated and slightly paranoid screenwriter

Every working screenwriter I know has been in this situation, where you flip open Variety and find that Paramount has just bought a project that sounds horribly similar to yours. Just remember that you’re only reading a one sentence description, and the script itself could be completely different.

For instance, the logline might read, "The project concerns a team of scientists who must stop an ancient evil." That storyline could be describing THE RELIC, or just as easily be about GHOSTBUSTERS. And no one would say those are the same idea.

In short, my advice is not to worry about it, unless (a) you find out more details about the other project which prove it to be very similar to yours, and (b) there’s evidence that the other movie is probably going to get made. While occassionally two competing projects will get greenlit, such as ARMAGEDDON and DEEP IMPACT, or VOLCANO and DANTE’S PEAK, far more often neither project will, as happened with the multiple Janis Joplin biopics.

Just remember that a well-written script has value for a writer even if it never gets made, in terms of its ability to showcase your talent. If you have a great idea that can make a great script, don’t be afraid to write it.

How did you come to be a co-producer on GO?

–David Demchuk

Although Columbia Pictures ultimately released GO, they weren’t the original buyer of the script (in fact, every studio in town had passed on it, feeling the subject matter was too dark). A tiny company called Banner Entertainment read the script and wanted to make the movie, but since they didn’t have a lot of money to put up front, they offered a few things a studio normally wouldn’t.

First, they guaranteed I would be the first, last and only writer on the project. Second, they would give me the right to buy the script back if the movie hadn’t gone into production within 18 months. Finally, they would keep me on board as co-producer.

The various flavors of producer credit (executive producer, associate producer, co-producer) are tossed around a bit too easily in Hollywood, and all too often they’re given to people who don’t really deserve them, such as an actor’s mananger. In my case, I actually earned my masters degree in the film producer’s program at USC, so I was weirdly well qualified for the job.

For the first week or two, I just sat quietly in meetings, happy to be there. But ultimately I got highly involved in every aspect of the production, from hiring Doug Liman to direct it to scrambling for funds when our foreign financing fell apart (I had just made a deal with Columbia’s sister studio, Tri-Star, which is a large reason why the movie ended up there). During production, I was on-set from call to wrap, and sat in on five months of editing. It was an amazing experience.

In total, there were five producers on GO. The three "full" producers were Paul Rosenberg, who had set up the script and given me my first two jobs in the business; Mickey Liddell, who ran Banner Entertainment; and Matt Freeman, who worked with Mickey and brought him the script. The other co-producer was Paddy Cullen, who oversaw the physical production, including the budget, schedule and insurance.

Looking back, it’s hard to imagine making the movie without all those people doing their part. While GO had some unique challenges, every production needs its good cops and bad cops, peacemakers and war-bringers. A writer can go off and work by himself, but a producer needs to lead dozens of other people. It’s a very different set of skills.

Since GO, I have co-executive produced a television series, and signed on to produce a big-budget monster movie that I’m writing at Columbia. But even on projects where I’m "just" a writer, the experience of having produced is a tremendous advantage in anticipating the needs of the filmmakers.