John August

QandA

The Queen on a silver platter

Awards, Film Industry

[for my consideration]The inflow of screeners has slowed to a trickle, with only The Queen arriving this week. That makes nine screeners so far:

* The Queen
* Little Children
* Babel
* World Trade Center
* United 93
* Notes on a Scandal
* Flags of Our Fathers
* Little Miss Sunshine
* Thank You for Smoking

The Hollywood Reporter claims its [FYC](http://hollywoodreporter.com/fyc) has screenplays for download, but I’ve yet to find one for any of the movies it features. If any readers find links to the screenplay contenders, please pass them along.

Four for four, or Hooray for Chad

Education, News

Longtime readers will note that my former assistants have done well for themselves. [Rawson](http://imdb.com/name/nm1098493/) has directed two movies, [Dana](http://imdb.com/name/nm1401416/) has become an in-demand screenwriter, and [Sean](http://imdb.com/name/nm1091301/) is a TV staff writer with a pilot in production.

I’m happy to add [Chad](http://imdb.com/name/nm1548657/) to the list of successes. After many delays, his script “Sydney White” is going into production on February 12th, with [Joe Nussbaum](http://imdb.com/name/nm0638271/) directing. Variety has [the story](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117956518.html?categoryid=13&cs=1) in today’s issue.

“Sydney White” is basically Snow White set in college, with Amanda Bynes playing the titular character, and seven outcasts taking over as the dwarfs. The project is a family affair; Chad’s wife Dara is co-producing. You may recognize her as an occasional poster on the site.

What’s the secret behind my assistants’ success? It’s certainly not me. I rarely read their scripts, never take them to meetings, and only sporadically offer advice. I think one main factor may be that there’s only a limited amount of work to do in any given day, so that leaves lots of time for staring at the computer monitor, wondering what the hell they should write.

Another common factor: except for Sean, they’re all [Starkies](http://cinema.usc.edu/producing/index.cfm). So I’m hiring from a pool of people who are likely to be successful regardless. But that doesn’t make me any less happy for them.

Ands and Ampersands

Film Industry, QandA

questionmarkFor “written by” credit, what is the difference between “and” or “&” in cowritten scripts? I recall reading that one is a collaboration and the other is a writer rewriting someone else’s work. Thanks.

— Dennis
Winnipeg, Canada

You’re pretty much right. The decision about which writers’ names are listed in the credits, and the conjunctions between them, falls under the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild.

The ampersand (e.g. “Al Gough & Miles Millar”) means that the two writers are a team, and are treated as one person for WGA purposes. The other version (e.g. “Josh Friedman and David Koepp”) indicates that the writers worked at different times. In this case, the screen credits manual

The order of writers’ names in a shared credit may be arbitrated. Generally, the most substantial contributor is entitled to first position credit. Where there is no agreement among the arbiters as to order of names, or where the Arbitration Committee determines that the credited writers’ contribution is equal, then the Arbitration Committee shall order the writers’ names chronologically.

Little Children, a little late

Awards, Film Industry, Follow Up

[for my consideration]Yesterday afternoon, I hauled my butt over to the Sunset 5 to catch [Little Children](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404203/). I’d been dying to see it ever since catching the brilliant trailer months ago. (The trailer was better than the movie, which is no slam on the film. The trailer really is that good.)

Today’s mail brought a screener copy of Little Children. Anticipating this will be a trend, I’d like to pre-announce the movies I plan to see soon, so that the studios can be ready with the DVD follow-up: Children of Men, The Good Shepherd, and the Alien Quadrilogy.Okay, that last one’s not in theaters. But I’d like a copy, all the same.

Screeners to date:

* __Little Children__
* Babel
* World Trade Center
* United 93
* Notes on a Scandal
* Flags of Our Fathers
* Little Miss Sunshine
* Thank You for Smoking