John August

QandA

Whatever happened to…

Pitches, Projects, QandA

questionmarkWhile wasting time on Scriptsales.com, I came across a sci-fi/thriller you sold to Columbia back in 2000. The log line was: “Three explorers, searching for fossilized evidence of a prehistoric species, discover the true cause of its extinction.”

Sounds cool. Any plot details you can share? Any chance we’ll ever get to see it produced?

–Dan
Los Angeles

The real question is if I’ll ever write it.

I sold this project as a pitch. Basically, I had a good idea for a scary, expensive tent-pole summer movie, so I met with Amy Pascal (who runs Columbia Pictures) and she liked it. Deals were made. Contracts were signed.

But then things got busy with the second Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish, and a half-dozen other movies I worked on. In the meantime, a long-dormant project at another studio came roaring back to life, and it was clear that I’d have to make some big changes to avoid overlapping with their story. (And no, I’m not going to say what that other movie is, but it is being made.)

So, as often happens, my project was put on a back burner. I never typed so much as a “FADE IN:”, nor have I been paid anything. Still, I may get around to writing it one day, because there’s some very intriguing stuff in the concept, which isn’t obvious in the press release.

One thing to bear in mind when reading about any project in the trades is that filmmakers will often be a little disingenous about the actual plot, for fear of spoiling the surprise. That’s certainly the case here. Suffice to say the movie is much less Jurassic Park-y than you’d think.

Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll do it.

Big Green Envelopes

Film Industry, Projects

One of the less-documented joys of being a working screenwriter is when you open the mailbox to find a big green envelope. It’s a very distinctive shade of green…

…which is only used for one purpose: a WGA [residual](http://johnaugust.com/site/glossary#residuals) check.

You never know quite when these envelopes are coming, or how much will be inside. Half the fun is guessing before you rip it open. If a successful movie you wrote has recently come out on DVD, the check could be for tens of thousands of dollars. Or for a movie like Go, it could be a few hundred, for showing on Cinemax. Regardless, it’s found money, and cause for jubilation.

Recently, I’ve been getting a bunch of little checks, on the order of $425.60. They’re payments for D.C., the staggeringly unsuccessful show I created for the WB in 2000. Although it only ran three episodes in the U.S., apparently all seven episodes ran in Europe.

Unbeknownst to me, the WGA did an investigation, and figured out that I was owed residuals for this. So they got Universal to pay me.

It’s not a lot of money, but strictly on principle I’m very grateful for it. Accountants are rarely lauded as heroes. So here’s a shout-out to the WGA collections department, and David DelVecchio in particular, for tracking down every last cent writers are owed.

Glossary: Residuals

Glossary

RESIDUALS
Payments made to a film or television writer when his or her work is sold to another venue, such as a feature film sold on DVD, or a network television episode shown in syndication. These fees are negotiated and collected on behalf of the writer by the Writers Guild of America.

Page count and tight formatting

Formatting, General, QandA

questionmarkI have a question regarding page count. I have a screenplay that I’ve completed, which is about 135 pages or so. I brought it down from 143, but I keep hearing about this magic number of 120 pages, and how that’s what Hollywood looks for. I know my story is tight; it’s now to a point where it’s sacrificing what I set out to do.

I’ve actually used the “tight” page layout option in Final Draft to get it down to 125 pages. My question is: Is this something that is easy to spot, or considered bad? Personally I can’t tell very easily that it’s formatted tighter?

And as an aside…any chance of getting my short film mentioned on the site? It’s called [“this moment”](http://www.dimeworth.com) and screened at Sundance this year, as part of Kevin Spacey’s triggerstreet online festival top ten.

— Ayz

I’ve plugged your film, so let’s get to your question.

Yes, everyone can tell when you use the “tight” setting on Final Draft. Yes, it’s cheating. While I know some people who use it, I personally recommend against it. In typographic terms, “tight” reduces the leading between lines, which makes your script fractionally more difficult to read. Anything that makes the reader more likely to give up rather than finish your script is a Bad Thing.

So don’t do it.

I’ve crossed the 120-page barrier on many occasions, and the world hasn’t come crashing down on my head. But 135 is really long. While you may think you’ve trimmed out all the fat, you haven’t. How can I be so sure, without having read your script?

1. This is one of your first scripts, and first scripts are always fat.
2. Please flip to page 73. If you had to cut this scene, would the entire movie fall apart? No. You’d write around it. So cut it and deal with the absence. Repeat as needed.
3. Your short film is good, but it too has fat. If each of the setups were half as long, the film would be more effective.

In case you’re wondering, real working screenwriters do worry about page count and such. I was on a panel last week with [Terry Rossio](http://imdb.com/name/nm0744429/), where we both talked about going through the script page by page, killing off [widows and orphans](http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/14089.html).