Comprehensive, line-by-line screenplay consultancy.
Affordable Prices.
Fast, personal attention.
Contact Paul Peditto
A passage from the 2011 Hollywood Writer’s Report states:
“...since 2007, the last year covered in the previous Hollywood Writers Report, the nation’s economic fortunes have taken a serious turn for the worse. The Great Recession of 2008, triggered by the “bursting of the bubble” in the nation’s housing markets, was marked by a collapse of the financial markets, a tightening of credit, millions of housing foreclosures, millions of lost jobs1, and significant declines in consumer spending. The impact on the Hollywood industry seems to have been felt most acutely in the film sector. Whereas television production was more or less flat between 2007 and 20092, the number of theatrical films produced in the United States declined 25.5 percent, from 909 to just 677.3 Meanwhile, the WGA unemployment rate increased 2.6 percentage points since the last report, from 45.8 percent in 2007 to 48.4 percent to 2009 — which was driven by a 5.9 percent decline in the number of employed writers (from 4501 in 2007 to 4236 in 2009).
4236! Painful, right? A 7th Armored Division of writers trying to make it, and only 4,236 are actually doing it. Makes you want to cut up your Starbucks cash card and give up writing that live action-animation script about the young grilled cheese sandwich that dared to dream big…
But don’t despair. Those 4,236 writers might be the only ones making it in 2011, but they aren’t the only ones making movies. Plenty of writers are making smaller independent movies. Lots more make low-budget and micro-budget movies. Stories are being told, and will be, shitty economy or not.
In this environment you just need to be sure of what it is you’re going for when you start a project. Here are the five things I’d nail down before starting to write a movie…
I’m convinced the reason I’m not one of those 4,236 winners is that every script I’ve ever started writing was something I had to write. This is terrific for the artistic temperament but doesn’t always pay the bills. Nevertheless, you really should know what it is, exactly, you’re trying to say. Why is what you’re about to write important to you? They say write what you know…that’s probably because what you know is what you care about. Thus, you can write about it with conviction. Know why you’re writing the movie.
What’s new about your idea? What in it haven’t I seen before? Why will folks pay $10+ to sit in a theater and see it? For spec scripts, if it’s non-remake or sequel, it better have a monster concept behind it. For the Independent level, you’re still looking to raise millions, thus the need for a dazzling hook that will draw an audience remains. On a micro-budget, sure, you can write a script just because you’re interested in the subject of, say, baking bread. You still should have a compelling story behind that baking bread, something to draw an audience, something we’ve seen before but maybe never like this. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Please know your genre before you write page 1. Sounds obvious, but sometimes it’s not. Example: I had a student wanted to write about a recent divorce. The movie would be a drama and she made no bones about wanting to eviscerate her ex-husband. Week after week she’d come in with fresh pages that made our Writing Group howl with laughter. Somewhere about week 4 she realized: “Hey, I guess I’m writing a comedy.” Once you know the genre, know the sub-genre. What kind of comedy? The Hangover or Welcome to the Dollhouse? Horrible Bosses or Best In Show?
Single Protagonist? Dual Protagonist? Ensemble? Big difference between two protagonists and a single with a strong secondary lead. Ensemble movies like Crash, Lifeboat, Nashville or Airplane! all have great characters but not a single one that dominates more than others. Sure, in Crash the Matt Dillon character might have twice the number of scenes of, say, the Sandra Bullock character. It doesn’t make him the protagonist. Screen time is one way to recognize your protagonist (the protagonist will rarely disappear from the action) but it’s not the only measure. A protagonist is the POV character for the movie. He can share time with secondary characters but the main journey is his. Example: Goodfellas is Henry Hill’s story. Sure, the Deniro and Pesci characters are huge, not to mention his wife (who actually shares the V.O.)…while the screen time might be close, it’s still clearly Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) movie. All the subplot characters exist to further his story. Definitely know the protagonist model before you start.
“Style is the answer to everything. A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing. To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without style. To do a dangerous thing with style, is what I call art. Bullfighting can be an art. Boxing can be an art. Loving can be an art. Opening a can of sardines can be an art. Not many have style. Not many can keep style.”--Charles Bukowski
Style is voice. It’s you, coming through on the pages of the script. Not an easy thing to do. It’s been said you need to write a million words to develop a style. Absurd to put a number on it but the point is made: It takes a long time to develop as a writer. When we think of movie stylists we often think of directors: Tarantino has style. So does Lynch. So, too, does Woody Allen, Darren Aronofsky, and Orson Wells. But writers, too, can have style. Shane Black is notorious. Old school guys like William Goldman or Paul Schrader. Charlie Kauffman is recognizable on the page, and in his choice of projects. It could be argued that the writer is just a conduit to story, that they should blend in and not stand out on the page. I disagree. True voice is rare. Good writing makes a sound and the best writing grabs you by the throat and never let’s you go. So, keep working at it, get to the million words as soon as possible, and find that voice.
“THE IDEAL LOW-BUDGET MOVIE IS SET IN THE PRESENT. FEW SHOTS, LOTS OF INTERIORS, A COUPLE OF SPEAKING ACTORS (UNKNOWNS), NO MAJOR OPTICAL EFFECTS, NO HORSES TO FEED. BUNCH OF NOT-IN-THE-GUILD TEENS RUNNING AROUND AN OLD HOUSE WITH A DUDE IN A HOCKEY MASK CHASING AND SKEWERING THEM.”—JOHN SAYLES
There are no absolutes. For each of these “rules” I can name multiple movies you’ve heard of that have been successful. This list is only meant to inform on possible danger spots. Rules are meant to be broken, sure, but you better be good enough to do pull it off. Else have a cast-iron stomach for the audience’s inappropriate laughter when your chase sequence through San Fransisco streets malfunctions, the six year old actor tires out and crashes, or the editor you’re not paying flakes out before putting together the green screen effects in your $25,000 epic.
1. LIMIT LOCATIONS:
CENTRAL LOCATION (S) IF POSSIBLE. AVOID COMPANY MOVES. THE GOAL: A FULLY REALIZED STORY VISUALIZED WITH MINIMUM LOCATIONS.
2. LIMIT CHARACTERS:
SPEAKING PARTS DEMAND SAG MINIMUM WAGE PAYMENTS. WRITING IN KIDS, EXTRAS, ONE-LINE ACTORS? DON’T.
3. LIMIT SFX & STUNTS:
EXPLOSIONS, RAIN, CAR CHASES? ACTION SEQUENCES COST. BLOCKING OFF STREETS, HIRING PA’S COST. TIME CONSUMING AND EXPENSIVE.
4. WRITE FOR GENRE:
FORGET THE PERIOD PIECE: EXPENSIVE SET DESIGN, COSTUMES… WRITE FOR WHAT SELLS, MICRO-BUDGET: HORROR, SUSPENSE, SCI-FI, COMEDY.
5. WRITE LONGER SCENES:
DIALOGUE SCENES OVER ACTION… EXAMPLE: 95% OF CLERKS WAS SET INSIDE THE CONVENIENCE AND VIDEO STORES.
6. WRITE FOR A REALISTIC BUDGET:
GUNFIGHTS, EXPLOSIONS, SQUIBS? SPECIAL VEHICALS & MAKEUP DEMANDS? THE VAMPIRES YOU GOTTA HAVE… THAT SHOT OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE THAT’S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY… THAT KATY PERRY SONG YOU DON’T OWN BUT IS PERFECT FOR THE MOVIE… THE MUST-HAVE CRANE SHOT, STEADICAM OR HELICOPTER MOUNTS… EMBRACE YOUR LIMITATIONS: DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN’T DO, FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO.
7. WRITE IN WHAT’S AVAILABLE:
EL MARIACHI//ROBERT RODRIGUEZ’S SCHOOL BUS. NEED A 727, SOLDIER FIELD? DON’T WRITE IT IN UNLESS IT’S AVAILABLE TO YOU.
8. BEWARE THE POST-PRODUCTION SOLUTION:
DIGITAL ENHANCEMENT, SURE, BUT LIMIT THE GREEN SCREEN & CG EFFECTS—POST PRODUCTION COULD TAKE 10X PRODUCTION TIME.
9. BEWARE WEATHER AND SEASONS:
RAIN, SNOW AND WIND? COST TIME AND $$$.
10. MISCELLANEOUS DON’T WRITES:
ANIMALS AND CHILDREN
PERIOD-PIECE COSTUMES
SPECIAL VEHICALS & MAKEUP DEMANDS
SCENES INSIDE FOOTBALL STADIUMS WITH ONE THOUSAND EXTRAS.
SEX SCENES
NIGHT EXTERIORS.
11. LIMITED AND REASONABLE LOCATIONS:
FILMMAKERS NEED LOCATIONS THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE, HAVE ADEQUATE POWER SUPPLY AND FREE FROM TRAFFIC NOISE AND CROWD CONTROL ISSUES. PARE IT DOWN TO ONE LOCATION, FINE, BUT DON’T MAKE IT THE LYRIC OPERA, PACKED WITH FIVE THOUSAND FOR A SUNDAY MATINEE OF CARMEN. WRITE WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOCATIONS THE FILMMAKER WILL NEED.
12. FIND THE DYNAMIC CONCEPT:
SAW, OPEN WATER, BURIED, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, BLAIR WITCH…HOW IS WHAT YOU’RE WRITING DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING WE’VE SEEN? IT ALWAYS COMES DOWN TO STORY.
13. STORY IS FREE:
WANT TO ATTRACT C-LIST ACTORS WHO HAVE SLIPPED OFF THE RADAR? AN A-LISTER WHO WILL WORK FOR SCALE ON A LOW-BUDGET GEM THEY BELIEVE IN PASSIONATELY? WRITE A GREAT STORY.
“STORY IS FREE”—JOHN AUGUST
That’s not her real name. Her real name still inspires fear. This, the woman with two Tony Awards on the mantle place of her upper-east side apartment. This, the woman who produced Jane Doe, taking a rough-and-raw true story about drug addiction and turning it a perfectly charming, and soulless, Lifetime movie. The story behind the relationship between Niki and I might be a useful life lesson.
When we began Jane Doe we had an initial investment from friends and family of 90K. The plan was do it Limited X (see the Writer’s Guild for low budget contracts). We were in Pre-Production mode when Nika and her production company phoned. They loved loved loved the script! My brother and I were summoned to her offices. We were sat down on Italian leather, like a plain and peanut M & M, and told we would be the new Coen Brothers. Into the office came Doug Limon with a freshly-printed poster of his new movie, Swingers. It was all happening, especially when Niki slide a check across the desk for $150,000. She was interested in a partnership. Were we?
Sonofa…!!!
Hell yeah we were! Great, all that remained was signing the contact. The document sent was the size of the Yellow Pages. Our entertainment lawyer assured us it was a standard contract with “boiler-plate” language. As director, I’d get to take the material to the rough cut stage, then we would consult with Nika on the fine and final cuts.
Bottom line: We signed.
Here comes the life lesson, ready? You folks need to be very, VERY careful before you sign ANYTHING.
There is no going back, no fixing it. The compliments from Niki soon dried up. The artistic connection was an illusion. Nika was often and constantly on set, meddling, pressuring. As the production got further behind schedule she fired several people. Then there was the night we spent two hours setting up a critical shot and on the second take, Calista was bloodied by my brother swiping an electric alarm clock that went flying into her head and bloodied her. The ensuing conversation with Nika while I was at the hospital checking on Calista is still the stuff of nightmares.
The true nightmare came weeks later. Despite not shooting well over 20 scenes from the script, I somehow scraped together what I thought was coherent rough cut movie. Handing it off to her, Nika told me the bad news: She had “issues”, deep issues with the cut as is. She proceeded to “put a pin” in it. She sat at the Avid with the editor undoing every scene, every take I had chosen. She had final cut authority and from that moment, it became her movie.
Folks, there are people in the biz who are cutthroats like no Jack Sparrow. They will gut you, garotte you, and leave you for dead.
Or worse. Mediocrity.
Hold on to control of your project as long as you can.
JANE DOE TRAILER
Resignation…
Defeat…
No fun at all.
When you see this name it speaks to a soul-sucking experience so bad that it caused the Director to take his name off the movie. I wanted to use Allen Smithee on Jane Doe. I had to be talked out of it. The experience pretty much put me off directing for years afterward. I have never written about it because…it’s over. That was then, this is now, and I’m actually ok with it.
But for posterity, for the greater good–Let’s open up this foul oyster, shall we? As the great writer once told me, listen to my advice, do the opposite, and things will work out fine.
The greatest competition for any role I’ve written happened during Jane Doe, for the role of Jane. Among those who auditioned were Missy Yager (Dead Man Walking), Adrienne Shelly (The Unbelievable Truth & Waitress) who died so senselessly in 2006…
And Edie Falco.
This was two years before The Sopranos and Edie was pretty much unknown. We met in a Lower East Side coffeehouse, had a very nice hour together, and went our separate ways. Truth is, she was never in the running. My brother, playing the lead and in all his genius, decided that he “didn’t have chemistry” with Edie. He was pushing his own choice, another relative unknown with only The Birdcage to her film credit–Calista Flockhart. This was about a year before she would break big with Ally McBeal. As he was pushing her, I was pushing a theater actress from Chicago who had just won multiple awards in another play of mine. The decision took days, through taped auditions, evaluations, call backs, re-evaluations. Calista ended up with the role, and though I never quite bought her as a heroine addict, she came through with a brave performance. Her soon-to-be fame was also responsible for putting our DVD four across at every Hollywood and Blockbuster video store in the country, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood spots, and over two million in box office despite no reviews or theatrical release.
I always wonder what would have happened if we had chosen Edie. We lost touch very soon after that. Calista too. I doubt either of them would recognize me in a crowded elevator. And the life lesson is…?
Never burn a contact. Especially when she goes on to win three Golden Globes.
Blink and you’ll miss Vinny Pastore, Big Pussy of Sopranos fame, in a single-scene as a deli manager. Blink again you’ll miss Arthur Nascarella, also of The Sopranos, as a philosophical craps instructor. Elena Lowensohn as Jane’s junkie friend. Elena was the lead vampire in Nadja, and sexy beyond belief. Don’t forget Richard Bright, who’s had critical moments as the third guy on the left in some of cinema’s greatest movies. He kills Fredo in Godfather 2 for fuck’s sake! He also holds down Dustin Hoffman in the famous “is it safe” dentist scene for Sir Lawrence Olivier in Marathon Man. Lastly, name the actor most famous according to IMDB ratings in Jane Doe? It’s NOT Calista Flockhart. Give up? There’s an almost inconsequential scene where Jane steals silk ties for Horace, her boyfriend. She fakes a fall to cover her theft. The man who picks her up? Ken Leung, who went on to fame as Miles Straume in Lost.
What’s my point? 1-Write cool cameos to snag some excellent actors. It’ll make the project stronger and may actually help when it comes to financing.
2-Stay in touch with them. 10+ years later, I’m out of touch with every one of these folks. Don’t let that happen. Relationships, folks, are where it’s at.
Our guy was sharp! Dude looked great on his 1997 Harley Ultra-Classic Electra Glide. He also had some deadly BUDDAGE. Purple intica, I believe, the smoking of which, perhaps, played some small part in this woeful tale. Our kind bud-smoking, Harley-riding lawyer lead us into some contracts that we might–in retrospect–have wanted to think twice about. Pity, there is no retrospect. There are only losers who hire stoners to vet key documents, and those who don’t.
Talk about high! The producers of Jane Doe decided, in all their wisdom, to yank me off the casino boat in Aurora, Illinois where I was happily dealing craps to slot-playing, hair-curlered, pajama-wearing degenerates at 2 in the morning, and put me in charge of a film set. I had never, EVER, stepped on a film set. Crazy! I was too ignorant to even question the logic of it and everyone else thought it was an inspired idea. I had written the play and screenplay, directing the play in Chicago. I had LIVED this story for God’s sake! I was eminently acquainted with Atlantic City, where we’d be shooting, also the seedy Jane Street meat-market neighborhood (it was seedy then). Why not give me a shot? Surround me with capable people, maybe catch lightning in a bottle with a first-timer.
Didn’t happen.
First-time directors need a strong AD(Assistant Director). I ended up with four AD’s during the 18-day shoot. The first one left before the shoot, finding a gig that paid better. Two others quit during the course of the daily pressures, overtime, and insanity of those happy 18 days.
How green was I? The night before the shoot my old man told me a director always wears a hat that speaks to his individuality. I actually went out and bought a hat! And not just a hat, one of those cheesy, jokey New York City tourist hats. Cringe-worthy, even thinking about it a decade later. Imagine being on the crew when this loser walks in for the first all-hands Production meeting.
I was the first-time director who just HAD to sleep in the rooming-house where my girlfriend and I once lived the night before the shoot, without a cellphone or any way to contact me, to channel the spirits and GET INSPIRED. The poor AD begged me, saying I really shouldn’t be out of touch on the eve of the production’s first shooting day. This was likely the same AD who attempted to reason with me during the shoot that the director between takes needs to be with either the actors or camera, not playing handball with the PA’s.
There is a such a thing as too much responsibility. Before you take on the role of director, know that you can handle it. There’s very little sadder than a director losing his set.
I was a goddamn craps dealer! What the hell did I know about budgeting for a movie? Not my job. I didn’t even think to ask if the production schedule was realistic. I left that decision to the powers-that-be. Surely they would know how long it would take to film every scene and work out a do-able shooting schedule. We had 18 days, well over 100 scenes. Also, importantly, no rehearsal time. It would be left to the first-time time director to block out the scene on the spot in front of 15 or 20 people. This would be daunting enough, but throw in the ever-questioning Calista. She wanted to understand the motivations about her character’s heroin addiction, questioning how drug addiction takes a toll in real life, reminding me, correctly, that it wasn’t real life we were filming but a movie. All the while, tick tick tick. The relentless tick tick tick! The clock moving, money burning. Didn’t take long for the AD to begin poking my shoulder on an hourly basis, telling me we had to GO GO GO, that we wouldn’t make our day.
And we didn’t.
There wasn’t a single day of the 18 we made our day. Sure, you could attribute most of this to a clueless director. But a piece of it was poor scheduling in terms of shots and setups.
Guess what happens when you don’t make your day? You slash the script. “Ah, Paul, you know that 7-page scene Chris and Calista studied all last night? We have to cut it. Now you run up and tell her…” Watching your baby hacked by a machete-wielding producer…something to be avoided, good people.
Work with a real budget and shooting schedule.
Don’t, and fall into the abyss of obscurity.
