Yikes!
Upon receipt of such a letter, you’re probably going to feel a lot like Kermit the Frog and Company as their journey finally brings them to the inner sanctum of a movieland mogul (THE MUPPET MOVIE). Will that cigar-chomping producer in the big chair send for his secretary to type up the Standard-Rich-and-Famous-Contract? Or will you get summarily booted back to your lily pad in the swamp?
Relax. Your angst regarding either scenario is probably premature. Besides, if you’ve done your homework on how to prepare for these meet-and-greets—as well as having a basic understanding of how the production process works—you’ll be putting your best script forward.
SPEED-DATING YOUR WAY TO CINEMA SUCCESS
Pitch sessions are the Tinseltown equivalent of speed-dating. Or so my husband pointed out after he overheard a conversation in which I was trying to dissuade a client from foisting her entire manuscript on me. “Things really get cooking by page 55,” she kept insisting. “You’re not giving it a chance by only reading the beginning.”
The whimsical correlation he made to the accelerated pace of today’s singles scene was something I’d never considered., speed-dating being a radically alien concept to me anyway. What’s the mega-rush, I’ve wondered, having grown up and dated in an era when couples used to actually invest quality time in getting to know each other. The approach I used in some of my early attempts at writing, in fact, followed that same leisurely, onion-layer-peeling strategy. (Fortunately for my career, an editor tactfully explained that it’s all right for Art to imitate Life just as long as the Art version happens a lot faster.)
Once I began to analyze his observation, however, there’s a lot of similarity. Just as it’s important for the first 10 pages of your screenplay to resonate with wit and seasoned brilliance, your first 10 minutes of an actual, in-person pitch need to be compelling enough to warrant a follow-up call. Such is the playing field of agents and producers in search of new material. The demands on their time dictate that if it takes more than 10 minutes to warm up to a plot, the relationship probably isn’t going to go anywhere. Just like singles bars, they know there are enough other available prospects wandering around that it would be inefficient to linger on the ones that don’t arouse any enthusiasm insofar as the delivery of immediate or long-term gratification.
So how can you make your project a desirable “catch” in such a warp-speed market? By applying what you know about the rules of attraction and making both your script and your pitch for it an invitation they won’t want to walk away from.
DON’T LET YOUR TEASER BE THE BEST PART OF THE SHOW. Will the initial chemistry that ignited over Jamaican music and exotic drinks with little paper umbrellas be sustained after you learn that your paramour’s golden tan is fake, that he lives with his mother in a mobile home park, and that he’s a compulsive gambler? Probably not. Likewise, a come-hither script which makes bold promises at the outset that it can’t live up to in actual substance is going to be found out fairly quickly and discarded. This is especially true of writers who front-load their scripts with all the gadgets, gimmickry and jokes to get someone’s attention and then have no material left beneath the surface to parse out over the duration. As a girlfriend of mine was wont to remark about various men she’d been set up with on dates, “Flashy suit, empty head.”
IMITATION MAY BE FLATTERY BUT DON’T COUNT ON IT TO SELL YOUR SCRIPT
Have you noticed that most of the singer wannabees in karaoke bars try to mimic the voice and mannerisms of whoever made the chosen songs popular? Unfortunately, we as the audience are not only cognizant of who they’re trying to impersonate but also can’t help making comparisons, usually negative. Aspiring screenwriters who have yet to discover their own “voice” tend to do the same thing in patterning their storylines after films which were either box-office hits or are part of a transitory “clone movement” to milk the public’s mood-du-jour for action, patriotism or slapstick silliness. While it’s hard to find a song or pen a theme that’s never been done, there’s nevertheless plenty of room for alternative versions. Let them see from the opening notes that you know how to put an original spin on whatever rendition preceded you in the spotlight.
WHAT YOU SEE SHOULD BE WHAT YOU GET
A dear friend from the South ascribes to the philosophy that, “Whatever it takes to get a man (or a woman) is what you have to keep doing in order to hang on to them.” If money was the bait, you need to keep spending. If power was the attraction, you need to keep doing powerful things. If steamy sex was the lure—well, you get the picture. The same theory applies to the habit of novice screenwriters to genre-hop once the story is underway, primarily because they haven’t really defined what their film’s genre is to begin with. If your opening pages promise comedy, your audience will expect it to remain a comedy throughout. That’s what they came for, isn’t it? Compare this to a relationship that starts out with a set of ground rules regarding commitment expectations (i.e., “I’m looking for someone to bear my children”) but then devolves into something else (i.e., “I’d rather just be friends”). What if that individual returns at a later date and wants to pick up where he left off? Are you likely to trust him—or a scripted sequel—if the first time left you feeling cheated and unfilled?
THE FOREPLAY OF FORESHADOWING
For a movie to be successful, it must effectively seduce at all levels, stirring the viewers’ senses and anticipation to the point that they just can’t wait to get to the good stuff. Like flirtation, however, film foreplay can’t be rushed or come on too strong. It is instead an artfully crafted path of foreshadowing that spritzes just enough perfume and shows just enough glimpse of skin to turn the pursued into the pursuer without the former even realizing that the roles have been reversed. Operating within our respective frames of reference, we attempt to guess what these seductive signals mean and, accordingly, keep turning the pages to (hopefully) affirm how smart we are. Clues that may not be obvious at the start take on new significance as the relationship—and the story—advances, allowing the quarry to appreciate the clever manner in which they became inextricably hooked. If your opening pages don’t contain a visual or a line that not only flirts with your reader’s imagination and ego but will concurrently have profound meaning to your protagonist later on, go back and put one in.
PROBABLY MORE THAN WE WANTED TO KNOW
Have you ever met someone new who felt compelled to tell you his or her whole life story on the very first date? Makes your head hurt, doesn’t it? Not to mention that there’s an implied expectation you’ll actually be expected to remember all these details later on. Authors make this same error in feeling the need to explain how their characters arrived at the circumstances around which the film will revolve and—even worse—expecting us to memorize its alleged importance. Unfortunately, the inclusion of too much back-story (whether told sequentially or in flashback) impedes any forward momentum of the current plot. Bottom line: start your plot at the point of conflict and move briskly forward.
ARE YOU AS TURNED ON AS I AM?
Consider how many people pass through our lives each day without registering a single blip on the emotional radar screen. Customers in line at the bank. Passengers riding mass transit. Pedestrians in the crosswalk at lunchtime. Unless there is something striking about their appearance or actions—or unless they personally engage us with a smile, eye contact, or an offhand remark—we have no particular reason to remember them. Likewise with scripts. Unless they reach out and evoke some kind of emotional or physical response, they are only innocuous words on a piece of paper. Don’t trust your own silent reading as a barometer of connectivity. As the author, you’re already involved and committed. Instead, put those first 10 pages to the speed-dating test of an objective review by people who don’t know your story. Furthermore, sit and watch them as they read, making note of their facial expressions and reactions. If you’ve been successful at compelling each of your readers to ask for more, your script has accomplis
hed the first critical step toward success: distinguishing itself from the competition and inviting a longer look than just 10 minutes.
LEARNING BY EXAMPLE
So what kind of plots hit the ground running, tell us up-front what sort of ride to expect, and—most importantly—make us keep turning the pages? Although each of the following hail from different genres and have widely disparate protagonists, what they have in common is the capacity to tweak our curiosity and make us want to explore a relationship past the initial introduction.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
DAVE
MOONSTRUCK
TRUE LIES
BROADCAST NEWS
GALAXY QUEST
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING
MURDER AT 1600
SISTER ACT
BIG JAKE
TOOTSIE
LETHAL WEAPON
HOUSESITTER
GLORY
TIME AFTER TIME
CASABLANCA
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
SUNSET BOULEVARD
A PRODUCER’S ROLE IN THE PROCESS
Once a script leaves your hands, how exactly does it become a film? Just like the task of making a sausage, (1) there’s a lot that goes into it and (2) you probably don’t need to know all the details.
It does help, however, to glean an appreciation for the critical role of today’s film producer in ensuring that only the best quality ingredients go into the final mix. Fox Producer David Gorder (PLANET OF THE APES, X-MEN, X2, DEEP BLUE SEA, BATMAN AND ROBIN, MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING) allows us a look inside at what happens to a film once the cameras start rolling.
As a producer, how do you draw the balance between the need for commercial success and the desire for artistic expression?
The objective of all studios/financiers is commercial success, and the primary objective of the director (in most cases) is artistic expression. This almost always leads to conflict. Therein lies the role of the producer: to mitigate the conflict by respecting the artistic wishes of the director but also convincing him/her that certain creative choices may be wise for the movie’s commercial appeal, essentially aiming to get the best of both worlds. You have to be a constant diplomat and do what’s best for the movie. Filmmakers are in the business of selling tickets so you must keep the audience in mind but support the director as much as possible to get his vision to the screen. The producer also has to engage in a leadership role to protect the overall vision of what the movie about.
To what extent do you get involved in the review and evaluation of the actual screenplay for a project?
All producers on a film generally get involved with the script at some level. It is important for producers to compose story notes and script suggestions for the director. This process begins with a budgetary review of the first draft and continues through production. Sometimes you find that your notes mirror those of the other producers and often the studio creative executives, then you consolidate notes and address the bigger creative issues in the script. You look for potential problems with the storytelling and try to solve them before you shoot the scenes. It really is imperative that all producers read the script and provide notes to some extent, whether the notes are creative or production/financial related in nature.
How would you describe the nature of the relationship you as a producer have with the investors who finance films on your recommendation?
There is much pressure on a producer to deliver to a financier, both creatively and financially; so, much of the producer’s integrity and professionalism is at stake. Therefore, you try to forge a business relationship based on trust and good faith with the financier first, and then you try to take it further into the creative realm if the financier wishes to do so. Some financiers do not wish to get involved in the creative aspects of filmmaking; they entrust the director and producers they hire.
What is the process that you go through when evaluating proposed projects?
I first ask myself if there is a story to be told. If so, is it a good story that would interest others? Secondly, I assess if the story could be commercial or made more commercial if it’s not already. Thirdly, are there interesting and relatable characters? Lastly, I imagine the approximate budget that would be needed to make the story into a movie?
Once a film begins production, what is your ongoing role with the project?
Basically, once a film begins production, the producer acts as a troubleshooter to foresee and avoid production related problems that could arise. Every shooting day on a movie set poses a new set of challenges and problem solving. The skilled producer tries to handle these challenges and problems with minimal involvement of the director. It is of utmost importance for the producer not to involve the director in any situations that would divert his focus from shooting the movie and completing the day’s work. The producer also continues his/her leadership role along with providing guidance and inspiration to the cast and crew.
What are the top three criteria you use to decide whether to produce a script?
Story idea or premise. Characterizations—do want to go on a journey with the characters? Is there potential for good production value in the story—will people want to see the world in which the story is set?
What role does research (market, economic, demographic, etc.) play in the production business?
This is a frustrating question for many producers because market and economic trends are so volatile and demographic trends tend to be fickle as well. Often it seems audience tastes change weekly. Some generalizations could be made about the market through research (e.g., there is generally always a market for teen/young adult horror films, action films and broad comedies) that has remained relatively constant over the years. Basically I find that it’s really all about how good of a story you have and if you have told it well on the screen. If you have told a good story on screen, then market research be damned, audiences will see the movie you’ve made—if it entertains them and they leave the theater feeling satisfied.
From your perspective, what constitutes a “successful” movie?
A “successful” movie is a film that does well commercially at the box office, provides a return on the investment, and has a “shelf life” (i.e., audiences will pay to see it again whether it be in the theater or on home video).
What criteria do you use when considering whether a particular script is suitable for a specific market (TV, straight to video, European, etc.)?
The first criteria is what type of audience does the story appeal to and is there a theatrical market for the story? The second criteria is the screenwriting. If the script tends to be simple in its structure and the characters more generally written, it is probably more suitable for TV. Straight-to-video films are usually those films which are geared to a particular market niche and are inexpensively made.
What opportunities do independent filmmakers present to you as a producer? To what do you attribute the apparent increase in independent filmmaking?
Independent filmmakers are bigger risk takers and, therefore, you are more apt to get a complex or controversial story made into a movie. Also directors on independent films have a bit more creative freedom since the studio is not second guessing their artistry and storytelling abilities for a mass audience. More independent films are being made today because studios are unwilling to take financial risks associated with controversial, complex or unproven subject matter. Studios want to finance films they are fairly sure will attract a broad audience and hat have built-in market recognition (e.g., THE HULK, SPIDERMAN, remakes of classic films like PLANET OF THE APES, hit TV series, video games, cartoons, etc.). This is why most character driven drama and innovative films being released today are independently made. The financial risk is lower because they are usually less costly to produce.
What role do you as a producer play in the release and distribution of a film? If the decision is ma
de not to release a film, or to release a film directly to video rather than through theaters, how does that affect the investors who financed the film, and do you or the investors have any say in such decisions?
You try to sell your movie to a distributor as best you can by building interest and holding screenings, and generally convincing them there is a commercial audience for the film, but if they don’t like it, there is not much you can do to change it at that point without spending “fix it” money in post production, re-editing, etc. You must do what is best for all investors involved, even if that means foregoing a theatrical release for direct-to-video. The longer the film is in the can and not bought and distributed, the harder it is to make money on the film. The law of diminishing returns begins to apply. If there is no promise of a theatrical release, the returns will usually be lower.
Could It Be a Movie Page 22