Saturday, Jul. 3

Screenwriting: As Bleak As It Has Ever Been

Happy 4th of July everyone who loves well-told stories on film!

Indeed, the recession has given the movie studios a reason — or an excuse, depending on the perspective — to adjust in their favor how they employ screenwriters. When screenwriters do get a shot at work, they are increasingly subject to “sweepstakes pitching,” in which as many as a dozen are pitted against one another, with producers picking the one they like best. Or writers are often paid only for the first draft of the script in “one-step deals,” and no longer offered a fee for subsequent drafts, as in the past. Writers also are expected to produce elaborate outlines of the script before they are hired for the project, losing valuable time if they are not selected.

More recipes for disaster, more years ahead with sub-standard stories.

“In my opinion, it’s shortsighted,” said Nicole Clemens, head of the motion picture literary department for International Creative Management. “In terms of the development process, what’s unfortunate about the one-step deal is that the movie is often ‘found’ in the second or third draft.”

Since there is NO way the studios are going to risk altering their processes during this downtime, perhaps the answer is to make sure that the second or third draft isn’t required in the first place. Why not find the story within the first and stop wasting development execs time. And by first draft, of course that means the first draft anyone sees. In reality it should be the tenth or fifteenth actual draft.