JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
Ryan -- very true, I totally agree. Basically that is what I was trying to say.
You said something that I emphasize when talking about indie filmmakers, or to them -- don't try to out-Hollywood Hollywood, haha, it just isn't going to work. In other words, what is the point of trying to make something exactly like what has already been done, when you know you can't do it better? Like if I were to try to make a killer action film on a $100,000 budget, umm, how in god's name can I compete with Transformers or The Bourne Trilogy or Die Hard or whatever else? My film is going to be a joke compared to these highly professional efforts. Even if my story is "better" in some sense, it's still going to look awful on that type of budget.
But if you can, for instance, make a really clever, creative romantic comedy, or drama, or something along those lines, something sans effects, etc., then I feel you can compete effectively. You stand out, you become something different than everything else that is out there.
The Break-Up was already done, exactly, so what's the point of doing it again unless you can come up with a very different twist or take on the story.
Ryan, or anyone else, this is sort of a general question. Let's say you have a script you believe is very good, heck let's take it to the next level, other people believe it is very good too, maybe you take it to 5 script competitions and you place in 4 of them and win 1 of them, or maybe you submit to 10 competitions / festivals with that script and you rank in 7 or 8 of them, you win a few in your genre, etc. Basically you get great feedback and it's apparent you have something that's "good" in the estimation of people who judge this type of thing. Are you wasting your "product" or your talents if you make the script into a film yourself? I mean, provided you have the means of course and the ability as a director, is it wrong to just go ahead and make it yourself, figuring if you can write and direct a very good indie film that'll get you places? Or would you think, no way, that costs money, don't bother doing that, try to sell the script to a bigger company and you'll get further professionally.
Just curious. Because I definitely plan to direct this script I just wrote, as I need something like that to launch my career as a feature director, and want that under my belt, since my ultimate goal is not primarily a screenwriter, it's a writer-director.
I have 4 total script ideas, one of which is now a rough draft script (another is part of an outline). I almost feel like 2 of those I couldn't live without directing them myself, and the other 2 I would be happy writing great scripts and having them sold. After that, whatever happens happens. I just feel like conceivably I could write 4 very good scripts per year in the future, but never could direct more than 1, maybe 2, even if I was highly successful, so I wouldn't have a problem with sometimes just being a writer (think Andrew Niccol -- wrote and directed Gattaca, Lord of War, and Simone, but just wrote The Terminal and The Truman Show, letting two other great directors tackle the material).
You said something that I emphasize when talking about indie filmmakers, or to them -- don't try to out-Hollywood Hollywood, haha, it just isn't going to work. In other words, what is the point of trying to make something exactly like what has already been done, when you know you can't do it better? Like if I were to try to make a killer action film on a $100,000 budget, umm, how in god's name can I compete with Transformers or The Bourne Trilogy or Die Hard or whatever else? My film is going to be a joke compared to these highly professional efforts. Even if my story is "better" in some sense, it's still going to look awful on that type of budget.
But if you can, for instance, make a really clever, creative romantic comedy, or drama, or something along those lines, something sans effects, etc., then I feel you can compete effectively. You stand out, you become something different than everything else that is out there.
The Break-Up was already done, exactly, so what's the point of doing it again unless you can come up with a very different twist or take on the story.
Ryan, or anyone else, this is sort of a general question. Let's say you have a script you believe is very good, heck let's take it to the next level, other people believe it is very good too, maybe you take it to 5 script competitions and you place in 4 of them and win 1 of them, or maybe you submit to 10 competitions / festivals with that script and you rank in 7 or 8 of them, you win a few in your genre, etc. Basically you get great feedback and it's apparent you have something that's "good" in the estimation of people who judge this type of thing. Are you wasting your "product" or your talents if you make the script into a film yourself? I mean, provided you have the means of course and the ability as a director, is it wrong to just go ahead and make it yourself, figuring if you can write and direct a very good indie film that'll get you places? Or would you think, no way, that costs money, don't bother doing that, try to sell the script to a bigger company and you'll get further professionally.
Just curious. Because I definitely plan to direct this script I just wrote, as I need something like that to launch my career as a feature director, and want that under my belt, since my ultimate goal is not primarily a screenwriter, it's a writer-director.
I have 4 total script ideas, one of which is now a rough draft script (another is part of an outline). I almost feel like 2 of those I couldn't live without directing them myself, and the other 2 I would be happy writing great scripts and having them sold. After that, whatever happens happens. I just feel like conceivably I could write 4 very good scripts per year in the future, but never could direct more than 1, maybe 2, even if I was highly successful, so I wouldn't have a problem with sometimes just being a writer (think Andrew Niccol -- wrote and directed Gattaca, Lord of War, and Simone, but just wrote The Terminal and The Truman Show, letting two other great directors tackle the material).