Development Read-Throughs

[craigbowman]

All of my experience with read-throughs (table-reads) has been after a project has gone through development and you're near the end of pre-production when the project has been cast and everyone in key positions( producer(s), financier(s), director, etc.) listens to the read-through by all the castmembers.

Have you ever listened to a cold read-through before pre-production while your project is still in development?

I'm thinking of having a handful of actors do a cold read-through just to hear the dialogue out loud. I say handful because there are 119 roles in the screenplay.

 

[Kess]

I highly recommend read-throughs long before production is to start...especially for the low-budget do-it-yourselfers. You need to hear the dialog out loud...and I would tape the read-through so you can play it back.

 

[lambert]

I always look forward to them for stageplays and screenplays.
"I say handful because there are 119 roles in the screenplay. '
Wow thats a big number. I've had as many as twenty actors (doubling up) and I also had one major actor read a screenplay by himself back to us. At all levels of development I've found it very helpful. I've never taped it but I could see the value for some writers. Let us know how it goes. Good luck.

 

[Jordan Scott Price]

I say handful because there are 119 roles in the screenplay.

This sounds like Goodfellas x 3. That is a lot of characters!

I'm interested in knowing what kind of film this is

 

[craigbowman]

This sounds like Goodfellas x 3. That is a lot of characters!

I'm interested in knowing what kind of film this is

The 119 doesn't include the seven different sets of extras either, although, a lot of the roles comprise characters which have only a line or two such as the Maitre D' at Michigan J's.

Title: Plastic
Genre: Comedy
Logline: Trying to impress a girl, a man gets massively into credit card debt and hatches an ingenious scheme to lose the debt and get the girl.

 

[Kholi]

I got my reads through casting. Purposely picked the dialog I felt was going to be sticky and had actors read it.

Could be interesting to set something up before hand, but just reading dialog and acting to me don't fall into the same quarters: some actors can make dialog work just based on their appearance.

 

[craigbowman]

I got my reads through casting. Purposely picked the dialog I felt was going to be sticky and had actors read it.

Could be interesting to set something up before hand, but just reading dialog and acting to me don't fall into the same quarters: some actors can make dialog work just based on their appearance.

Since I originally posted this thread I organized and had the cold read-through with a select group of actors about a week and a half ago.

 

[memento515]

Your logline as written describes the third act more than the second act (which is the meat of the movie). It's also close to a double goal, diluting the theme.

" A man gets deep into debt trying to impress a girl"

is more focused on the central story problem, and clearly describes what we will see in Act 2 ("the movie"), which is someone on their way down a spiral of debt in pursuit of someone else. This would be a story about someone learning that you cant buy love (he turns it around in Act 3).

" A man launches an ingenious scheme to get out of debt"

is a different movie, about how credit card companies suck or people are greedy or what have you.

" A man launches an ingenious scheme to get out of debt and also to get a girl"

is what you have now.

you have the ghosts of two movies in your logline.

danger danger

also as it is now it looks like your movie has no moral center- the guy gets into debt, rids himself of it, and gets the girl anyway in one fell swoop. It hints that the theme is "you can win it all if you're badass enough".