is this a script no no?

M

mikewest13

Well-known member
If you make reference to another movie, or write in a particular movie star, could that make it harder to sell?
 
I would think the director and prodco will decide who will play the actors. Unless you are the director, you have no say in that, leave any specific names of actors out of your script.
 
Let me clarify, I have written a spec comedy script about a couple of writers who accidentally plagiarize a script and pass it off as their own.

As the process moves forward and they are in LA, they meet certain people, celebrities... For the purpose of this draft, I have put certain people, but they are easily exchangeable.

Would it be easier to just make up a name instead?
 
mikewest13 said:
...As the process moves forward and they are in LA, they meet certain people, celebrities... For the purpose of this draft, I have put certain people, but they are easily exchangeable.

Would it be easier to just make up a name instead?
Click to expand...

Well, I have no expertise on this, but...

Team America comes to mind - where they made fun of several specific actors and their particular political viewpoints (I can't see Matt Damon without saying his name in a politically incorrect way :) )

Also, Being John Malkovich might be another example where the character was written in (and could've been changed, I suppose.)

And remember Crocodile Dundee, where the tourists are in the subway, and one mistakes Dundee for Clint Eastwood?

If the actor-reference or persona is a part of the story, perhaps that's Ok. But if it's just a name-dropping kind of thing, where the characters are just meeting actors to "pad the stats" as it were, maybe that's where the line is drawn.


Regards,
Russell
 
And one of the Oceans # movies where they are in Italy if I recall, has Julia Roberts in it both as someone else and as playing herself, or something like that. So I think if it is relevant and important to the script then I would guess yes include specific actors in the script.
 
If the question is whether or not someone would want to buy said script, I'd think there would be a lot of other factors which would weigh more heavily. References to other films and specific answers can be changed.
 
mikewest13 said:
If you make reference to another movie, or write in a particular movie star, could that make it harder to sell?
Click to expand...
I know you cleared it up but I can't help but be reminded of what Michael Palin wrote into the script for the description of the Agamemnon character in Time Bandits.

"Sean Connery (or someone of equal, but cheaper, stature)"
 
charlie kaufman wrote "being john malkovich" on spec.

there was another hot spec sale called something like "brad pitt stole my girlfriend".

your results may very.
 
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