alex whitmer
Veteran
The silence in this section more than reflects the current state of screenwriting: fundamentally flawed and lagging way, way behind contemporary filmmaking.
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Nonsense. You cannot have "filmmaking" as a broad industry ahead of "screenwriting" - the filmmaking is only as strong or weak as its foundational element - the screenplay. Great films in any number cannot exist on foundations of weak scripts. Now, not being able to sell a script is down to industry trends, which are often cyclical. We are in a period - that, to be fair, has lasted a remarkably long time - where the spec market is weak. But it has been weak before, and has come back roaring. I firmly believe it will happen again, for the most fundamental of reasons: film needs scripts like humans need air to breathe. A great script is a rare commodity, and has always been a rare commodity, and will always command a steep price, deservedly so. The value of a great script is not subject to fashion, just as you would always be willing to pay any price for life-saving medicine, and that willingness will never go out of fashion. The demand will always be there. What does change is supply. It is not a constant. It is inarguable, that there are periods when there is a relative dearth of good product, and that does not make for a healthy thriving market.
But are people interested in good scripts? You bet. I'm not speculating, I know that for a fact. I have friends in the industry, including development and acquisition, and I know quite a few trackers. All trackers live for the next good script. That's what they talk about, that's their existence - and their jobs. Do you imagine that any of the many, many of these intelligent, sensitive and talented people live to reject good screenplays, or that they cannot tell the difference between a good and a bad script? You couldn't be more wrong. I started out as a reader in one of the top three talent agencies in town. I even headed the story department where all coverage happened. I read many scripts a day, wrote reports on them and looked for gems. Do you imagine that at any point I'd rather have read yet another poor, flawed, cliched and tired script or that I lived for that gem that made my day-week-month? The joy (and glory!) of discovering a good script is what we all lived for. That has not changed. There was no joy, nor profit in writing coverage of yet another weak script. I'd much, much, much, much rather read something good. When I get together with industry people, rarely does a meeting go by without someone asking whether there's something good out there - new writers, new scripts, new ideas.
Yet, as any reader knows, good scripts rarely happen. That is not going to change. You want to be a successful writer? It's the easiest thing in the world - deliver a good product. Of course, that also makes it very hard, because 95% of even established writers don't turn in very good work. It's all about standards.
Lack of money means I have to write for myself. I don't consider myself a great writer - by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, I'm not anxious to direct the work of most writers. Because subpar writer that I am (in my own estimation), I still find my own ideas more interesting than what most writers working today deliver (and I can read their scripts any time). I wish I was a better writer, but it'll have to do as material for my own projects, not because I'm an egomaniac (as I recognize my limitations), but because I consider the work I see of others quite weak most of the time. Go figure. Lack of appreciation is not the problem. Lack of good product, is. There are not many things I'm super confident about in film, but this is.
Also - would I love to work with a writer that I think has the kind of ability and taste that I would find compatible and inspiring? You can bet your bottom dollar that I would. Problem is: I haven't met one in my life. Those are rare birds, and odds of meeting one in your life are remote. Mediocrity - and worse - are the rule; just look at the veritable flood of crappy product out there spewing out in gigantic numbers, films you've never even heard of. Somebody wrote all that malarkey. Those are not the result of good filmmaking, and not based on good writing. Quite the opposite.
So good news - you can find success easily. And bad news - the odds that you can deliver a product that deserves success... very remote. This is my humble - but considered - opinion.
But are people interested in good scripts? You bet. I'm not speculating, I know that for a fact. I have friends in the industry, including development and acquisition, and I know quite a few trackers. All trackers live for the next good script. That's what they talk about, that's their existence - and their jobs. Do you imagine that any of the many, many of these intelligent, sensitive and talented people live to reject good screenplays, or that they cannot tell the difference between a good and a bad script? You couldn't be more wrong. I started out as a reader in one of the top three talent agencies in town. I even headed the story department where all coverage happened. I read many scripts a day, wrote reports on them and looked for gems. Do you imagine that at any point I'd rather have read yet another poor, flawed, cliched and tired script or that I lived for that gem that made my day-week-month? The joy (and glory!) of discovering a good script is what we all lived for. That has not changed. There was no joy, nor profit in writing coverage of yet another weak script. I'd much, much, much, much rather read something good. When I get together with industry people, rarely does a meeting go by without someone asking whether there's something good out there - new writers, new scripts, new ideas.
Yet, as any reader knows, good scripts rarely happen. That is not going to change. You want to be a successful writer? It's the easiest thing in the world - deliver a good product. Of course, that also makes it very hard, because 95% of even established writers don't turn in very good work. It's all about standards.
Lack of money means I have to write for myself. I don't consider myself a great writer - by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, I'm not anxious to direct the work of most writers. Because subpar writer that I am (in my own estimation), I still find my own ideas more interesting than what most writers working today deliver (and I can read their scripts any time). I wish I was a better writer, but it'll have to do as material for my own projects, not because I'm an egomaniac (as I recognize my limitations), but because I consider the work I see of others quite weak most of the time. Go figure. Lack of appreciation is not the problem. Lack of good product, is. There are not many things I'm super confident about in film, but this is.
Also - would I love to work with a writer that I think has the kind of ability and taste that I would find compatible and inspiring? You can bet your bottom dollar that I would. Problem is: I haven't met one in my life. Those are rare birds, and odds of meeting one in your life are remote. Mediocrity - and worse - are the rule; just look at the veritable flood of crappy product out there spewing out in gigantic numbers, films you've never even heard of. Somebody wrote all that malarkey. Those are not the result of good filmmaking, and not based on good writing. Quite the opposite.
So good news - you can find success easily. And bad news - the odds that you can deliver a product that deserves success... very remote. This is my humble - but considered - opinion.
Right after I posted the above, I was checking my newsfeed, and I came across this - a coincidence amusing enough that it deserves its own post:
Why the Screenplay Is an Absolutely Essential Part of What Makes a Movie Great
Why the Screenplay Is an Absolutely Essential Part of What Makes a Movie Great
alex whitmer
Veteran
Absolutely. Be as mean as possible.
BTW, there was a major piece yesterday in the Variety about how the feature film portion of the biz attracts fewer and fewer people and how cliche all these superhero flicks have become. Of course, what they scarcely mention that, while it may be true about the North American market, it sells well overseas in the non-English territories.
Also, they didn't mention how huge the TV biz has become. If one looks at the chart of the movie tickets sold, one can see a huge drop in the 1950's, which is when TV was introduced into American homes. Well, now there's the OTA TV, cable TV and streaming TV and a slight increase in the online hours should correspond to some decrease in the theater attendance.
INT Day -
WCMARTELL is sitting in front of his computer in his office typing a note on the DVXuser forum
................... WCMARTELL
..........Should I post something that makes
..........everyone angry and stir up trouble?
Egging WCMARTELL on.
..................... PAUL F
......... I'll bet you can't make everyone angry.
WCMARTELL is sitting in front of his computer in his office typing a note on the DVXuser forum
................... WCMARTELL
..........Should I post something that makes
..........everyone angry and stir up trouble?
Egging WCMARTELL on.
..................... PAUL F
......... I'll bet you can't make everyone angry.
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It's like keeping the Incredible Hulk in the green room waiting.
BTW, I have no idea if this is anything new or not but, just a couple of hours ago, I found an ad for an Aaron Sorkin online screenwriting class in my mailbox. It's $90 and spread over 35 1-hr (?) parts/videos, although it looks like others pitch in as the on-air personalities for Sorkin himself. Whatever one thinks of his work, IMO, he is technically very, very sound, especially as a drama writer.
If it's truth and doesn't violate any of the forum rules, sure.