Question/help developing an idea

S

Sajc05

Active member
Hey, sorry if this is off base.

I've been trying to develop an idea I had for a script, true story, historical event based on a courtroom drama set in the "wild west". I've done all the research, registered the treatment. the only problem I face now is that I'm not a strong writer.

So I was wondering if anybody would know how I would go about finding and collaborating with a writer who might be good at this type of story and see if this script is actually worth pursuing, and also what kind of deal would need to be made, ect, is there a way that could happen?

I'm an indy filmmaker, mostly shorts, but looking for a feature script, and with this story primarily taken place in one location, i thought it might be a good indie project if written well.

anyway, pm me if you'd like to know more or think you could help in anyway.
 
I seriously doubt if a "good" writer, your words, would want to collaborate as co-byline with someone who has not written a feature. It just spells trouble imho. You either need to write it yourself, then lots of rewrites, or I suppose you could outright hire a writer at a set fee. But if you want it to be your story, including dialog, you will need to write it and rewrite it and rewrite it; writing is rewriting. :) As for whether the story is worth pursuing, you could outline it then ask for an opinion (for a small fee) from e.g. Scott the Reader.
 
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Sajc05 said:
Hey, sorry if this is off base.

I've been trying to develop an idea I had for a script, true story, historical event based on a courtroom drama set in the "wild west". I've done all the research, registered the treatment. the only problem I face now is that I'm not a strong writer.

So I was wondering if anybody would know how I would go about finding and collaborating with a writer who might be good at this type of story and see if this script is actually worth pursuing, and also what kind of deal would need to be made, ect, is there a way that could happen?

I'm an indy filmmaker, mostly shorts, but looking for a feature script, and with this story primarily taken place in one location, i thought it might be a good indie project if written well.

anyway, pm me if you'd like to know more or think you could help in anyway.
Click to expand...

That tends to be a problem when you come to write a script.:happy:

I'd be slightly more optimistic than Randall. I'm sure you don't have $40,000 in your back pocket to use to pay a fairly established writer, so what we are looking at here is a good, "undiscovered" writer to help script it.

First thing I would do is to get the bones of the story down. If you've made films, you must have some sense of narrative. The story should have a natural beginning, middle and end, I imagine. Not necessarily in that order of course. Your research must have thrown up the key players and the key conflicts in the case, so you've got some of your characters etc

Once you've got a rough idea of what the story is about and how it's structured itt might be useful to check out some of the better court room drama's for this: That Spielberg one about the slaves, 12 Angry Men, A few Good men, Somersby etc Link to some more.)

http://crime.about.com/od/books/tp/movies_court.htm

That way you can look at how the best handled the crucial, obligatory (court room) scenes where the emotional climaxes are reached. The court room scene is just the natural climax where the central premise/conflict and the needs of the characters comes into striking clarity.

There are numerous sites (including this one) where you will find good screen-writers. Zoetrope, Trigger Street, SimplyScripts, Movie Poet, ScriptShadow, Done Deal, the Writers Forum etc

Not being a great writer yourself is a hindrance though. There are a lot of writers who will be happy to help you, but the work of non-pros often needs focussing and structuring better. If you are not in control of the craft yourself, it may be hard to get something down that is adequate and the genre you are selecting needs to be very powerful.

You need to know what it is that you're not good at. If you can't structure a story, I'd have to be honest and wonder how you could direct a feature film. Seems a director needs to have a very comprehensive idea of narrative to be able to function. If you just aren't great at writing dialogue, then find a writer who writes dramas that writes powerful dialogue. Alternatively workshop the scene outline with versatile actors who can improvise the scene and build it up from scratch.

Hopefully that is of some help.

The idea sounds like it could be good. It's always best in my opinion for these things to be relevant to modern life in some way. It doesn't necessarily have to be directly analogous, just have themes that are as universal to us now as they were then.
 
You have the treatment so you're on your way...

But to shoot a feature will take a lot of organisation and some cash (understatement) - if you can put all that in place you may attract an up and coming writer who would be willing to write something for you from your treatment if they knew it was going to get made.

Alternatively you may find a writer to write a first draft for you for a few hundred dollars - again they will be new writers and may welcome writing a first draft for some cash. At least this way you would still own the rights to the script (as long as you made this clear at the start).
 
It might be a good indie project, but typically period pieces (stories that take place in bygone eras) are notoriously expensive to produce, even with single locations. Everything must be authentic to the time period -- wardrobe, hair and makeup, sets, props, vehicles, even jewelry and manner of speech. No electrical outlets or thermostats on the walls. Vintage overhead lights and lamps. The list goes on and on. Then there's the worry of sound. Can't have a plane fly over or a truck drive by. The guy down the street can't be running his leaf blower or mowing his lawn. It gets tricky.

Is there no way the story could be told in a more modern era?
 
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