Your latest feature script: How many...

craigbowman

craigbowman

Veteran
... drafts did you end up doing before you finally went into production?

2. How much time did you allow between each draft?

3. How long did it take you to do each draft?


I'm curious here as recently I started on my third draft a couple of weeks ago after a hiatus of almost two years. After writing and registering my treatment, it took me about three months to do the first draft. After registering that, I let it sit for about six weeks and then I did the second draft. Again it took me almost another three months to complete the second draft and then register it.
 
Started in 09.

Feature Length Action-Superhero/Comedy
Six (6) Completely re-written page one re-drafts.
Ten (10) Half Re-Writes for Structure, Character
A good twenty or more (20+) dialog, pacing, etc rewrites.

The actual tenth draft is open in Final Draft now, possibly adding a new character last minute to flesh out the world a tiny bit.

Time between each draft depended on my mood. I actually just hated it for a while, so stopped writing for about three months. That would be between draft five and six, the fed-up period.

After hammering draft six out, seven, eight, nine and now ten all fell within weeks of each other. Constant writing (under the influence of certain things, haha), re-reading, writing, re-reading, opinions, etc.

Non stop. iPad encouraged me to read my own material objectively, actually. Weird.

As I commence the tenth revision, we've casted about five of eight or nine roles, are revamping schedule, still securing the remaining funds and are commencing principal photography the final week of October to run into the first week of November.

Generally takes me about a week and a half to do one-hundred (100) pages. Any which way. However, a full and semi-respectable product? (see:decent)? Well, it's been two years nearly to the date!


I suspect that it'll go faster for this next script, having been thinking to death every idea I want to do after this one.

I'm curious if Genre has a massive effect on completion times. What genre are you tackling?
 
Its a Romantic Comedy called "Plastic".

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.
 
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I did about 7 re-writes on my current feature. Only 3 major re-writes, the rest were inconsistencies that should not have been there in the first place but I'm a scatter-brained robot when I write. After I think it's done, I usually get away from it and go do anything that has nothing to do with writing/movies for a week or two and then come back to it. After this last re-write, I read it over and over then say "F*** it, I feel like it's read to pitch." A "major" re-write where I eliminate scenes and make major changes to the plot, takes me anywhere from 2-12 hours. When I'm in a writing mood I try to take advantage so I usually don't wait more than a couple days in between drafts, aside from the week or two I mentioned above.

That's an excellent logline, one of the best I've heard in awhile. I think you'll get a lot of interest with the logline alone. Good luck.
 
Glad you liked the logline. Here's the synopsis.

Plastic - Synopsis: Harold Gibraltar IV, (Harry) is a middle management accountant in a family succession of middle management accountants in the financial industry. His best pal Bob Winfield is a former millionaire playboy who was taken down a peg or two by the IRS. At Bob’s country club, where he is still a member, Harry is literally bowled over by the visiting Melanie Waters, an executive at American Excess, who he mistakes for a wealthy socialite member. In his attempt to impress Melanie and win her heart he uses his family’s stellar credit rating to the point of financial meltdown. To dig out of debt and keep his new love, Harry launches one last desperate, zany, and totally ingenious scheme. If he can stay ahead of the SEC, the FBI, and American Excess Credit and Security VP Nathaniel Crinchloben, he might just make it!

The American Excess Card – Don’t leave the lobby without it!
 
craigbowman said:
Glad you liked the logline. Here's the synopsis.

Plastic - Synopsis: Harold Gibraltar IV, (Harry) is a middle management accountant in a family succession of middle management accountants in the financial industry. His best pal Bob Winfield is a former millionaire playboy who was taken down a peg or two by the IRS. At Bob’s country club, where he is still a member, Harry is literally bowled over by the visiting Melanie Waters, an executive at American Excess, who he mistakes for a wealthy socialite member. In his attempt to impress Melanie and win her heart he uses his family’s stellar credit rating to the point of financial meltdown. To dig out of debt and keep his new love, Harry launches one last desperate, zany, and totally ingenious scheme. If he can stay ahead of the SEC, the FBI, and American Excess Credit and Security VP Nathaniel Crinchloben, he might just make it!

The American Excess Card – Don’t leave the lobby without it!
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Is that your final (stone) logline and synopsis?
 
NoTalentAssClown said:
I did about 7 re-writes on my current feature. Only 3 major re-writes, the rest were inconsistencies that should not have been there in the first place but I'm a scatter-brained robot when I write. After I think it's done, I usually get away from it and go do anything that has nothing to do with writing/movies for a week or two and then come back to it. After this last re-write, I read it over and over then say "F*** it, I feel like it's read to pitch." A "major" re-write where I eliminate scenes and make major changes to the plot, takes me anywhere from 2-12 hours. When I'm in a writing mood I try to take advantage so I usually don't wait more than a couple days in between drafts, aside from the week or two I mentioned above.

That's an excellent logline, one of the best I've heard in awhile. I think you'll get a lot of interest with the logline alone. Good luck.
Click to expand...

It's definitely key to get someone else to check your script out, who an understand what the material is, for what it is, and muse with you on stuff.

What are you working on?
 
i will use my most recent screenplay that i flmed last year. Took 3 months to complete first draft, after read throughs and advice, I did about 3 revisions of it taking about 1 month for each.

On another note, ive learned that it is really important not to rush your story just because something doesnt "work." The frst screenplay i ever sold took me the longest to complete mainly because when i wasnt clicking with ideas or character progression i just stopped, and took my time, took a couple days off. And it really really helped. Forcing to me is just unnatural at this point. If I have an issue, i just wait and let it iron out. So i guess what i am really saying is, to judge everything by time. Because your 3 months could be someone elses 3 weeks... Good Luck
 
1. How many drafts did you end up doing before you finally went into production?

I think we did about 6 total drafts. Several not major but certainly significant enough to call it a draft.

2. How much time did you allow between each draft?

That varied...we spent about 1 1/2 years total before locking the script. Somethings a couple weeks at other times a month or so as we had other writing assignments between finishing the script for production.

3. How long did it take you to do each draft?

Again, not sure. Some very quick others rather laborious.

-M
 
Kholi said:
Is that your final (stone) logline and synopsis?
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Both the logline and the synopsis were constructed two years ago. I have no immediate plans to change the logline but since I've only started draft 3 a few weeks ago, (for me a draft is what I'll commit to for doing another registration), nothing for the logline or synopsis will ever be final until the deals are finalized with the distributor.
 
Haha. Yeah that's fairly true. Whoever buys or distributes, markets, will probably dictate that.

Only asked because the premise is great, does the logline do it justice for a mass audience or is there room for some dynamic language and context to make it seem even more interesting? Maybe not. Maybe so.

Musing, of course.


Seems like everyone has their own pace for drafts, though. It's interesting to see this! I am definitely hoping for less than a year for the next script/project.
 
Kholi said:
... Only asked because the premise is great, does the logline do it justice for a mass audience or is there room for some dynamic language and context to make it seem even more interesting? Maybe not. Maybe so. ...
Click to expand...

Well the idea for the movie started around a discussion about American Express's original claim of no preset spending limit and someone asked me what I would do if I had a card that actually had an unlimited spending amount but whatever I bought had to be paid off in thirty days. I quipped back, "simple, I'd buy American Express as a hostile takeover and charge the stock purchase on my American Express card". Since I would now own the company, be the absolute boss and make all the rules, I would change the company policy so that whatever I charged to the card would be covered by the company. The bill for the stock purchase would be due in thirty days but I'd be boss, so who's going to fire me?".

I listed the reasons why that couldn't happen in the real world and followed that with, "that could only happen in a movie!" Bingo... There was the basis for "Plastic" and a number of conditions would have to come about in the movie world so that the protaganist would have those conditions exist for him. It was almost natural to rename the company to American Excess for the movie.
 
Hahaha. I think that's the best way for stories to start! I'm surprised at how you actually came up with it.

I came across my own idea while entertaining the thought of being dead broke--which I was on the verge of at the time, actually--in this hellish financial climate and what I would do to pay rent if I suddenly couldn't find work.

Like most people: steal, sell drugs, prostitution, donate body to medicine.

Two years later, there's a feature film about that! Or, will be, lol.

Are you guys about to go into production soon?
 
For THE LOST CHILDREN, didn't really count drafts. Worked on it for a year though. Then about 4 months tweaking the script for a new take on the idea. Also many many days/weeks/months/who knows, on character stuff, storyworld stuff, etc.
 
Kholi said:
...
I came across my own idea while entertaining the thought of being dead broke--which I was on the verge of at the time, actually--in this hellish financial climate and what I would do to pay rent if I suddenly couldn't find work.

Like most people: steal, sell drugs, prostitution, donate body to medicine.

Two years later, there's a feature film about that! Or, will be, lol.

Are you guys about to go into production soon?
Click to expand...


That's great Kholi. Nothing like real life for inspiration!

Production date is slated for June 2011.
 
I know you're a RED guy! But, please do start a Production Blog/Diary in the USER FILMS section. We need more.

And, it's a good place to really let people know that sometimes a great script and or product takes years to create. It always feels like, when I learn about movies I like, the script process really did take about two years from concept to completion.

In that time, they're looking for talent, securing bits and pieces, but still writing the best script to fit the material and market.

Glad to hear you're taking your time, man. You're MUCH more patient than I am.

What were some of the writing blocks you came across?

For me, I had to come full circle to my original theme to really hammer out the fine details of this last draft. Theme has been incredibly hard for me...
 
What's been interesting about LOST CHILDREN is that we shot a lot of it as improv. Like I would let the actors go on some scenes for 20 min. They had the goals they needed, but they also found a lot of new stuff. So I started to discover the theme during the shoot. And then started tweaking some scenes according to the themes I was finding.

Likewise, one character's arc changed during the course of the shoot. She has the same actions, but her character's change is different by the end than the one I had written. But it's right.

We worked on this film in a radically different way than many films. So some things like that were kind of still being written as we were shooting and I was actually watching the characters live in their world.
 
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