John August

QandA

Film festival contacts

Directors, QandA

I am an aspiring screenwriter with several screenplays nearing completion.
I envision my screenplays as independent films, with low budgets and talented
character actors. I will need a director. I’ve been told excellent director
contacts can be made at film festivals. Is this good advice?

–Kristy B.

It’s great advice. In fact, I intend to steal it as soon as I get the chance.

Early in their careers, most independent directors aren’t exactly getting
besieged with scripts for them to direct, so you have a pretty good shot of
getting them to actually read it. Having been through the festival grinder
a few times, my only advice would be to try to find a relaxed moment to talk
about the project, and not swarm the stage after a Q&A session.

If you don’t have a chance to meet the director at the festival, you can probably
find contact information in a program or at the festival office. Drop a note
telling the director how much you liked her movie and a few paragraphs describing
what your script is about, and asking if you could send it to her.

It’s certainly not foolproof, but it would be a good way to get your foot
in the door with a director you hope to work with.

Journalism degree

Education, QandA

I’m considering getting a journalism
degree as a base point for a screenwriting career. I noticed you did the same
thing. Do you have any regrets about getting your bachelor’s in journalism,
or was is the best option available to a future screenwriter?

–Larissa Barlow

As I’ve mentioned in previous columns, I think journalism is a good bachelor’s
degree choice, particularly if film studies aren’t available. Journalism teaches
efficient, structured writing, and good work habits. But it’s by no means the
only undergraduate major that helps.

An English degree is a great and obvious choice, particularly one that combines
literature and composition. Depending on the specific program, a major in communications
could be good, if it had a strong focus on writing. But any field in the humanities
would really work. A quick survey of my writer friends reveals political science
majors, religion majors, art history majors, and probably a dozen other specialities
I don’t even know.

More than anything, I’d advise majoring in something that really interests
you. While you may aspire to a screenwriting career now, who knows what the
future will bring? A physics degree is no obstacle if you decide to apply to
graduate-level film school. In fact, it would probably be intriguing enough
to an admissions panel that they’d be eager to meet you.

Characters w/ multiple names

Formatting, QandA

I have a character name question. Without giving anything away, I wrote a
screenplay that involves one character that has to use two names during the
duration of the script. You could probably say the same for when Superman or
Batman are Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne. What I was doing was just using the name
that the character is at that time.
My question is – am I right? I figured since I give an explanation a head
of time, that I could easily just call the character by his name or alias,
and there would be no confusion.

–Andy

You’re right in assuming that the most important thing is to avoid confusing
the reader. Every script finds its own way of doing things, so there’s no hard
and fast rule. If I were writing the next BATMAN, I suspect I would call use "Bruce
Wayne" when refering to the awkward billionaire, and "Batman" when
refering to the Caped Crusader. In a movie like this, the two different versions
of the character rarely appear in the same scene, so it would probably be less
confusing.

In the case of a movie like TOOTSIE, I’ve never read the original script,
but I suspect that when Dustin Hoffman’s character is dressed as either a man
or a woman, the script refers to him as Michael. When he’s in drag, his dialogue
headers probably read like, "MICHAEL (as DOROTHY)" to make it clear
which persona he’s playing at the time.

In the case of a movie like FIGHT CLUB (warning, spoilers
follow), since
the reveal that Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are actually the same person comes
so late in the story, you would obviously treat them like two completely separate
people.

Surviving development hell

Producers, QandA

I just signed my first option agreement for one of my spec
scripts and am starting work developing and rewriting the screenplay with the
producer’s development personnel,
which is all very exciting, but also a bit scary, as I’m wary of them damaging
the script. Any tips on how to survive the process or any good
stories from development hell?

–Jay

The best advice I can give you is to keep an open mind as you’re talking with
them, and not to commit to any changes during a meeting. Remember that they
can only offer suggestions about what they’d like to see changed, not how to
actually do it. That’s your job. Any damage done to the script will be your
doing, not theirs.

A lot of times, I’ll encounter a note that seems idiotic or unworkable. But
the more I talk with the note-givers, I begin to understand what they’re really
getting at. Maybe something that I think is obvious simply isn’t clear, or
the problem isn’t with the scene itself, but how much it’s ultimately going
to cost to film.

Try to make every meeting a real conversation, rather than a session of attack-and-defend.
The ability to look at your work objectively and impassively takes a lot of
time to develop, but it’s a skill that will ultimately make your scripts stronger.