John August

QandA

Script promotion websites

QandA, So-Called Experts

I have a question about websites designed to promote your script for either
a motion picture production or for television. Are these sites legitimate and
worth paying money to? I ask because every instinct in my body tells me an
agent will do the exact same thing for me and that agents, directors and producers
are not spending their time scouring the internet looking for new talent.

–Dawn Wilson

Your instincts are right. I think they’re a waste of time and money.

While there might be one or two sites out there that are genuinely interested
in helping writers get their scripts into the hands of real buyers, I suspect
most of these "services" are just set up to take money from the gullible
and desperate. And those one or two sites not actively seeking to screw writers
probably don’t have the connections to make a difference.

If any readers have had an experience with one of these pay-for-read sites,
positive or negative, I’d love to hear about it.

Writing for actors/actresses

QandA

I completed a screenplay and I wrote with specific actors
and actresses in mind. I now would like to have them read my work, but I don’t
know how to handle
this. Can I write their agent and trust him to have them read my work? Is there
another solution?

–Laurent

If you wrote your script to star Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts, then sorry,
you’re out of luck. Their agents will return your script unopened. On the other
hand, if the specific actors you have in mind are much smaller profile, or
have unique situations that make it hard for them to work as much as they’d
like, you might be able to get their agents to read it. Actors I would put
in this category include Marlee Matlin, Ossie Davis, and Camryn Manheim. They’re
all very talented, but not that many people are writing material specifically
for them.

Of course, the chances of any agent reading your screenplay are greatly increased
if you can present yourself as (a) competent and (b) sane. This is the time
to write the most professional, most concise and best proof-read letter of
your life, explaining exactly who you are, what your movie is about, and why
their client is right for the role.

Over-editing

QandA, Words on the page

If you’re editing your own work, how do you stop yourself
from over-editing? To me, it seems like there becomes a point where the editing
is noticible in a negative way on the
screenplay.

–Zack Adcock

Editing is a big part of any writing, but it’s uniquely important in screenwriting,
where so few words have to stand for so much. The most important thing to keep
asking as you edit every word, line and scene is, "Do I need this?" or
more to put it more fully, "How important is this to the story I’m telling?" Often
whole scenes and sequences are felled this way, and it’s better (and cheaper)
to do this kind of work before you’ve spent millions of dollars to film it.

Where editing can go too far is in sacrificing tone or flavor (especially
humor) in service of story efficiency. Good writing has bumps and curves, and
not everything should flow in the fastest possible way. Screenwriting is like
any art that way: deciding what is too much and what is too little, in order
to know what is just right.

Camera angles and edits

QandA, Words on the page

I’m currently banging ideas around for a script, but have
a question concerning the implementation of camera angles/shots. Should
these be written into
the first draft as you envision it in your head, or are they best left until
you write a final shooting script?

–Ross Simms

Until the movie is in theatres, there’s no such thing as a final shooting
script. During production, and even during editing, the script itself is subject
to change.

In my opinion, every draft of a script should be shootable, with the same
level of detail, clarity and professionalism. Scripts do change to a small
degree when production begins, with every scene being numbered, and a byzantine
system for keeping track of changes. But the words themselves are no more or
less specific at this stage than any other.

If a director has specific camera angles that she feels necessary to put in
the script, they get put in the script. But more often, these non-story details
are handled by storyboards or shot lists, rather than the screenplay itself.