John August

QandA

Rewriting, but where’s the script?

QandA, Writing Process

When you’re hired to rewrite someone else’s existing screenplay, do you have
to type the entire script out yourself or do you get the computer file? How
does that work? I feel stupid, but it’s been bugging me for ages!

–Nathan

My first real rewrite was on BLUE STREAK, and when I got hired, that was my
first question. In that case, the studio didn’t have the script on disk, so
my assistant Emily had to retype the whole thing. (As an alternative, we could
have scanned in the pages and used optical character recognition, but the studio
offered to pay Emily to type it, so she did.)

Now that almost everybody uses Final Draft, it’s pretty common (if awkward),
for the producer’s assistant to call the previous screenwriter and ask for
the script on disk, or via email. If I’m leaving a project, I’ll always volunteer
to give them the file, just because I know how uncomfortable it is to ask.

How long is a scene?

QandA, Words on the page

I’m about 50 pages into my first screenplay, a family film.
For research, I decided to watch at least a dozen children’s movies, and I
started with the
current blockbuster HARRY POTTER. I was fascinated by the pacing. Virtually
every scene (there are one or three exceptions) is only 1 – 3 minutes long,
with most coming in just under two minutes. That seems very short.
Comparatively, my writing is averaging 2 – 5 minutes per scene. Should I be
concerned? Is it possible anymore for a children’s movie to be marketable if
it doesn’t run at a breakneck pace?

–Barb

First, kudos on doing the experiment. You taught yourself something that no
instructor could ever beat into you: movie scenes are short. Much shorter than
you would think.

If you were to expand your research to include other genres, you’d find that
most scenes in most movies are no more than three minutes long, which means
no more than three pages of script.

It’s not an iron-clad rule; scenes can be twenty minutes long. But it’s a
very useful rule of thumb. If I get to the third page of a scene I’m writing,
I automatically stop and re-examine it to figure out why it’s so long, and whether it really needs to be.

Since this is your first screenplay, I’m hesitant to tell you to cut your
scenes down now, for fear that you’ll never actually finish your script. But
always look for economy: what is the latest moment you could come into a scene,
and the earliest moment you could leave? You’ll probably find that your character
waste a lot of time before getting to the meat of a scene, then chew on the
bones longer than needed.

Is film school necessary?

Education, QandA

Is it necessary to have a film-related degree/course in order
to break into screenwriting?

–A. Plange

No. The truth is, no great screenplay has ever sat unsold because the writer
didn’t go through an acclaimed program. No writer has ever been denied the
Oscar because he didn’t finish his master’s thesis.

Frankly, a film degree isn’t a prerequisite for any job in Hollywood, from
actor to gaffer to studio chief. The Industry is one of the last bastions of
apprenticeship, perseverence and pure dumb luck. All that really matters is
whether you can do the job.

That said, I personally went through USC Film School. And before I get dropped
from the alumni rolls, let me retrench a bit and give two reasons why film
school might be right for some people, and why it was right for me.

First, there’s a hell of lot to learn about filmmaking, and while you can
learn the specifics of any trade on-the-job, film school can give you a broader
perpective. In making GO, I was surprised to find myself dealing with budgets,
lenses, preview screenings and TV spots. It went way beyond my "writer" function,
but the breadth of my education in film school paid off.

Second, film school is a place to make contact with peers, experts and people
who can ultimately hire you. I got my first job, my first agent, and my first
paid writing assignment all with the help of friends I made in film school.
To this day I work with many of them. This isn’t cheesy, gross let’s-swap-business-cards "networking," but
simple reality. You tend to help people you like, and people with whom you
share a common experience. The "boot camp" aspect of film school
can be important.

Is film school right for you? It depends on your circumstances. If you’re
still an undergrad, by all means switch to film. Follow your bliss. If you’re
recently out of college, a two-or-three-year grad program could be great. Pretend
it’s an MBA or law school. Beyond that, the benefits are harder to calculate.
Because the truth is, it’s not an MBA or law school. There’s no guarantee you’re
going to make any money. You might be better off learning film along the way.
Take a course or two, read a lot of books, go to seminars when you can.

And most of all, if you want to write, just write. One hundred and twenty
pages of quality screenplay are worth more than one page of diploma.

Television specs

QandA, Television

I would like to write for a certain television show. I have studied
all the episodes throughout the years, watched the characters evolve, and
I have
written my own episodes in my spare time for practice. How would I get ahold
of the production company to find out about working for them? My school doesn’t
have the resources to help so I need to do it on my own. What is the best way
to approach the producers?

–Nils Taylor

Although it does happen occasionally, usually a writer is not hired for a
show based on a script he wrote for that specific series. That is, someone
is not hired for THE PRACTICE based on an spec script for THE PRACTICE. Instead,
he might get hired based on a sample episode of THE WEST WING, SIX FEET UNDER,
or another one-hour drama.

Which is weird on the face of it. Why wouldn’t David E. Kelley want to read
a writer exploring the characters and plotlines he created? There are a few
reasons.

First is the possibility of lawsuits. If the spec episode you wrote ends up
resembling a later episode of the series, the producers don’t want to be liable.
Even with signed releases, a lot of producers use this as a reason not to read
submissions of their own show. My assistant, Dana, used to work on SMALLVILLE,
which categorically refused to read any sample SMALLVILLE’s for just this reason.

Second, a producer for THE BERNIE MAC SHOW is going to be comparing your sample
episode to the dozens he’s read or written himself. He may have all sorts of
criteria for quality that aren’t readily apparent to someone outside the show:
how the kids are used, how often Bernie should talk to camera, et cetera. You
would be going in at a disadvantage relative to another writer with a sample
episode of a similar-but-different show, like GREG THE BUNNY or MY WIFE AND
KIDS.

So what are your sample scripts good for? Well, they could help you get a
job on another show you like. They could help you get a television agent or
manager, who will happily read scripts from any show. They could also give
you lots of good experience, since people write what they like better than
what they hate.

Most television shows choose their staffs during the aptly-named "staffing
season," generally late April through the end of May. If you’re good on
the phone, it’s worth calling the production company during that time and finding
out what scripts the producers are reading for staffing, so you’ll know if
you’re in the right ballpark. But almost no network show will take submissions
from an unrepresented writer, so finding an agent and/or manager will need
to be your first step. In previous columns, you can read a lot of discussion
on that.