Gary W. Goldstein, Producer/Author/Instructor: One of the things is not falling too in love
or feeling too precious about the material that you create but really being open and
bold enough and brave enough to find the very best version of the story and that requires…
Film Courage: When you were actively reading screenplays,
how hard was it for you to find a great screenplay?
Gary: It's always a challenge. It's funny I just had lunch on the weekend with an
executive producer a very popular tv series and he reminds me that we met back in like he was
quoting me from 1989, like who remembers that far back?
One of the one of the things he remembered was me saying “I feel lucky if one out of a hundred
gets me really excited,” and I don't know if that's mathematically true
but it seems like that's the case and it's not because it's not always because
the quality is not there or or it's not always about the caliber of the writing it's oftentimes
because for example me as a consumer and as a producer I'm probably not the right guy to
produce a big sci-fi movie or certain other kinds of fare there are certain kinds of
interactions or stories that really appeal to me and many that don't but I'm always writing to see
how talented someone is like how what what kind of storyteller are they
but yeah I would say personally I'm not I've never been a volume producer
I've always been pretty fussy but I would say if I find one out of 100 that's worth having
a conversation to see if there's a there there if we get along if we agree about
the vision for the project if it's something we want to roll up our sleeves on together
it's probably about one percent and that was going to be my next question do you think that we often
hear that 99 percent of screenplays written are horrible what's your experience oh gosh
that's really hard to say 99 percent of screenplay is written and that's a big
pool usually by the time I you know
there's there's there's sort of a natural evolution so I'm really not taking scripts off
the internet or I'm not posting on public forums saying send me your script so I don't know what
the big the bigger ocean of opportunity looks like I usually get scripts sent to me through people
who are either writers that I know they're representatives their attorney their friend
someone in the business a producer another producer might want to share something with me
horrible's a horrible word certainly there are those that I read where I go gosh this is way off
the mark there's I ca it's it's I really want to root just like for a movie same for a screenplay I
am that guy who I'm rooting for the writer I'm rooting for the story I want to love this
if I read something that's so poorly written that I just can't get through the whole of it
that's as disappointing as it is like okay so it's not for me that's fine but
it's disappointing I want that to be better I want that person to be better to be a better
at their craft what do you think 99 percent of screenplays get wrong wow great question
I don't know if there's a sort of that ubiquitous one thing that they all get wrong I just think
that one of the things writers I would like to see more writers have sort of a more systematic
reality check system inner circle system so that at a given point in time if they feel it's ready
for prime time they really have a trusted group of not friends and family but seasoned people
people in the business who know their stuff and how to read a script and get the feedback
I always do that to this day I still I know that we get so close our our our face is pressed up
against the glass we've been working on something for seven or 12 or whatever number of rewrites we
lose perspective and if I were to give it to you and four other people and you all come back with
one similar comment I know that I have a real issue that I've overlooked if all five of you
come back with criticisms but they're all different that's a win it's like okay now
I can pick and choose which ones make sense which ones do in my gut I really feel enhance the story
I think so I think one of the things is not not falling too in love or feeling
too precious about the material that you create but really being open and willing to find the
and bold enough and brave enough to find the very best version of the story and that requires
I hear a lot of writers talk about well
I really don't want to change it that much it's no this is that's be a painter be a sculptor
write a novel this is a medium that's designed for collaboration and I think you need to take
that as an asset as a positive and invite it because it's going to happen eventually
how many pages into a screenplay before it's a bad screenplay not long
there are many and and I sort of agree if someone doesn't grab me somehow in the first three pages
with the quality of their craft or something that's surprising in a good way
that's that's what I'm hoping for someone really putting a hook in my mouth
but 10 pages in easily 15 pages and you you sort of see the caliber of the writing that
the the quality of the craft it's it's it's not likely that the the actual quality of the writing
is going to shift on page 30 or 60. when you sat down to read 3000 later to be called pretty woman
where were you I was in I owned a home in West Hollywood it was this absolutely charming 1920s
bungalow style classic Hollywood bungalow right all sunlight beautiful yard the whole thing and
I had a room that was just like my reading room it was a small like sun room
and yeah that's where I did most of my reading at night
on the weekend and yeah I liked reed at home as opposed to say at the office
so it was a Friday night and you I don't remember what day of the week it might have been all I can
tell you is I was waiting with great anticipation I had very high hopes because I was so admiring
of Jonathan and what I'd what I knew of him as a person but certainly what I'd seen on the page
and the only question was could he really sort of jump it up to that level of maturity and I promise
you the moment he delivered it to me I probably at that moment wherever I was turned off the phone
if we had phones that turned off whatever metaphorically and it was like okay this
is the most important thing I have to do this week I'm gonna go home and read this
and so three pages in you're loving it five pages in were you waiting for the other shoe to drop
where you had notes and you thought this isn't or you
no the thing about no I don't go into it with that sort of lens I'm not looking for what's wrong
it's just not my way when someone grabs me from the beginning which he did
when it's not heavy-handed it's just right when that happens and I'm engrossed and I'm invited
into this and I'm he's got me right until he stops getting me I'm not operating from here right
and that was from cover to cover that was my experience I never really
intellectually assessed the script that's why I was so excited about because if I didn't I figure
a lot of other people won't that they'll have an experience somewhat similar to mine
where they're so engrossed in the characters the way it plays out in the dialogue and
and and all those other supporting roles and and the friendships and the tensions and whatnot that
they're to swim through the script the same way I did
and that's what I pray for it's like that's that's the win any tips you can give
screenwriters that would immediately improve their screenplays especially in those first few pages
I don't think there's any sage guidance that I have other than to recognize what you just
said which is the opening of your script is so important you really want to set the table
right up front invite people let people know what you're you're inviting them into I've seen scripts
that start out with like a page and a half or two pages of single space narrative description
not a good way to start a screenplay to make us do that much work to get to
our characters or the action so I would say really take absolute advantage and
we're in the entertainment business entertain me starting from the first moment
but other than that I don't think I mean every story is so uniquely different not just because
of the conventions of the various genres but just the storytellers are different and the
I can't I can't think of it's really yeah never mind I'm rambling
it's it's just the recognition that you that you bring up in your by way of your question.
What do you think of this?