Film Courage: How does a screenwriter know that their screenplay is ready for market?
Wendy Kram, Owner of LA4Hire: That is a very good question.
I think the first thing is just really essential that a writer submit it to colleagues for
feedback.
And I mean I am a professional in this field.
A lot of times even though I am not a writer, I write treatments, I work with writers on
treatments and bibles and so on and at a certain point I’ll go through multiple drafts.
I have a good built-in sense of editing.
But at a certain point I might think this is great and and then I’ll send it to a
trusted colleague whether it’s another executive at a production company or a writer whose
opinion I respect and they come back and I don’t know if they’ll whip my a** (if
I can say that), but they’ll come back with feedback and go “You know the treatment
really isn’t getting interesting until page 2.
So I would cut out the first page and a half.”
You know what?
It makes it better.
There also times where if it’s someone who’s opinion…you need to really stay centered
and on point and something I definitely feel strongly about for writers is that especially
in the note taking process because let’s say a writer sets up a project with a production
company, studio or network and they give notes.
One of the worst things to do is to constantly be defending your position.
Producers and executives will start to feel “You know what, life’s too short.
This person isn’t receptive.
They’re not fun to work with.
They’re not getting it.
They love everything they’re doing.
You know what?
I’m not going to renew or we’re going to replace the writer.”
The best way for a writer to be able to take notes is to be totally open and receptive
and to try to hear, almost like with a second sense of what the executive is trying to say.
So let’s say they say (let me think of an example)…“I don’t think a character
should say this line.
They sound kind of mean right here and I don’t feel it.”
And if you’re listening rather than just defending it, you say “Oh, that wasn’t
my intention.
I meant that he was being defensive and a little bit sarcastic but he was kind of trying
to say it in a charming way.”
So then the executive would say “Okay, I get it now, but that wasn’t coming through.”
So then the writer can see that their intention wasn’t coming across so that they can go
back and tweak it a bit.
Again, I think it is very important to stay true to your voice and not just roll over
if someone says “Okay, well we have an 85-year-old protagonist and she has dementia.
I’ve decided I like everything else about this story, but let’s turn her into a 13-year-old.”
And believe it or not, I have heard from situations not too far away from that.
As a writer, I think you need to defend your position and why it was essential to the story
that the character was 85 with dementia.
That might not be the best example but it’s basically a balance between maintaining the
integrity of your vision because you can’t just roll over for everything because you
wind up with nothing.
You compromise artistry and any kind of creative vision that you have.
In terms of a writer knowing when a project is ready, I hear a lot of writers when I’m
working with them they’ll say “Well, there is always going to be improvements to be made.”
I think that when you are working with people whether it’s a strong script consultant,
development executive, friend who’s maybe a writer whose opinion you respect, development
executive, assistant to producer, assistant to a writer/director and so on, someone who’s
really experienced with reading material and knowing what Studios want, that when it gets
to a point where there’s less and less notes and the collective feeling is there might
be some work that needs to be done because there always will be, but it’s good enough.
For me the bar for what is good enough is the character that is well-developed, that
is really coming through even if they are maybe irascible or somewhat unlikable, that
we still can have empathy for that character.
If they’re a villain, it’s still good to have some empathy?
Not always as important but for your protagonist there’s been a distinction between sympathy,
what they might do doesn’t have to be sympathetic, but you should have a degree of empathy for
them.
I think it’s when the feedback comes back pretty consistently, that this is good and
you’re not just looking for validation, you have to be really open.