Thursday, December 22, 2005
DIY Development
This piece first appeared in the December issue of FILMPRINT . Visit LIFT for more information.
With a deadline looming and no ideas in sight, I procrastinated further by attending CAN-ZINE-the annual uber-indie zine/publishing/video/craft/culture fest-at the Gladstone. Arriving later than planned, I missed a discussion panel hosted by JIM MUNROE, No Media Kings indie Blogger/DVD Zine/Small Press phenom, on the dangers of being too DIY (do-it-yourself) for your own good. The forum posed the question: "Are you indie to the point where you find yourself reinventing the wheel instead of asking people for help?" This question stayed with me as I sifted through the cut’n’paste culture on display. Writers are by their nature solitary creatures. Yet this solitary life can lead to a sort of artistic tunnel vision. Yes, you need a "room of one’s own" but you also need a view of the world around you. Do-it-yourself doesn’t mean do-it-alone.
The start of a writing career can be a very exciting time. As screenwriter Daren Foster points out: "You get to write exclusively for yourself. Your ideas, characters, dialogue and structure are all yours - undiluted, uncompromised." This same freedom presents a trap for neophytes, who underestimate the collaborative nature of filmmaking. "As soon as you’re on the road to production," says Foster, "everyone who comes in contact with your script will have an opinion they want to see in the final product. Directors, producers, actors, executives." The cold hard truth is that you don’t know it all. If you think you do, you’re in for some hard lessons. But how do you know when you are ready? You have to find or create effective feedback loops to see how other people are going to perceive your script. As Foster will attest, a script alone is incomplete: "Ultimately, scripts are meant to be seen and heard. It’s only then when the writer can get a real sense of what’s working and what’s got to go. Feedback at this point is crucial to the further development of your script."
For the emerging writer, getting into the development game - having an existing script optioned or being commissioned with a new work - is a catch-22. It’s like trying to get your first job all over again. You need to be read to get into development, but your script must be suitably developed to even get read. Only a few hundred new films are made each year. Yet thousands upon thousands of new scripts are written in the same time period. "On average I would say 30 to 40 scripts, outlines, treatments, books and manuscripts land here [each month]. Everything is read as quickly as possible, and responded to," states Rachel Rafelmen, Director of Development for Slanted Wheel Entertainment. That’s about 500 individual projects a year, and that’s just one production company here in Canada. How many books did you read last month? One or two? Three or four if your fast reader. Now multiply Slanted Wheel’s monthly traffic by the whole industry and you’ll start to see the big picture.
Don’t lose heart. Some producers will give newbies a chance if the work is up to scratch. "I try to give new writers the benefit of the doubt on the formatting front," says Rafelman. "And by-the-way, I finish every piece of material I start. There is the chance that things are rough in the beginning but the back half shows real promise. What I look for is any indication of talent in the script, even if the writing is uneven." If you are fortunate to get this break you must respect this opportunity and not waste it. Rachel looks for "a solid plot - even if unconventional - which provides the characters with context, motivation and some kind of conflict that is well-paced and provides some kind of resolution at the end." Show hints of this sort of brilliance and you’ve made a good start. Send out a half-baked plot with two-dimensional characters and it will be years before you are read again.
But there’s the rub. How do you develop that material enough to actually get into development? And most importantly, how do you do it without breaking the bank? Coverage services and story editors are great, but they don’t come cheap. At this stage in your career, a serious investment of your time will allow you to defer some of these hard costs.
First off, find or start a writers group. This will accelerate the process. "Being part of a writer's group allows you to skip that step where you put your script in a drawer for 5 months so you can read it again with perspective. You get that perspective from the peers [in the group]," states Jeremy Lalonde, who recently joined LIFT’s monthly screenwriting group. Foster agrees that a writers’ group can help give a struggling writer a new perspective on his script: "The beauty of this process is the wide-range of expertise within the group. From those with a lot of experience writing their own stuff to the novice just off a first reading of Robert McKee [Hollywood Script Guru and author of Story], everyone has an opinion to express and is encouraged to do so in an open forum, free of agendas or personal vendettas."
So now you’ve put your script through a writers group and you now have the respect and admiration of your peers. You’re ready to collect your Oscar for best original screenplay, right? Not even close. Films are screened for test audiences before they get a release, right? Why not try a test reading in front of a live audience? You’ll get a sneak peek at how an actual audience will take in your story. Daren has had several of his scripts read at LIFT Out Loud – twice monthly event where professional actors read unproduced scripts before an audience - and has found the experience equally inspirational and educational: "For a screenwriter to hear his characters come alive is the only way you can take your piece to the next level. You get to hear all the moments that work and don't work. Sometimes the actor won't get it right on their initial read, and sometimes they'll take it to places you couldn't even predict. Take that, plus the chance to get audience feedback and people who are experiencing the story for the first time, and you've got something pretty powerful." LIFT Out Loud also has the added value of guest moderators drawn directly from the industry who can tell you how your piece will be received by the business.
I won’t say that when I read a script I can definitively say that the writer has workshopped his script, but it is apparent when a script has been developed to the best of a writer’s ability. When writers don’t take the extra steps to develop his or her craft it quickly shows in the work. So take a step out of your room (so to speak) or, at the very least, look out of your window. It might just help you break through. Do-it-yourself doesn’t mean do-it-alone.
Five Golden Rules of Soliciting and Receiving Feedback
With a deadline looming and no ideas in sight, I procrastinated further by attending CAN-ZINE-the annual uber-indie zine/publishing/video/craft/culture fest-at the Gladstone. Arriving later than planned, I missed a discussion panel hosted by JIM MUNROE, No Media Kings indie Blogger/DVD Zine/Small Press phenom, on the dangers of being too DIY (do-it-yourself) for your own good. The forum posed the question: "Are you indie to the point where you find yourself reinventing the wheel instead of asking people for help?" This question stayed with me as I sifted through the cut’n’paste culture on display. Writers are by their nature solitary creatures. Yet this solitary life can lead to a sort of artistic tunnel vision. Yes, you need a "room of one’s own" but you also need a view of the world around you. Do-it-yourself doesn’t mean do-it-alone.
The start of a writing career can be a very exciting time. As screenwriter Daren Foster points out: "You get to write exclusively for yourself. Your ideas, characters, dialogue and structure are all yours - undiluted, uncompromised." This same freedom presents a trap for neophytes, who underestimate the collaborative nature of filmmaking. "As soon as you’re on the road to production," says Foster, "everyone who comes in contact with your script will have an opinion they want to see in the final product. Directors, producers, actors, executives." The cold hard truth is that you don’t know it all. If you think you do, you’re in for some hard lessons. But how do you know when you are ready? You have to find or create effective feedback loops to see how other people are going to perceive your script. As Foster will attest, a script alone is incomplete: "Ultimately, scripts are meant to be seen and heard. It’s only then when the writer can get a real sense of what’s working and what’s got to go. Feedback at this point is crucial to the further development of your script."
For the emerging writer, getting into the development game - having an existing script optioned or being commissioned with a new work - is a catch-22. It’s like trying to get your first job all over again. You need to be read to get into development, but your script must be suitably developed to even get read. Only a few hundred new films are made each year. Yet thousands upon thousands of new scripts are written in the same time period. "On average I would say 30 to 40 scripts, outlines, treatments, books and manuscripts land here [each month]. Everything is read as quickly as possible, and responded to," states Rachel Rafelmen, Director of Development for Slanted Wheel Entertainment. That’s about 500 individual projects a year, and that’s just one production company here in Canada. How many books did you read last month? One or two? Three or four if your fast reader. Now multiply Slanted Wheel’s monthly traffic by the whole industry and you’ll start to see the big picture.
Don’t lose heart. Some producers will give newbies a chance if the work is up to scratch. "I try to give new writers the benefit of the doubt on the formatting front," says Rafelman. "And by-the-way, I finish every piece of material I start. There is the chance that things are rough in the beginning but the back half shows real promise. What I look for is any indication of talent in the script, even if the writing is uneven." If you are fortunate to get this break you must respect this opportunity and not waste it. Rachel looks for "a solid plot - even if unconventional - which provides the characters with context, motivation and some kind of conflict that is well-paced and provides some kind of resolution at the end." Show hints of this sort of brilliance and you’ve made a good start. Send out a half-baked plot with two-dimensional characters and it will be years before you are read again.
But there’s the rub. How do you develop that material enough to actually get into development? And most importantly, how do you do it without breaking the bank? Coverage services and story editors are great, but they don’t come cheap. At this stage in your career, a serious investment of your time will allow you to defer some of these hard costs.
First off, find or start a writers group. This will accelerate the process. "Being part of a writer's group allows you to skip that step where you put your script in a drawer for 5 months so you can read it again with perspective. You get that perspective from the peers [in the group]," states Jeremy Lalonde, who recently joined LIFT’s monthly screenwriting group. Foster agrees that a writers’ group can help give a struggling writer a new perspective on his script: "The beauty of this process is the wide-range of expertise within the group. From those with a lot of experience writing their own stuff to the novice just off a first reading of Robert McKee [Hollywood Script Guru and author of Story], everyone has an opinion to express and is encouraged to do so in an open forum, free of agendas or personal vendettas."
So now you’ve put your script through a writers group and you now have the respect and admiration of your peers. You’re ready to collect your Oscar for best original screenplay, right? Not even close. Films are screened for test audiences before they get a release, right? Why not try a test reading in front of a live audience? You’ll get a sneak peek at how an actual audience will take in your story. Daren has had several of his scripts read at LIFT Out Loud – twice monthly event where professional actors read unproduced scripts before an audience - and has found the experience equally inspirational and educational: "For a screenwriter to hear his characters come alive is the only way you can take your piece to the next level. You get to hear all the moments that work and don't work. Sometimes the actor won't get it right on their initial read, and sometimes they'll take it to places you couldn't even predict. Take that, plus the chance to get audience feedback and people who are experiencing the story for the first time, and you've got something pretty powerful." LIFT Out Loud also has the added value of guest moderators drawn directly from the industry who can tell you how your piece will be received by the business.
I won’t say that when I read a script I can definitively say that the writer has workshopped his script, but it is apparent when a script has been developed to the best of a writer’s ability. When writers don’t take the extra steps to develop his or her craft it quickly shows in the work. So take a step out of your room (so to speak) or, at the very least, look out of your window. It might just help you break through. Do-it-yourself doesn’t mean do-it-alone.
Five Golden Rules of Soliciting and Receiving Feedback
- Never Forget You are writing for an audience – You may be trying to exorcise demons, you might be trying to change the world, but if you are writing a screenplay you are trying reach people. You do that by entertaining them and telling them a good story. Always remember and respect that.
- Have an open mind (and leave your ego at the door) – You’d be surprised how many writers come out to the group or reading who don’t want to hear what people have to say. Or they take the criticism personally. If you think your work is perfect you are wasting everyone’s time. Take it to market and see what comes of it.
- Respect other people’s opinions – Whether you agree with the people’s comments or not, they have taken time out of their busy lives to read your script or attend your reading. Graciously receive their comments and do what you will with it after the fact.
- Give as good as you get - Any feedback loop is only as good as those who take part. Come out to subsequent readings that don’t feature your work. People put the time in for your script, it’s only that fair that you do the same.
- Be on time – If you are going to be late, contact the organizer and let them know if at all possible. People are busy and waiting around is no fun. It’s only polite.
