photo by orangebrompton
I got a phone call a couple of hours ago. It was to offer me the job as script-editor on a new feature film. The writer and the producer on the project are both old mates; it's always good to take a call from them. And, because I've known the writer for years, I know the script will be a good one, which is always a great starting point. So, this week, I want to write about script development, because it's one of those areas in independent film-making that is often ignored or misunderstood.
One of the first things to understand about the development process, is that to be effective it needs at least three or four people. The bare minimum are: a writer; a script-editor; and, a producer. The forth person is the director. Involving the director in the development process is one way to avoid having to repeat the process, when the director wants to rework everything. However, often the development process is undertaken specifically to get the script to the point where it can attach a specific director. So, often, the process starts with three people.
I think a lot of film-makers are afraid of the development process. It's one thing to buy a camera, where you can read all the reviews before you buy, it's another thing to hire a script-editor. If you buy a camera you don't like, at least you can put it on Ebay. When you hire a script editor you can't read reviews, or look at the brochure. You have to make a decision whether this is the right person to help the writer and the project. Which is tricky, how do you judge the value of a person's opinions? A lot of independents just don't know anyone whose opinion they'd trust. I wish I had some simple answers to this one. I created the very small list of script-editors I've worked with, on my scripts, from personal referrals. That seems to be the way to go at it. It also helps to know what you want from a script-editor.
Personally, I think the script editor's job is to be an advocate for the audience. A task that is undertaken by asking pertinent questions. The script development process itself also starts with two simple questions:
What in this script is working?
What in this script isn't working?
These aren't just questions for the script-editor, they are also questions for the producer. However, whilst the producer and the script-editor are asking the same questions, it is from different perspectives. The producer is asking "what in this script isn't working commercially?" The script editor is asking "What in this script isn't working for the audience?" In essence it is the difference between coherence and commercial.
Personally, I like to give notes in question form. "Why does this character do this, at this point in the movie?" I think, that is a good note. It tells the writer they've failed to sell their vision to me, at that point in the film, without trying to tell them how I would rewrite it. The reason I give notes in question form, is because as a script editor it isn't my job to rewrite the script. It actually isn't relevant how I'd tackle the script... what's important, is to show where the writing isn't selling itself. When I give notes as a producer, I might use "If we keep in the rape scene, in this form, our current distributor won't touch the movie and we won't get cinema distribution, which means we'll have to reduce the production budget by 75%... is that scene so important, that it's worth finding a different distributor, quartering the budget and giving up a theatrical release?" As opposed to "Cut the rape scene and make the protagonist Cuban, but not too Cuban... oh, and he should have dog, people love dogs." Giving notes in question form, prevents either the producer or the script-editor from letting their egoistical desire to tinker with the script, get in the way of the development process. It's not the only way to do it, but it's the way I like to work.
Ultimately, the reason development needs a three person team, is to balance out the egos of the people involved. A writer can't possibly be expected to see the flaws in their own writing, or to be totally on top of the business implications of each creative decision. At the same time, a producer can't be expected to know enough about writing to script edit... and, personally, I don't think a producer should be giving creative notes, unless they've got writing credits of their own. There are too many producers out there who see script development as a way to play out their fantasies of being a writer.
In many projects the script-editor is the mediator between the writer and the producer. I happen to think it is largely about selling. Selling the writer on the changes the producer needs... and, at the same time, selling the producer on the writer's vision, in a way they can use to persuade both investors and distributors.
At the end of the day, the basic principles of script development are about balancing an artistic vision, with the need for coherence, and commercial pragmatism. If you can find three people capable of understanding their own roles in the process, who can also avoid turning the process into a huge ego-fest, then you are golden.
Of course, the most important thing is that every project needs development. Good writers know this. Every project needs a good script editor, and every good producer knows that investing in that is just as important as raising funds for production.
keep writing (and script editing) and viva la revolution!
Posted via email from Filmutopia's Sunday Morning Movie Blog
