It's a screenplay....

[Beanbag]

(Beanbag opens box and starts passing out cigars)

Just finished the first draft of my first screenplay. It's an adventure/romance set in a hypothetical South American country, set in contemporary times, weighing in at 123 pages (yeah, it's a little long, but I find it's much easier to trim material out than trying to stretch what you've got).

Plot -- expatriate American gigolo leading man and single daughter of wealthy local family get caught up in a conflict between local marxist revolutionaries, a corrupt government, and a large American corporation trying to move their production offshore.

It's got it all -- good-looking American leading man, virginal Latina daughter, slutty Paris Hilton rich bitch, evil corporate CEO, a dance number, a pair of chaotic/neutral bodyguards, gratuitous sex, and the leading man trying to teach the leading lady how to drive a standard transmission.

Two explosions (one large, the other more of a car fire than an explosion), two gunfights. Complete with recurring Claude Raines/Capt. Renault character that ties up the loose ends and allows our main characters to drive off into the night and live happily ever after. No usual suspects allowed.

Depending on the talent, it should be possible to shoot it for between $5-15 million. It depends more on acting than technical effects.

It goes off to my agent tomorrow night, so he can mark it up and return it to me in a plastic bag to be reworked. Ahhhh, the literary hatchet game.

I've moved up in the ranks from A) people who want to write a screenplay, to B) people who are "writing" a screenplay (i.e. they have a page or two of notes and scraps of dialog in a word processor file), to C) people who have actually finished the first draft, to D) SOMEONE WHO'S ACTUALLY PRINTED THE DAMNED THING OUT AND PUT IT IN THE HANDS OF AN AGENT.

Now, all I want is the money.

Regards;
Beanbag

 

[TragicMonkey]

You forgot to add the comical monkey sidekick, who will use a bubble pipe, wear a little fez, and answer to the name of "Mr. Peepers". Mr. Peepers will be irritating throughout the film, but will wind up saving the day by bringing the desperately-needed key to something (car, room, boat, helicopter, briefcase full of evidence/diamonds/bagels) to the heroes in the nick of time. "Whatever would we have done without you, Mr Peepers?" they'd cry in joy, and give Mr Peepers the villains' eyeballs to play with.

Why did you think he's called Mr Peepers?

 

[Beanbag]

Sorry, TM -- not a single monkey (Old or New World). The banana budget just wouldn't allow for it.

Beanbag

 

[TragicMonkey]

Sorry, TM -- not a single monkey (Old or New World). The banana budget just wouldn't allow for it.

You're running a risk, then. Audiences demand monkeys, as many as possible, in absolutely everything. They're box office gold.

I can't wait until Star Wars: Revenge of the Monkeys. It's going to rock:

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Monkeys do I with the Force detect!"
"Screech! Chitter chitter screech!"
"Flinging fruit at me are the monkeys! Assistance do I need! Alas! Fruit not all of it is!"

 

[SteveW]

I assume you have registered it with the Writer's Guild?

 

[Iconoclast]

(Beanbag opens box and starts passing out cigars)

Just finished the first draft of my first screenplay.

Hurrah! I'm writing a screenplay at the moment, not a feature, it's just a short film for next year's Sony Tropfest. The great thing about short films is that there's nothing stopping you getting them made, you can finance them yourself without too much pain.

It goes off to my agent tomorrow night, so he can mark it up and return it to me in a plastic bag to be reworked.

How'd you manage that? That is, how did you get a manager if this is your first ever screenplay?

 

[Beanbag]

I assume you have registered it with the Writer's Guild?

Will be done through my agent. He's been doing this since the late 60's. I need to have a serious sit-down discussion with him about the pros and cons of using the WGA versus the old "registered letter to yourself" protection scheme versus just simply copyrighting the screenplay. My personal prefference is copyright, which might cost more, but tends to be a bit more solid footing for basing a claim.

Beanbag

 

[Beanbag]

Re: Re: It's a screenplay....

How'd you manage that? That is, how did you get a manager if this is your first ever screenplay?

Careful application of whiskey and cigars

Actually, dumb luck. My agent teaches a class on screenplay writing at a local college. I took his class. Part of the deal is that if he thinks your script is marketable, he'll flog it for you for a percentage. It works out fairly well for him. He actually gets paid (during the class) to pre-screen potential screenwriters, make sure they work in the correct format, and see if they are actually up to the demands of producing on schedule. It works well for me because it gave me a chance to find out if our personalities and philosophies are compatable, and saves me the problems of having to break in with an established agency. Face it -- no one is going to touch an unsolicited screenplay from an urepresented author. Gotta have an agent.

Beanbag

 

[Iconoclast]

Re: Re: Re: It's a screenplay....

My agent teaches a class on screenplay writing at a local college. I took his class. Part of the deal is that if he thinks your script is marketable, he'll flog it for you for a percentage. It works out fairly well for him. He actually gets paid (during the class) to pre-screen potential screenwriters, make sure they work in the correct format, and see if they are actually up to the demands of producing on schedule.

That sounds like a pretty good deal both ways.

Face it -- no one is going to touch an unsolicited screenplay from an urepresented author. Gotta have an agent.

I don't know about that. I spent a bit of time reading articles on a few screenwriting web sites (and there's a couple of excellent ones out there), and they basically said the same thing, that it's hard for an unknown writer to get his script read. If it's not on the correct weight paper, or the formatting's not exactly right, or it's not close to 110 pages, or if it isn't bound with the industry standard brass brads it will probably be thrown into the bin, unread.

However, these sites also said something that struck me: If you're a new writer and you've written a truly great screenplay, you won't need to worry about it getting read, it will get read and you'll find yourself at the centre of a bidding war. Of course, this probably only applies to mainstream genres, but if you're an unknown writer and you've written a great mainstream movie with a new angle such as (say) "The War of the Roses", the producers will beat a path to your door.

Of course, I'm not in the industry and I'm probably being a bit naive, so I really shouldn't comment.

 

[Beanbag]

Re: Re: Re: Re: It's a screenplay....

That sounds like a pretty good deal both ways.

For the most part, it's pretty agreeable. I do occasionally find myself at odds with my agent as to certain aspects. I depend on him to help me with obvious errors and mechanical details such as correct format, etc. A few times, we find ourselves on opposite sides about certain scenes and their relative value. Grammar is a frequent issue. I hold that folks don't talk according to the rules of grammar, and writing dialog that adheres to proper english grammatical structure comes across as stilted and unwieldy.

Of course, the most important thing about writing a screenplay is to not get too attached to the screenplay itself. Unless you personally are going to be producing and directing the film based on your screenplay, the odds are that what ends up on the screen will not be what you wrote. The producer will buy the screenplay and immediately have it rewritten. The producer's version then goes to the director, who will have it rewritten yet again. If you're lucky, there may still be some resemblence to what you originally wrote. Most likely, however, it will be substantially different. The best advice for the original screenplay author is to take your money up front and run.

For this screenplay, I targeted the general audience for an adventure/romance, with an exotic yet accessable setting, with few technical demands. Easy to shoot, inexpensive, and (according to my agent) Latin American films are supposedly in demand. If I can clear $80K - $150K for about eight weeks pounding the keyboard, I'm happy.

Beanbag

 

[treble_head]

this topic has gone on far too long for idiocy. good job. you've spoofed 80s american films. Now your only step is to update youself 20 years and live in the flipping now.

 

[Beanbag]

this topic has gone on far too long for idiocy. good job. you've spoofed 80s american films. Now your only step is to update youself 20 years and live in the flipping now.

OK, I'll bite:

How far have you gotten on your screenplay? Anything finished? Even done a treatment?

It's a business.

Beanbag

 

[Beanbag]

Five revisions in as many days. And that's without any input from my agent.

Anyhow, it's down to 118 pages.

Beanbag

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

....versus the old "registered letter to yourself" protection scheme....

There was a thread about this in the past, but don't do it. It doesn't work.