Twelve screenwriting principles

Here is some excellent advice from Daniel Martin Eckhart, whose screenplay Blood Eagle has just started shooting in Hamburg.  

These wise words have been reposted in many places, but, for obvious reasons, are well worth repeating here.  

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There's more to screenwriting than a few broad strokes. But if you're just starting out, then these 12 principles should give you something to hold on to, something to live by and something to grow with. Now go write!

1. Thou shalt write daily.

(You need a strong writing muscle to succeed - so exercise it.)

2. Thou shalt enjoy procrastination.

(Procrastination is life - never feel guilty about it.)

3. Thou shalt trust thy instincts.

(Learn from others but never depend on them.)

4. Thou shalt believe in thyself.

(If you don't, no one ever will.)

5. Thou shalt suck it up.

(Learn from rejection - it'll make you stronger.)

6. Thou shalt know thy world.

(Make movie history, films and scripts part of your essence.)

7. Thou shalt network.

(You'll never have a career if you don't get out there.)

8. Thou shalt be happy.

(If writing doesn't make you happy, stop.)

9. Thou shalt be generous.

(Spread your ideas, don't hide them.)

10. Thou shalt be a craftsman/woman.

(It may become art in time.)

11. Thou shalt deliver on time.

(Never miss a deadline, not even one you gave yourself.)

12. Thou shalt collaborate.

(You'll never make a film happen on your own)
 

"Odd Jobs"

Remember Home Alone, the 1990 John Hughes movie? And Buzz, the pain-in-the-ass older brother, who tormented poor little Macauley Culkin? He was played by Devin Ratray, who later turned up in Dennis the Menace, with Walter Matthau, back in 1993. 

Of course you do. But that leads to the question: Where is he now? Devin Ratray, that is, not Macauley Culkin or Walter Matthau.

Give up? Well, that's him below. The fat guy, now playing in a webseries called Odd Jobs. Written and directed by Jeremy Redleaf.

Blurb: Nate is a neurotic, recently laid-off investment banker. Joe (Devin Ratray) is his unemployed, morally questionable, hustler roommate. Unable to find gainful employment (or pay for his impending wedding), Nate secretly tags along on Joe's work-for-hire Craigslist adventures. Each episode finds the unlikely pair doing an outlandish job for ridiculous people in an absurd attempt to earn a random buck.

Here is Episode 1.

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Respect for writers

It's amazing how poorly writers are regarded by some of the people who make their living off the back of writers' work. Here's an anecdote from Michael Caine's book, Acting in Film.

Movie scripts are not Holy Writ. As if to prove its fallibility, the director (Sidney Furie), on the first day on the set of The Ipcress File, put the script on the floor, set fire to it, and said, "That's what I think of that."  We all stood there looking at each other. I was a bit baffled. "What are we going to shoot?" I said. In the end, the director used my copy. But I was allowed to improvise a lot.

Michael Caine and Maggie Smith in California Suite

Some writers know how to deal with the problem of presumption by mere actors. Here Michael Caine gives us another glimpse of how things can work in Hollywood.

California Suite

I did a picture called California Suite, which was written by the great American comedy writer Neil Simon. He visited the set the first day, came over to Maggie Smith and me and said, "Listen, if you think of anything funny, you know, ad libs, put 'em in. But tell me what they are first. And they better be funnier than what I've written." We thought and we thought. Our poetic license hung heavy on our conscience. And needless to say, we never ad-libbed a word.

I know I've quoted from Michael Caine's book a lot lately (and I haven't finished yet), but it's a bloody good read. Acting in Film. Get a copy and read it. 
 

Screen Australia and Movie Extra offer $100,000 for new webseries

Screen Australia and a Foxtel channel, Movie Extra, have announced an offer to budding filmmakers of $100,000 to produce a webseries.

There's plenty of time. You have until 23 November, 2011, to write, fund, cast, direct, and post a 60 second trailer. 

“Webseries have fast become a great way for filmmakers to connect with a large audience and raise their profile”, said Mike Cowap, Investment Manager, Screen Australia. ”Through the initiative we hope to encourage exploration of the format, and the use of social media to build community around a piece of storytelling.”

The winner will receive a $100,000 production budget to produce a seven part webseries for Movie Extra. There will be an online voting process via social media, but the winner will be decided through a combination of votes and an official Movie Extra industry judging panel.

General voting for Movie Extra Webfest 2.0 closes 30 November, 2011 with finalists revealed 2 December, 2011. The winner will be announced on 7 December, 2011.
   

Screen Australia contact:
   Teri Calder
   (02) 8113 5833
   teri.calder@screenaustralia.gov.au

Last year’s winning webseries, Henry & Aaron’s 7 Steps to Superstardom, created by Henry Inglis and Aaron McCann, has achieved over 92,000 views on You Tube. You can watch Episode 1 here. 

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"Vampire Zombie Werewolf"

Here's Episode 1 of a great webseries, Vampire Zombie Werewolf, from KATR Pictures, the people who made Life From the Inside. 

The blurb: 

Mason Evan Harris was the best "English Language Obscure Foreign Holiday Novelty Songwriter" in the business. That was five years ago. Now that his money has run out, he's reluctantly come out of retirement to start a new career as a less-than-enthusiastic jingle writer. The road back to financial stability would be easier if his friends would just leave him alone... and if he was willing to leave his apartment.

Vampire Zombie Werewolf. Sounds tacky, right? Actually it's really good. Nearly 2 million viewers on YouTube can't all be wrong. The show was written and directed by Robb Padgett. As usual, there's a large cast and crew.

Vampire Zombie Werewolf. There are at least three things more terrifying than trying to finance a webseries in Hollywood. Take a guess what those three things are.

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Steal my ideas!

Seems the first reaction I get from people when trying to discuss my latest script idea is: "If you talk about it, won't someone steal your idea?" Even my podiatrist (Hi Melanie!) worries that I'm about to be robbed. Worse than that, wannabe writers worry their brilliant, never-before-in-history, original idea will be stolen if they breathe so much as a syllable about it. 

Bobby Bowfinger hands his script around.

This fear is the mark of an amateur, because it's born of ignorance. 

The first place I came across a discussion of the fear of plagiarism— as with so many other things—was Terry Rossio's Wordplay, Column 4: Steal this Column! wherein he explained:

Nobody in Hollywood steals screenplays. It's usually easier to just buy the damn thing.
   Think about it. Imagine a writer has sent a finished script to an unscrupulous producer. The producer says, "Aha! Great screenplay. But I won't buy it -- I'll steal it instead!".
   Okay, so now the producer has a stolen movie idea, some characters to re-name, maybe even some kind of loose structure. Next step, he's got to find a writer to write this faux screenplay.
   No problem -- he just reads lots of scripts, conducts interviews, hoping to find a decent writer who'll write the thing the way he wants to see it. And whose fee isn't way beyond what it would have cost to buy the original screenplay in the first place.
   But before any writing happens, the producer must negotiate the writer's deal, and perhaps wait for that writer's availability. Finally, the writer starts writing. Six months later he turns in something that may or may not be a good execution of the stolen idea.
   And for all this, what has the producer gained? The potential for a lawsuit, and the dubious value of arriving second to the marketplace with the original idea.
   Uh-uh. No, your average Hollywood producer or studio executive would rather buy your script if they love it enough to steal -- and then ruin it on the way to production. (Typical of the writer's fate in Hollywood -- you still get screwed, but at least you get paid.)

Brad, thinking up a new idea to give away.

There are many blogs about screenwriting on the internet. One which takes a different approach is Steal My Script. In it Brad offers all his writing—both broad ideas and detailed scripts—to anyone who wants them. Criticize, rewrite, film; do what you want with it. In return he asks only one short line of acknowledgment. That's it. No tricks. Help yourself.

Brad recently wrote that:

This blog, Steal My Script, is based around my opinion that new writers (and some not-so-new writers) are overly concerned that their precious ideas are going to be stolen. I think that's (99% of the time) bullshit. I think a great script is just so damn hard to write that an idea is useless without execution.

About ten years ago, an offer appeared on our office computer network. A local genius had come up with a "guaranteed, sure-fire winner idea for a movie." He offered the idea for sale for $100. All you had to do was the easy part, hand over $100, then write the script. I laughed about that for months. 

Xander Bennett (author of Screenwriting Tips, You Hack) said this:

It's almost always the case that what you think is a billion-dollar idea is less than meaningless to somebody else. Nobody could have imagined Inception before Nolan wrote it -- at least not in a way that would have suggested a box-office success. Same with The King's Speech, Bridesmaids, Slumdog Millionaire or any number of surprisingly successful movies. Hell, Matthew Weiner sat on the concept for Mad Men for almost a decade. And it's clear why -- as anyone who's ever tried to sell their friends on that show knows, it's not exactly an easy idea to describe.

Blake Snyder said this:

The other great part about road-testing your logline is that you have the experience of all-weather pitching. I pitch to anyone who will stand still. I do it in line at Starbucks. I do it with friends and strangers. I always spill my guts when it comes to discussing what I'm working on, because:

a.  I have no fear that anyone will steal my idea (and anyone who has that fear is an amateur) and...

b.  You find out more about your movie by talking to people one-on-one than having them read it.

Alec Baldwin listens to a pitch in The Last Shot.

So, set your fears aside. Gain the confidence to talk about your ideas and--

What?  Me? 

Okay. I'm working on a romantic comedy about a journalism graduate who can't find a job as anything other than a blogger for an online newspaper. (That was one of the things that prompted me to start this blog, because I knew nothing about blogging and needed to find out the hard way.) My writers' group has the first 45 pages of a first draft and will be taking it apart later in the month. If I suddenly stop posting, it'll be because I've slashed my wrists. (Just kidding.)

I'm also working on a webseries idea about a bunch of older nurses (like my wife). They do lunch every few weeks. Some of them are retired (like my wife). Some are still working and bitching about all the problems that arise in modern nursing, the rest are sympathising and rejoicing they no longer have to put up with all that crap (like my wife). This one's in the early stages. I need to do a lot more research, which will involve me doing lunch and listening like an artist. 

"Aidan 5"

Aidan 5 is a no-budget, sci-fi, webseries made with an all-volunteer cast and crew. Their motto: No sets, no budget, no problem... They have a huge cast and crew. James Aidan is played by Bryan Michael Block.

Set in the year 2064, Aidan 5 chronicles the journey of a detective who must unravel the mystery behind the serial killing of his own clones. This 16-episode (so far) living comic book is told through a unique combination of filmmaking and sketched art.

Here's episode 1.

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