Spec scripts by Genre

[GonnaBeFamous]

I'm thinking of a fantasy musical someday. Haven't got an idea yet, but I'm thinking of going against the grain and trying one someday. Do those kinds of things even sell at all in todays market? Or is this genrea most likely be more appropriate just to show writing skills and imagination the a possible spec script purachase?

[icerose]

HEHE Go for broadway!!!!

[GonnaBeFamous]

HEHE Go for broadway!!!!

Seriously I heard there is a huge market for plays. Now that I think about I don't have the talent to even attempt either one though. :(

[TheRuleofThirds]

Plays suck. Plain and simple. They're so two-dimensional. I don't know what the big deal is in trying to make a stage look like another place. It's too stinkin' obvious that it's not. Plus, people who're trained to be stage actors can't act in front of a camera. If you try to get them to act like a real person, they can't. They're too used to the flamboyance and eccentricity of stage acting. It sucks. As a director, I want realism. I don't want people to under-read or over-read. I just want it normal. Spielberg, IMO, has mastered that with all the background characters he's got in his movies. Ted Danson and Dennis Farina in Saving Private Ryan are good examples of it.

[zagoraz]

Plays don't necessarily suck, they're just not for everybody. Some actors make the jump from screen to stage, back to screen, with no problem. It all depends on the talent level. You can find good actors that can do both. But it's probably going to be hard to find a stage actor in a small town theatre troupe who is going to be an excellent screen actor. Just look at Brian O'Halloran's performance as Dante in 'Clerks.' Small town New Jersey stage actor trying to do film. It was a very over-the-top performance, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, the script was full of monologues.

[Joe Calabrese]

Third, you may not like the Theatre, but you should at the very least aknowledge and appreciate the hard work and talent in putting on any stage play.

In film, an actor can go take after take and a film takes months to make, but on stage, it's like an entire film production in real time. An actor must say all his/her lines without breaks, the sets must move to the actors and not the otherway around. The director must get everything to work write on opening and subsequent nights.

Of course the sets and the vocalizations (acting for the middle rows) will never looks real, but it is not supposed to.

As for stage actors can't act in front of a camera. Most actors either start out in theatre or are trained to do so. And a lot of successful film actors go back to theatre to challenge themselves (Mathew Broderick, Jessica Lange, faye Dunaway, Charles Durning, Anonio Banderas. etc...)

[JustinoXXV]

Like Joe said, there are plenty of actors who were trained to act in theatre. They studied drama (such as Kirstie Alley) or musical theatre (Vanessa Williams). Long before they got in the film industry, people like Whoopi Goldberg, Denzel Washington, Hugh Jackman, Bebe Neurith (Lilith from Cheers) Shelly Long (Diane from Cheers), all started out in theatre.

Actually, considering the difficulties Joe just outlined in doing theatre (you have to do it in real time), I'll go further and anyone who has mastered theatre can do well in film.

As for other big name film actors who are doing Broadway or going back to theatre to increase their legitimacy, add Julia Roberts, Danny Glover, Nicole Kidman, Sean Combs, (aka Puff Daddy), Phyilicia Rashad, among many others. The biggest Broadway plays these days use known Hollywood stars to attrack investors and audiences. Off Broadway, and Off Broadway are mainly for upcoming actors who want to make a name for themselves. When they do, they typically enter tv and film, though some work their way up to Broadway.

Theatre was around long before film, tv, and radio shows. These art forms (when technology made them possible) drew from the talent base from theatre.

I'll also add that a lot of people trained as playrights become screenwriters. Susan Lori Parks is a good example. It's often a gripe in NY how many of their best playrights go Hollywood and become screenwriters. I actually used to intern in theatre companies (I was the production assistant). When I fully understood the potential earning difference between playrights and screenwriters, I immediately decided being a screenwriter was a lot cooler.:)

[WritingFool]

A play might be 2 dimensional as you say, but in order to apreciate it, you have to open your mind and allow the story to be played out in front of you, and thats an art in itself, that I bet most screenwriters have a tremendous time adjusting to if they can at all.

You sound too young to appreciate that art, too accustomed of seeing everything in the3rd dimension, which is probably tv bg screen and videos..

How many plays have you seen -- Ill bet none, and youre going from a misconception that I bet you dont even know why you have.

But just as it takes one heck of a talented singer, to get up on stage and sing in front of the crowd as good as their track sounds on the radio, if not better, it takes a very well trained and/or talented actor to do the same for any play.

How many people are you talking about that do stage and cant act?

[Joe Calabrese]

Fool.
I edited out the bad stuff from your post.
Look at how I made my point without calling Third names. Try to strive for this level of higher consciousness.

[Chesher Cat]

I'm thinking of a fantasy musical someday. Haven't got an idea yet, but I'm thinking of going against the grain and trying one someday. Do those kinds of things even sell at all in todays market? Or is this genrea most likely be more appropriate just to show writing skills and imagination the a possible spec script purachase?

All That Jazz was a great musical fantasy. Didn't see it, but Moulin Rouge seemed to have a fantasy element. And while it wasn't a fantasy, Chicago was fairly recent and did very well at the box office as well as the Oscars. If a script/story is really compelling it will find a way to be told.

In other words, if you are really passionate about a project, you should write it and not concern yourself with the marketplace because you have no control over it. Also, if you decide to write something that is in a genre that is hot today, by the time it's finished some other genre will be hot.

[GonnaBeFamous]

All That Jazz was a great musical fantasy. Didn't see it, but Moulin Rouge seemed to have a fantasy element. And while it wasn't a fantasy, Chicago was fairly recent and did very well at the box office as well as the Oscars. If a script/story is really compelling it will find a way to be told.

In other words, if you are really passionate about a project, you should write it and not concern yourself with the marketplace because you have no control over it. Also, if you decide to write something that is in a genre that is hot today, by the time it's finished some other genre will be hot.

Yeah, the problem is I can't find a good idea. ;)

Anyways I read a person saying that action scripts sell 10 to 1 so I decided mynext script is going to be an action film. I actually had an idea for an action film a few weeks ago but descarded because I didn't want to be a ALL GENRE type screenwriter as I've already done 2 different genres. If there is a market for action and since I feel motivated for it, I'm putting the thing on my to do list. :)

[icerose]

A big reason for their exaggerated moves is so the audience can freakin see them. On movies they have up close shots, on stage they have to be able to reach the back of the theatre and still convey everything they originally intended. Small movements are lost on the first couple of rows. I strongly suggest you go to a real play and see one for real. Even your local college should have plays that are worth your time. And broadway does pay rather well and is a lot harder to break into than the film industry because they really have a lot more at stake. Even a bad movie doesn't lose money, but the time it takes to memorize the lines, write the songs, the music and everything if it fails in the theatre every single cent is lost, so the pressure is much higher. Also they don't have to do it just a few times, they have to do multiple shows a night, night after night and they have to make it good. Everything rides on that stage performance and they risk not only the production costs but their entire careers as well as they have several trained replacements just waiting for their chance on stage.

I would say (in my humble personal opinion) that play actors have the hardest jobs in the acting industry. That's no small matter.

Sara

[Mac H.]

Even a bad movie doesn't lose money
Icerose - I sure hope that's a typo. Movies lose money all the time. Even good movies.

A few years ago, a popular children's entertainment group made a movie. It was a pretty much a sure fire hit. Known brand. Known audience. It could be done fairly cheaply (no big explosions, etc).

The movie was well received - didn't do that well in the cinemas, but was hit on video & DVD. (Well, their main market was 5 year olds!)

When the producers went to make a sequel, they pointed out that the investors had made 18% from their original investment in the first movie.

The responses in the trade magazines was quite interesting. The investors pointed out that they had made 18% of their money back, not 18% on top of their money! The producers then replied, pointing out that everybody knows that movies were a bad investment, so getting 18% back was quite a good result!

(It had a happy ending. Apparently after about 5 years on DVD/Video, the investors did make their money back. Being part of a long term brand helped the long term income. And being promoted by Disney didn't hurt either. )

Mac
(PS: This is the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128842/ )

[icerose]

Icerose - I sure hope that's a typo. Movies lose money all the time. Even good movies.

It sure was lol. I was tired and in a hurry, I really shouldn't post during those times.

I don't know what I was trying to convey anymore.