Total Control of your Script?

Go independant. Try hooking up with someone based on 2 things.
First, create something on film, a part of your movie, or perhaps a short story to prove your abilities behind the camera--and they better be good.
Otherwise I doubt that anyones going to want to invest their time or money giving you complete control over your movie.
hope it helps

Oh, and the second thing would be...the script itself better be better than good..good enough for anyone to want to give you that much control.
better be superb!

Punisher, what are you bring to the table to give you this total control?

Do you have the money? Are you a proven talent?

By the way, I had a friend who wanted total control over his script. He had money and produced it himself. He also starred in and it directed it.

So he wanted a distriubtion deal. His movie was rejected by every film festibal in North America and Europe. No one would distribute him. He is out of a lot of money.

And by the way, actors, especially named actors, can have a lot to say if their attaching their name to your project.

"
On to my question, what's the best way a screenwriter can maintain complete creative control over everything from the writing of the script to the camera angles and the way the movie is displayed?"

Realistically, there is no way, and this sounds totally amateurish and unprofessional.

"I have no schooling in regards to film making, and to be honest this is something I'd seriously consider pursuing, both in school and even down to investing thousands of dollars in the script (via whatever it is, buying/renting a studio, paying for some of the production, etc) in hopes of banking on my scripts."

It's realistically going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a low budget movie? Do you have that kind of money now? If you do hire an indie director and let him do his job (but you might want to make sure you can secure distribution deal first).

Even if you are the writer/director, other people still do have say in what you do.

sspunisher.

I am sorry, but you have no idea how the industry works and you are setting yourself up for a big disappointment.

No writer has ever been completely happy with the finished product. Even if he/she says so in interviews, they are lying for the sake of looking like a team player.

If you go the studio route, your script will be changed no matter how good it is, either by the studio, the director, the producers, or even the actors.

if you go the indy route, you will be forced to make changes mostly based on the budget. The less money you have, the less of the script remains intact.

Also, what works on the page very rarely works on screen. Things get changes during pre, pro and post production for a variety of reasons. Money being the biggest factor. Budgets are based on days shooting. If you get 4 million, you can only shoot perhaps 25-30 days. If you have a hundred plus setups, you will have to make changes to the script in order to get those days down.

Screenwriting is a discipline in rejection and dejection and a practice in accepting change and compromise. You will never see a finished film as good as the script you envisioned in your head or on paper.

I can only add one more voice saying that the screenwriter never gets complete control unless he also produces, directs, and stars--and like Justino said, that can end up leaving you broke with a product nobody wants, unless you're good at allthose roles.

If control is that important, maybe you should not be writing in a genre that by its very nature is a collaborative venture. Have you considered writing fiction instead of screenplays? Novelists exercise much more control over the end product than screenwriters.

Maryn

Have you ever watched Project Greenlight? In my opinion, it gives everyone on it a false sense of hope, because the movies eventually bomb. But it is a good learning process. Just from watching that show I learned that there is more to making a movie than what meats the eye. There is so many people invovled that if you wanted to do everything yourself you would literally have to become a hundred people. It's an impossible task. The last season, they couldn't get enough funds to even get the last two days of production in, or create the monster effects they were looking for. For these two things they needed an extra 200,000. That right there should tell you how much money a movie demands. And if your movie flops, that's it.

But I see where your coming from. Not only do you want to write the script you want to add the visual effects. You have this whole vision in your head how you want your script to turn out in the end, and your afraid that someone is going to mess with that vision.

Here's my take. Yes, there is more than likely going to be changes. As a beginner screenwriter, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Because once we sell that script, it isn't ours anymore, it's thier's. And they can do whatever they feel nessasary to bring the script up to their standards. But, if your script is written well, with a definite mood and in good discriptive style, the less changes they may make.

My advice to you, is be the screenwriter first, then later when you have established yourself, become the director if that's what you choose. Once you've written your screenplay and your lucky enough to get it sold, the moment it changes hands, forget about it and move on to the next. Otherwise your career will be full of disappointments.

But by all means be passionate about your work, it's what drives us to make great scripts rather than lousy scripts. Yet at the same time, make sure your able to turn that passion off when the moment of truth comes.

Good luck.
Steph

Stephanie76 said:

But, if your script is written well, with a definite mood and in good discriptive style, the less changes they may make.

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This view is not only somewhat naive to the realities of how this business operates, but also shows a real lack of perspective of how high the bar is for writers.

Only scripts that are "written well, with a definite mood and in good discriptive style" have a shot in hell of being optioned or repped let alone bought and produced. Those things are a given, they are the very bottom threshhold - those things make someone proficient - not good.

The vast majority of the scripts that are on peer review or critique sites - don't have a shot in hell of getting made. Ever. They just are not good enough. Period.

As for SSpunisher - I agree with whoever said that he should pursue novel writing as opposed to scripts is he wants any control at all over his vision.

Everything you write must have 200% passion behind it or it will be crap.

You should, however, not be so attached and emotionally vested in a script that if it doesnt go the way you planned, you won't have some major mental breakdown.

Like raising a child, you need to let it find it's own way. We all wan't our babies to grow up and be a succesfull doctor, lawyer, scientist, whatever, but if they end up a mechanic or something less than you envisioned or planned them to be, you should be happy for them for they choose thier own path. The same is true with your screenplays. Be happy they got made and you got paid, but love them nonetheless.

Undercover - your view is not warped at all.

The fact is that with a novel as long as you have one person read it (even if that person is your mother) the circle is complete - granted it's a much smaller circle than if it's published and sells a million copies.

But screenplays are merely blueprints for a film and unless a film is made - the circle will remain incomplete - even if you sell the thing for a million dollars.

That is one of the reasons I find it so odd that people take up screenwriting as a hobby. Novel writing I can understand - but screenwriting...

sspunisher said:

I assumed going Independent would be the answer, but that also means less exposure.

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It doesn't really mean less exposure. Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1992) is one of the most famous independent films of all time. It inspires hundreds everywhere, every year.
It does so because his career has taken off since then. Whatever you make in independent, is normally what gets you your place at the so called 'big table' (huge generalisation, lots of people go back to independent or even reject the big table completely). My point is that what you make in independent can be your calling card, and as that, its exposure will be limitless, as long as you become a success (like our pal Robert).

Thanks Punisher, that's exactly what I meant. And I'm glad the person it was intended for understood it correctly.
IWrite: I wasn't suggesting that there are bad scripts and good scripts, and that the good scripts don't get altered as much. I am not as naive as you suggested. I may still be learning myself, but of course I know that a script has to be beyond perfect to have any chance in hell to be sold. What I meant is that if someone wrote a script much like the final draft to "The Day After Tomarrow" vs. a script much like the first draft of "House of the Dead", I'm sure the latter would be prone to more changes. Would you not agree?

Steph

Stephanie76 said:

What I meant is that if someone wrote a script much like the final draft to "The Day After Tomarrow" vs. a script much like the first draft of "House of the Dead", I'm sure the latter would be prone to more changes. Would you not agree?

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Actually the short answer is "no"

Those who produce "House of the Dead" have far lower expectations. They are spending far less money and are expecting far less of a return. They are targeting a niche market as opposed to the masses. And they're more interested in having A script and a specific amount of gore - then a quality script. As long as they can afford to shoot it - they'll shoot it as is.

For the most part only really High Concept scripts that are sub-par in quality get bought. And when I say high concept - I mean really, really, unbelievable idea that could sell on the logline alone.

The development process has far less to do with upping the quality than upping the commercial viability, attractiveness to talent and investors and/or appeasing talent and investors.

There is a long list of stellar specs that were 'dumbed down' during the studio rewrite process.

sspunisher said:

Joe I can tell you've been around quite a bit. Obviously experience is second to nothing, but are there any books out there you'd recommend I read to get a better understanding of the screenplay to movie making process? Particularly the aspects of budgeting as well as all the terminology of marketting your script to someone.

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No, my name is not Joe, but I can not recommend these two books enough:

A Pound of Flesh: Perilous Tales of How to Produce Movies in Hollywood
What Just Happened: Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line

Both by Art Linson. He devotes quite a bit to the writing part, but pokes fun at the whole process as well. Funny, funny stuff, but also a super reality check.

If you want something that really breaks the process down step by step, and also with a dollop or ten of humor, check out Lloyd Kaufman's Make Your Own Damn Movie, now also out as a DVD set. Yes, I know, it's Troma, but for the newbie or wannabe filmmaker, there's a ton of very practical how-to in there.

Happy reading!

Nique Zoolio said:

It doesn't really mean less exposure. Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1992) is one of the most famous independent films of all time. It inspires hundreds everywhere, every year.
It does so because his career has taken off since then. Whatever you make in independent, is normally what gets you your place at the so called 'big table' (huge generalisation, lots of people go back to independent or even reject the big table completely). My point is that what you make in independent can be your calling card, and as that, its exposure will be limitless, as long as you become a success (like our pal Robert).

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my gawd, have you all seen his home movie lab? Unfrickin' believable. He also has a cooking demo on Once Upon a Time in Mexico that's pretty sweet. The man can do no wrong! that is one filmmaker for whom I have absolutely no writer envy, because he really did start from nothing and seems to be such a hard worker. more power to him (and sorry to hijack the thread!)

"For the most part only really High Concept scripts that are sub-par in quality get bought. And when I say high concept - I mean really, really, unbelievable idea that could sell on the logline alone."


Maybe I just didn't grasp what you said. I may have totally misinterpreted, if I did ignore me. But the way I took it contradicts everything you previously said. If the only scripts that get sold are really really high concepts that are only sub-par in quality, then we're all wasting our time in more ways then one.


See, I have to disagree with that. Sure a script must be fresh and unique, but really really high concepts only come around once in a blue moon. How many high concept movies have you seen in the last year versus how many scripts were sold?

Steph

Well said on Robert there!

"Maybe I just didn't grasp what you said. I may have totally misinterpreted, if I did ignore me. But the way I took it contradicts everything you previously said. If the only scripts that get sold are really really high concepts that are only sub-par in quality, then we're all wasting our time in more ways then one. "

There are scripts that are sold on the basis of the concept alone. Usually it's by people with industry connections such as produced screenwriters, directors, actors, etc.

But it is done.

"The development process has far less to do with upping the quality than upping the commercial viability, attractiveness to talent and investors and/or appeasing talent and investors."

Stephanie, what Iwrite is saying here is that rewrites are done in order to appease actors, directors, investors, etc. Not because the script is bad.

In Six Degrees of Seperation, Will Smith played a gay hustler who was supposed to kiss a man. But Smith said he was advised by Denzel Washington not to kiss a man, as it could destroy his career. So the script had to be changed. Actors will worry about their career long term and will want the script tweaked to serve their interests.

The investors will want a return on their investment, so if they think things can be done in order to maximize chances that the movie will make money, they'll demand changes me made.

Sometimes you watch a movie, like Once Upon a time in Mexico, and you wonder how in the heck did that movie ever get made. Like el Mariachi Part II, with Banderas and Selma Hayek, just as bad. There are so many bad movies getting produced that Im rooting for the underdog here.

Hey Punisher, Im for you man. you prove everyone here wrong.
If you believe in your concept, do what hasnt been done, in a way it hasnt been done.
Thats your test.
Everytime you see an idiotic big budget, with terrbile acting and a weak storyline, let that consume you and keep you marching forward.
You go after a particular big name -- now granted, youre story is going to have to blow their socks off, but youbecome a pit bull.
you get an agent, maybe someoen trying to make a name for themselves whos as ferocious as youre going to have to be.
You join every screenwriting contest you can. you leave every stone unturned. And you never give any excuses.

You find someway to get that person or persons that are going to make your concept fly, and you become a rhino.
Make it Happen, and the more people say you cant do it this way, you prove them wrong.
If your movie is one of the better ones, then do what it takes!

This is your passion, Go with it!

Rather live a life pursuing that one thing that burns within you, and bask in all its wonder, rather than living a life conforming and doing it like everyone else.
Personally I think theres so many crappy movies out there because the writers/producers/studio people all are thinking theres one way to do it.

Well change that up.
Be a pioneer!
Now thats easier said then done.
And that is assuming your movie is as good as you say it is, and that you can convey that to any reader so that you completely consume them enough to share your passion once they grasp it -- if they grasp it at all.

Be that rhino, that looks straight ahead and travels full speed ahead!!!
Dont stop till you get there!!!!
And good luck.
If you ever do get your movie made, I want opening tickets.

And whenever it gets too tough for you, and you arent believing in yourself, go rent Once uopn a Time in Mexico. Seeing that should motivate you as to why youre movie should be made!!!!

I'm good friends with a couple home-grown filmmakers, one in Atlanta, one in Boston. Both of them write their own films, produce their own films, shoot their own films and usually star in their own films. One of them has received rave reviews in various film festivals for his films, the other has managed to secure distribution each time he makes a film.

Granted, the films they make are typically SODV (shot on digital video) and are typically gory/nudie/monster/zombie flicks with bad actors and sometimes cheesy, sometimes gruesomly realistic effects, but the fact is they're making movies, they've found their niche and they're having a blast. Isn't that what we all want?

So, though I understand you're hoping for something a little more high-end, this might be an avenue to consider.