Mind Your Business. Michele Wallerstein
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The movie business has become so complex that it may seem impossible to navigate it in terms of knowing whom you want to please. My experience tells me that writers should always please themselves first and foremost but to always keep the market in mind. I know that sounds contradictory; however, it's possible and it works. The quality of your work will rise along with your passion for your project. When you write only because you want to get a sale, it will show in the work. Everyone in town is always searching for that special writer with that special spec script that rarely comes along. Very often, your script may not sell or even be optioned; however, you may be hired for a different project and you will use those skills that shone in your original screenplay to rewrite someone else's film. Your spec script may be ahead of its time, or perhaps other screenplays with the same or similar themes are already being developed at a movie studio. I can't tell you how many times this has occurred while I was an agent — sometimes an idea is in the air and is being developed in more than one place. If you have a great script, it will serve to open many doors for you, whether it is sold or not. If the story is wonderful and the characters even better, people in the film industry will know it and will find you. The people who are making movies often find a novel, short story, news article, etc., that they will need to have a good writer translate into a movie script. Perhaps you will be the writer they hire to write that movie.
There is an old saying that “rules are made to be broken.” I believe that to be true. So, if you hear that no one is buying unpackaged spec scripts, or that only books that can be movies will be published, or that you must only write big action-adventure flicks, even though you love writing relationship dramas, you are being sorely misinformed. The only real reality is that things change. The pendulum is constantly swinging back and forth. When you are absolutely sure that no one will buy and produce a western, someone remakes the very old movie, 3:10 to Yuma, starring Russell Crowe. I don't suggest you fight only uphill battles. Try to be circumspect in your choices.
A big no-no is to spend your time and creative energy writing the same project in more than one medium. I've seen people write the same story in different mediums thinking that they will then have a better chance at a sale. It is much better to write each story idea in one format that you really love. When you do so you will write with more quality and it will show in your piece. You must always be moving forward to your next beloved project. I knew a successful writer who became too attached to one idea. He wrote his “story” as a screenplay and a novel and when they didn't sell, he also wrote it as a play. All of these efforts took their toll in time, thought, energy, and work. It was an enormous waste of all of that and it ended his career.
The simple answer is and always has been: Write what you love but remember that you are in the business of writing.
Another huge question that arises is when to let go of a script that hasn't sold. Writers quite often continually push their agents to send out an old script. It is great to believe in your work; however, here again you must trust your agent or manager. It is very hard to define why a good script doesn't sell, but usually there is a reason. You and your agent may never figure it out. It will also be possible that your agent will know, but not want to share, this information with you. Perhaps your agent feels it will hurt your feelings or that you are so tied to the project that you won't listen to the advice presented to you. The point is to simply let it go and move on to your next spec script, treatment, or pitch idea. There is no such thing as successfully selling defensively. If you force your agent's hand he or she will be put in a position of having to go against his or her own instincts or to let you go as a client. Either of these decisions are potential disasters for you. Like the old saying goes, “It doesn't matter if the window hits the rock or the rock hits the window, in either case it's bad for the window.”
Similarly there is a huge problem if you write a script that your agent doesn't believe in and doesn't want to submit. This is a dead zone that can destroy a perfectly good agent-client relationship. It has happened to me. I once represented a brilliant writer who blindsided me by walking into my office with twenty gold-stamped, leather-bound, completed screenplays about the murders of elderly people in an old age home. A script doesn't get more depressing than that. The story was so sad that I could barely read it. There were no young heroes nor were there any of the other elements that are so necessary in a commercial script. I was dumbfounded that he had written this without discussing it with me first and that he had brought it in to me in a condition that practically screamed that he would not do any rewriting. It was the end of our professional relationship and I'm sorry to say that his career never took off.
There are so many sticky situations that arise in your decision-making process. Arguing vociferously with your producer or development executive in a notes meeting is another one. You can only go so far defending your creative choices. Once a deal has been made, once you are writing on someone else's dime, they have the final say, even if it's wrong. Certainly you may present your case and even try to find a middle ground, but the person behind the desk is the one in power. If you begin by making enemies, you will be replaced on your own film and get a terrible reputation in this very small town.
There's no such thing as “common sense” when it comes to navigating a career in Hollywood. It's better to discuss your situation or problem with someone who has some experience in your field. If possible you must find mentors and ask their advice. People love to give advice. Just be careful to ask a pro.
Another big decision is when to write another spec script. Perhaps your career has been going along fairly well. You have a pretty good agent and you have optioned a couple of scripts and had the good fortune of being paid for a couple of rewrites on other people's scripts. You may have met with lots of good development people and some fine producers, maybe even a studio executive or two. Then, one day it dawns on you that it has been awfully quiet for a few months. Nothing is happening. You call your agent and ask the inevitable questions: “What's going on? Can't you get me another assignment? Is anything happening on my old scripts?” Obviously the answer to all of the above is a resounding “No.” Your agent asks, “What are you working on now?” He wants to know if you have any new pitches. You realize that you have been waiting for him to find you the next job. It's easier to blame your agent than to take responsibility for your own inaction. As I've mentioned previously you must always be working on a new spec script. This means at any time in your career. When the going gets tough you better get yourself to your computer. I once worked for a wonderful agent named Mel Bloom. When told by a client that he'd already paid his dues, Mel replied, “Have you paid them this year?”
All of the above are potentially serious problems in a writer's life. Pay attention to the big picture of your career. Be sensible and sensitive to the business you are in. Certainly there are more problem areas than these, but these are amazingly common and have destroyed many writers. Try to weigh your decisions carefully, and be open to listening to folks who have been swimming in these waters before you. We can't avoid making mistakes in this life; however, perhaps you will be able to sidestep a few.
WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT 5
Every agent in town is waiting for you to bring them the next big saleable screenplay that will knock the business off its axis. They want you to bring them that piece that will have producers and studios panting at their doors with their tongues hanging out and with huge offers of money and multiple deals for future movie writing assignments. Agents want the best for you, because it means the best for them. I happen to believe that the agent-writer relationship is a great one. It is an honest quid pro quo — if you are successful… I am successful. How bad is that?
Okay, so how do you make that happen? How do you deliver a perfectly written project that will make the town sit up and take notice? It's not as difficult as it sounds. The first thing you have to do is to stop thinking that you must write the most unusual script of all time. This kind of thinking will destroy your chances of not only selling the script, but of keeping your agent. Yes, you search endlessly for that “different” story, for that unusual and fantastic arena that you are sure no one else has done or will do. I've found that new writers often have the tendency to try to impress people by “thinking outside the box.” Well folks, the