Mind Your Business. Michele Wallerstein
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a reason — it works. Stay grounded in reality and tell a good and entertaining story, in an established genre, that has some believability. Throughout movie history, audiences have loved certain types of films. They go to see them over and over again. Certain genres, such as thrillers, love stories, adventures, and great dramas are evergreen; they are the fodder we live on. When you are working to get into the business, go with the flow. Perhaps, after you've established yourself as a player, you might be able to expand your horizons, but it's not the way to get into the mainstream of your chosen field.
Insofar as your early spec scripts are concerned, here are eleven rules to live by:
1. NO TOGAS ALLOWED
By this I'm referring to period pieces. Keep your early scripts contemporary. Period pieces are extremely difficult to sell. They go in and out of favor with the studios by the minute. You never know whether you are too early or too late with your piece. You may want to write a great western but very few are developed and produced. I loved Gladiator as well as 3:10 to Yuma, both of which starred Russell Crowe, and naturally I love all films based on Jane Austen's novels, but movies centered in these eras are few and far between. They are not good as writing samples since they are too dependent on very specific eras. This means manners, customs, morals, societal relationships, styles of speech, costumes, etc. Period pieces are also extremely expensive to produce.
2. KEEP IT SIMPLE
Stay away from twins. Don't make a script too complicated to produce. As soon as a development executive or producer sees this he or she will toss it into the “circular file.” It is too much of a pain in the neck. Try not to write a script that is so complicated that it would make the casting a horror or the locations (see #4 on page 25) impossible to get to. Another example (besides twins) is a multigenerational story involving a large and diverse cast. This means a nightmare of casting as well as costume and set changes that are a financial pain. Don't go there. Besides, no one really wants to watch a bunch of people age before his or her eyes. Of course the antithesis of this statement would be that wonderful movie, Cocoon, where the older people became young and there were young stars in it. That film caught the imagination of its audience in a very favorable way. After all, who doesn't want to stay alive and youthful forever?
3. KEEP'EM YOUNG
If you really want to kick-start your writing career, try to have your early scripts feature a fairly young cast. In my mind the term “young” means up to twenty-nine years old. Not one minute older. Even in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the main character grew younger.
The youth market is what is most viable today. Actually if you can write a script for nine-to-twelve-year-old boys and their young parents, you are really in good shape. The research shows that this demographic will return to see the same film over and over again, with different friends and family members. Recidivism is the word. Let's not forget our little friends Harry Potter, Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Superman, ad infinitum.
4. LOCATION, LOCATION, AND LOCATION
This is not simply a rule in real estate. This is a real consideration in movie-making. A studio never has a problem putting its money in a viable movie star who can “open” a movie. Opening a movie means a guarantee of big bucks at the box office in the film's opening weekend. Foreign or multiple locations do not promise this type of income for the film and they are very expensive. You don't have to keep everything set in one city, but you should remember that this option could be an attractive one to those who might purchase your screenplay. You always want to be realistic in your writing. Think bottom line about locations but think expensive with starring roles and action sequences.
5. THE STAR
Here are the rules for your main character and they are hard and fast. These points apply to all genres. Do not try to change them for any reason.
a. The Star's character is on every page.
b. The Star's character resolves the problem.
c. The Star's character has the most lines.
d. The Star's character gets the girl (or the guy).
e. The Star's character is the smartest person in the cast.
f. The Star's character has the last word in the film.
g. The Star's character must grow as a person.
h. The Star's character must learn something about him- or herself
It seems that many fine actors and stars are drawn to political thrillers. These can be great spec scripts. They show the writer's abilities with intricate plots and great characters. Think George Clooney in Michael Clayton, The Good German, and Syriana.
6. COINCIDENCES
They can only be used to complicate the plot. Coincidences and coincidental accidents should never resolve the problems. When you use this device to solve an important plot point the audience feels cheated.
7. GLOOMY VERSUS DRAMAS
There is a fine line between being depressing and being dramatic. You need to learn the difference between them while you are in the early stages of your dramatic writing career. I love a good dramatic relationship film. I hate depressing movies that have no other saving grace but to be sad. Hud was a great drama starring the late Paul Newman and Patricia Neal. Another golden oldie was the 1957 film, A Face in the Crowd, starring Patricia Neal and Andy Griffith. The more recent film, Revolutionary Road, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is another example of a terrific drama where the audience really is entertained while learning a great deal about honesty and relationships. A good drama has the ability to teach the audience some of the important truths in our lives. They often deal with right and wrong, good and bad, and many of the moral decisions each of us is faced with during our stay on this planet. These are films that must be seen and studied by serious film writers. They define great drama with riveting characters whom the audience wants to stay with. The audience becomes invested in their lives and we learn something about the human condition. Hud speaks to survival and inner strength while A Face in the Crowd tells us that total power corrupts totally when there is inner weakness. There is a difference between depressing and drama. Always keep in mind that you are in the business of entertainment.
8. CHOICES
Whether you write a contemporary drama, comedy suspense, thriller, murder-mystery teen comedy, or romance, you must keep your characters interesting and believable. You need the audience to become involved with what happens to them. The great writers know that it is the characters whom the audiences fall in love with, and that what the characters do and say in movies are what keeps those audiences coming back. Try to write “up” to the audience's intellect and emotions. We want to leave the movie theater feeling like we were entertained and that we learned just a little bit about the human condition. The movie studios like this too.
9. PERSONALITY
Whether you are writing a huge action picture or small romantic comedy or teen coming-of-age story, it is all about those main characters. An audience must love someone in any movie. They need to root for someone and to care what happens to them. Audiences automatically like Tom Hanks, but you may not get him so you must write a great character that would work for any actor who ends up starring in your movie. We all always hope that wonderful, talented actors will be cast in pictures, but we also know how rarely that happens. Lately, there seem to be more celebrities in films than serious actors.
10. DON'T GO TOO CRAZY
Oh, and by the way, try to stay on this planet. By this I mean in our realm of reality, within the scope of reason. Every time I start to read a script that takes place inside someone's brain or has some mystical fervor, or where a person morphs into another entity, my mind starts to wander. Writers