DYING for just ONE great piece of material…

Last week I posted this featuring the most recent Vulture column from manager-producer Gavin Polone in which he made the point about who reads what in the Hollywood movie and TV acquisition and development process:

Last week, during the Supreme Court hearing on the president’s health-care law, Justice Antonin Scalia asked an attorney, “You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages? … Or do you expect us to — to give this function to our law clerks?” Never before had I felt such appreciation for something that came out of Justice Scalia’s mouth. Probably the most consistent frustration I — and most others in the film and TV business — experience is how much we’re expected to read. And, just like Justice Scalia, I would assume that those of us with the wherewithal to employ minions below us push much of that reading down to others. Aspiring and established scriptwriters likely fantasize about a high-powered exec or producer personally discovering their genius after a cold read and calling their agents, demanding a meeting. And those dreamers might be distressed to know just how much of their fate — when it comes to getting a staff writing gig on a TV show, a feature-film assignment, or the possible sale of their spec script — is in the hands of inexperienced low-level executives, assistants, and even interns.

Here’s the short list of what I do read: For a project I’ve sold into development at a film studio or television network, I will read and usually write notes on each new draft; if the changes made to that script were small, I will only read the pages that have been changed. (This is easy to do, since most writers use screenwriting programs that either star or highlight changes to the last draft.) I also closely read scripts that my friends send me or those that have been submitted by writers with whom I’ve worked before. But other than that, scripts submitted to me as possible development projects are given to my development executive and our assistants, who write a synopsis and critique on each. When an agent calls and says, “I’m going out with this project that I think you’ll love,” I always reply, “Thanks, I’ll read it right away,” but both he and I know that what I really meant by “it” was the write-up from my assistant, not the script. If my assistant really liked it and my development executive concurs, I will read about twenty pages; if I like those twenty pages, I read on until I don’t like it anymore or I finish. If I get all of the way through, I probably will get involved with the project in some way; if I pass (which is the usual outcome), I will send an e-mail to the agent thanking him for thinking of me but declining to produce the project. I’ll offer some reason as to why I’m passing — maybe I didn’t “relate to the premise” or “connect to the characters” — but, of course, anything specific I say is actually plagiarized from the document my assistant gave me urging me to pass. If this seems disingenuous, keep in mind that the writer’s agent probably didn’t read the script either: A more genuine process would be to have my assistant deal directly with his assistant, since they’re the only ones who did read it. But to preserve the illusion on all sides, when the agent calls his client and goes over the list of producers to whom he submitted the script, he will say, “Gavin Polone passed,” not “Gavin Polone’s assistant told him to pass.”

The focus of my comments on Polone’s piece:

What can you do? You can piss and moan about the state of affairs, or you can embrace it as a fact of life:

* Understand that this first line of defense is your ‘audience.’ And that ‘audience’ is a young male or female, fresh out of college, severely overworked and underpaid, but with big ambitions to make it in the film business.

* Assume if they are there working as an unpaid intern or low-level assistant, they have a passion for movies, otherwise why else would they put up with such working conditions. And if they have a passion for movies, that means they will have a passion for great stories.

* Keep in mind that 95% of the scripts they cover are either poor or pure crap. The upside is (1) this means these gatekeepers desperately want to read a great script and (2) good writing will stand out, even to readers who have little understanding of the craft.

In fact knowing that these are Hollywood’s threshold guardians can actually benefit you. How? Because if the image of your ‘audience’ is an exhausted young person who has just spent the weekend covering five scripts, they desperately want to go to bed and get some sleep when they look down on the floor… and there is your script. One more God damn script to cover! They pick up your script and already hate you.

In comments, screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe added some thoughts that take what I said over the edge and goes one louder, if you will. I wanted to make sure the GITS community saw them, so I am re-posting them here in full:

First of all, I LOVE this piece because what Polone says is honest and blunt and, at the end of the day, not necessarily a bad thing at all.

A NOTE BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE: Some of my comments are going to be vague for obvious reasons. However, in full disclosure, I do not know and have not yet worked with Gavin Polone, though I know OF him very well. Please do not attribute any of the following comments to him. Thanks.

Second, what he’s saying, as far as I’m concerned, often gives you and INCREDIBLE advantage as a writer. There are many, many, many excellent studio execs and producers who are fantastic at their jobs, love what they do, and KNOW what good material is. And there are just as many who are in it solely for the money, are there via nepotism or dumb luck, and couldn’t possibly give a shit about quality — they just want to get movies made and be “Hollywood”.

In BOTH of those cases, Scott is absolutely right — their associates and assistants are underpaid, overworked, and have read so much absolute shit over the last weeks or months that they are DYING for just ONE great piece of material. And if they find it, you can bet that they will forward it to every other associate and assistant they know faster than you can blink, because they’re all in the same boat. Subject Line: FINALLY SOMETHING GOOD.

And when that happens…you’ve built buzz. When assistants and associates are all talking about the same thing, the execs and producers hear about it. The good ones will jump at the chance to find out if there’s something there they love and want to get behind; the bad ones will jump at the chance EVEN FASTER if for no other reason than to either a) be the one that found the Next Big Thing or b) at least NOT be the one who IGNORED the Next Big Thing.

No matter how you slice it, that’s GREAT for you. What happens afterwards is a complete crap shoot. There will be execs/producers that just don’t have time to read. There will be others that love it but really don’t see it working for them for whatever reason. There will be others that just don’t dig it. Best case scenario, a great exec/producer falls in love and you make a sale to someone who believes in what you’ve written. Less ideal is you make a sale and a shitty one makes your life hell during development, and you move on to the next one eventually with a nice paycheck for your troubles.

But maybe more important than anything, there’s this: Hollywood is filling up more and more with young creative people who want to work in the industry not because they want to get VIP tables at clubs and have celebrities on their speed dials, but because they love. Movies. Period. That means there are a TON of young people out there right now working in Gatekeeper positions who want to find something they love and FIGHT for it, not just pass it on because they think it’ll get them a promotion. They’re willing to make noise.

When you write something that you love, you’re going to write your best. When you READ something you love, you’re going to do your best to get in the ear of everyone who can help make it happen. So, as Scott mentioned, don’t read Polone’s thoughts and get discouraged. Coverage is a necessary part of the process, and if you write a great script, it can be the biggest part of the process for you.

Great. Stuff.

For the record, Geoff recently sold this pitch to Paramount to write and direct an ensemble comedy. In the spirit of taking the time to write the above thoughtful and insightful comment, I’d like to offer Geoff and his upcoming project a splash of creative juju. And if any of it washes your way, well, that’s our collective good fortune. Here we go!

Thanks, Geoff. And good luck!

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