“I’m Expecting a Package”

The subject of packaging has come up lately on GITS, so this post by writer and Creative Screenwriting columnist Jim Cirile is timely:

So what is packaging? It simply means attaching ‘elements’ — a name director or actor — to a spec script to improve the chances of a sale. “It’s all about directors now,” says Energy Entertainment’s Jake Wagner. “Even great specs are going into the studios, and execs are turning around saying, ‘Who’s the director?’” Shuman Co.’s AB Fischer says that executives are getting lazier and lazier. “They want the puzzle put together beforehand.” UTA feature lit agent Julien Thuan adds, “They’re making fewer movies, so they have to be much more specific about how they put those movies together,” he says. “They have the leverage to have other people do more of the work before they spend any money. In the absence of brand recognition (source material such as a video game or comic book or book,) you have to show the studios what the movie is and give them a comfort level,” he says.

“It’s getting more and more difficult to go out with a spec without having anybody attached. The days of ‘Oh, this is a great idea, we’ll develop it’ are over.” –AB Fischer, Shuman Co.

It’s intriguing how studio attitudes toward packaging have changed over the years. When Ovitz ran CAA and they attempted to package everything (with their clients, of course, to get a 10% taste across the board), the studios actually resented the packaging trend because their responsibilities were largely reduced to marketing and distribution. Nowadays the studios actually prefer packaging… because it allows them to focus on marketing and distribution.

See how that works?

From a writing standpoint, it doesn’t really change much. You still want to write something with a strong story concept. You still want to write something with characters that will be attractive for actors to play. You still want to write a story that will be interesting for a director to direct.

In other words, packaging or not, you still want to write a great script.