The Business of Screenwriting: When getting fired can be good news

No one likes to get rewritten, but sometimes there’s a silver lining.

When you break into Hollywood as a screenwriter, it’s a bit like entering a reality akin to George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” with the Seven Commandments of Animalism, where up is down, war is peace, and all animals are equal… but some are more equal than others.

One Hollywood Commandment of Screenwriting is this: “When you get rewritten, that can be good news.”

Now let’s be clear, when you write a project for a studio or a producer, and you are informed you are being rewritten, the simple fact is you have been fired. Terminated. Tossed off the project. And in most parts of the world, that is a bad thing.

Not necessarily in the 405–101–110–10 bubble. When your reps inform you the studio has “decided to go in another direction,” you barely have time to process that startling information before they leap in with, “But they’ve hired so-and-so to rewrite you.”

And then the ironic twist: “And that’s a good thing.”

Why? Because if a studio decides to hire someone else to rewrite you, that means they are still committed to the project, they believe in it.

Think about it. They have spent money on you. Probably spent money on writers before you. And now they’re spending money on writers after you. If they didn’t feel like there was something there, why would they be plunking down all these dollars?

Moreover by bringing on another writer, it means the project still has a chance to get made. And this is your goal because that’s when (A) you get a production bonus and (B) you have a chance to get a writing credit.

So you see how that Orwellian dialectic works? When the studio fires you, then hires another writer, that’s actually a positive for you because it keeps the project alive and possibly moving toward a green light.

UPDATE: This was originally posted May 24, 2012. Here’s another point to consider. In Hollywood, everybody gets rewritten. Since that’s the case, there’s little shame — at least publicly — in being replaced. Moreover if the movie comes out, you receive a writing credit, and it’s a hit, that looks good for you, even if much of the shooting script isn’t your contribution. Conversely if the movie gets released and it’s a stinker, as long as you share credit with other writers, you’ve got some plausible deniability at work in your favor. Who’s to say who wrote what stinker lines, scenes, characters?

So in an industry where studio execs get fired and routinely end up with sweet producing deals, sometimes it can work to a screenwriter’s advantage as well.

UPDATE #2: Question from Twitter:

If you get sole writing credit, there can be some blowback. However there were probably other writers who worked on the project who did not get credit, but pretty much everyone who works in the business will know about that anyhow, so that can offer some cover.

Of course, a lot depends on how bad of a stinker the movie is, especially if it tanks at the box office. It can become more problematic if the writer is involved in multiple bad movies, but the fact is even the most successful screenwriters have their share of projects which, more or less, went south.

It’s a feature of filmmaking being a collaborative business. You get both the benefit of other people working on your movie… and the potential downside as well.

For all of The Business of Screenwriting posts, go here.

The Business of Screenwriting is a weekly series of GITS posts based upon my experiences as a complete Hollywood outsider who sold a spec script for a lot of money, parlayed that into a screenwriting career during which time I’ve made some good choices, some okay decisions, and some really stupid ones. Hopefully you’ll be the wiser for what you learn here.