The advice and rantings of a Hollywood script reader tired of seeing screenwriters make the same mistakes, saving the world from bad writing one screenplay at a time. Learn what it takes to get your script past one of these mythical Gatekeepers.
Michael F-ing Bay
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Webshow: Casting
This week we turn our attention to something that I suspect a lot of writers fail to consider when they start writing: casting.
Who would write such a script? That's material for a novel, not a screenplay. Do people stop and think about what they're writing?
It reminds me of the stuff I used to get sent all the time: There was the script about a lesbian and her lifelong struggle for her family's acceptance. It wasn't well written and was full of common n00b errors. The writer was a lesbian who struggled for family acceptance. I sent it back and suggested she try a rewrite. A few months later she sent me a new script. It had a new title and the characters had new names and lived in a new place. It was about a lesbian and her lifelong struggle for family acceptance, and wasn't well-written and was filled with typical n00b errors.
Then there was a script from a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling. It was about a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling. It wasn't well written and was filled with typical n00b errors. He also sent me a nother script around a year later, and it was also about a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling.
And I received three scripts in quick succession from a woman who worked as a nurse in a palliative care ward of a big hospital. All three were about different women who worked as a nurses in different palliative care wards of different hospitals in different states. None of the scripts were any good.
There are so many hopefuls in the screenwriting game and yet so very few with any real ability. That's good news for those who can write, but it must totally suck to be one of the rest.
Who would write such a script? That's material for a novel, not a screenplay. Do people stop and think about what they're writing?
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the stuff I used to get sent all the time: There was the script about a lesbian and her lifelong struggle for her family's acceptance. It wasn't well written and was full of common n00b errors. The writer was a lesbian who struggled for family acceptance. I sent it back and suggested she try a rewrite. A few months later she sent me a new script. It had a new title and the characters had new names and lived in a new place. It was about a lesbian and her lifelong struggle for family acceptance, and wasn't well-written and was filled with typical n00b errors.
Then there was a script from a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling. It was about a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling. It wasn't well written and was filled with typical n00b errors. He also sent me a nother script around a year later, and it was also about a guy with a developmentally challenged sibling.
And I received three scripts in quick succession from a woman who worked as a nurse in a palliative care ward of a big hospital. All three were about different women who worked as a nurses in different palliative care wards of different hospitals in different states. None of the scripts were any good.
There are so many hopefuls in the screenwriting game and yet so very few with any real ability. That's good news for those who can write, but it must totally suck to be one of the rest.