New Script
So, I wrote a new drama feature script this summer. I wrapped it up at a pretty tight 111 pages back in August, and twesked and polished on and off or the last few months, after getting feedback from several different people. And today I finished the latest polish, which has really all been a part of one big rewrite/polish. So I finally feel like it's ready to go out to -- more writers.
Actually, I feel like it's ready to go out beyond that, but I want to check my instincts with some of my writer friends and contacts. So I've emailed a few professionals to see if they'll read it (and if any of my writer friends reading this blog are willing to give it a look, please email me).
In other news, today was one of those up & down kind of days. Actually, it was all kind of down. Not in a terrible, awful, things-were-really-bad today. Just a dose of the reality of this business.
First, I was reading a new entry on an indie film blog to which I contribute: Tough Enough, director Blake Calhoun's list of required deliverables upon the sale of an independent film. This was a daunting list, and as a filmmaker with an indie film that I'm trying to sell, I started wondering how much I really want to sell it! Blake's list, according to his numbers, could cost the filmmaker an additional $15,000 (money that most indie filmmakers, like both Blake and myself, don't have after getting our film's done).
So, naturally, my mind drifted to thoughts of my new script and the hope of selling it (i.e., not having to worry about the business end of producing it myself, which I'm considering doing). I spoke with a friend who read the script and gave me some notes (this friend is a big "up and coming" screenwriter in Hollywood). He really liked the script and in fact didn't have a lot of notes, and what notes he did have were minor. This is unusual for him; in the past, when he's given me notes on scripts, they ranged from small to major (and most of them were terrific notes; there's a reason why I always ask him to read my stuff). We got to talking about how to market the script, and at this point it hits me that I have written another good indie script. It's really interesting, but it's not that high concept and is pretty tough to sum up in a sentence or two. I'm asking myself why I keep doing that, but it's just where my heart most of the time (and my head).
But this confluence of events is what made me frustrated. Making my own indie films is a legitimate possibility, but the business end is crazymaking. And yet, the long and slow process of getting a script out to people and actually selling it is equally daunting.
So I just had one of those days where both sides of the issue seemed too large to deal with. I left the office wondering which direction I should be pursuing right now.
I'm not complaining at all -- it's a tough business, but it is what it is. I get that, and it's just as hard for everyone else, so I'm certainly not alone in this frustration. And tomorrow, or the next day, I'll probably be fine and continuing to pursue this with everything I have. But today, it was just... one of those days.
Actually, I feel like it's ready to go out beyond that, but I want to check my instincts with some of my writer friends and contacts. So I've emailed a few professionals to see if they'll read it (and if any of my writer friends reading this blog are willing to give it a look, please email me).
In other news, today was one of those up & down kind of days. Actually, it was all kind of down. Not in a terrible, awful, things-were-really-bad today. Just a dose of the reality of this business.
First, I was reading a new entry on an indie film blog to which I contribute: Tough Enough, director Blake Calhoun's list of required deliverables upon the sale of an independent film. This was a daunting list, and as a filmmaker with an indie film that I'm trying to sell, I started wondering how much I really want to sell it! Blake's list, according to his numbers, could cost the filmmaker an additional $15,000 (money that most indie filmmakers, like both Blake and myself, don't have after getting our film's done).
So, naturally, my mind drifted to thoughts of my new script and the hope of selling it (i.e., not having to worry about the business end of producing it myself, which I'm considering doing). I spoke with a friend who read the script and gave me some notes (this friend is a big "up and coming" screenwriter in Hollywood). He really liked the script and in fact didn't have a lot of notes, and what notes he did have were minor. This is unusual for him; in the past, when he's given me notes on scripts, they ranged from small to major (and most of them were terrific notes; there's a reason why I always ask him to read my stuff). We got to talking about how to market the script, and at this point it hits me that I have written another good indie script. It's really interesting, but it's not that high concept and is pretty tough to sum up in a sentence or two. I'm asking myself why I keep doing that, but it's just where my heart most of the time (and my head).
But this confluence of events is what made me frustrated. Making my own indie films is a legitimate possibility, but the business end is crazymaking. And yet, the long and slow process of getting a script out to people and actually selling it is equally daunting.
So I just had one of those days where both sides of the issue seemed too large to deal with. I left the office wondering which direction I should be pursuing right now.
I'm not complaining at all -- it's a tough business, but it is what it is. I get that, and it's just as hard for everyone else, so I'm certainly not alone in this frustration. And tomorrow, or the next day, I'll probably be fine and continuing to pursue this with everything I have. But today, it was just... one of those days.
posted by Chris Hansen at 5:40 PM
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