I've frequented this place for a while, posted a lot, shared a lot, tried to give advice, etc. But I wanted to share something that's happened to me over the past month or so regarding a short that I optioned, and was filmed, but will not be released.

Long story short, I wrote something, it was picked up by a producer/director, shot, and then that's when shit hit the fan. My simple script was riddled with changes, both in dialogue and story. You know, I don't mind some dialogue changes, but when the change to said dialogue adds a layer of subtext I never intended on being there, I have a problem.

My concerns were heard, but after the filming, so there was nothing to be done. After some back and forth, and some expression of dislike on my part, the director said that he is scrapping the project and all festival entries.

It's fine, but I did take away some things from this. The first being GET THE PHONE NUMBER OF THE FILMMAKER. Initially, our contact was frequent via email. Then those messages spaced themselves out weeks at a time. Simple things like having a line of communication is very important, especially if you're involved with a small team. There is literally no excuse to not contact your partners in 2017.

That's all, just a rant I guess. But maybe some of you can relate.

I don't mean to add insult to injury but a phone number guarantees nothing imh.

I can definitely relate a funny story re Scooter. Guy wanted to change the sex of the main character, change the setting, and use something else in place of a scooter. I was polite and tried to be accommodating but it got a bit silly.

A few Options came my way  this year so far, none of them have come to fruition. In fact my recent courteous emails have drawn a big blank. I'm getting used to the lack of manners from people. Tis the nature of the game unfortunately. I'm glad I give three month Options (with extension granted upon request) only.

Put in your Agreement that all changes need to be run by you, that you require consultation re dialogue, plot points specifically. Even then you can only hope they will respect the lowly writer.

Thanks for the words. Yea I know a phone number doesn't really mean anything, but it adds a bit of  reassurance, I guess.

The strange thing here is that it's filmed. People put in work on this, and it's done, but the plug is now pulled? Just seems weird to me. Our option was for 90 days, staring Feb. 28th 2017, but it was slated to be released July 15th. The original release date was to be April 25th. Mind you this is only a 7 page script.

The level of professionalism reared it's ugly head almost immediately, so I at least know what to look out for now.

Steven,

What were the terms of the agreement? Did you sell the work outright?

- Don

Quoted from Don Steven, What were the terms of the agreement? Did you sell the work outright? - Don

The only form of initial payment was a writing credit. Everything else broke down like this:

-50% of festival earnings to writer. Or if a writing only award, 100% to writer.
-50% of net profit from feature adaptation to writer.

EDIT: Also, 50% of all profit to writer, not just feature adaptation profit.

The lack of business professionalism in this industry can be shocking - I spent a career dealing with every business/vendor imaginable and if they ever neglected correspondence like this industry does (at least based on my experience) it would be game over.  

Quoted from eldave1 The lack of business professionalism in this industry can be shocking - I spent a career dealing with every business/vendor imaginable and if they ever neglected correspondence like this industry does (at least based on my experience) it would be game over.

This is a learning experience, for sure.

As far as filmmakers not making films exactly like the scripts goes, I have quite a bit of experience there. Most of my shorts that have been made have been altered in one way or another from the scripts. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. NONE of the features made (4) have followed the scripts at all. In fact the very first one was so far from the script, I thought I was watching the wrong movie. Seriously, I didn't even recognize it. I was in shock, to be honest.

I have become wiser since though. I have come to realize that the scripts weren't that great to begin with, so instead of blaming the filmmakers, I put the blame on my scripts. I have also made a few short films myself and I can tell you from a director/producer's point that following a script exactly, is pretty freaking hard. You have to use the cast you can find, the locations you're able to secure and on and on. They might be completely different from what the script called for. Ask Bert...  Also, sometimes a director/producer reads a script and loves it and wants to produce it. They can see the film in their head. However, that does not mean that they see the story as you the writer intended it. Therefore, they will make the film the way they see it.

There is really only one way to make sure that your script will be produced the way you the writer see the story and that is to produce it yourself. And, even then, you'll most likely find out that making the story exactly as written into a film is much harder than you probably thought.

As far as the crappy communications go, all I can think is that it's because most people fire off messages from their phone while driving or such, and people are used to texting nowadays, so messages are often short clipped and come off as rude. No one but writers sit down and type at computers these days.  

Also, I never bug the filmmakers. I don't expect to be part of the process and know everything that's going on. I usually drop an email every couple of months or so and I keep them very short so they can respond from their phones with simple texts or messages.  

Thanks for the response, and I understand where you're coming from. My issue isn't with the dialogue change itself, it's with the inserted social commentary that the new dialogue brought with it.

I'll summarize real quick.

Jacob's girlfriend Sherri locked herself in Jacob's bedroom for an unknown reason. The story picks up after she's been in there for about an hour, and hasn't communicated with Jacob whatsoever. Jacob calls Ammon, his long time friend, and they talk about what caused Sherri to act the way she's acting. Ammon, a bit of a dick, runs up to the door and bangs on it.

Here's what was supposed to happen:

Jacob says that they were at a bar, and he was caught looking at another woman. Ammon bangs on the door and tells Sherri to loosen up, get over it, etc. He's a playful dick about the situation.

The change was this:

For some reason, Jacob said that Sherri looked pale. So Ammon (a Hispanic actor portrayed him) goes to the door bangs on it, says "Yo Casper, must be nice being that white huh?"

It's such a tiny change, but it caught me off guard so I brought it up to the director, who stated the actors improvised some of that dialogue.

I probably looked into it a bit too far, but I see a brown-skinned person asking a white person if it's nice to be white, but in a really mean way. It's a bit of social commentary I didn't want included and never thought it would have been in the first place.

In the end, they break down the door, Sherri turned into a zombie, she attacks them, game over. It was a stupid little story that I half-assed but somehow got picked up mainly due to my dialogue.

By the way, my main dislike was with the acting and how it felt rushed. All of the concerns were brought to the director's attention.

Quoted from Steven By the way, my main dislike was with the acting and how it felt rushed. All of the concerns were brought to the director's attention.

Often on shoots, things don't go quite as planned. When we shot Pumpkin nightmare 2 for example, we had a LOT of shots still planned and needed, but by the time it got to be around 2:30am (we started at 9 am the previous day...) everyone just wanted to go home. We were going to start again at 9 am. So, a lot of things got rushed and we missed a lot of media. Most indie films are shot on weekends because actors and crew usually have regular jobs during the work week. My guess is that something similar happened with your actors. Maybe they just ran out of time and things got rushed. Also, if the actors were there for free, there's a good chance they weren't that experienced to begin with.

I'm not trying to defend the producers. Just trying to give you a glimpse into how getting a film made is more complicated than many writers think.

And, like I said earlier, sometimes the way the director sees the script compared to the writer can vary widely. Unless you have in the contract that no changes can be made to the script, they most likely will change it to something they feel works better.  

Live and learn.

I have something else coming down the pipe that begins filming this coming weekend. The actors involved are SAG and the crew is experienced, so here's to hoping for a good shoot!

I suspect that Steven's attachment to his story is one of the reasons that in big studio projects, once they buy the script, they usually keep the original writer out of the process(at least that is my understanding anyway, and there are many exceptions).

The writer doesn't want to see important things changed. That's understandable. But it's also understandable that the people making the film, who are investing much in time and other resources, want to do what they think is best.

So once you option it, it's out of your hands. Like a child, I think you have to let it go and hope for the best. If you don't like the result, well, that's the chance we all take. The alternatives are to get into making the films yourself, as Pia has done, or develop a working relationship with a director where your vision will come through.

I recently watched an interview where David Lynch talks about his film Lost Highway. It was amazing, because it seemed like Lynch had absolutely no idea what the film was about! He really had no clue. Not that he said that, he blamed it on memory, but I wonder if he ever really knew. He had a close working relationship with the writer. Lynch's brilliance was in the way he filmed scenes. I think maybe that was a rare example where the writer got his vision through because of his relationship with the director.

I can't disagree. I do tell a filmmaker to go ahead and change what he feels necessary, but it's all said and done with now.

I have had a LOT of experience with this. I have one guy that likes to "cowrite" but he changes so much of my script and it ends up with weird scenes. The last short I wrote him... was 22 pages...he stretched into a 70 minute feature!!! I just declined doing another script for him. Sad because he does beautiful work but he refuses to let me be the sole screenwriter. Some directors try to write and mess things up but once you have optioned your script UNLESS you have some stipulations set in the contract, they can improvise it any way they want I believe.

Several of my shorts have been changed. Most I do not mind...some I do. But I never say anything. If you are not making any money, then hopefully you can have a little more say in it or get credits ...but my suggestion to EVERY writer would be to go make a movie. Write a short and go shoot it on your iPhone. And then edit it. It is so much harder than most writers realize. I've been lucky to work on some shorts and I've done a few with Pia... with every one of them I learn a tremendous amount. I think it helps in writing too.

I'm sure I'll run into a ton of different personalities while writing. Not all of my interactions have been negative.