Congrats!

Congrats!

Thanks! They're amazing to work with, and the revisions are making big improvements.

Atta go - much congrats

Congratulations. That is great news as it thoroughly deserves to be made. Easy to picture in the Aussie outback also.

Wow! I sooo wanted to read this and it was taken down.

It freaked me out when I read the title because my mom and dad, (no longer here) had their honeymoon or something of the sort in Bralorne. Dad, I think was working in a mine there.

Mom used to show pictures of when they were first married...

Spooky for me seeing that name.

Sandra

Thanks everyone for your supportive words! (This community is the reason SimplyScripts is my favourite writing resource)

Just sent off my latest rewrites based on producer feedback. We still have a ways to go to hopefully get it made. So far from the two scripts I've optioned, I'd say I've spent an average of an additional 50% of the original writing time on revisions. I don't know what the common experience is (I'd be interested to know), but just mentioning it to say that the work is far from over after an option comes through.

Do you not feel like you are losing more and more of your story if you are spending 50% of the time doing rewrites. You wrote a story you obviously believed in and liked. How much is too much?

Obviously we all post on here and do rewrites based on feedback, but once an option has happened don't you want some semblance of your story to remain?

I have a short that will come out soon that will be quite different from what I wrote, I was happy with that because this is just a hobby for me and I take anything I can get but for people that are more serious is that something you consider?

A certain amount of the notes are related to real locations, especially in this case where the setting changed drastically.

A lot of the other notes are improvements that I agree with. Some to build more depth to certain characters more (sometimes for the script, sometimes to make the roles more attractive for potential actors), others to improve the story and other to just plain clear things up or fix plot holes.

There are certainly some notes that wouldn't be my first choice, but the script is theirs so I'll do my best to account for what they're looking for while still keeping the integrity of the script.

In rare cases, I might disagree with the notes, and when I explain my reasoning no one has ever forced the issue.

I know films are highly collaborative efforts and I would like to think if I ever made a go of it as a screenwriter I'd be able to take notes and develop scripts the way producers and directors need them. If I were too precious about it, I'd probably chose to write novels which are much more personal efforts.

Quoted from RodriguezFruitbat I know films are highly collaborative efforts and I would like to think if I ever made a go of it as a screenwriter I'd be able to take notes and develop scripts the way producers and directors need them. If I were too precious about it, I'd probably chose to write novels which are much more personal efforts.

Precisely.

Congrats on the script going into development. Have they got any idea of budget yet, or is that coming later?

Later, if I'm lucky.

I try not to get my hopes up too high. If they do secure a budget, then I'll jump for joy.

Quoted from Warren Do you not feel like you are losing more and more of your story if you are spending 50% of the time doing rewrites. You wrote a story you obviously believed in and liked. How much is too much? Obviously we all post on here and do rewrites based on feedback, but once an option has happened don't you want some semblance of your story to remain? I have a short that will come out soon that will be quite different from what I wrote, I was happy with that because this is just a hobby for me and I take anything I can get but for people that are more serious is that something you consider?

Essentially it's up to the writer whether to make revisions while it's optioned. I have it written into contract that i'll only do minor writing services on an option and only if i think it improves the story. If they want major rewrites - they should pay for your services. Or buy the script outright and do what the fuck they like.

Quoted from Anon Essentially it's up to the writer whether to make revisions while it's optioned.

Yeah, that makes sense, I'm sure everyone's experiences vary widely.  Personally, I'm happy to do anything that could increase the chances of a film getting made. If I were a produced writer I'd better more likely to ask for payment on rewrites.