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I found this interview with the producer of Finding Neverland and she gives some insights into what she and other producers are looking for in a script. I just thought it was really interesting that we have a huge producer here who plainly states that she's not looking for something by the numbers, not a clinically written screenplay, but one with a unique voice.
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You’ve got a great screenplay, full of passion and talent…but the first major plot point does not occur on page 27. Tracey Becker—producer of Finding Neverland and the forthcoming Hysteria—might be interested. For Becker, it’s not writing-by-the-numbers that counts, but writing that has a unique, emotional appeal and reveals a facet of humanity. Becker, who will be attending Final Draft’s upcoming Take A Meeting event and hearing pitches, recently sat down with Script to offer her advice and expertise to young screenwriters…
Writing against the numbers: a sit-down with Tracey Becker Tracey Becker is scheduled to appear at the 2008 Los Angeles Take A Meeting event. To meet with Tracey Becker and other industry executives at this event, visit: http://www.finaldraft.com/takeameeting
SCRIPT: What are some ways that a pitching writer can make a good first impression?
TRACEY BECKER: Know your material. Be able to pitch it concisely and with passion. Be a good judge of when enough-is-enough.
SCRIPT: What makes for that pitch you can’t say “no” to?
TRACEY BECKER: I tend to take on projects that are fairly uncommercial, very difficult to set up, but once they’re done, everyone says, “Oh my gosh! Of course! Who wouldn’t make that movie!” When my partner and I take something on, it’s got to be a story that I can see myself living with for five, six, seven years. It’s got to connect with me on an emotional level, and that is completely impossible to quantify. That’s why there are so many different movies and different buyers because everything hits somebody in a different place. I like something that hits me emotionally: very strong characterization is important, and a story that, at the end of the day, helps reveal a facet of humanity for the audience.
SCRIPT: Should a screenplay being pitched already be complete?
TRACEY BECKER: My process is that I love to work with writers, and develop screenplays from an idea phase. But, it’s also very difficult for me to do that with writers who are new to the business. It takes a long time to get to the point where you have a shorthand. So, with young writers, it’s very helpful to have a script. For me, I wouldn’t expect the script to be ready to shoot. What I’m looking for in a script is: author’s voice, their grasp of the content, how they handle the tone, and how they develop their characters. The rest can be enhanced, but I want to know that those elements are in place.
SCRIPT: How important is proper screenplay format?
TRACEY BECKER: It’s hugely important. For those of us on this side of the table, you have no idea how many screenplays we look at in a week. There is a format: it aids the process, it speeds up the process. We don’t have to belabor over trying to figure out, “Is that a stage direction, or is that dialogue? Are they trying to cram an extra thirty pages in by squeezing the font?” It’s really important to follow the format; the format is there for a reason. It aids the reader tremendously. You, as a writer, don’t want to do anything that takes the reader outside of the moment on the page. In order for you to be the most successful writer possible, make your script in a perfect format so that it’s not a distraction for the professional reader.
SCRIPT: Any pet peeves with regard to screenplays?
TRACEY BECKER: Format aside, spelling and punctuation mistakes drive me crazy. I’m also not a huge fan of “writing-by-the-numbers,” meaning there are plenty of places out there that will tell you exactly how to write a screenplay, and by this page you have to have that, and by that page you have to be at this plot point. I feel that that can be a crutch far too often. There are too many times when writers are writing-by-the-numbers: many times the screenplay feels like it could have come out of a computer-generated program. “Cookie-cutter” scripts I don’t like. I like to see creativity; I relish it when a masterful writer can play with the way a story is told.
SCRIPT: Do you have any advice for aspiring screenwriters?
TRACEY BECKER: The two T’s, talent and tenacity, can’t be emphasized enough. If you’re brought to writing because you have a passion for it, and then you’re brought to writing screenplays (which is a very difficult job), I would hope that there’s a talent there. I think that all of us have a way of telling a story that is unique to us: honing your unique talent is really important. Tenacity is also hugely important: don’t let a day go by without writing.
"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."
Whatever you write, you need to write that which is true to you. You can't fake it. You either feel it or you don't.
That's probably why "cookie cutter" scripts might come off as artificial. It's not necessarily that the formula is hurting it, it's probably just that it lacks that essence that comes with really good stories.
This comes around to that whole "my art" versus "for the audience" debate. But the truth is: That "my art" and "for the audience" actually meet on common ground in a place called: The Human Condition; this is where we need to look for the third "T".
I read Blake Snyder's book and although it motivated me to get some ideas down on paper, I found his 'this must happen on this page' approach to be incredibly stifling and didn't even consider attempting to use it.
At the same time as reading his book I was reading Robert McKee's "Story" (which I got onto reading as I was also reading Peter Jackson's Biography "A Filmmakers Journey" where Peter Jackson speaks highly of Robert McKee's lectures). Needless to say this book has been a lot more helpful in the ways of structuring.
The most evident difference between the two is one is talking about structure, the other is offering a template.
I found myself questionning a lot of stuff in Snyder's book throughout, such as when he says certain events should happen on a certain page, what if the film the writer is attempting is a 4 hour epic? Then putting an event on a certain page will throw everything out of whack.
Ah well, I hope it helps some people in the same way it helped me. Blake's upbeat attitude to writing made me get ideas down, but his template for writing I find quite useless.
I read Blake Snyder's book and although it motivated me to get some ideas down on paper, I found his 'this must happen on this page' approach to be incredibly stifling and didn't even consider attempting to use it.
Blake's upbeat attitude to writing made me get ideas down, but his template for writing I find quite useless.
What I'm thinking right now is that this kind of book is intended to help "guide" the new apprentice writer, but of course nothing is ever written in stone.
There's a section in a book called "Naming The World" entitled: "Useful Lies". It speaks about a useful lie taught to young authors: that all good fiction is driven by conflict. Here, Robert Boswell discusses such a lie and although he readily admits that conflict is obviously part of all good fiction, it's not necessarily the only fuel.
The form he discusses is the kind of story that works more with state of being than purely based upon outright conflict. The example he gives is one that shows perceptual changes from two points of view. One, from the side of a boy experiencing his new sexuality. And two, from the side of his mother who is shocked by the sight of the girl's loveliness, from a higher social caste... The boy may feel awkward, the mother might feel nostalgic towards her own youth etc...
The two points of view are very different, but of course the situation and what is happening in their combined world is the same. How their two perceptions are unique and different and even perhaps hidden from one another are what makes this kind of piece interesting.
"I found this interview with the producer of Finding Neverland and she gives some insights into what she and other producers are looking for in a script. I just thought it was really interesting that we have a huge producer here who plainly states that she's not looking for something by the numbers, not a clinically written screenplay, but one with a unique voice. "
DM. Not to be pedantic, but it doesn't necessarily show what "other producers" are looking for. It is just her and her specific team.
One thing that it does show that I consider very important, is that there are as many ways of breaking in as there are individuals working in the industry.
Tracey Becker is someone who is clearly willing to spend 7 years of her life getting a project she believes in off the ground. She is also willing to help develop an idea that she believes in from the ground up. Other producers may not be so willing to invest so much of their time into individual projects that look like a risk.
Aside from issues of writing, the area where many writers fall down is that they don't have a clear strategy for what to do with their script once it's written. Writers should pro-actively target Directors, Producers and companies that make films in the style of the script they have written. Or at least have a similar ethos to yourself.
It is never mentioned in script writing books but the simple fact is that most movie deals and such are secured in the bar. In the UK 96% of deals are discussed and agreed in the Groucho Club in London. You have to actively get yourselves amongst the circles and halls of power, otherwise the odds of making it getting longer and longer.
If you want to make it in Hollywood as a screenwriter for instance, you really need to move there.
What I am trying to say in my round about way is that all companies and all individuals involved in the film industry and TV industry have different ideals and differetn ways of working. It is important for writers to build their awareness of the individuals in these companies and work out ways to creatively target them.
"I found this interview with the producer of Finding Neverland and she gives some insights into what she and other producers are looking for in a script. I just thought it was really interesting that we have a huge producer here who plainly states that she's not looking for something by the numbers, not a clinically written screenplay, but one with a unique voice. "
DM. Not to be pedantic, but it doesn't necessarily show what "other producers" are looking for. It is just her and her specific team.
One thing that it does show that I consider very important, is that there are as many ways of breaking in as there are individuals working in the industry.
Tracey Becker is someone who is clearly willing to spend 7 years of her life getting a project she believes in off the ground. She is also willing to help develop an idea that she believes in from the ground up. Other producers may not be so willing to invest so much of their time into individual projects that look like a risk.
Aside from issues of writing, the area where many writers fall down is that they don't have a clear strategy for what to do with their script once it's written. Writers should pro-actively target Directors, Producers and companies that make films in the style of the script they have written. Or at least have a similar ethos to yourself.
It is never mentioned in script writing books but the simple fact is that most movie deals and such are secured in the bar. In the UK 96% of deals are discussed and agreed in the Groucho Club in London. You have to actively get yourselves amongst the circles and halls of power, otherwise the odds of making it getting longer and longer.
If you want to make it in Hollywood as a screenwriter for instance, you really need to move there.
What I am trying to say in my round about way is that all companies and all individuals involved in the film industry and TV industry have different ideals and differetn ways of working. It is important for writers to build their awareness of the individuals in these companies and work out ways to creatively target them.
I feel like we're veering off on a tangent here. This thread isn't really about the logistics and pragmatics of "making it", but about writing style, and specifically a debunking of a certain type of myth that some people, Blake Snyder being one of them, are perpetuating.
I never meant to imply that Tracey is somehow representative of most or all producers in Hollywood, but I do think it's fair to assume that she isn't a unique case.
Assuming you are able to get your screenplay into the hands of people in the higher-ups in the business, my claim is that Blake Snyder's dogma is irrelevant, that a producer isn't going to say "Hey, wait a minute, you're don't break into act II on page 27!"
It's that old chestnut, if the story is good, well-told and engaging, nobody's gonna care about template.
"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."
I understand what you are saying, but it's also very easy to find examples of writers who have complained about the exact opposite IE that the Producer has specifically said that there is no turning point on page 26 or whatever.
All I'm pointing out is that it isn't that Blake Synder is necessarily wrong, it's just that there isn't a single standard because every Producer is different and Production companies work in different ways.
Tracey Beaker openly says she is looking for unusual stories so she is obvioulsy more open to different structures./styles. Other, less story minded, Producers may very well prefer a screenplay that is very by the numbers as they feel it's a much safer option.
I've never seen a Producer explicitly state that they are looking for "cookie cutter" scripts, but lo and behold they pour onto the screen every week.
Synder is talking about a specific kind of product/writing that is designed to be marketed to the larger Production Comapnies who rarely take the risks that Tracey Beaker would, as she admits herself.
I'm not looking to veer off the subject, it's just that different structures work for different kinds of film and there is another side to structure that screenwriting books rarely mention : The reality of the business side of screenwriting.
For example, a sales agent told me that Lionsgate (who buy lots of low budget horror) will not buy a horror film that doesn't have either any gore or any T & A in the first 5 minutes. T and A is a euphemism for Tits and Ass. Simply because they won't be able to sell it to their core audience (adolescent males).
Now, no screenwriting book would ever tell you that you have to open the script with gore or T & A, nevertheless that is what arguably the biggest buyer of horror films is explicitly looking for.
Screenwriters tend to fixate on screenwriting books when really what is important is the market. A script only has one real purpose, to be made into a film. It's crucial to understand that different companies are looking for different types of script (both in terms of genre and even in terms of quality) and to gear your efforts accordingly.
Save the Cat has it's uses for the kind of scripts that are the staple of many large companies, but you're right not to take it too seriously.
I suppose what I am trying to say in my round about way, is what is better a hammer or a wrench?
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By the Numbers: or Why Blake Snyder is super wrong
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