On some pages, the minimum is 90 pages and some say it can have as little as 85 pages. Other web pages say this is too short and the minimum page length is 110-115...Which of these ideas is right? Thank you for reading and answering this!
Screenwriting : How short can a spec screenplay be? by Victor Titimas
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Stay withing the range 90-120. Go outside this at your own peril. Ideally shoot for 100.
Also here is a handy tool to make sure you are having key things happen at the right places. put 100 in the formula and try to outline to those page numbers then start writing. http://www.beatsheetcalculator.com/ Just an idea.
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Genre/budget dependent. Example: producers trying to make an under $1m horror flick will LOVE an 85-page script.
Isn't the script for 'The Artist' under 50 pages, and won an Oscar...
Victor, the absolute, positive answer to your question is: It depends.” In the formalistic world of film, it is dependent on genre, corporate budget, target market and lots of other things to some degree or other. So as writers – we are given specific “rules.” Not so much in the independent filmmaking world where greater emphasis is more based on story quality than strict adherence to some formulaic structure. Your script needs to be long enough to tell the story. I've written advertising scripts under 2 pages, I've written comedic television skits that were all of 5 pages long. Most shorts that have any kind of story development and character arc seem to comfortably fall in the 10 – 15 page range. More involved characterization generally involve a little more. I suggest you watch “Curfew” a 20 minute short that won an OSCAR in 2013 and “The Phone Call” that won this year. Both scripts are under 30 pages (if I remember right.)
Clint Eastwood was once handed a 90 pages script. Without opening it he said, "this is the best script I have ever read".