Screenwriting : OWA's by Richard Buzzell

Hey Richard Buzzell - I was just checking those out. Can you clarify? As far as I know, there's no pattern to them. It's a matter of what becomes available.

The new batch specifies a budget range for each one. In the past this was rare. Also, the budget is reasonable for an independent production, which is really the only realistic opportunity for a writer looking for a breakthrough.

I see what you mean Richard Buzzell. And you're right. It's a reflection of the state of the industry. I think the reason it didn't stand out to me is that the OWAs rotate and next month may be something different.

Hopefully these changes are an indication that the OWA's are starting to engage with a class of producers who have some realistic chance of someday producing a movie.

Where do I see these OWA's?

They're posted in the Writers' Room, Jed Power.

Why should the money be postet into a meber´s acct?

Producers have definitely been more forthcoming, and we have been leaning on them for more details for their OWA's and the results are starting to be more apparent. We will continue to do so and work to achieve consistent results like this. If you want $50k deposited into your account, write a good script, send it to a producer/production company and take your shot. Don't just wish for it here.

I like knowing the budget range for a producer's script search. I wish Stage32 had a script contest for $1-3MM budget range.

how the heqq do I figure out the budget of my action thriller? I have no idea, and why would I?

Good question Jed Power! You can come up with a general range by looking at the scope of your script. Are there big action sequences? Scenes with a large amount of extras? Several speaking roles? A bunch of locations? Copious VFX shots? The lower the number of theses factors (and others), the more modest your budget number will be. This method is far from an exact science of course, but it will help you develop skills for identifying potential budget parameters and the scale of projects.

Great question! To follow Nick, if the budget is specified the exec is looking for that specific budget range and if no budget ranges are specified it is open!

Jed Power I'd also check out comps for similar films made today and through similar mechanisms that your project might get made. For example, The Fall Guy had a $125 mill budget - it's action movie from a big action director coming out of a studio. Whereas, Monkey Man had a $10 million budget - talent driven project where the talent could star/direct saves money and it's shot independently on location in cheaper region. How do you view your project? Obviously everyone would love a studio to produce their movie, but is that realistic for your scripts? Is that the only way it could get made, due to the types of associated costs Nick mentioned? Or could it made with more bootstrapping efforts by Independent producers? There's a scale to moviemaking and understanding the levels can definitely at times help focus what you're working on. For example, I might write one big budget movie that can only really get made by a studio every year, but then I write medium, low, and micro budget scripts as well, to increase the amounts of fronts on which I can campaign with my portfolio, theoretically improving my chances of getting something made. That's really in the weeds but having a good understanding of what your project really is and where it falls on the scale, can help you channel your energy when you're attempting to connect with the people who can get your project made.

Anyone hoping for a breakthrough script needs to be in the sub 5 $ million range.

Agreed Richard Buzzell

And that's why I consider it a positive development for the OWA's to be providing requests for scripts in this budget range.

Agreed, Richard Buzzell. The first script I ever sold was a horror script to Academy Award winner Stan Winston and his production company. I wrote it for a $5MM budget. The script had four speaking parts and was set almost entirely at a non-descript rest stop. I've subsequently written five more scripts with a $5MM-N-Under budgets. Three of those have won screenplay contests with one becoming a Finalist at Stage32's Female Driven Screenplay Contest.

Agree with that as well Francisco Castro! I can't stress enough the importance for writers who are starting out to focus on writing scripts that are not only well crafted and interesting with solid character work of course, but also that these scripts need to be feasible and logistically manageable from a physical production and budgetary stand point as well.

It just depends on what you're trying to accomplish Mike Childress. If you want to get something produced, write something that could actually be made with (very modest) independent funding. If you want to have a good sample under your belt which leads to attention, meetings, and maybe other assignments (or more), then write whatever you want, as Dan Guardino mentions above! Over my career, I've read so many great samples that either weren't exactly what I was looking for, or way out my price range, but I stayed in touch with those writers and tried to find other ways to work together over the years. Sometimes that worked out, some times it didn't, and in many cases it still might, who knows? But I have also read some amazing smaller scaled scripts by less experienced writers that I didn't know at all, and I went out and made them immediately. Again, it depends on what you want to accomplish!

lotta wisdom in that thread Dan MaxXx -- thanks for sharing

Good to know thaks Dan Maxx

When it comes to OWAs heed the old Biblical admonition...."Many are called but few (if any) are chosen."

Thus far, no-one has been chosen and that's why I believe that the OWA approach needed to change. It appears that meaningful change is happening, and now it will take some time to see if those changes improve outcomes.

"No one has been chosen"??? Not sure what you mean, Richard Buzzell and Michael Elliot. Chosen for OWA? Stage32 posts writers who have been "chosen" for OWAs.

What's been chosen to move beyond the preliminary rounds?

Francisco - Being chosen by Stage32 is a participation ribbon. Being chosen by one of the originators of an OWA is of value. That's what I'm waiting to see.

Understood, Richard Buzzell. I'm waiting to see as well.

I hope you do see it Francisco, but if it happens, I don't think it will be for any OWA that originated prior to September.

Really, @RichardBuzzell? "Prior to September"? Why do you think that?

Thanks everyone!. Can I just go through my script and whack out anything that looks expensive, that I can get away with cutting or rewriting?

Francisco - I don't think that the OWA's prior to September involved players capable of getting a movie made. I sense that there has been a recent change in direction toward involving players looking to produce low budget independent films. This type of project would have better prospects than a studio movie.

Thanks for the reply, Richard Buzzell. Let's hope this "recent change in direction" is for real.

When Stage 32 started the OWAs exclusively for Writers' Room members the goal is to give members access to the same opportunities that professional writers hear about through their agents and managers. So what is listed as an OWA came directly from the producers, studios, streamers, etc. We would get as much information as possible and sometimes budget was not a consideration. Now it clearly is more of a factor. Which is great because honing in on a number helps you as the writer figure out what is best for you to submit to.

And to answer a previous question in the comments, there have been options that have come out of OWAs in the Writers' Room. And in fact writers have been hired for gigs as a result as well.

I don't get it! Does this mean people were charged, or wasted time on, OWA's that had little, to no hope, of being made?

Not at all Jed Power, having your script put in front of a producer, manager, executive etc who is seeking material for consideration is never a waste of time and has just as much hope as any other potential project, both before and since some of these recent process changes.

"Little, to no hope"? For every writer on Stage32, the target area is only two meters wide, Jed Power. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. And with every OWA, we all getta shot to make a run to bring down the Death Star.

Haha, that's a much better way of saying what I was trying to convey Francisco Castro!

To answer your question above Jed Power, you can certainly streamline and trim your script to a more manageable scale in order to make it more fiscally appealing to financiers, so long as you don't lose the intent or central idea or any of the things that make that script what it is at its core.

Dan G, I followed the link, and nothing's there ...

Thanks Dan & Maurice.

Thanks, Nick!

You're welcome, Jed Power.

lol yeah, I’ve noticed some changes too! It feels like there might be some tweaks to the formulas or maybe even packaging. Could be an update in the manufacturing process or just them testing out something new. Sometimes they don't announce those changes right away, so it’s worth checking with the manufacturer or looking out for any official updates.

Jed Power - Based on the program's results it's up to each person to come to their own conclusion as to whether any OWA might have "little to no hope of being made".