Hi, there, has anyone had experiences that prove this tenet right or wrong : The best way to write a script that gets made, is to write a great script. But, it’s even easier if that great script is also cheap.
I guess whoever wrote that advice, meant a great script for a low-budget film, few locations, no special effects or green screens, no car chases, and the likes.
Do you have relationships with more financiers in the low budget space or in other budget spaces? Rhetorical. For me, I have more relationships outside the low budget space, and therefore, I have more success selling to studios looking for mainstream material, but that's just me. Low budget to someone might mean $500k. To someone else, it means $10 million. Rhetorical. There's no one size fits all.
you dont need a great script. Just a concept that gets people in the movie business interested and spend $$$ and Time.
Visit American Film Market in November. Plenty of movies made for 0 money to $$$$$. It is just product. Go on Netflix website. Thousands of crappy movies.
I agree you don't need a great screenplay. It takes a great one to win a major contest but a bad one can get made into a movie. Personally I look at the numbers and there are a lot more people making lower budget films and the people that make them are easier to reach out to so that is obviously a much bigger market.
Annie. I am a business man first and a screenwriter second. I like stories that already have been proven which is why I like writing adaptions. That takes away a lot of the guess work and reduces the risk for a producer.
Sounds like a smart move Gardino. Do I get it right? You favor tried and true over fresh and unpredictable. I wonder what sign you are, not that I totally believe in that crap...
Aquarius. You actually got it wrong. Most of the script I write are from novels that are fresh and unpredictable. I don't adapt old novels. I secure the rights to the ones I think would make good films. When I say proven I mean the books were well received and got good reviews. That way a a producer or investor can look up and see what people think of the story. That makes them less risky. I would also well-known directors to them to make them more valuable which makes them more marketable. Anyway that is what I used to do when I was more motivated.
I love the business but I have written over 30 something screenplays and I really need to focus on some of the projects I have in development and in preproduction. I know I can get at least two of those off the ground in the next couple of months. I have an academy award winning director attached to another screenplay that I need to start marketing. I optioned it to Kensington Publishing when they decided they wanted to produce film but they since change their minds. It is a probably a $30M bellow the line budget so I have to find a producer that has the assets to make it. Anyway I am still in love with the business I just need to change gears.
Define cheap. I'm being genuine. Isn't cheap in the eye of the beholder?
I guess whoever wrote that advice, meant a great script for a low-budget film, few locations, no special effects or green screens, no car chases, and the likes.
2 people like this
Do you have relationships with more financiers in the low budget space or in other budget spaces? Rhetorical. For me, I have more relationships outside the low budget space, and therefore, I have more success selling to studios looking for mainstream material, but that's just me. Low budget to someone might mean $500k. To someone else, it means $10 million. Rhetorical. There's no one size fits all.
1 person likes this
you dont need a great script. Just a concept that gets people in the movie business interested and spend $$$ and Time.
Visit American Film Market in November. Plenty of movies made for 0 money to $$$$$. It is just product. Go on Netflix website. Thousands of crappy movies.
2 people like this
I agree you don't need a great screenplay. It takes a great one to win a major contest but a bad one can get made into a movie. Personally I look at the numbers and there are a lot more people making lower budget films and the people that make them are easier to reach out to so that is obviously a much bigger market.
1 person likes this
Do you personally privilege great screenplays that cost big bucks over good screenplays for low budget movies?
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Annie. I don't have a preference as long as the script has the potential of making money.
Spoken as a true businessman! What are the ingredients in your opinion that make a film marketable?
Annie - marketable to which market segment?
Annie. I am a business man first and a screenwriter second. I like stories that already have been proven which is why I like writing adaptions. That takes away a lot of the guess work and reduces the risk for a producer.
Sounds like a smart move Gardino. Do I get it right? You favor tried and true over fresh and unpredictable. I wonder what sign you are, not that I totally believe in that crap...
Marketable to baby boomers, then to Millenials, Doug.
Aquarius. You actually got it wrong. Most of the script I write are from novels that are fresh and unpredictable. I don't adapt old novels. I secure the rights to the ones I think would make good films. When I say proven I mean the books were well received and got good reviews. That way a a producer or investor can look up and see what people think of the story. That makes them less risky. I would also well-known directors to them to make them more valuable which makes them more marketable. Anyway that is what I used to do when I was more motivated.
I'm glad I was wrong. But why are you less motivated now? I got the impression you loved your work.
1 person likes this
I love the business but I have written over 30 something screenplays and I really need to focus on some of the projects I have in development and in preproduction. I know I can get at least two of those off the ground in the next couple of months. I have an academy award winning director attached to another screenplay that I need to start marketing. I optioned it to Kensington Publishing when they decided they wanted to produce film but they since change their minds. It is a probably a $30M bellow the line budget so I have to find a producer that has the assets to make it. Anyway I am still in love with the business I just need to change gears.
All the very best! Are you at liberty to say what kinds of projects will lift off in the next 2 months, or it it top secret?