Your Stage : How the Writers of "A Quiet Place" Broke Almost Every Screenwriting Convention by Daniel Whidden

Convention or presentation? I wouldn’t try this at home without a rep, production company, and distribution — all of which were in place before Beck/Woods wrote the screenplay. AQP was a treatment purchased by Paramount Studios.

Beyond the page surface, the screenplay has a throughline, point of view, theme, and a new twist of a familiar story.

I guess it’s a couch study after box office success. Just wondering where were the experts 2 years ago when this script was making the rounds in Hollywood land? Anybody else believed in Beck/Woods’ idea then?

I kinda hafta agree with Dan MaxXx. Yes we like to claim "there are no rules" but there are the things which if you took that exact same script, and just replaced their name with mine, and removed all connections they had and instead it only had the connections I have (slim to none), I think the only light it would see would be if I took it out jogging with me in the morning.

Dan M: Both, convention and presentation. Here's an article that gives more context to the origin of this specific project, how it came to be, and why they made the choices they made—one reason, to not bore their reader with blocks and blocks of copy. They had a specific creative conceptual purpose here—a film with little-spoken dialogue or sound. And, Chad, this "sell" wasn't as easy as you may think, they got a flat out "no" on the premise alone. And their idea of making a "silent" movie had been in the works for quite some time, years. Just two Indie filmmakers doing their own thing. The fact that they took such creative risk is how this project got produced. Sure, this may not work for most as it is not typical of screenwriting, but it certainly did work well for this specific concept. http://www.indiewire.com/2018/04/a-quiet-place-screenwriters-emily-blunt.... ;)

Beth Fox Heisinger Thanks for the link. I apologize if I inferred it was an easy sell. I intended to imply that there were doors they had access to that myself (as well as many others) don't have access to. Had they pitched those ideas with that early script say here at Stage 32 or submitted to Nicholls or Austin and Blacklist, I don't think it would have gone anywhere or been positively received. Again, maybe I'm wrong but I think there is a very legitimate case to be made re: doors available to knock on and I think that did play a role in that script's direction in 2014. Yes they did a ton of work as directors and indie filmmakers to get to have those doors in front of them in 2014. Years worth of work and I didn't intend to minimize it. No denying that. But IMHO they were in a place in 2014 that many of us as aspiring screenwriters in our infancy, are not.

I may not have communicated it clearly but if I or another amateur screenwriter wrote that exact script and with no connections, started pitching it, shopping it from outside, I tend to believe it it wouldn't open many doors or get many sniffs.

Again, that's just my opinion that when people look at a screenplay of a produced film like a Tarantino or Mann or other nearing 200 page scripts with all kinds of things that people call "rules" being broken, there is a kind of wisdom in realizing those scripts were written from the inside, for the inside and not from the outside looking to break into the inside.

IMHO "A quiet place" was written from the lobby of the building. At least inside. Not sure it would have gotten them into the building, past the doorman from outside with 10,000 other people standing there with scripts in hand wanting to get in (my 2nd terrible analogy of the day). ;)

That's a great article however and good insight.

Emily Blunt to her Hollywood people: “I want to take a break from doing $200M movies for Disney and do a cheap movie with my hubby. Anybody objects?”

Hollywood people: “Sure, Emily, whatever you want. Here is $20M. Have fun.”

Nobody talks about the other monster horror movie,“It Comes Out At Night”. Same concept, poor execution.

Pictures in scripts, weird format, goofy concepts - it doesn’t matter. What matters is making movies and knowing how to tell a story with a camera.

That's one way to look at it. The flipside of that coin is Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote a story that didn't make the cut, but they knew John Krasinski. John took the story to the next level by removing flashbacks and adding Hollywood Structure or Save The Cat. I timed AQP on my iPhone. The screen version follows Hollywood Structure/STC from beginning to end - almost to the minute. Basically, Bryan and Scott went against convention and John came in and did the opposite. Following Hollywood Structure or STC is not breaking 'almost every screenwriting convention'. Not to me anyway. Great post and thread, guys!

Chad, I'll just say I disagree. You seem to be oversimplifying your reasoning? Making blanket assumptions? Not sure why you think this "was written from a lobby of a building?" It wasn't. If you look up these two guys, who grew up together in Iowa, they have their own independent production company, Bluebox Films. They got their start years ago by getting into the top 50 of directors in Project Greenlight. And, yes, they have an agent. This was the first story credit/script for them that became a studio film (I believe?)—hence the article's use of "accidentally" in the title. Their creative risk of creating the treatment script (after hearing 'no') is what caught the attention of Michael Bay and his company Platinum Dunes, who then passed it on to John Krasinski to re-write the screenplay, direct, and star in the final production. Read the article. Read more facts about this project and those involved. Screenwriting contests are not the one-and-only means nor the only way to determine if something/someone is "worthy." There's nothing "unfair" here. If anything, it's yet another path to learn from and be inspired by. ;)

Beth, I did read the article and appreciate your POV but them having an agent and manager who can setup sit down lunches where they can pitch to producers. Having produced credits IMHO is in the lobby of the building. Again, I'm not minimizing all the work they did before that to get INTO the lobby and I'm not saying they had access to the executive levels of the building but where they were sitting when they wrote that and began shopping it isn't anywhere near where I am sitting had I written that script. I do not have an agent/manager yet who can take my scripts and setup lunch meetings with Hollywood producers for me to pitch. All respect to them for the work they did but I think it would be folly for a person with no connections who is starting out as screenwriter to start by emulating their screenplay and attempt to break into Hollywood with it.

Yes there's inspiration but IMHO it's in the story of all the hard work they did BEFORE getting IN where they had a manager and were sitting in pitch lunches with executives. Their Quiet Place script didn't get them agents or managers or their produced credits or get them these pitch sessions. Everything prior to that they did put those doors before them.

Going back to my original point, if someone here on Stage 32 with no agents, no managers, no decade of other work behind them, no produced credits thinks "See! if I break all the screenwriting 'rules' and write a script like they did, I should be able to get Michael Bay to read it." would be a disservice.

IMHO the accurate story is if you break in then you have more freedom to do what they did with A Quiet Place. In fact the story in that article of the exec (in Hollywood) who wouldn't even read it kind of confirms that further, even if you are "in" and have the contacts and connections they did and representation they did, their approach to the script did in fact cost them opportunities. And that was from within sitting at the pitch table.

Be inspired by their story but recognize that where they were in 2014 is NOT where the majority of us are so that exact same script, with someone else's name on it with no agents or managers doesn't have the same doors around it to pursue. They weren't writing query letters. They didn't enter it into a contest.

Be inspired to break in like they did and then do whatever you want with a script and sure, you'll bust on some studio exec pitch lunches, just like they did because of what some would call the "red flags" of the script, but being in the lobby is a heck of a lot closer than being outside.

I think a false narrative is "These guys broke into hollywood with an unconventional script." I think the accurate narrative is "These guys worked for a decade or more. Created their own filmmaking company, got legitimate agent and manager representation. Even produced credits to break in. Once they had broken in to the ground level, they wrote an unconventional script and UTILIZING the contacts and access and doors they had been able to build around themselves, still got rejected due to the unconventional nature of their script but eventually through persistence and hard work, found the right hands that led it to success."

If I gave the impression that I was marginalizing all the hard work they did PRIOR to 2014 to open doors, etc. I'm not and kudos to them for all the hard work they did to get to the position they were in 2014 that they could then pursue "A Quiet Place".

Shawn, no—clearly—it did make "the cut." They, Woods and Beck, sold a story/script to Michael Bay and Michael Bay reached out to Krasinski.

Beth Fox Heisinger And kudos to them for all the years of hard work they put in getting to the place where they had the type of agents/managers that would legitimately get them a pitch session with Bay. Again, if I was minimizing all that work they did to get to Bay, I apologize. That wasn't my intent.

Chad, sorry, but... you are minimalizing their work. You're also making your own assumptions and equivalents, rather ignoring the specific creative context, the specific situation and circumstances about this project, and deciding this is about superficial "rules" and "rule following." It isn't. You're then applying it without context to a generalized notion about a screenwriter who does not have representation. It's ONE treatment script written by two filmmakers for a specific concept who were successful in selling it. They nailed a high concept. There's nothing else like it. They got attention because of their own creative choices. This treatment script works really really well for this concept, it fully engages the reader. No one is saying this style would work or not work for a new screenwriter or for any other concept. Only you are saying that or rather are making that comparison. But... hell, it could?! Right?! We don't know. We have no other context here or proof otherwise. I'm only pointing to the facts and context of this specific film, not making generalizations. Plus you, Chad, can pitch to producers. What's stopping you? You could start making films too. Film a short. These guys created their own means. Not too bad for two guys from Iowa! Lol!

Beth Fox Heisinger Once again, I'm not stating they didn't do something unique with their script. They did and like they said, "Yet our agent and manager wanted to give the script a fair shake in Hollywood." And I'm glad they followed that advice, waded through the rejections and were able to get it in the right hands. I'm not saying it's about rule following either. Not a big fan of all the rules.

The minimizing of all their time and effort prior to 2014 is puzzling to me however especially when it's explicitly referenced in the above article and part of other contributing factors leading to Bay.

To whit: Having great ideas and access can pay dividends in this business.

Some other good overviews of how A Quiet Place came to be. The writer's struggles in Hollywood prior to "A Quiet Place", etc.

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/04/a-quiet-place-executive-producer-john-k...

https://deadline.com/2018/03/emily-blunt-a-quiet-place-video-john-krasin...

https://variety.com/2018/film/news/a-quiet-place-producers-1202747615/

And again Kudos to them on their success (the writers).

JC Chandor wrote a 30-page script with 2 lines of dialogue and Robert Redford agreed to star. (But “All is Lost” didn’t make any money though).

This whole business is about track records and execution - can you make a movie? A-List Stars, Directors, Producers wanna know what you bring to the table besides an idea cause everybody has ideas.

Dan MaxXx Agree. I have a bunch of cinematic and marketable ideas but until they are both cinematic and marketable on paper A to Z, I need to get them to that state.

Chad Stroman then follow beck/woods career plan. Start writing cheap movies you can do yourself. Beck/Woods are from Iowa!

Dan MaxXx That's part of the plan.

You can break convention when you are the director - who uses your own script ala Tarantino. I think it would be impossible to break into the industry with this script. On a side note, while the premise of the movie was great - there were plot holes large enough to drive the solar system through.

Stacy, that's not exactly what happened.... Woods and Beck wrote/created a script treatment which got the attention of Michael Bay who saw its potential. Bay then contacted and passed it on to John Krasinski who loved it, who then did the rewrite, starred and directed. Michael Bay and John Krasinski had already been working on other projects together. What is being reviewed in Daniel Whidden's video above from his own YouTube channel "Think Story" is Woods and Beck's script treatment, NOT Krasinki's rewrite, not the shooting script. Thus John Krasinki, the director, did not "break convention" with the script. Woods and Beck did. When you think about it... this is rather typical, conventional, really. The spec did its job well—it got people excited about the possibility. The spec sold. Then it was rewritten by someone else. And then produced. That's a pretty common path for many films. And whether you/we liked it or not, the film is deemed a huge success at the box office. Plus, Woods and Beck got a blind script deal out of it for a second project they will write and direct themselves. Not too bad!

Gimme plot holes and a blind deal.

Does Beth know her stuff or what? That's what's up... Get in how you fit in. I'm with it with a smile.

Hope you guys had a great holiday weekend!