The Writing Week (Vol. 5) part 246 - Track Script Sales

It likely comes as little shock that I tune in regularly to Done Deal Pro. If you've read any of our Logline Central posts, you will have gathered that I go there for all my info on what's recently sold, been picked up in turn around, or otherwise been acquired. If you get the trades - Variety or Hollywood Reporter - or read Deadline, you can get a lot of the same info, albeit maybe less of it than through the subscription-based DDP. Regardless of where you gather info on sales and acquisitions, if you're an aspiring writer, this is something that you should make a point of doing.

I find tracking sales invaluable. For one, it lets you know what the industry is leaning toward at the moment. We all witnessed the giant vampire crazy (which I hope is nearing its conclusion). Trends don't tend to last too long in Hollywood, so noting an uptick in vampire related scripts doesn't necessarily mean you'll have time to conceive of, write, and polish a vampire story of your own. It might, however, indicate that now would be a good time to show the world the vampire script that you have already written and deemed ready for the light of day (bad pun intended). 

Tracking sales is also a great idea if you're beginning your query phase. Looking to land an agent for that big action thriller you're so jazzed about? See who is repping those kinds of sales now, and make sure you don't solicit someone who mainly deals with rom-coms. Hone your queries and chances are, you'll have better results. I was very specific in my outreach, and it paid off in forms of finding a manager. 

Speaking of, managers and agents track sales, which is another reason you should. They are busy people. Presumably, writers are also busy people. But my experience with managers and agents is that they will take the time they need, but won't have much to spare. If it is 1998 and you say, "Hey, I have this great idea about a group of soldiers who have to go find another in WW2," your rep will say, "That's already in the works." If you were tracking sales, you would have known that. The similarity doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop writing that idea, but if you have yet to begin, you might want to put it on the back burner. Save them some time by reserving that pitch for later - you'll all appreciate it. 

Most recently, I've been tracking sci-fi projects closely, as both of mine that are out there (post-Apocalyptic and the collaboration) fall heavily into that category. Unfortunately, two projects - one that is a film in theaters and one that was just announced - share more similarities with the sci-fi collaboration than my writing partner and I would like. Because of that, because we are tracking sales, we've decided to implement some large but not drastic changes going forward, so that we share fewer commonalities with these two projects. It's conceivable that the overlap won't wind up mattering, but if it's something we can avoid outright, then we decided that's what we should do. And that's just one more reason it's prudent to track acquisitions. 

Logline Central - The New West

Logline Central is an irregular segment that takes a deeper look at loglines of scripts or projects that have just been purchased, as listed on DoneDealPro.

Today's chosen logline highlights not necessarily the world's most engaging idea, nor is it an original spec (it's adapted from a comic book), but it has one thing going for it that's particularly worth looking at - a hook. Take a look.

Title: The New West

Logline: Nine months after a bomb creates an electromagnetic pulse causing all technology to stop working in Los Angeles, an ex-detective with a horse and a sword tries to find the kidnapped Mayor in a near deserted hostile environment. 

Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti (creator), Phil Noto (illustrations) 

Prod. Co: Benderspink, Black Bull Media

More: Option. Comicbook published by Black Bull Media. Benderspink’s Chris Bender, JC Spink & Jake Weiner and Black Bull Media's Gareb Shamus will produce.

Ok, so maybe you're thinking it sounds kind of cool. Or, perhaps you're thinking, "what a sell-out, that's such an easy idea. I can do that." Then do.

I like what this edition represents, because it's exactly the kind of thing my manager was encouraging me to strive for. (And, full disclosure - the notion of people in modern society reverting back to Medieval infrastructure, tools, and weapons intrigues me a lot; I actually had a very similar idea a while back, even involving an electromagnetic pulse, which I didn't spend much time further developing.)

Something that's recognizable/bankable, but with a hook - that was the goal when I was developing new material. Obviously, I wanted it to be something that engaged me and seemed worth my time, so I didn't just want to do "knights in space" or something likewise ridiculous. And, with The New West, we have a prime example. An ex-detective is quite recognizable and tried and true (and even my protag is one of those in the post-Apocalyptic spec I wrote a few years back), but a world where guns are no longer viable and society has been seemingly set back 400 years is a unique twist.

The objective is to mesh the tried and true with the twist in such a way that you the writer will want to devote months or years to it, and that you the audience member will want to spend $13.50 and 2 hours going to see it in theaters. Would I see The New West? Maybe. I skipped out on Cowboys and Aliens, which for some reason comes to mind when thinking about this, though in a way it is the revers of this one, but if I was hearing good things I would probably check it out. It's not the idea that's most blown my mind this year or this month, but it's a prime example of what the industry is looking for now.

The Writing Week (Vol. 5) part 212 - Writing the Rules

Rules are one of the most important part of any screenplay. If you're setting your story in a new, original world, then what are the rules there? Is gravity different? Is society? Are the laws? If it's set in this world, but there are people with special powers or knowledge or abilities or allegiances, then what are the rules that govern their actions, strengths, and weaknesses?


The Matrix is a perfect example of the utter necessity of rules. What can one do in the matrix that can't be done by ordinary people? How do Neo and his allies learn new tricks and skills? What are the agents' limitations? The rules are integral to effective story telling in a case such as this. As an audience, we certainly won't know all the rules going in, but things such as, "if you die in the Matrix, you die in real life" are fundamental to the plot and the world. We - by hearing that - know the stakes. So do the characters.


Even simple seeming stories have rules. They have to. Otherwise, what's to stop the writer from relying on a crutch or a deus ex machina to expedite or wrap the story? With my demon thriller, the rules were something I had yet to solidify when I showed an outline to my manager. I'll admit that was a bit of a rookie mistake, and then move on to a point where I can learn from it.


After talking with the League last month, I took some time recently to hammer out the rules. They might not all be down there on paper, and those that are perhaps seem quite obvious, but I think it's essential to put them down in writing. And, after a prolonged period of inactivity, I have to admit that it also felt very rewarding and refreshing. I wound up writing out about two pages of bullet-pointed rules. Though I have the ability to alter them later, their presence will really prove a very solid guide to hold my hand through the upcoming re-outlining stage. I think that, from here on out, getting the rules down on the page is going to prove a necessary part of my writing process.


On another note, I read on Done Deal Pro today a bit of unsettling news. I hadn't read the site in a while, and what with the month over at the end of the day, I wanted to get caught up on January sales. Unfortunately, something I'd been dreading came a bit to a head today - there was an idea that was disturbingly similar to my post-Apocalyptic spec. I figured that had to happen at a certain point, and the stories are not identical, but the basic premise (i.e., the Apocalyptic event) is close enough to my own to warrant nervousness. I immediately emailed the discovery to my producer, and she reached out to the rest of the team. The sale in question is actually the acquisition of book rights to a novel that is slated to drop this summer. In some respects, that's good news: a) the script for the adaptation is almost guaranteed not to have been written yet, so my project could land first and b) just because the film rights were picked up, that doesn't mean a film will actually get made from it. 


I'm looking at this two ways. First, and least desirable, is that this will effectively quell any interest or heat regarding my script. The more optimistic alternative is that a rival production company will be in the market now for something similar, and the emergence of this novel will light a fire of urgency not only under my team, but under buyers. What with this project now on the table, buyers might come back to my script with renewed interest. I'm sure there's a right way to spin this in our favor; I don't know what it is exactly, but that's what my team is there for. Fingers crossed that this book isn't one of the last nails in the coffin on my post-Apocalyptic spec. While I've prepped for that, I'd hate to see it come to pass.

Logline Central - The World is Ending

Logline Central is an irregular segment that takes a deeper look at loglines of scripts or projects that have just been purchased, as listed on DoneDealPro.



The Mayas aren't the only ones who seem to predict that the world is coming to an end. A glance at the following five loglines indicates that Hollywood (and novelists) seems to think it's about to be over soon, too. (Full disclosure - I sincerely wish my post-Apocalyptic spec was among these and can only hope that these acquisitions represent a new trend toward end-of-the-world scripts, which will boost chances for the sale of mine.)

Title: Eden
Logline: Set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity is on the brink of extinction and the robots that were created to serve humans have turned against them, a teenage girl struggles to fight the Fallen and help her friends find safety. She must choose between a boy she has always trusted and one who holds the secrets to her past. Writer: Keary Taylor (author)Genre: Science Fiction Action Thriller More: Novel. Mark Morgan, Kami Garcia, Brett Hudson and Michael

Title: Wither
Logline: Set in a future, the world is in a state of panic due to a failed effort to create a perfect race that's left women with a lifespan of 20 years while men die at 25. A kidnapped girl attempts to escape from a forced polygamous marriage designed to keep the population from dying out. Writer: Lauren DeStefano (author)
Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
More: Novel, which is the first of three in a series. Prospect Park's Jeff Kwatinetz & Rob Carliner and Violet's Aly & AJ Michalka will produce.

 
Title: Rosa
Logline: Set in a post-apocalyptic world where all natural life has disappeared, Rosa, a cyborg deployed from the Kernel project, mankind’s last attempt to restore the earth’s ecosystem, learns that she is not the only entity that has awakened and must fight for her survival.
Genre: Science Fiction Action
More: To be based on the short film by Jesus Orellana. Genre's Simon Kinberg will produce and I AM's Scott Glassgold & Raymond Brothers will produce. Orellana will direct. No writer is attached as yet.

Title: Break My Heart 1000 Times
Logline: Set nine years after an apocalyptic event that killed millions and left the world inhabited by ghosts, a teen girl attempts to navigate through ordinary life as she’s haunted by the ghosts of her dead father and a teen boy she never met but who might hold the key to changing everything.
Writer: Jason Fuchs
Genre: Teen Supernatural Thriller More: Assignment. To be adapted from the Daniel Waters novel that will be published by Hyperion Books. Gold Circle's Paul Brooks will produce.

Title: The Last First Time
Logline: A college student learns the world will end and sets out on a quest to lose his virginity before it does.
Writer: Jason Fuchs
Genre: Comedy
More: Option. David Brooks and Dan Clifton will produce. Jason Fuchs will also star.

So, what's your take? A lot sound pretty similar, no? I'll admit, I think I like the two attributed to Jason Fuchs the most. (Is that a type on Done Deal's part? Beats me.) 

Eden sounds pretty hackneyed at this point. Robots and humans at war. Yadda yadda yadda. Might be a great execution, but based on those few sentences alone, I don't see anything special or new. Sure, it's a book. Fine. Maybe a great one even. But I haven't read it, and so far, I'm unimpressed.

Wither - yay! Teenage girls as protagonists! Eh, for whatever reason, this one just doesn't grab me. They die young, but they're beautiful or perfect, etc. Didn't Justin Timberlake just do something like this? And the girl is trying to escape a marriage, which would save mankind? Take one for the team, sister.

Rosa; shouldn't this one really be called Eden or Wither? Both titles seem more appropriate, given the subject matter. I'll admit I glossed over this one, too, until I reread the part about reviving the ecosystem. That's kind of cool. But I refer you back to the Eden analysis: robots (or cyborgs, whatever) and humans. Pass.

Break My Heart 1000 Times is probably my favorite of the group. For one, it's a post-Apocalyptic world, but it's as fully inhabited as one before the world comes to an end. Everyone who died (presumably) is still lingering as a ghost. So, theoretically, we won't get the typical post-Apocalyptic stereotypes - the roving bands, the loner men and women on a mission, the heroic parents trying to keep it all together. Talk of "holding the key" or "changing things forever" always makes me a little wary, but my interest is definitely piqued by this one.

The Last First Time - bet that one seems like a surprise favorite to you. What I like about it is that it takes a tried and true story (the virginal young man trying to do away with his V-card) and places it in a new setting (Armageddon). Something about it generates a sense of promise in the premise for me. It might suck. I certainly don't need to see a dude hump a pie as an asteroid races toward Earth. And I hope they don't skimp out and make it a "close call" situation in the end where the planet isn't destroyed. But I just like the idea. "The world is ending. I need to get laid before I die." Who can't relate. Amiright?

The Writing Week (Vol. 4) part 181 - The Idea Race, or How My Idea Wasn't Stolen

We're in a race, you and I. But it's not just between us. It's one that all other writers are competing in, too. What's the race, you ask? It's the race to get our ideas developed into scripts that sell before another writer does.


All - or at least many - writers harbor some degree of fear about their ideas getting stolen or leaked. That's natural. The truth of the matter, though, is that there are thousands if not more writers all working on scripts at the same time. Some are doing it for money. Some, like us here at the League, have yet to earn much or anything from our scripts. We're working comparatively off the map. But we're working. And I'd probably put money on the notion that someone out there has an idea for a script that's very similar to one I have and am working on/have worked on. It's just a race to see which of us can produce pages and get them into the right hands first. 


Does the fact that so many of us are working now mean that all similar ideas are stolen? Nope, it means the opposite - simply put, there are a lot of writers writing, and because many of us are trying to write based on an existing market's tastes, we're going to wind up with overlapping ideas. That said, idea stealing can and does happen. It's just not necessarily as common as some might make it out to be. Also, for us off-the-mappers, it's pretty unlikely.


Take, for example, a script entitled ABDUCTED, which just got logged on Done Deal. By John Heffernan, it's described as "'Die Hard' on an alien spaceship." I pitched something semi-similar to my manager a while ago. I hadn't started working on it yet, nor had I really developed it. But the intent was an action movie set in space, mostly aboard a ship. Common threads abound. However, there was no stealing. There was nothing I can concretely claim as having been mine. none of the (few) industry people I pitched it to are involved in this project that I can tell. It's just a fact of this game that there are a lot of people working on a lot of scripts out there, and we're all each other's competition. All I can do is accept that something related sounding got picked up and move onto the next project in the idea bank when it's time. Better I learn about ABDUCTED now, rather than when I have a draft in hand and am trying to circulate it. 


I lost this race. Hopefully, I'll win the next.

WHY?!?! Unnecessary Remake Hell

Is there nothing new out there? I think this is a common question when it comes to the film industry. A very common question. With only maybe 80 some sales a year being spec sales, the majority of Hollywood’s slate is adaptations and remakes. I’m on board with adaptations – though, sometimes I wonder how “this” movie got made, while “that book” is so much better and kept off the screen. Remakes, though, are another question. Some things should just be left alone.

Today, during my daily scroll of DoneDealPro this morning, I noticed that three out of the first five sales listed were remakes. Three out of five. That’s 60% for all you non-math whizzes out there.

Remake number 1: ARTHUR, about a booze-hound playboy who stands to earn a lot of money if he marries a certain girl in a certain family, but falls for someone much “beneath” him. Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli starred in the 1981 Oscar Award winning original (Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Song), nominated for best screenplay. Russell Brand, yep, the FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL guy, is attached to star in the remake. Can you spell Oscar Nomination? Neither can I in this instance.

Remake number 2: TOTAL RECALL. Aaaaahhhnnnold! A man buys a virtual vacation to Mars and winds up fighting as a special agent to overthrow a Martian depot in reality – or does he? OK, remaking Arnold? Hasn’t he enacted some legislation in California against that by now? Also, really? REALLY?

Remake number 3 (and the most upsetting): THE NEVERENDING STORY. Who grew up in the 80s or 90s and didn’t watch this a dozen times? I still wish I had a giant flying dog to take me everywhere and be my best friend. This is a classic; it’d be like remaking THE PRINCESS BRIDE (Onyx would come after that producer so fast, he wouldn't know what hit him). This is a great movie, and I can guarantee now, 100%, that whatever hits theaters a few years from now will be beyond disappointing in comparison.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Can’t well-enough just be left alone?

Logline Madness

I usually check DoneDealPro every day to see what's selling. I came across this logline for a Tom Cruise flick, and it just drove me batty.

An American tourist finds his life on the line when an agent from Interpol uses him as bait to beat out a criminal. The agent is a woman and once had an affair with the criminal.

We've spoken about loglines before and acknowledge that whatever use they serve - query letters, for example - they rarely if ever are why the particular script you're reading about has sold. So much more has to happen for a studio to shell out the big bucks to buy a script and turn it into a production than a one or two sentence logline can accomplish. In fact, most loglines I read on DDP are probably written after the sale just as a quick description of the project, and can therefore suck.

But let's look at the one above a bit more closely. Loglines, at least the ones we're writing in the League, should give the basic premise or theme of the picture, an idea of the protagonist, and, if you're successful at it, make someone want to read your script. Ok, so, how does this particular one stack up?

An American tourist finds his life on the line when an agent from Interpol uses him as bait to beat out a criminal.

Not bad. Kind of interesting. I get the sense that we're seeing this poor American dude running around Europe, camera dnagling from his neck, and bad guys and bad agents chase him from Paris to Rome. Cool. I could get behind that. Then, I read on.

The agent is a woman and once had an affair with the criminal.

Does anyone else feel like they just ran into a brick wall? First of all, the sentence is just dull. Dead. Lifeless. You only get maybe two sentences to describe your masterpiece. The both need to POP. "The agent is a woman and...." makes me want to go to sleep. Where's the action in this sentence? The past? Boo. Also, it throws a wrench into my idea of this schmuck running around Europe when all he wants to do is take a picture of a really old castle. Poor guy. He's doing all the running, and he's no longer even the most interesting character in these two sentences. He manages to be trumped by a sleeper of a sentence. Logline fail.

I figured I'd take a stab at reworking this just very basically, rearranging a few words and cutting a few. Obviously, I don't know too much about the script, so I'm not changing any elements of the logline. I just tried to make it pop a little more.

An American tourist finds his life on the line when a female Interpol agent uses him to bait out a criminal she once had an affair with.

It's still not perfect, but I think it reads better.

A Must Read Interview for Emerging Writers

Earlier this week, while I was taking a “mini” break from work at my day job to do something important, something screenwriting related, I scrolled over to Done Deal Pro. I was guided my desire to learn about more management companies to query. At the time, I hadn’t registered for Done Deal’s year-long subscription, so I couldn’t get too far in once I accessed the site. (An aside, I do plan on subscribing to Done Deal Pro – and very well might by the time you read this – not only for the information about agencies/managers, but because I know far less about what’s selling now than I should. At roughly $24 a year, half the cost of a competition, it’s worth it to me.)

One thing I was able to read without having a login and password was an interview with Ryan Condal, who broke into the industry earlier this year with the sale of his spec, Galahad. Condal, who is now penning an adaptation of Warren Ellis’ Ocean, was just like most of us here in The League – someone whose day job didn’t quite cut it for them and who wrote in his spare time, with hopes of Hollywood. He's also not that much older than my fellow Leaguers and I, which is no small boost of encouragement.

This is a great interview for all writers to check out, but I strongly encourage young and emerging talent to read it in its entirety. It’s a bit long, but it covers everything from how Condal first got into writing, through how he got noticed, how he got representation, how he made that first sale, and what life has been like for him since. It even goes into a short discussion on managers vs. agents. vs. lawyers. This is a perfect "how to" about what to do once you've got that spec you know is ready to go out and are wondering how to get to what lies ahead (and what lies ahead).

There are currently 7 League members, and we all write things that are wildly different from one another. As individuals, however, though we like to explore different genres, we tend to remain consistent stylistically and thematically. We all have our strengths and genres that we’re better at, no matter how much we try to break out of those at times. Sometimes we fight so hard to try something new that we lose sight of our strengths. Condal talks about this, being “branded” or sticking to your genre, in a very interesting way:

I think [being a branded or “tent pole” writer] is really important for serious writers to key on. What do you love to write? If you had to write one "type" of movie for the rest of your life, what would that be? Notice for me, I’m writing Ocean, a sci-fi actioner and Hercules, a Bronze Age sword ‘n’ sandal epic. Seemingly different, but inherently the same—big, expensive "tent pole" movies with a big world and big cast of characters. So there is a huge amount of diversity available to me inside my "brand." I know writers hate feeling pigeon-holed but (a) you should only be so lucky to be pigeon-holed—it means you’re getting paid—and (b) you need to accept it as a universal truth, embrace
it and use it to your advantage.

You can read the entire interview here.

Until we’re at Condal’s point, in the immortal words of LoKor, “write on!”