Loglines, synopsis & screenplays

About ten years ago, I asked my then agent to read a screenplay from a friend. I rarely do this as most of the screenplays I get from friends are not really very good. I'm not talking about professional writer friends, of which I have very few, but of friends who aspire to write.

This particular friend had written a very good screenplay and I wanted to pass it along to my agent for possible representation. My agent said these following words, which tells you two things;  how the business was handled 10 years ago and how it's handled now.

He said this; "I know how hard it is for a writer to write a full screenplay, so the least I could do is read the first 3 pages."

The first 3 pages?

A few weeks ago I saw a listing on InkTip where a production company was looking for a screenplay that explained everything one needs to know about a blockbuster script. All in one sentence.

And if  you couldn't describe the actors, storyline, arc, genre, action beats and a few more things, then don't bother sending anything.

First of all, this indicates the type of producer you're dealing with, someone who thinks he/she will find the new William Goldman within that wide sea of wannabe writers. And there are a lot of them on InkTip. And judging from my own experience at UCLA for 2 and a  half years, 90% of them are lacking any ability whatsoever.

But the interesting part is this;  a long time ago in a place called Hollywood, it worked like this;  A new writer would have a good screenplay that he could show around to any agent or producer who would listen. If it was good writing, the writer would probably get an agent.

The agent in turn would say to the writer that it might take 6 months to a year to get the writer known in town. Then the agent would pass the writer's screenplay to a handful of producers who would give him honest opinions without prejudice, meaning it wouldn't harm the agent's street creds if they didn't like the screenplay.

If producers liked the script, they'd set up a meet 'n greet wherein the writer gets to go on the studio lot and talk with the development executive. Sometimes the top dog of that studio or company might "conveniently" drop by to say hi.

In that meeting, the writer would get his chance to pitch ideas. Sometimes they worked, sometimes not. Sometimes, like in my case, they got writing assignments.

But the point here is this; the executives read the full screenplay. Not a logline or synopsis. The entire 100 plus pages.

The most recent screenplay I wrote was finished two months ago and I thought it was pretty good. I've mentioned it, Christmas Carole, and I showed it to the agent who read the full screenplay and said he loved it. He really loved it.

In that same week, he passed the screenplay along to two major players in town. They read the screenplay within a day and said they loved it too. But as you may remember, they didn't like the cat.

No loglines or synopsis.

They read it.

What's the difference? Well, from past experience, I've learned that writers aren't always good at everything about writing. Some write great pitches but their screenplays aren't always good. Other writers, like me, are awful at pitches, but our writing is almost always good. A rare few can do both well.

Since then, two other producers have read the Christmas screenplay... without a logline or synopsis. Then, a new producer asked for a 1 pg synopsis.

I said read the script.

He said he didn't have time.

I said to call when he did have time.

Okay, you're saying that Jim is an arrogant jerk. I'm not. What I've learned through the years and have reflected on this blog is this; if someone isn't going to take the time to read your screenplay, they probably aren't going to like it.

In other words your 1 pg synopsis is more of a reason to turn you down. And I write awful synopsis' because it isn't writing, it's explaining what you wrote. I wish I was as good as those writers who do both, but I'm not.

And what these producers are saying is that I'm only as good as the worst writer they've ever encountered. I'm being relegated to the masses, all those wannabes out there are on the same level of playing field as me.

Which means 30 years of writing doesn't mean a thing.

But I don't really give a damn. Because the good producers, the ones who are sincere (or as sincere as a producer can be) will read my screenplays.


So there.

Blog 5: Screenwriting -- The words come first

Before the actors take the stage, before the DP lights the set, even before the donuts are on the table and even before anybody even knows there is a story... 

The writer is there, sitting in front of a blank page, desperately trying to think of something else he or she wants to do than this. As I mentioned, I have written and rewritten a total of 16 produced scripts, both mine and others. I have also around 30 hours of episodic (this number changes depending on the wine I drink).  And a lot of those movies aren't great, some aren't even very good but a few came through pretty good. In almost all the cases, it was due to notes from producers and or development executives. 

And in all cases, the bad movies were from people who knew very little about anything while the good movies were with who knew their stuff and made my work better.  In addition I have worked on around 20 screenplays that made it to development but not to production.  Travel Day was a spec script, and for those readers who aren't familiar with the term, it's a screenplay I decided to write entirely on my own with no guarantee of ever being sold, or maybe even being seen. 

I have 24 of these specs on my shelf now, and I think they all could be made, unfortunately the powers-that-be think differently. And maybe they're right, or at least half right. That's what writers live with, a basket full of ideas nobody else cares about.

I am not great at concept movies, I couldn't write The Hangover if I tried, and I wish I could, I'd have a lot more money than I do. I tended to write good character studies, and it got me work and a reasonable career. One thing someone once pointed out to me was that my endings seem to always be unresolved, ambiguous. I realized they were right. I finally had a style, I thought. But after awhile, I didn't really ever figure out why the endings were the same, be it movie or TV episode. So I left it alone. Meryl Streep doesn't try to figure out why she can become so believeable as any character. Best to leave the muse alone.


I taught screenwriting at UCLA once, and I'll do a blog on that up the road, but I came up with what is being written in Hollywood these days. And it hasn't changed in a hundred years.  If you want to write something that can be sold, consider this, in order;

1. Movies made from novels and books.
2. True life stories
3. Remakes and sequels
4. Original screenplays

You can see where the original screenplay sits in the scheme of things. If you don't believe me, open your newspaper entertainment page.  So naturally I picked # 4 because I don't know how to write those other stories, or maybe I don't like to. Maybe that's why I don't have a Porsche, but I like my 96 Explorer. And it's paid for. Ever seen what a tune-up costs for a Carerra?


And I don't mean the first three "genres" are bad or unwatchable, many of them are great, unless you count Taking of Pelham 1,2,3.  But I learned late in my career to write what I write good, rather than what I would probably write bad.


So now you know more about the odds of ever getting Travel Day made. And you're probably wondering why I want to punish myself by choosing the hardest kind of movie to make. It all goes back to what I said in the first blog, it's never easy. For anybody who tries to get a movie made.  A director named Peter Hyams, I believe, was credited with this:

"Being in the film business is like being married to a beautiful woman who cheats on you, and you know she cheats on you, but every so often she dresses up and you take her out for dinner and look at her and realize...it's all worth it."

What I take out of that is that most of the time this business breaks your heart but every now and then it's worth it.  My ex told me that I was one of the few people she knew who was living his dream, you know, that kid in the picture to the left... that's all he ever wanted.

That's why I'm here.