Just Effing Entertain Me

From the Mailbag

Dear Wave-inatrix: I was wondering if it was possible for you to explain on the RW how movie budgeting works. I don’t quite know how to figure out if my script is a low-budget or a high budget one. What budgeting factors should I take into consideration when developing my idea before I dive into writing the script?
Thanks,
Languishing in Lillehammer

Dear Lillehammer:

Andrew Zinnes here. As the sort of production person at TSD, Julie asked me to answer your budgeting questions.

What makes a script expensive are the following – lots of locations (especially exotic), lots of characters, huge movie stars, animals, lots of stunts, visual effects, pyrotechnics, children, rain & snow and large set pieces. All of these things require a huge crew, multiple cameras, lots of travel, long post-production phases, long pre-production phases (for testing things) and lots of insurance! Movie star salaries and fees for the producers eat up a lot of a budget too. Due to this you can see why something like Batman would be in the $150-$200 million range. And I’m not even including marketing, advertising, etc.

So the cheapest film would be one with 1-3 main characters in one or two locations with very little special effects or stunts. If the characters aren’t stars, you can save money too. But the only way that will work is if you go with something like horror or a thriller where the genre attracts viewers by itself. You can do a small drama or comedy too as they don’t require any of the expensive stuff. These tend to be more film festival films though. So something like Little Miss Sunshine or Half Nelson might come under this heading. I believe those films were made for under $10 million.

A good thing to do to get an idea of what the budget range of films are is to go to IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) and enter in some of your most recent favorite films. Then go to the business/boxoffice section and see what the budget is.

From the Mailbag

Dear Mistress of Coolness -

- Okay you guys were never going to buy that, were you? Fine.-

Dear Wave-inatrix:

I just started reading your web site a few weeks ago and really appreciate it. I’m still working through the coolestfilmsites. I really enjoyed your essay on rhythm (Music in Writing) with your example from David Mamet. While you are on this topic, I’m wondering about the difference between dialogue on the page versus actually being spoken. When I read what I’ve written, it always sounds great in my head, and also when I read it aloud, but I have a feeling that’s like having your mother tell you how talented you are. I’m hoping you can write a few words on this topic. Thanks for your great web site.
-Wondering in Williamsburg

Dear Wondering -

You need a table read, my friend! If you don’t have access to my free SAG all volunteer table read, do this – get some of your friends together and have an impromptu table read to see how your dialogue sounds. Choose a pivotal scene and give your friends the upshot of the scene and the script itself. Give each person a quick bio of the character he or she will be reading. Young, old, bitter, excited, upset – whatever. One person needs to be the narrator (the one reading the action lines). That can be you but it might be harder to focus on hearing the how the dialogue sounds and also, hearing how the action lines sound can be illuminating too.

Make sure the friends you ask are hep cats – hep to movies and screenwriting – somewhat. Sometimes even well meaning friends can sound pretty wooden because they are self-conscious. You don’t want that. You want people to take it seriously and to go for it. Don’t feel bad if your dialogue is not the greatest right now – good dialogue takes time to get a feel for. Bribe some good friends with beer and hotwings and host yourself a table read party. It does wonders.

Oh and thank you for the compliment on the Rouge Wave. The Wave-inatrix, she tries real darn hard to make it a fun place to be. Rock on, Wondering!

From the Mailbag

Dear Wave-inatrix:

This idea of screenwriting is relatively new for me, although I have always loved to write. It’s a little daunting trying to simultaneously learn a little about everything–the creative part, the technical requirements, trying to decide between television scripts and movie scripts, the realities of those businesses, the nuts and bolts of pulling a script together–and still pay attention to my family and my job (which is, thankfully, flexible). Do you recommend just starting to get script ideas down while reading up on all that other stuff, including produced scripts, or do you have a more useful way to manage things? How interchangeable are writing skills for television and movies?

-Overwhelmed in Ohio

Dear Overwhelmed:

PJ McIlvaine here, tag-teaming with the Wave-inatrix. First of all – WHOA! I had no idea that I was supposed to do all this, what meme did I miss? If I stopped to think about all these things, I’d be paralyzed not to mention DOA. My suggestion? Take a deep breath and put that “Dummies for Screenwriting” book down. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I mean, God took at least seven to create us, didn’t he? At this point, if you’re really a total and complete newbie, just….write. Every day. Jot down ideas, whatever, that great bit of conversation you heard at the 7-11, that teary cell phone confab that everyone in the movie theatre could hear and commiserate with. Don’t worry about the biz or getting an agent or manager or if you should write for TV or the movies. Just write. Read scripts, sure, but in between writing and working on your own stuff. Network with other writers, read their stuff. Do this even if it’s only an hour, a half hour or day, fifteen minutes. Make it known to your family and friends that this is YOUR time. I used to write when my kids were playing on the floor beside me, I wrote at work during my lunch hour, breaks and down time…write that first script, put it away, write a second script, put that away, when you finish some more, then go revisit the first one and so forth….but quite simply, write.

Dear Overwhelmed:
I agree with PJ completely and would add that if you really want to learn to screenwrite, focus on that first and then absorb the other information (agents, managers, the nuts and bolts) incrementally and over time. You have plenty of time because those other things are meaningless until you have a good script anyway. So focus on the art and craft of screenwriting. Pick up a book or two, not a whole library of them, save your money. I recommend: Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach by Paul Joseph Gulino and Inside Story: The Power of the Transformative Arc by Dara Marks. And I highly recommend taking a beginning level online screenwriting class through UCLA Extension Writers Program while you’re at it. In fact, that’s where I would start, if I were you.

In-between writing every day and taking a couple of courses, cruise the internet and slowly absorb tips while networking with other writers. Go to a screenwriting conference and take a few workshops. The Creative Screenwriting Expo is a really good event for that. This year’s expo will be held in November 12th through the 16th at the LA Convention Center. That’s a good use of your time. Do the 14 Scripts in 14 Days program suggested, brilliantly, by Scott Myers. Take your vitamins, read the Rouge Wave daily and get plenty of rest.

As for your question about whether writing skills are interchangeable for television and movies, I’m not sure whether you mean interchangeable directly between the two (answer: completely) or whether you mean other writing skills like first person, short fiction, etc. Wavers can answer that one for you because they know what I’ll say: COMPLETELY. Good writing is good writing. Screenwriting is a very distinct kind of writing, a mixture of poetry and mathematical equation but a facility with language and imagery is imperative in all writing and it won’t ever let you down. Now have a cupcake and get to work, young lady!