RUTH ATKINSON

Script Consultant & Story Editor

script consulting

Know your Process

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I’ve often wondered what makes a successful writer. I’ve tossed around many attributes like talent and connections but the one thing I keep coming back to is productivity. A successful writer is one who writes. Who actually writes. Consistently.

For most trying to balance their everyday lives with a writing life can be difficult. But what’s perhaps even more difficult is learning to define and accept your own unique process for writing. Many screenwriting books will tell you to write everyday. Of course this is sage advice. But this isn’t really enough to help you define your process.

In my case I’ve found that it’s very difficult for me to jump right in and start writing. I need a whopping 30 minutes to get in the right mind set. This usually means answering e-mail, checking facebook and reading a blog or two. I use to get irritated with myself for not getting down to work as soon as I sat down at the computer but I’ve realized much like a dancer doing a warm up this is my warm up. I need it to be productive.

I’ve also realized that midway through a project I will invariably reach a point where I think everything I’ve written is completely half-baked. It’s like a mid-life crisis on paper. This has happened enough times now that I know that if I just keep working this feeling will eventually subside.

I’ve also had very good success with chunking down the process into one or two hour blocks. This means that I set a specific time period and for the duration I don’t check e-mail, quickly look up an actor’s name on IMDB, tweet, or call my dentist to set up an appointment. It’s amazing how much more productive I am when I just stay focused.

Another thing I do is work at night. Once again this is something I used to question because it seriously cuts into the amount of sleep I get. But for me I’ve come to see that sleep is overrated! I love working at night. It’s quiet, I can’t make any phone calls, there aren’t any facebook updates (well except from my friend visiting Thailand) and overall it’s much easier to stay focused on what I need to accomplish.

I know a writer who has to clean the house before she sits down to work – even if it takes close to an hour. I know another writer who can only write when fueled with coffee and music. Loud music. Usually something that relates to the piece he’s working on. I have a friend who’s a poet and she’s unable to work in the quiet of her apartment so she spends long hours at Starbucks nursing a single coffee and getting a ton of writing done.

I encourage you to think about your process – don’t judge it – just look to see if there’s a pattern. Perhaps the very thing that you think stands in your way might actually be part of what you need to do in order to be productive. We’re all unique in our process if you can define and accept yours you’ll undoubtedly be more productive. And of course keep writing. Every day. It’s still the surest way to finish your script!

World Traveler

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This past year I’ve gotten to know several lunatics, gone on a handful of road trips, experienced the struggles of an inter-racial couples in both the deep south and East LA, endured winter in the Sierra Nevada foothills in the late 1800’s, grieved along with a young boy who lost his mother in rural South Africa, took part in the 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square, longed for Santa to bring a coveted Christmas toy, went on a couple of reality shows, visited Japan with a jaded school girl and took a vow of silence in Uzbekistan.

All of these amazing worlds, and more, I found in the pages of the scripts I’ve worked on. As a story editor I get to travel the world without having to stand in line at the Jet Blue ticket counter or debate whether or not I should let security “touch my junk.” So to all the writers I’ve worked with this year thank you for letting me inhabit your worlds without having to cram myself into an economy seat or deal with a surly flight attendant who’s stingy with the liquor.

The Black List

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The Black List is a list of Hollywood’s most liked unproduced scripts. Originally started in 2004 with contributions from 75 studio and production company executives it has grown to include the opinions of over 300 executives. Past nominees since produced include Lars and the Real Girl by Nancy Oliver and Oscar winning Juno by Diablo Cody.

Well worth a look…. 

Predicament

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Predicament, a New Zealand produced black comedy / thriller, written and directed by Jason Stutter screened in Los Angeles on November 5th as part of DGA’s Directors Finders Series in partnership with The Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand.

 The screening went very well and landed Jason an agent at Paradigm. Congatulations Jason!

Directors Finders was established in 1998 by the the DGA Independent Directors Committee . The purpose of the series is to spotlight undistributed independent feature films and their directors. Since its inception the series has screened 100-plus films and more than half of those screened have been picked up for North American distribution.

Marketability

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So what’s this thing called marketability and do I need to worry about it as I write?

As a script consultant this is a question I’ve been asked by writers many times and it’s a good one. The answer is yes, and um, well, no. How’s that for confusing? I’ll try to clarify…

Marketability (or commerciality) is a term used to describe a project’s viability in the marketplace. Key here is how likely it is to draw an audience. Anyone reading your script (from agents to production or distribution companies) will be taking a look at the piece with an eye to its marketability. If they determine that the project is unlikely to find an audience they probably won’t want to move forward with it. 

There’s a pretty straightforward bottom line at work here: if no one comes to see the movie then there’s no way to make money on it or recoup the investment in it. Makes sense right? It’s the same thing you’d ask yourself if you were an agent considering investing many hours of valuable time to sell the script or wondering if you should put up millions of dollars to make the movie.  

So if your project is going to gain momentum in the marketplace there needs to be some element of commercial viability.  Now you’re probably wondering how this is assessed. Well there are many, many factors that come into play here. Budget, cast, director, genre, and hook are just a few.

BUDGET. Is the piece low,  medium or high budget? Determining this is key because it dictates what other elements will be needed to ensure the piece finds an audience. For example a low budget indie made for a million dollars doesn’t need the cast required by a big budget studio piece. 

CAST. Will the script attract cast that are meaningful enough (ie: recognizable) to draw an audience? Grown Ups is a good example of this. While the script is pretty thin on story it’s done over 142 million at the box office and continues to draw an audience primarily because of the cast. Anyone reading the project in it’s initial stages would have seen the castability immediately.

DIRECTOR. Is the script strong enough to interest a director who will elevate the piece and increase the likelihood of it attracting an audience? The Hangover is an example of a script finding the perfect director (Todd Phillips) for the piece. In a different director’s hands it could have easily been an edgy art house film with a niche audience. Director appeal would have been apparent from the first read.

GENRE. In very general terms genre pieces, such as thrillers and action films, will attract a wide audience while dramas are traditionally more challenging because they often lack a clear, easy to market premise. If the script is a drama then the other elements (cast, director, budget, hook) become a bigger piece of the puzzle.  

HOOK.  This is an assessment of the script’s overall uniqueness and is the most important question to ask when thinking about marketability. Without a clear, original premise that can be used to market the piece you will likely face an uphill battle when trying to find representation, financing or distribution. Hurt Locker, The Hangover, and Up, all have highly original ideas which can be easily conveyed. Just take a look at their trailers or posters – the hook is easy to see. 

These are just a handful of the questions agents, development executives and production companies ask themselves when evaluating a script’s marketability.

So should you be thinking about any of this while you write?

This is where the no part comes in. I’ve found that scripts written solely with the marketplace in mind rarely work well. Good writing comes from your unique ideas and the way you see the world. It’s far more important to tell a story you want to tell with your original voice than it is to think about the marketplace.

Yet, that said, once you’ve written your piece it’s important to be able to stand back and honestly assess it’s marketability. This will help you to be realistic in your expectations. If you write a script about a young woman’s search for her AWOL father in the bitterly cold Ozark Mountain’s (Winter’s Bone  – a very good low budget film that’s done 4 million at the box office) know that it will probably find a smaller audience than Inception (soon to reach 200 million). And will therefore face some limitations when seeking a foothold in the marketplace. 

So first and foremost write the story you want to tell. Write it really, really well. Then take an honest look at it’s market potential and proceed with realistic expectations around how your piece will be received in the marketplace.