THE BLATANT TRUTH ABOUT SCREENWRITING

by Hal Croasmun

WARNING: Sensitive screenwriters may find parts of this material objectionable.

I believe Gary Shusett has a unique perspective when it comes to the business of screenwriting. He runs Sherwood Oaks Experimental College where he brings in over 200 producers, agents, and managers to speak to very small groups - 8 - 12 screenwriters.

At the same time, his brother (Ronnie Shusett) doubles as both a producer and screenwriter on such movies as TOTAL RECALL, ALIEN, and MINORITY REPORT. Gary was also the driving force behind MOON OVER PARADOR with Richard Dreyfuss and has been a part of the movie business in Hollywood for over 30 years.

Every few weeks, Gary is in a meeting with screenwriters on one side of the table and producers on the other. For years, he's been listening to the goals, concerns and complaints of both sides.

Unlike most people, Gary can clearly see the gap between the two camps.

HAL: You know almost every producer in Hollywood and have had most of them speak at your classes. What do you think they most want from a screenwriter?

GARY: They want material they can sell. That they can get to an actor. That the studio will want to make into a movie. They want material that sounds good and is good. High concept and salable. Commercial. Similar to what they’ve heard before, but has a slight twist to it.

They’re all buyers and sellers. Unless they’re a direct financier, which is not typical. Even if they’re financiers, someone has to market it and distribute it, so they’re still buying to sell.

HAL: What do producers not want from screenwriters?

GARY: They don't want dull, uninspired material that wastes their time reading. Cliché things they’ve heard a million times. Things that are too hard to sell. Things they’ve seen over and over again. Anything that reeks of something that won’t sell.

HAL: What is the problem with most screenplays?

GARY: It's a terrible idea. It's not high concept, not original and may not be commercial too. That’s what I mean when I say a terrible idea. Whereas it should be all three. If nothing else, it should at least sound interesting. You say “I have a great piece about World War 1. Something that cost about $300 million to make.” If I’m a producer, I’m thinking “Pass.” They’re looking for an excuse to pass. Most things are bad. It usually takes just a few seconds for them to find it and pass.

HAL: You’ve talked mainly about concept, what about the writing?

GARY: There’s one really easy test. It’s so simple. Here it is: I want to turn the page to read the next page. It’s a real easy test. Do I want to read the next page?

If it’s good, I'm excited about reading more. It moves almost too fast, I liked it so much. I’m not reading it over and over because I forgot what I read. I'm thinking this writer is really good. He has a way with words. I'm wondering what is going to happen next. I’m surprised as I read it. I feel like I'm watching a good movie. I feel like I’m actually sitting in a theater. Wow! Isn’t this interesting? I’m gripped by it. I can’t put it down. I want to go to bed, but I can’t. I’ve got to keep reading!

As opposed to "Oh, my god. I’m only to page 10. Why do I have to keep reading this. I could be doing anything." My mind is wandering. These are all bad signs.

HAL: How fast can you tell if a script is good?

GARY: I can tell if the writer is good at the end of one page, two, three at most. Usually, I’m disappointed. Sometimes, I’m thinking “maybe.” Every once in a while, I’m thinking “Who wrote this? Wow! He has a way with words, I can’t wait. This could be gold.” But that almost never happens.

HAL: Okay, tell me the difference between those two situations. The difference between shit versus something really good.

GARY: The writer has a way with words. A lot of times, it's about brevity. He says something that may not be original, but it's presented in an original way. I'm thinking "Wasn't that charming?" and I'm struck by it. That's what I'm looking for. Is the writer inventive? Is he presenting something interesting? Is he saying it with a minimum of words, but provocative in the way he's saying it?

HAL: What should screenwriters do to have their scripts shine above the rest?

GARY: Number one, don't writing anything that doesn't sound interesting. It's simple. No matter how good it is, how do you get someone to read it? It's got to sound interesting.

A lot of people will take a logline, or paragraph or one-sheet, but they might not take more than that. You might meet a producer at a Sherwood Oaks seminar or party or anyone’s seminar. If they say “What do you got?” and you can’t say “I have a story about a Martian who doesn’t know that he’s a Martian.” or whatever is interesting. If you can’t say something interesting about at least one of your scripts, they’ll lose interest in you and your material.

I sold Paul Mursursky a pitch because I had a few minutes on the phone. I managed to blurt out something provocative. He didn’t even want to talk with me, but he took on the project because of one thing I said that fascinated him. It actually happens often than one might think that a phrase sells a script or project.

It is shocking how few words you have to say to get someone interested. It’s like the old TV show “NAME THAT TUNE.” The idea is how few notes could one recognize a song in. Well, how few words can you make your script sound good in? If you can say it in five words, you’ve got a winner.

HAL: What makes a script marketable?

GARY: People understand the idea. They can see the poster, the trailer and they think it will make a lot of money. And they think they can easily attach elements to that movie. They think it will appeal to large segments of population. It’s not only a teen-age movie: maybe all ages will like it, too. When they did SPIDERMAN, they got the older population who liked it when they were kids. And yet, since it is a comic book and they got a young attractive guy to star in it, they got the teen audience, too. So, it’s not a shock they made a lot of money. They had a good idea, they executed it well, and they marketed it well. They got a good actor, good director and a good writer.

HAL: You’ve spoken with hundreds of producers. In your opinion, how should a screenwriter pitch a script to a producer?

GARY: Practice a lot. Get the pitch down to two sentences and have several versions of the pitch. The first few words better be good.

Those first four or five words better not turn them off. “I have a period piece.” Oh my God, you couldn’t say anything worse. “I have a movie about Dachau, the concentration camp.” If you have a movie about that, don’t say that in the first sentence. Maybe say “I have a script about immortality.” That’s a lot better than opening with the concentration camp.

Short is easily the most important thing. If you’re having to talk more than three sentences, it’s a bad idea. If they ask questions, that’s different. You got to figure out a way to intrigue a producer in one, two, or three sentences. “A woman who can only dream about wonderful things meets a man who can only dream about bad things.” That’s not a great idea, but we understand what’s going on in it.

The easiest part of any movie is making it sound good. It’s really hard to write a very good script. It’s easy to create a good pitch if you try. You have to concentrate and figure it out. I imagine I could make any script sound good. That doesn’t mean it will be good.

I have a philosophy that many screenwriters don’t like. I say keep the script away from the producer as long as possible. Here’s what I mean. Your pitch might be great, but your script probably won’t live up to it. So keep the material away while you build a relationship with the producer. Then when he sees your script, they might say it’s not ready. However, if you’ve got a relationship, they might give you feedback, they might read a rewrite, they might hire you. So I say keep the material away as long as possible.

I’m serious. I really mean this. It’s like, if you go on a date with a woman, don’t talk about sex. Don’t try and get sex. Don’t make the focus sex. Producers are the same way. Here’s why. The whole movie industry is about relationships. Relationships are more important than the material, unless you’re amazing. If you’re amazing, none of these rules matter.

HAL: I’ve heard producers say that most screenwriters think they’re great, but they’re not even close to Hollywood’s standards. What are your thoughts on that?

GARY: Not only is it common, but it is 75% of the people. It has to do with the occupation of writing in our society. Most occupations have to do with something tangible. If you’re a typist, you can’t fake being a great typist. If you’re a surgeon, you need a degree and go through very specialized training. Most things, you have to prove your skill. There’s very few jobs in America, like songwriting, screenwriting, art, that are totally subjective. So therefore, screenwriters can easily get deluded into thinking they’re great when their material may be awful. It’s a real problem.

HAL: Right, it’s hard to tell where the bar is for what’s good enough.

GARY: Their brother said it was great. Their friend said it was a good idea. They saw a bad movie and thought they could do better. It’s not the writer’s fault. His feedback is way off. What they desperately need is outside feedback.

This is not an easy problem to solve. It’s very hard for a writer to get the truth. I’ll tell you why it’s hard to get the truth, then I’ll tell you how to get the truth.

If you hire a consultant or assistant to work with you, they’ll only tell you their personal truth. They’ll do their job and then, they’re not going to insult you and say “don’t write this idea.” Why would they do that? If you’ve paid them to fix it, they’re only going to say it is brilliant. And you’re not going to get the truth from your friends or from people who don’t know about films.

So where do you get the truth?

Sometimes, you get the truth from workshops, but I’ve got a better way. You find out who is good at critiquing scripts. Ask around and find someone other writers recommend. You take your name off of your own script and put a pseudonym on it. Then you say to the script consultant “I read this script. In my opinion, it has potential. I’m thinking of risking several thousand dollars to option it. I want you to read it and tell me the truth about it. How hard is it to fix this script and is it worth fixing?” Do that and you’ll get the truth.

HAL: Any other advice you’d give screenwriters?

GARY: Think of this as a long-term venture. Think in terms of relationships more than getting things off the ground immediately. Most important is to devote yourself completely to writing. Be willing to spend the time, money, and effort, and put your ego aside.

I think every writer should be a producer. Even if all the material you’re promoting is your own, you should be looking for other scripts, real-life stories, and books that could be adapted into movies. You should present yourself as a fountain of great ideas and material. When a producer meets you, they should feel they struck gold.

In the end, the key thing is persistence and devotion to your goals. Talent is actually secondary. I'd rather see a writer that is sort-of good, but is willing to fully devote themselves than a talented writer who doesn’t want to work hard. The one who is persistent will have a better chance of succeeding in the long run. He’ll build relationships, find salable ideas, and end up being the better writer.

ABOUT GARY:

Gary Shusett presents classes where a small group of screenwriters (8 - 12) meet with 25 producers, studio executives or agents in a week-long program. I highly recommend his programs as an opportunity to network with the buyers of Hollywood and learn this business. SherwoodOaksCollege