before you blame the screen writers

[misterX]

people have been blaming screen writiers for lack of imangination or w/e for ages now about the lack of good movies but after reading this i realize they are entirly to blame.


From Stephen Lord (with over 160 screen and TV credits, including "Bonanza," "The Virginian," "The Outer Limits" and "Matlock")

When I wrote the teleplay adaptation for "The Bible" for NBC, they condemned me to some vice-president. It would take me a long time to describe all her ridiculous notes, but one will always stand out in my mind. She phoned me and was worried about the budget; she asked: "In the scene where Moses brings down all those plagues we could save some money if you could cut it down to just three."

(Later, also in the middle of the plagues scenes she noted, "Why the hell do people continue to follow Moses when he keeps bringing all those natural disasters down on them?")

[misterX]

and this




From Ian Abrams ("Undercover Blues")

I was told, "Audiences can't follow a story with more than four characters, so you have to dump three of your characters."

[misterX]

and this


From Carly Cady (WGA award-nominee)

On a script about Mary Surrat (who was hanged for complicity in the Lincoln assassination), one executive wrote: "The ending is a real downer. Can't you change it?"

[misterX]

not to forget this



From Richard Manning (TV writer. "Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Fame," "Beyond Reality")



Wonderful. Fabulous. A few minor structural problems in Act Two. First act break could be stronger. Lose the night exteriors; too expensive. Love interest doesn't work; suggest de-emphasizing the character of Vorgon. Page 12: please change the phrase "damn your bloody eyes" to "darn your bloodshot eyes." Page 16: please change "thirty yelling, charging, heavily-armed Latvians" to "two non-speaking day players shaking their fists." Page 25: please make it clear that the multiple throat-slashing scene at the nursery school should be done with restraint and with good taste. Page 27: Romantic scene between Patsy and Biff works wonderfully, but due to scheduling constraints Biff will not be available for this episode; please substitute either Shirley, or Harry the Chimp. Page 32: please delete all references to salami; our audience finds these offensive. Page 34: This scene does not work at all. Suggest changing "but" in Ralph's third speech to "and." Page 36: the exposition needs to be made clearer. It was not evident until the second reading that you intended for Jack's mother's dog's veterinarian's accountant's sister-in-law's half-cousin to be the actual identity of the shadowy figure who left the cheese ball in the floor safe in scene 3. This subplot needs to be developed in more detail. General: flesh out the B-story about the amnesiac diplomat and the abandoned baby. Give the Pope funnier lines. Trim eight to ten pages. Swap acts two and three. Decrease the level of volence throughout, but add more action. Change the ending. Fix the middle. Eliminate the beginning. Can we have the new draft tomorrow morning?

I think this will be one of the best shows of the season.

[feral cat]

Originally posted by misterX
people have been blaming screen writiers for lack of imangination or w/e for ages now about the lack of good movies but after reading this i realize they are entirly to blame.

... but in all those examples they are not to blame? ... Its the studio execs that are telling them to make stupid plot changes ...

[misterX]

yeah, that was my point. Execs should let the creative people do what they do best. and those no talent jerks stick with their cuppacinnos and latte's

[Vodstok]

Originally posted by misterX
people have been blaming screen writiers for lack of imangination or w/e for ages now about the lack of good movies but after reading this i realize they are entirly to blame.

IOn case anyone missed what he was saying, he meant Aren't to blame.

I couldnt agree more. one thing that has caused me to hold off on finishing any screen plays is KNOWING that it will end up in the hands of someone who will want to make it more "palatable" to a wider audience...

I have this nagging fear that something i wrote specifically to get people's blood boiling will be reduced to some lame knock-off of an existing movie, with some "A-List" no-talent twit starring.

Here's an example: I am afraid that if i (hypothetically) wrote fight club, It would star Ben Affleck as Tyler, Jennifer Lopez as Marla, and Colin Farrel as "Jack", and rather than fighting, they would play a cheesy movie version of Doom multiplayer against each other, but without any blood or demons, because that subject matter can kill a pg-13 rating.

In the end, "Jack" would reconcile with Tyler, and he and Jennifer would buy a mansion by the beach, and he would exorcise his demons by never playing video games too much again. Tyler would be gone, but there would be a shot of him hiding in the closet, laughing maniacally at the end to give it a "twist"


Fucking hollywood assholes.....