1

Lecture 15:Lecture 15:The Re-Write & The BusinessThe Re-Write & The Business

Professor Christopher Bradley

Barton Fink (1991) Screenplay by

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Previous LessonPrevious Lesson

• The Climactic Moment-- the Final Showdown with the Antagonist

2

Taxi Driver (1973) Screenplay by Paul Schrader

• Tying Up the Loose Ends

In This LessonIn This Lesson

• The Re-Write

• Getting Your Screenplay Read (and Getting Started in the Business)

• Keeping Yourself Inspired!

3

Barton Fink (1991) Screenplay by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Re-WritingRe-Writing

4Lesson 15: Part I

Adaptation (2002) Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman

Based on the book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

Questions to Ask YourselfQuestions to Ask Yourself

5

• Download the document Questions as You Re-Write

• The answers may seem obvious, but review them anyway.

• They can work like a fine-toothed comb to tease out bits and chunks that aren’t working.

• They will deepen your story and your characters.

Questions to Ask YourselfQuestions to Ask Yourself

6

• For Example:

• How does each character feel about every other character? That they’re heroic? A jerk? Too stupid to deal with? Smart, but deluded?

• Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll likely see the conflicts between all your characters sharpen and intensify. Which is what you want!

Getting Your Work Read!Getting Your Work Read!

7Lesson 15: Part II

Sunset Boulevard (2002) Screenplay by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder & D.M. Marshman, Jr.

Getting Your Work Read!Getting Your Work Read!

8

• Query letters to agents

• Pitchfests

• Internships

• Contests

Query LettersQuery Letters

9

• Keep it short!

• Don’t send the screenplay until asked

• DO include a logline

• Enclose a treatment if they want to read more.

PitchfestsPitchfests

10

• Again, keep it short!

• Have the logline (with the set-up, the main complication, the climax and the resolution) ready

• PRACTICE telling the story

• Have a printed treatment available (with your contact information) to leave behind.

PitchfestsPitchfests

11

• Do your research! Pitchfests are notoriously expensive, so be sure you know with whom you’re really going to be speaking. Be sure it’s an executive who actually makes decisions.

Pitching without Pitchfests Pitching without Pitchfests

12

• Another way to pitch might be to think of three producers with whom you’d love to work.

• Seeking out their underpaid assistants and taking them out to a nice lunch might be a better way of getting your pitch heard and your screenplay read!

InternshipsInternships

13

• People in the industry are often insanely busy and overworked. They probably should read your screenplay, but where are they going to get the time? How do they know it will be time well-spent?

• An internship is a great way to get in the door.

InternshipsInternships

14

• An internship is a great way to:

• Meet other industry people.

• Find out how the game works.

• Work hard

• Show them you’re smart and on the ball

• Think long-term

ContestsContests

15

• Perhaps the most significant screenwriting competition: The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

http://www.oscars.org/awards/nicholl/index.html

Why Contests are UsefulWhy Contests are Useful

16

• Contests provide a structured form in which screenplays are read and reports about them are generated.

• The readers for screenplay competitions come from agencies and production companies and are being paid to find good stories.

Why Contests are UsefulWhy Contests are Useful

17

• If you win or are a finalist even a moderately-sized competition, agents know it and will almost always request a copy of your screenplay.

• Even if you don’t win, your screenplay may find its way into the right production office through word of mouth.

ContestsContests

18

• Again, do your research.

• Almost every contest wants the same entry fee, but who are the readers? How effective is winning? Is this the right place for your particular screenplay?

• An excellent place to start your research is moviebytes.com

ContestsContests

19

• What contest is right for your screenplay?

http://moviebytes.com/directory.cfm

ContestsContests

20

• What is the reputation of the contest?

http://moviebytes.com/contests.cfm?category=All

ContestsContests

21

• Remember! It’s not necessarily important that you win.

• Getting your screenplay read by the right agent, manager or producer could be far more important than any cash prize.

ContestsContests

22

• Once you’ve found a good fit, when do you enter?

• Be careful not to enter before your screenplay is ready. Many contests will only read a certain screenplay once.

• But don’t keep re-writing endlessly. When someone options or purchases your screenplay, there will even be more re-writes. Life is going by!

Keeping Yourself InspiredKeeping Yourself Inspired

23Lesson 15: Part III

In a Lonely Place (2002) Screenplay by Andrew Solt, from an adaptation by Edward H. North,

based on a story by Dorothy B. Hughes

Keeping Yourself InspiredKeeping Yourself Inspired

24

• You now have courage to face the blank page!

• You’ve done it once, you can do it again!

• You wrote a screenplay. That puts you miles ahead of everyone who dreamed of doing it, but never started.

Keeping Yourself InspiredKeeping Yourself Inspired

25

• Writers’ Groups

• You might find the right group right away.

• You may need to shop around.

• You may need to create your own.

• But hearing your words out loud, getting real-world responses, is imperative.

Keeping Yourself InspiredKeeping Yourself Inspired

26

• Learn how to receive notes.

• What you’re hearing is not rejection, it’s the key to all success.

• Say “YES” to every note. Then go back to your desk and see if you can make that note work.

• If not, think what might be under the note. What are they getting at? What’s not working?

Keeping Yourself InspiredKeeping Yourself Inspired

27

• Bad questions get you bad answers. “Does my work suck?” is a no-win question!

• Ask good questions where you win:

• Is there a more appropriate contest for this story? A better market?

• Are my standards for my work high enough? Where can I go to learn and grow next?

AssignmentAssignment

28Lesson 15: Part IV

Casablanca (19422) Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, based on the stage play Everyone Comes to Rick’s

by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

29

Eboard PostEboard Post

29

• Post your completed first draft to the eboard!

End of Lecture 15End of Lecture 15

Congratulations! You’ve finished the course!

(But you’ve just begun.)30

Back to the Future (1985) Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis

and Bob Gale