The Surprising Lesson From Reading Many Bad Screenplays
How My Experience Can Benefit You
During my brief tenure as story analyst for a motion picture producer, I read stacks of awful screenplays. Most were given a quick read and shunted aside with minimal, overwhelmingly negative notation. Yet, I managed to learn a valuable lesson that redounded favorably. My experience can help you, too.
It wasn’t long before I noticed that I could improve these deficient scripts and make them more marketable. Most were undeniable duds, but one, written by industry veterans, was already optioned and came with high profile endorsement. It opened—no kidding—with “a dark and stormy night” and didn’t get any better.
In deference to the authors and the actor who backed the project, I gave this script more attention. In fact, I rewrote the introductory scenes entirely and outlined ways to improve the whole movie. I even demonstrated revenue potential from the rewritten beginning by featuring a delivery truck on a bright sunny morning that UPS or Fedex could not resist.
My producer passed on the project, anyway. But this stinker eventually made it to the screen, more or less the way it was written, and I occasionally notice it tumbled into the $5 DVD bins at Walmart. Yet, what I learned from the experience has been valuable.
Quite by accident, I learned that I could jump into the middle of a poorly conceived, badly written project without any preparation whatsoever and rapidly determine a course for its rescue, improvement and promotion. This was solid strategy, not mere improvisation. A few outstanding reasons accounted for this development:
• Despite reading rapidly, I noticed that I was listening to what I read. Screenplays involve dialogue that is nuanced. Even directions are full of subtleties and I discovered that I was hearing what I read with interest, enthusiasm and eagerness. Discord struck my ear painfully and the natural reaction was to hear a better way.
• As I made notes, I realized that I could state objections concisely and clearly, communicating my suggestions persuasively in a few words. This was a business; everyone was in a hurry. Effectiveness of communication was a premium consideration.
• With vigorous communication skills came greater confidence. Not only was I able to argue forcefully, I was direct, clear and decisive. When appropriate, I plainly said “no” in an industry famous for ignoring projects into oblivion.
• While marshaling evidence and explaining my position, I discovered that offering reasons, sometimes alternatives, led to flexibility. Doors opened as a result and interesting possibilities arose that would never have been known without a willingness to explore.
Flexibility proved to be the key that extends the benefits of my original discovery into all sorts of projects well beyond selecting screenplays. Flexibility enables options and extends viability. As a freelance writer, listening to clients express their needs and expectations, I can hear solutions, conceive plans and spot alternatives rich with potential. And the principles can be applied to widely divergent circumstances.
Even operational management can adapt these ideas profitably. In that capacity, I discovered that I could evaluate a situation or project with freedom, empowering my responsibility with the same listening and communication skills that enabled confidence and flexibility.
Managers should be advised that this only works when their organization has entrusted decision-making responsibility with them. Too much “management” today involves mere parroting instructions to be implemented. A truly creative manager bearing real authority will find burdens lightened and effectiveness increased by applying these principles.
When the process begins with listening, opportunities for adjustment are readily sighted throughout the process, extending the reach and value of the original objective. It becomes a perpetual gift despite having originated by someone else. There are numerous worthy ideas from many sources and no one has a lock on creativity. But a key is available to develop concepts more widely and effectively.
Copyright 2014 by Michael Driver
