I'm going to post a link to my script "Authors Anonymous" that was released in 2014 and starred Kaley Cuoco, Dennis Farina, Chris Klein, Jonathan Banks, and Teri Polo.
I post because I want all of you to appreciate the journey for independent film. My original script was called "Scribble" and I wrote the first draft in 2005. We finally went into production in 2012--after three different directors were attached and we had fallen out of production twice. I can't begin to tell you how many rewrites I had to do on this script. We were able to secure financing after Kaley Cuoco (a wonderful woman and complete professional) agreed to star and executive produce.
My script got produced solely because I met a casting director at a local film festival who read the script and championed my work. She got the movie made, but then sadly passed away soon afterwards. I lost my champion.
The producers changed the title to "Authors Anonymous" because research showed at the time that films whose title began with an A,B,C, or D were more likely to be downloaded. Whatever. The finished product went in a somewhat different direction than the script intended, but I remain grateful to the producers and director for getting the movie made and released and seen by a lot of people.
But my advice to all of you that haven't been produced yet is basic: Be patient. Be prepared to rewrite and rewrite. Be prepared to compromise. And be prepared for the director, a producer, or an actor to change your words. You reach a point in the process where you just want the @#&^! movie made.
Here is Authors Anonymous and good luck to everyone!
Thanks David, I look forward to reading the script. I really enjoyed the film Authors Anonymous! Kaley Cuoco was wonderful and her transformation was very well done. I also loved Dennis Farina, I think it was his last performance.
I'm curious about the mock documentary as a view into the story. Was that something that inspired you early on in the writing or was it something that you added later?
Such a clever and entertaining film, thanks for sharing it.
Thank you, Kaye, for your kind words and for taking the time to watch Authors Anonymous. Dennis Farina (such a wonderful man) made one more film in Italy before he died, but I'm not sure it was ever released.
The mockumentary approach is a great question. Remember, I wrote the first draft in 2005 when "mocks" were still fresh and everyone loved Christopher Guest. But it took seven years to get the film made and another two years for it to be released. By 2014, the sentiment, after Parks and Recreation and The Office, had shifted dramatically to Oh dear god, not ANOTHER mockumentary. And our director, for whatever reason, tried to mold the talking to the camera approach with a traditional rom-com. The critics brought out their knives. I get it. But the scenes involving the writing group all work IMO.