THE BIG PICTURE

I reckon it should be the first 25 pages, not the first 10 before a script is rejected, but that does promote old-fashioned screenwriting. Chinatown, considered the third best script ever written, really becomes un-put-down-able towards the middle. Wanting something really significant to happen in the first 10 pages causes many potentially great scripts not to get anywhere.

First, let me say, fantastic speech! I did a mental standing ovation as I read. Seriously, really good, and I agree with every word.

The underlying problem is one I've noticed for a long time now, especially in the 21st century. A massive gap between those buying/reading scripts and the overall audience. The audience only wants a good story. Those who consider buying a script only want a guaranteed profit. Meanwhile, us screenwriters are working our asses off trying to please everyone. It's frustrating, without a doubt.

Personally, I've yet to see anything that says there's a guaranteed minimum number of pages that will get a yes, from someone, anyone, in the world. I have seen/heard from the more corporate side of making movies that ten pages is enough for them to decide yes or no. From the not-corporate side, it could be ten pages or 120 pages.

Back to the massive gap. You're asking the same question that many people ask, from the overall audience. Where are the good stories? As both a screenwriter and an audience member, I say there are plenty of good stories out there. They may not be produced by a mainstream corporation, and might be harder to find, but the hidden gems are most definitely out there.

I take it on myself, as a screenwriter, to do my part to close that gap. That's my hope. It may take me a lifetime, but I'm committed.

The reality is you have more like ten lines to make an impression. It's that brutal.

People are looking for a unique, confident voice on the page. One with personality that isn't taking itself too seriously. One that shows instinctive craft skills combined with edge and style.

It's not that people stop reading or write a script off after a certain amount of time, it's that they become distanced and harder to pull back. The issue is, if you're an unknown writer with zero industry buzz, nobody is going to give you the benefit of the doubt and force their engagement until the pay-off.

As film fans, we go through exactly the same process. It's amazing how many unknown screenwriters complain how unfair it is they aren't getting a break who themselves fail to take in any films outside of the popular releases.

The way the money works also has little to do with story, especially in today's age of economics. What matters is the faces on the poster, the premise, and preferably well known existing IP. It's all about getting people into the movie theater. Once you've done that, the money's made. You can buy the critics. You can patch over issues with P&A. You can give people an action rollercoaster rather than an emotional journey.

The smartest thing a screenwriter can do for their career is understand the business. 

The script is perhaps 1-2 percent of total production budget. If someone who can sign a check does look at your work, you better hook them with the first pages. You may have spent years agonizing over every word in your script, but the folks who can actually buy your script have a huge pile of submittals and a very short attention span.

I'm honestly not trying to start an argument here. I do agree with everything. But, my impression of the initial question for this thread was more about, why don't people read more than the first ten pages and why do so many, especially online, practically hit everyone over the head with, you have to do everything exactly this way? That's a vague question. While, of course, I agree that at the end of day it's just business, I also want to add that there are so many variables to consider.

Maybe that agent you submitted to actually only wants to read scripts from a select demographic because they have a really good working relationship with a studio who told them, they want this demographic only.

Maybe there were already too many action/romantic comedy/whatever movies made that year, and everyone wants something different this year.

Maybe we're all living in a global pandemic and box office success has been eliminated for safety reasons. No, wait, that one is based on facts and not a prediction.

I recently had a small Canadian company tell me that I can send them my feature script. The company is specially interested in unique stories. Considering everything going on right now, and also the fact my script is highly experimental and not mainstream, my expectations are low. I sent an email query only. I was surprised to get an email back right away, they were hooked enough with my logline and asked me to send the whole script. So I sent the PDF. Within a month, I got a email, they liked my writing, liked the story (yes, they read the whole script), but decided to pass, then invited me to submit other scripts in the future. Okay, so, I didn't get a sale or an option, but I can confirm that they are people who are more than willing to read past ten pages.

Something I'd wish more screenwriters do is look at script reads less like a job interview (objective) and more like a date (subjective).

In nearly ten years of trying to break-in, breaking-in, working with industry members, connecting with industry members, running one of the biggest platforms on the internet, and watching other writers both fail and succeed the only thing I can conclude is that there are no patterns... and there's not a lot of logic either.

Yet, whenever I see the topic discussed, it seems many want to talk in absolutes despite the fact they are speculating what goes on behind closed doors.

Most of the problems stem from low-rent consultants, self proclaimed gurus, and predatory service providers. They want to draw people in with fear and give them rules as easy answers. Those rules then start spreading around communities as fact. Compounding this problem are the competitions and evaluation services that rely on committees to judge scripts. This all festers a reductive people pleasing mentality that causes writers to lose their edge and distinct voice.

Firstly, the notion that people throw scripts in the trash after a certain number of pages is mostly myth. Paid readers are tasked to read complete scripts and provide coverage. Industry members that have agreed to read a script, usually honor that promise. Most people are actually giving the writer the benefit of the doubt and looking for potential. No serious agent, manager, producer, executive, actor, cinematographer, or director is looking as a script and seeing it as set in stone. They are hoping to at least see the glimmer of something that can built on with relative ease. Many aren't even thinking of making the script in front of them. They are simply looking for a writer who can execute assignments well.

Secondly, people become disengaged for a host of reasons well out of your control and they'll most likely hold back on or struggle to identify why they believe it is. They're either charmed by your writing or not. I recently had an actor state she will not use her lord's name in vain for a role we want to cast her in. Fair enough. A minor change. Does that mean I'm going to change how I write in the future? Jesus fucking Christ no. I've seen an interview with one executive saying they'd reject a script with a single typo in it while an interview with a producer says they'd be more worried if a script felt overly polished and didn't have a least a few errors. Sometimes, you simply cannot win and it isn't your fault.

The most painful script read I've ever gone through was one for a produced Lifetime movie. It was so tepid and predictable it made me angry. Thing is, the writer has something like twenty-five credits in that genre. Someone else loves what they do. That's how it goes. 

Just be the best version you can be of yourself and wait until you align on the same wavelength as a collaborator. For me it wasn't even a script that did that. It was a blog post along with my bio which made them want to read my material. I'd already earned some benefit of the doubt before they hit page one. It was then a very pulpy genre script which led to me writing something more widely commercial on assignment.

Something I strongly recommend any screenwriter does is look up the history on the films you love. You will more often than not find that they were hated by many at the pitching stage and only loved by a tiny few right up until release. You will often find that the people behind it stuck to their guns and their vision despite all the criticism. They refused to give in to the fear.

And please know that it's mostly chaos behind the scenes. There's no slick systems or processes. It's almost entirely emotional decisions driven by short-term circumstance. Good scripts fall through the cracks constantly.

I just had a look at director Stanley Kubrick's script for A Clockwork Orange, and the stage directions are very sparse, with very basic descriptions, no elaboration at all, no wasted flourishes, no detail. That really was a blue print for a film. Maybe, less really is more.

And you'll find countless other scripts which disprove that theory, especially from well known artists who produce and direct their own material.

Don't flog yourselves too much. You either sell a script or you don't (or as CJ points out, produce your own stuff). I've enjoyed learning scriptwriting, finding my voice and telling some stories. If that's not enough, heck, maybe you'll get famous after you're dead like Charles Bukowski who allegedly wrote, "Find something you love and let it kill you." EDIT: In Mr Bukowski's case, he had two loves of his life - writing and being a serious drunk.

Barry, to answer your question, I just made up scenarios off the top of my head. Though, I have met Canadian agents who don't have working relationships with major studios yet. Hey, we all have to start somewhere.

I had talked to the Canadian company in a Facebook group for Canadian screenwriters, which is how they told me to contact them. I knew it was going to be a long shot, but I had to try. For practice, if nothing else. I didn't bother asking why they decided to pass on this particular script. Any possible answer wouldn't make a difference to me. It's the nature of script. Either people like it or they hate it. So I just shrugged and moved on. I might have a different story to share in the future with another script.

I think what many tend to neglect to mention, especially in how-to articles online, is the process. Any script can pass through a lot of hands before it becomes a real story on a screen. Anything can happen. Everything can go wrong. And sometimes, everything is just right. And more importantly, we don't get to see the process. It's all after the fact.

By the way, I'm one of those people who didn't like A Clockwork Orange. I get it, I understand the story, mad respect for Kubrick I just didn't care for it. Regardless, I agree 100%. Less is always more.

When I first decided to pursue screenwriting, the first thing I did was read the screenplays of my favourite movies. Fortunately, some of my fav movies are so old the screenplays are free to read online. I still read a lot of scripts/screenplays/production drafts, just to find the answer to, who the hell do they do that? Answer: They didn't. The screenwriter just wrote a script, that's all.

CJ, I just have to add, "Jesus fucking no." I can't stop laughing...

Fuck tha police...

'You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

The girl/guy reading your script will fall one way - the producer they pass it on to (luck prevailing) may go the other.

Stay in your own lane.

Fuck tha police indeed.

Also; Quentin Tarantino on getting rejected by Hollywood Readers

That's when you know a movie is really good, when it's about something you're not a huge fan of but has you hooked. As mentioned elsewhere, I felt that with The Damned United and Moneyball is another good example.