Screenwriter Dale Launer   

 

RULES OF DEVELOPMENT aka HOW TO TALK TO A SCREENWRITER

  • Rule One
    READ THE SCRIPT IMMEDIATELY .

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  • Rule Two
    YOU'VE FINISHED THE SCRIPT, NOW CALL THE WRITER IMMEDIATELY AND PRAISE THEM!

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  • Rule Three
    BEGIN YOUR PRAISE WITH A VAGUE COMPLIMENT, THEN FOLLOW IT UP WITH SOME SPECIFIC POSITIVE COMMENTS.

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  • Rule Four
    SET THE MEETING AND STICK TO IT

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  • Rule Five
    THE MEETING - START A VAGUE POSITIVE STATMENT

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  • Rule Six
    DO YOUR BEST TO TAKE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE SCRIPT

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  • Rule Seven
    GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE SCRIPT PAGE BY PAGE AND TELL THEM SPECIFICALLY ALL THE MOMENTS YOU LIKE!

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  • Rule Eight
    BEING NICE PAYS OFF - AKA THE BENEFITS OF BEING POSITIVE

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  • Rule Nine
    WHEN GIVING A SCRIPT CORRECTION BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE

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  • Rule Ten
    DON'T PUSSYFOOT ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE.

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  • Rule Eleven
    ASK QUESTIONS!

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  • Rule Tweleve
    CONVINCE THE WRITER THERE ACTUALLY IS A PROBLEM

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  • Rule Thirteen
    SOMETIMES YOU WILL BE WRONG.

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  • Rule Fourteen
    THE WRITER IS WRONG AND REFUSES TO SEE IT. WHAT DO I DO?

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  • Rule Fifteen
    DON'T OFFER SOLUTIONS. CONVINCE THE WRITER THERE'S A PROBLEM AND THEN LET THEM COME UP WITH A SOLUTION.

     

  • Rule Sixteen
    DON'T "SPITBALL" IDEAS. (SEE RULE FIFTEEN)

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  • Rule Seventeen
    DON'T "SPITBALL" IDEAS. (SEE RULE FIFTEEN)

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  • Rule Eighteen
    DON'T "SPITBALL" IDEAS. (SEE RULE FIFTEEN)

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  • Rule Nineteen
    WHAT IF YOU HAVE A GREAT SOLUTION?

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  • Rule Twenty
    THERE'S A PROBLEM AND YOU'VE DROPPED HINTS AND DESCRIBED YOUR GREAT IDEA VAGUELY, BUT THE WRITER CAN'T GRAB THE HINT?

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  • Rule Twenty One
    SUBMIT YOUR IDEA AS A CLICHE THAT SHOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY DISMISSED

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  • Rule Twenty Two
    DANGER! HACK WRITER AHEAD

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  • Rule Twenty Three
    PREFERABLY HAVE ONLY ONE PERSON IN A ROOM, ONE EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT EXEC FOR EVERY WRITER

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    3. BEGIN YOUR PRAISE WITH A VAGUE COMPLIMENT, THEN FOLLOW IT UP WITH SOME SPECIFIC POSITIVE COMMENTS.

    Get off on a good step with something positive like "It was Great! "Big Fun!" "Whatta ride", and without hesistation, proceed into at least five SPECIFIC POSITIVE COMMENTS. If you're quick enough, there's a good chance they'll actually believe you liked the script. They will feel great. You need to build them up as much as possible for what is about to come. This buttering-up stage is important because you are about to proceed into an area that is at the very least a little painful, and at worst crushingly painful.

    3a. COROLLARY - WHAT IF YOU HATED THE SCRIPT?

    But what if you hated the script? Now this is a problem. A big problem. Are you really familiar with this person's work? Could they have fallen that far off the wagon? It's rare someone who's done great work in the past suddenly crashes starts doing bad work. Unless they've just had brain surgery that didn't quite turn out - there's a good chance you didn't do your homework. Was the script sample really theirs? Were they previously in a writing a team and you failed to do your due diligence and now realize you've hired the hack half of the team? Was the sample you read ever re-written by someone else?

    So now what do you do? You can't go back now. And I know this can be hard, but you have to force yourself to praise it and search high and low for five positive things in that script. There's got to be at least five things. And if you can't find them ask your assistant. And if the two of you together cannot find five good specific things to say about that script - you've got a disaster and no amount of advice can fix that.

    BONUS ADVICE - good scripts come from good writers. NEVER has a good script ever evolved from the mind of a mediocre writer. It's just not possible and so it doesn't happen. So, if you want a good script, HIRE GOOD WRITERS. Spend the extra dough, use these rules, it'll pay off in the long run.

    GO TO RULE FOUR

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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