Read Writing Movies For Fun And Profit! for Free Online

sake.
    Okay, you signed the deal. Now what?
     
    You don’t start writing right away. Usually you have ONE MORE MEETING with the studio. You shake hands, they give you a Diet Coke or bottled water, they say how happy they are to be in business with you, and then—they’ll usually GIVE YOU A FEW NOTES.
    DON’T PANIC : they very rarely pull a bait and switch (“I know you sold us an intergalactic heist comedy, we want you to write a period drama about Mao Tse-tung”). We’re sure that’s possible … but we’ve never heard of that happening.
    Those sorts of cockamamie notes usually come later, after you’ve given the studio the first draft. (See Chapter 10 , “Why Does Almost Every Studio Movie SUCK Donkey Balls?”)
    When you go in for this meeting, don’t forget: ACT REALLY GRATEFUL AND EXCITED. Hopefully, you’ll actually
be
really grateful and excited. We say this only, because we heard a story of a guy who decided he was hot shit now that he was a professional screenwriter. He went in and argued with the executive who JUST BOUGHT HIS MOVIE about some minor point—and the studio yanked the deal right out from under him. Nothing was signed yet. (Oops. Sor-ry.)
    Now
you start writing. Unless you sold a spec. Then you start REWRITING, based on the studio’s notes. And unless you’re Quentin Tarantino, you’re gettin’ NOTES, pal.
    How long do you have to WRITE THE SCRIPT?
     
    There are standard time periods you have to write a script; they’re the same for every project:
    To write the first draft: ten weeks.
    When you turn it in, the studio has six weeks to read it
    and get back to you with their notes.
    After they give you notes: you have six weeks to do those revisions.
     
    They’ll start calling you about week seven and asking you “How’s it coming?” and “When do you think you’ll be turning it in?” Spyglass Films starts this on about day two. But keep in mind, if they’re bugging you for the script—THEY’RE STILL ENGAGED IN THE PROCESS. Don’t worry when people are bugging you for the finished script. Worry when people AREN’T bugging you for the script. You or your project may have cooled off. Don’t worry. You have ten weeks. But turning it in a little early is ALWAYS a good thing. Eight weeks is good. They’ll know you didn’t rush, but they’re still getting it early.
    Most movie deals
used
to be composed of a FIRST DRAFT and ONE SET OF REVISIONS. That means they CAN’T fire you after your first draft. They have to at least give you notes and let you TRY to “fix” the script, AKA do their notes. (See Chapter 10 , “Why Does Almost Every Studio Movie SUCK Donkey Balls?”)
    But now, with the economy in the toilet (Thanks a lot, [ insert name of current president here! ] , most studios (especially Paramount) are only doing ONE-STEP DEALS. You get paid, you write a draft, you turn it in—that’s it. The studios are saving a fortune that way.
    Some deals also have an OPTIONAL POLISH. That means they give you another set of notes (after you’ve done your SECOND draft) and you have TWO TO FOUR WEEKS to do them. But just because it’s a “polish,” that DOES NOT mean it will be less work. Sometimes doing their notes will mean completely throwing out 50 percent, 75 percent, even 100 percent of the script and rebuilding it from the ashes. Their note may be: “We need to change the characters and the setting and the story”—and they’ll still call it a POLISH and give you TWO weeks.
    That’s why you HAVE to be very good, very fast, and very disciplined. Sometimes it’s crunch time.
    Oh, and the six weeks they contractually have to get their notes backto you? They breach that ALL THE TIME. You’re supposed to get paid a penalty when they do that. You won’t get that penalty. Ever.
    We saved the best news for last:
    The best thing about selling your first script:
     
    NOW YOU’RE IN THE DOOR!
     
    Hollywood is a town that’s TERRIFIED of sticking its neck out for any