Recommended Screenwriters
Increasing the Probability of Your Success, Part 2
- June 13, 2011
- Posted by: HalCroasmun
- Category: Articles
See Part 1 of this Article here.
Since this business seems so tough to break into, I'm always looking for ways to increase the probability of success. It is a mystery that is well worth solving.
Last week, I was one of four speakers who talked about writing "Producer-friendly" scripts to a L.A. screenwriting organization. After my talk, I was standing in the back of the room with a friend discussing online poker. Turns out we both may have sat at the same game and not even known it.
At that point, a writer named Mike stepped up. I was thinking about poker, so I naturally interpreted everything he said through that metaphor. And I had an interesting breakthrough because of it.
Here's the word-for-word transcript of Mike's attempted pitch, along with my notes about insights into possible strategies Mike could have used to be more successful. With a very simple poker analogy, I believe you'll see how his decisions created his strategy and ultimately reduced his chance at success in this business. Just play along with the poker analogy and in the end, you'll see that it will pay off.
INT. SCREENWRITING ORGANIZATION MEETING — NIGHT
In the back of the room, Mike makes a beeline for Hal. He sticks out his hand. They shake.
MIKE
That was great! Can you look at this and tell me if it is producer-ready?
He shoves three pages of a script into Hal's hand. Hal reads the first page and turns to the second.
HAL
It's not bad.
MIKE
But is it producer-ready?
HAL
I think I'd do another draft.
NOTE: Mike just played his first card. In his mind, it was an Ace. He thought his writing was great. Later, you'll see that he was really pitching by getting me to read those first pages. The problem was that I saw the writing as average. I'd give his first card as a 7 of Clubs on the writing.
What his writing showed me was that he is skilled, but not there, yet. That's not a bad position to be in if a person can continue improving. So in this situation, what I'm looking to see is if Mike has a "learning attitude" and if he works well with people. Both are important cards that may be in Mike's poker hand. Let's see how he did.
MIKE
Hmmm. How much would you charge to critique my script?
Hal hands the pages back.
HAL
Sorry, I just don't have the time. Right now, I only work on projects that we're producing.
MIKE
Then produce this.
HAL
I only work with High Concept projects.
MIKE
This is a great story.
He immediately pitches the story. (I'll save you the pitch.)
NOTE: From a "willingness to pitch" perspective, I'd give him a Jack of Diamonds at this point, but you'll see that this rating erodes as he meets disinterest. That is important. Part of pitching is having a comfortable way of dealing with rejection. You want to maintain the relationship and increase the chance of future interactions.
HAL
That's Runaway Jury without the scam in it.
NOTE: He just got a 2 of Diamonds on concept. Not only was it not very good, but it was a copy of something else that just played. If he would have come up with a unique twist, that would be different, but instead of telling me a "great story," he told me a completely unmarketable story.
MIKE
Well, yeah. But it was a success, so they'll want another.
HAL
Maybe, but not the exact same concept and not without the part that made it a high concept.
MIKE
Mine's different. The protagonist is manic- depressive.
HAL
Is he likable?
MIKE
Not really, but that is what makes him interesting.
NOTE: I know that someone is going to email me saying that unlikable protagonist sometimes work, like in the movie Monster. But for an unproduced writer, you need to create castable parts that will draw in audiences. From hearing Mike's concept and reading his opening description of the main character, it was easy to surmise that this part isn't one that will lure an A-list actor into the project.
Mike gets a 5 of Hearts for character.
HAL
It's really not for me.
NOTE: Before this got this bad, Mike should have folded this hand and gone a different route. Basically, he was betting that he could persuade me to read the script without considering what I was interested in. Mike was using a one-sided approach — which has very low odds of success. He was acting like a telemarketer who is hoping if they say the entire canned pitch with enough people, they'll succeed.
Instead, he should have gone for the relationship. He had heard enough about Cheryl and I in the speech I'd given to easily find points of common ground. If he would have established himself as a likable person who understood our needs, we could have worked together at some point. Let's see what he did.
MIKE
I have another story. It's a high budget story about…
(He launches into another pitch, which I'll spare you.)
HAL
That's Air Force One. I'm looking for original concepts.
MIKE
(irritated)
So you're not going to read my scripts?
NOTE: In this last question he asked, Mike showed he hadn't learned anything from our conversation. He was dead-set on getting me to read a script that didn't fit what I was looking for, had an unmarketable concept, and had an unlikable protagonist. Add to this that I told him up front that I didn't have time to read even if he paid me.
My guess is that he thought if I had read the script, somewhere in that 110 pages, I'd fall in love with it and sign him. But here's the problem: even if his writing got better on page 4, I would have to ignore almost everything I know about this business to sign him. I'd have to ignore that producers want great writing, not average writing, that studios want highly marketable movies, that A-list actors want great parts, not just weird parts, (although some do), and that pitching a script like his will ruin the reputation I've spent years developing.
Mike gets a 3 of Spades for learning/business sense.
Okay, let's work with the poker metaphor for a moment. Before you say it, I know that sometimes in poker, a pair of 2's can win the money, but in general, higher cards are better and in the movie business, higher cards are essential. So let's use that as our standard.
Mike's poker hand was a 2, 3, 5, 7, Jack. So Mike was playing with a losing hand. Do you see that? I don't like to see people fighting unbeatable odds. It makes life tough. It fills life with rejection and increases the chance that you'll be treated poorly by anyone you pitch.
The important question is this:
Who created Mike's screenwriting-poker hand?
I hope by now, you instantly say "Mike did."
He had complete control of what script he wrote and how he pitched it.
That is the beauty of screenwriting. You can sit in your own home and increase the odds of your success. Imagine if Mike had handed me two of the best opening pages I'd ever read (Ace of Clubs). Then he followed up with a pitch that was High Concept (Ace of Diamonds) and a lead character that I just loved (Ace of Hearts). And presented himself as someone I'd really want to do business with (Ace of Spades).
How much would that increase his chance of success? Here's my answer: I would be pitching his project to producers right now. All he had to do was create a winning screenwriting-poker hand and I would have jumped on it.
Here's why. If we option a project or represent someone, I want to go in with the best screenwriting-poker hand I can. And you've got to know that the producers or Studio execs I pitch are constantly evaluating the project to see if they want to put their reputation behind it. They want the best poker hand they can get also.
If you want to know if you have a winning hand, answer these questions:
- Is your script High Concept? If not, you just increased the odds against you by 10 times.
- Are your characters so compelling, likable, and interesting that an actor will take a pay cut in order to play them?
- Is your first page, first three pages, and first ten pages so good that people can't put them down?
- Do you have an amazing story with an extremely compelling conflict and twists and turns that keep any reader so engaged that they forget everything else in their lives?
- Do you have an ending that knocks their socks off?
- Can you pitch it in one or two high-impact sentences?
- Do you know when to stop pitching and build the relationship instead?
Remember, the nice thing about screenwriting is that you can create your own poker hand before entering the game. Mike could have presented four Aces and if he would have, he'd be living a different life today.
So on your next script, consider what screenwriting-poker hand you're creating. Hopefully, it will be one that brings you a tremendous amount of success – but if you want to set the deck in your favor, check out our ProSeries Screenwriting Class and learn screenwriting, from Concept to Marketing.