"Too expensive to film"

[ferds]

Should one give it primary consideration and address it in the course of rewriting his/her screenplay? What factors/elements of production incur the most? :rolleyes

Thank you for any feedback. :rollin

[RatWriter]

The consensus is don't concern yourself with budget. That's a producer's concern.

Write a killer script. That's the ticket.

[wcmartell]

There's a common sense factor involved.

The budget isn't your concern, but if you're writing a "small" story with a huge expensive scene you may have a problem. If you write something like DINER but have a scene where the tallest building in Baltimore is blown up by terrorists that scene not only is too big for the budget, it really doesn't fit the story (common sense part).

If you are writing an Indie movie - well, you're prtobably going to find the funds yourself, so you'll remove the expensive scenes anyway.

If you're writing for TV or cable you DO have to consider budget... but if you've studied other films like what you're writing you'll know what to do.

If you are writing a big summer movie - the sky's the limit! The bigger the better!

Basically, you can find all of the answers by watching movies. If you're writing a romantic comedy and watching romantic comedies, you'll have a good feel for what makes sense in a romantic comedy (very few things blow up, not a whole lot of space ship battles, very few big FX scenes).

Basically - don't worry about it.

- Bill

[The Kid]

When considering which project is most likely to be produced budget should be a concern. I have a period piece with large scale warfare, many production companies like my script but are afraid they won't be able to place a high budget film. Many are looking for the mid range contemporary stuff. Just some thoughts.

[TonyRob]

An Indie producer/director/well known cinematographer (he directed TRAVELLER with Mark Walberg and Bill Paxton, to give you an idea of the budget he works within) that I sent a script to about two years ago told my connection to him (not me) that my script would be "too expensive to film"... And it was a pretty small story, too - the most "indie" script I have with the lowest "potential" budget ... (of course "too expensive to film" could have been a nice way to say he thought it sucked - and YES, for those of you who know who I'm talking about, I blew a potentially large contact, which is appropriate because I was pretty "green" at the time... :lol )

It's a crazy business. Martell's advice seems to be pretty spot on, though...

Tony

[wcmartell]

You may have been "green" at the time, but at least you know jack...

When you're dealing with limited budgets a lot of things that don't seem expensive are "too expensive". The Showtime thing I wrote had a $2 million budget - so I could only have 15 speaking roles and about ten locations. And it was an airplane warfare movie!

- Bill

[Muckraker]

The use of paper airplanes really go a long way in keeping below-the-line costs in check. :)

[ksk2]

Interesting conundrum posed by this thread.

Right now I'm doing a re-write on something that could be either very costly or go the way of the *original* Night of the living Dead or Ravenous (which were both great movies, even w/out cgi geek-crap, due to the writing and the direction).

Of course the flipside is that old equation that's been mentioned here many times RE how the budget equates to the writer's fee. Something to ponder...

[Bill Johns]

I had a big budget action/sci-fi script and found a couple guys in LA who got hot to produce it. The drawbacks and brick walls were a little different than what's been mentioned thus far.

First time writer...
It's hard, nay, nearly impossible for a first time writer to sell a spec script. The Hollywood of today is more about affixing blame than making good movies. (I.E. Producer, "Hey, I got the best director, actor and writer! It's not my fault it bombed") Rarely will studio execs take a chance on a first time writer especially with a big budget.

Out of town....
"What do you mean the writer's in Ohio?!" screams the exec, because the studio machine wants to have you close to bleed you for every bit of creativity you have before greenlighting your film, then they hire someone else to rewrite the spirit out of it.

Too expensive...
mainly in light of the two previous reasons.

However, independents (not indie branches of major studios) sometimes take the chance when the script is so good it warrants the expense.

Good posts everyone, I enjoyed each.

Bill Johns
writer/producer/director
www.cinevidproductions.com

[ferds]

My screenplay basically covers three lifetime periods of three main characters: adolescence, young adulthood, and mid-life.

In rewriting, should one try to fashion the story in such a way that any two life periods of a character may be able to be portrayed by the same actor (in consideration of casting/costs)?

thanks for your insights!

:rolleyes ferds

[BlueParrot]

Ferds,

Are you doing a story about a young slave (adolescent period) who is a great pilot?

He falls to the dark side (young adulthood adult) period.

Later, he (mid-life) spawns twins, one who is a princess and the other a farmboy????

Then you are definitely going to need a big budget.

[ferds]

you do have a very fertile imagination, blue. small wonder you downed four screenplays in a month.

anyway, mine's about a love triangle that lasts a lifetime where we witness their innocence, adventurism, then search for ultimate meaning of their lives (mid-life crisis?)

[ksk2]

Anybody see the documentary on Cleopatra featured on AMC?

Apparently, if filmed today, it would be more expensive than Titanic.

And didn't have a proper shooting script til it was half-finished.

Hmmmmmmmmm. :rolleyes

[English Bob]

I'm writing a film about a shoe shiner in a Delhi cattle market. It has a budget of 47 rupees.

Thank You come again.

[Actor]

If you are going to film it Mariachi style then expense is a big consideration.

"What factors/elements of production incur the most?"

The absolute need for a really, really top notch actor/actress
A large cast
Lots of locations and/or elaborate sets
A long shooting schedule
Stunts
Special effects that cannot be done on a computer


Blowing up the largest building in Baltimore is not that hard to do on a computer.

[CRASH]

Please avoid Bill John's screenwriting contest which is featured on his website (the link to which is given in his post above). It is a scam with an entry fee of $100. His page that is suppose to list the judges of the contest is suspiciously "under construction." He gives no details of the winning prize. Mr. John's claims to be a professional who can help your career. Can you trust the man in the pic below?

http://www.cinevidproductions.com/CVP/CVPpage/Images/BillBond.jpg

Shame on you, Bill Johns.

[sarumu1]

did you try submitting your script to merchant/ivory?

they have a habit of making profits out of expensive period pieces by working outside of hollywood and keeping costs low, and who know, they may like your script.

i read an interview somewhere with ismail merchant, and he basically said we make movies for 15 mill, movies that would cost hollywood 60 mill. we spend the money wisely, and we fly economy.

about budgetary concerns...i like what bill martell said...basically, don't worry about it.

[ferds]

As I've said, my screenplay basically covers three lifetime periods of three main characters: adolescence, young adulthood, and mid-life. Should I try to rewrite it in such a way that any two life periods of each character may be able to be portrayed by the same actor? (Sorry to repeat this question.)

Is "making casting easier" for the director any of our concern as screenwriters?

Are OLDER characters generally unattractive to producers?

Thanks for any feedback.

ferds:rollin

[Strange Mind]

casting is not your concern but it's good to have a vision of who may be good actors for your leads. they often ask you in production or pitch meetings who you think can do this.

are older characters less attractive to producers? well. that narrows down their margin. there are not that many older actors who are such box office draws. sean connery, anthony hopkins come to mind immediately as two old actors who pull in crowds because they're prestigious. but walking into a meeting and saying this role is perfect for a tom cruise or a russell crowe will score you a very different reaction from say if you say it's a perfect role for brian dennehy or nick nolte.

you should not be trying to rewrite your script to make it easier for an actor to cover two life periods. that's not your problem as the screenwriter.

[Steng619]

I think budgets are a big concern, especially when one is making his/her initial forray into trying to sell a spec script. I had one production comapny tell me last year that one of my own specs was "too expensive to film," however, it was an actor's production company, and rather small. They loved the screenplay, thought the story, characters, etc. were solid, but they just couldn't pull it off. But I got a nugget from them b/c they told me to send anything else that I may write in the furture that may be more in line with their interests.... I've done that and now they are considering producing another of my specs.

So, the moral of the story is if you are trying to sell a spec as your first screenplay and it has a med. to high budget, choose your production companies wisely - Bruckheimer Films, etc. are what you should be looking at if you want to see your script make it to the silver screen.