Holy Duplication Batman!

[vmf]

Just bought both Script and CS this weekend and I could not believe the sheer level of duplication between the two. I realize that some is inevitable, but I got the distinct feeling that these are now part of the Hollywood "packaging machine" with studio-written PR cloak-ads comprising most of the mag's content.

At what point did these mags transform from journalist-written into creator-written PR? Is it a money-saving exercise or just an easier way to gain access to the scripts/movies in question?

[Centurio]

You mean the $7.00 version of entertainment weekly?

[vmf]

You mean the $7.00 version of entertainment weekly?

While not quite as bad, both Script and CS are starting to resemble one of those PR hype rags, especially as more and more articles are being written by the studios.

Prior to this, we'd see many work-in-progress articles, script critiques or interviews, now they just center on hyping upcoming hot movies, like the previous editions covering Transformers, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, Land of the Lost, etc. The studio article on LotL made several remarks comparing the movie's quality to that of Ghostbuster - now that was right on the mark, huh?

But I guess when you get the studio to write the article, then you have to expect that level of overt lying. It's getting pretty bad - the past few Script/CS magazines have been just studio-written ad after studio-written ad (of the *exact* same movies), with a few columns in-between.

[Centurio]

It's to bad too. I think there's a lot of us out there that would relish a periodical full of good meaty articles on CRAFT.

[wcmartell]

CS doesn't usually have articles by screenwriters, Script has been doing articles by the screenwriters for about a decade. That was the "hook" for Script - articles on screenwriting by screenwriters (Though Variety's David Cohen still has his Script-To-Screen column).

Problem is - in order to sell magazines you have to be topical. So the same films are going to be on the cover of all of the entertainment magazines at the same time.

Add to that - studios make it almost impossible to get screenwriters, so when they decide that a movie needs a boost and the screenwriter doesn't hate the movie, they shove them at every mag out there. The focus at Script is that it has to be *writing* oriented. Guillermo Arriaga's article is on structuring BURNING PLAIN and how he outlined the script... was there an interview with him in CS where he discussed his writing methods?

- Bill

[vmf]

I know the deal Bill, I am just stating that it's been going downhill the last few editions, to the point where "screenwriter written articles" are beginning to resemble "studio-created PR" for the latest blockbuster. Also, while I understand the topical concerns, I liked it a lot better when these mags were forward-thinking and actually covered scripts/development well in advance to the movie being released.

If it wasn't for the informative columns like yours, I would have very little interest in picking up either Script or CS.

[wcmartell]

PR *is* taking over everything - it is impossible to get access to anyone involved in a movie without going through the studio PR dept, now. And an additional problem with going too far ahead of the release date is we often have no idea who the official writers are until credit arbitration... and the studio does not want an interview or article from the writers who did not get credit (and may not like that).

A freind of mine is an entertainment journo, and the PR people give him a list of things that can not be asked in interviews and then a PR person is often in the room to handle the star/director/whatever and make sure they stay on course.

With "pool journalism" and EPKs there may come a time in the near future where everything is handed to the journos as a mostly finished piece. They just have to edit in them asking the questions, like Jay Leno does in his comedy skits.

- Bill

[Peter Clines]

Guillermo Arriaga's article is on structuring BURNING PLAIN and how he outlined the script... was there an interview with him in CS where he discussed his writing methods?

Oddly enough, in the two page article/interview with Arriga in Creative Screenwriting, he stresses that he never outlines or even uses index cards, and then goes on to explain why.

So... there's another place the two magazines don't mirror each other.

[wcmartell]

Wow! That's interesting because he *wrote* the article in Script - not an interview, no filters, no spin, no interviewer adding their own agenda.

The reason why I like screenwriters writing about their screenwriting, rather than interviews, is because the screenwriter knows what questions to ask themselves about their work.

- Bill

[RichMike]

Bill, I missed this: Why do the studios make the screenwriters so hard to reach?



PR *is* taking over everything - it is impossible to get access to anyone involved in a movie without going through the studio PR dept, now. And an additional problem with going too far ahead of the release date is we often have no idea who the official writers are until credit arbitration... and the studio does not want an interview or article from the writers who did not get credit (and may not like that).

A freind of mine is an entertainment journo, and the PR people give him a list of things that can not be asked in interviews and then a PR person is often in the room to handle the star/director/whatever and make sure they stay on course.

With "pool journalism" and EPKs there may come a time in the near future where everything is handed to the journos as a mostly finished piece. They just have to edit in them asking the questions, like Jay Leno does in his comedy skits.

- Bill

[wcmartell]

Because we are bitter, angry people who think the studio ruined our script. (And usually, they did.)

Also, because there are often a pile of writers on a film, so which one do they allow to be interviewed?

And they often have no idea who the official writer of the film is (and is not) until close to release, and magazines need months of lead time. I know there have been a bunch of interviews & articles for Script that were pulled at the last minute when the writer got no credit on the film. I once did a rush substitution piece when the suddenly had a four page hole in the mag after credit arbitration went in an unexpected way.

- Bill