My script has no potential!

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  • My script has no potential!

    I just received writers feedback from one of the contests I entered ( won't say which )

    Apparently, they thought the script was great. Very high marks all around. Liked the characters the script was "very tight, polished, well written with likeable characters"
    Great. Then right at the end I get, in a nutshell...

    "unmarketable."





    I hate Hollywood.

  • #2
    Re: My script has no potential!

    Sounds like you have a fantastic writing sample. Nothing wrong with that.
    If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base.
    Dave Barry

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    • #3
      Re: My script has no potential!

      Feh. I wanna get something MADE.

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      • #4
        Re: My script has no potential!

        write something marketable then...
        I've played poker long enough to understand odds don't mean sh1t - Seamus Bronzeberg

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        • #5
          Re: My script has no potential!

          I would test it out in a few more forums (fora?) before taking this as fact. One producer's unmarketable script is another producer's gem.

          And this was just a competition, right? Marketabilty is just as subjective as any other element of screenwriting. Give it another burl somewhere else - a few other places, ideally - before taking this as gospel.
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          • #6
            Re: My script has no potential!

            Ditto. "Unmarketable" scripts get made. (Of course, occasionally into unmarketable movies, but I'll say two words: Slumdog Millionaire.)

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            • #7
              Re: My script has no potential!

              At the end of the day, that's just one person's opinion. Now if a handful of people give you the exact same response, then it's time to regroup.
              Last edited by EvilRbt; 09-10-2009, 08:55 PM.
              NOTES / COVERAGE
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              • #8
                Re: My script has no potential!

                Originally posted by bierhound View Post
                write something marketable then...
                Easier said than done.
                @TerranceMulloy

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                • #9
                  Re: My script has no potential!

                  That's just the problem in my opinion. All I hear from people, wherever I go, is why can't Hollywood make something original. I'm all for that, and that's what I always try to do.

                  Then you have writers and artists who tell us to "Write what's inside you. Write what YOU want to see" OK. Sure. Why not. If it's good, and someone professional TELLS you it's good, then surely someone might want to read it or maybe even buy it.

                  But to me, unmarketable is putting porn in a children's film. Filming someone dropping intestinal sculpture on the American flag. Shocasing an 80-old-man pedophilic orgy. THAT...I understand to be unmarketable.

                  My point is I'm getting very conflicting views. Rejection I can take. Rejection based on weak arguments, that's another thing. And that seems to be all I've ever heard from producers, be it one of MY scripts or a friend.

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                  • #10
                    Re: My script has no potential!

                    Well why do you think it was considered unmarketable? What kind of script was it? Maybe it's a script the studios won't touch but that an indie company might like.

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                    • #11
                      Re: My script has no potential!

                      Originally posted by beerbeastredux View Post
                      All I hear from people, wherever I go, is why can't Hollywood make something original.
                      I know you know this Beer but... they want something that repetitively makes money. And lets face it -- it's an expensive thing to do for a hobby. Original has nothing to do with it. In fact, repetition is important in all art forms as audiences respond better to familiar motifs and so on.

                      Originally posted by beerbeastredux View Post
                      Then you have writers and artists who tell us to "Write what's inside you. Write what YOU want to see" OK. Sure. Why not. If it's good, and someone professional TELLS you it's good, then surely someone might want to read it or maybe even buy it.
                      Jazz musicians play what they want to hear which is why I can barely listen to it anymore. IMO the audience is a part of the movie experience and failing to take that into account ends with the films you see that seem to be films for film makers and not audiences.

                      Originally posted by beerbeastredux View Post
                      My point is I'm getting very conflicting views. Rejection I can take. Rejection based on weak arguments, that's another thing.
                      I've gotten to the point where I just don't give a sh!t. In my mind the response is "next!" Keep submitting that one and start another one.

                      Just MO though...

                      Bot
                      Since I sensed a sudden lack of appreciation for my presence, I hopped out of the Jumpy-jump, snatched my glow-stick from the fridge and galloped away on the Rent-A-Pony. - Stolen from Jcorona

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                      • #12
                        Re: My script has no potential!

                        People like us (film nerds) say we want original stuff, but majority of audience wants "same thing but different."

                        Hollywood wants to make money so that means marketable.

                        Then it's funny when a film like Juno comes around that turns out to be original and marketable. But you can't duplicate those movies it seems.

                        Yes, its just one opinion. Any script CAN be sold, but you know the difference being very sellable and just a good script. If you got that 1 sentence logline, you are golden.

                        It is very frustrating. Sometimes you need to write that big script before you can write what you want from the heart. Sad but true.

                        All writers face this. You are not alone. We are all there with you.
                        Last edited by Bono; 09-10-2009, 05:55 PM.

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                        • #13
                          Re: My script has no potential!

                          If you out the contest that gave you feedback, I'm sure dozens of people will be able to tell you it's not part of "Hollywood" proper, thus rendering any claims of an (un)commercial story irrelevant.

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                          • #14
                            Re: My script has no potential!

                            Originally posted by beerbeastredux View Post
                            Rejection I can take. Rejection based on weak arguments, that's another thing. And that seems to be all I've ever heard from producers, be it one of MY scripts or a friend.
                            IMO, you're looking at this the wrong way. No one needs to make an argument, weak or otherwise, as to why they're rejecting your script. Your script needs to make the argument that they'd be fools to reject it. If you're not getting any traction, look to your script, not the system. Plenty of movies with challenging content and original perspectives get made. "Unmarketable" sometimes just means "not that entertaining."

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                            • #15
                              Re: My script has no potential!

                              If you're ready to give up on your script because some douche who answered a Craig's List ad and gets paid $10 per script said it wasn't marketable....well....you know.
                              "I hate to break it to you but there is no big lie. There is no system. The universe is indifferent.- - Don Draper

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