What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

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  • What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

    Had a request for a read and a read at a very respectable management company, didn't hear back, e-mailed and got a pass for a very wishy washy reason that also came as feedback on my script. More than "we don't feel this is right for us" but an actual why and advice on what to do to make the script better. The problem is the person suggested I change the genre of the script (like saying Star Wars would be better as a romantic comedy) and got the gender of my protagonist wrong, and other details wrong, revealing a very cursory, terrible reading of the script.

    Is this the end of the line or has anyone here run into this problem before and managed to do anything about it?

  • #2
    Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

    It would be best to move on.

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    • #3
      Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

      Thank them so much for including notes, then cross them off your list of people who will look at that script.
      Chicks Who Script podcast

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      • #4
        Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

        Thank the person profusely for his/her comments and move on.

        One door shuts. Another one opens. And so on...

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        • #5
          Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

          I agree with everyone else. It's hard to recover from a read like that. It's unfair, but it's the reality of what happens. I had two reads like that a few years ago - different places - and I've kept the notes which I read for comedy now. One assistant said:

          "Finally, I would suggest hiring someone like Diane Drake, Jennifer Salt, Shauna Cross, Diablo Cody/Dana Fox/Lorene Scafaria ("the Fempire"), Jessica Bendinger, or Kiwi Smith read the script and give you notes."

          Like the only people that could help me are other female writers. It was so insulting that now it's funny. This all given by a young indian American gentleman. I wanted to write back - "Why don't you get notes from Mindy Kaling?" But I didn't. I thanked him profusely for his feedback and moved on.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

            Originally posted by mixj View Post
            Had a request for a read and a read at a very respectable management company, didn't hear back, e-mailed and got a pass for a very wishy washy reason that also came as feedback on my script. More than "we don't feel this is right for us" but an actual why and advice on what to do to make the script better. The problem is the person suggested I change the genre of the script (like saying Star Wars would be better as a romantic comedy) and got the gender of my protagonist wrong, and other details wrong, revealing a very cursory, terrible reading of the script.

            Is this the end of the line or has anyone here run into this problem before and managed to do anything about it?
            Move on. If the assistant didn't like it, right or wrong, there is no changing that.

            And I agree, thank them profusely for the read in the first place.

            Best,

            MB
            twitter.com/mbotti

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

              I've had comically laughable reads as well. We all have. My writing partner and I did the one thing we could do, publicly thanked them and privately laughed about it. Then we moved on.

              What else are you going to do? Go back and argue with them? Do you really think the sheer power of your brilliance is going to win them over and make them say they were wrong? Or is it going to blow up in your face even more? Stop and ask yourself the question of who needs the other more, you or them?

              On the other hand, some of those notes are probably correct. We had a script we wanted to write as dark and gritty that we were told would need to be in the vein of a Will Ferrell comedy to succeed. Another drama we were told would need to be a RomCom. It was not based on our story or our ability to pull it off. It was based solely on the market, what has come before and what we would need to do to be different than what is already made. It might suck to hear (I know it does) but it doesn't make it any less true.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                I would take it as I did something wrong in the script. Maybe my statements in the genre weren't that compelling. Maybe I don't have that moment in the first ten that really hooks them. Are the relationships in my script realized? Do they have a progression of ups and downs that irreversibly change them. And does it play out on the page?

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                • #9
                  Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                  The only thing YOU can do is write a better script.

                  You can't control the reader, you can't control the reaction, you can't control the company. You can only control your own writing.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                    Originally posted by mixj View Post
                    Had a request for a read and a read at a very respectable management company, didn't hear back, e-mailed and got a pass for a very wishy washy reason that also came as feedback on my script. More than "we don't feel this is right for us" but an actual why and advice on what to do to make the script better. The problem is the person suggested I change the genre of the script (like saying Star Wars would be better as a romantic comedy) and got the gender of my protagonist wrong, and other details wrong, revealing a very cursory, terrible reading of the script.

                    Is this the end of the line or has anyone here run into this problem before and managed to do anything about it?
                    It's the end of the line with that person at that company. As others have said, best to move on. If there is something in the suggestions that could improve your script, great. Either way though, it's time to move on because you'll never convince someone that they read your script wrong.

                    I would take a look at the notes though. No matter how ridiculous they may seem, approach it from a place where you try to understand the underlying meaning of the note.

                    Saying you "got the gender of your protagonist wrong" is a very specific note; is there something in your script currently that creates gender confusion, or are certain character details more or less nuanced than you thought they were?

                    Is there anything to be gained from changing the genre or, if not, are there elements in the script currently that could either cause a reader to think that the script is/should be another genre, or disproportionately focuses on particular genre elements you didn't intend?

                    Look at every response and set of comments as an opportunity to re-evaluate your script and see if something's unclear or if there's a better way to get your point across. Maybe your female action hero protagonist has nothing in the script that makes her uniquely feminine and so that seemingly ridiculous comment was the reader's way of saying you need to imbue the script with more of a female perspective if you have a female protagonist. Or maybe this person suggested you change your genre because he identifies with the emotional or romantic relationship between the characters more than the main action or sci-fi or horror plot.

                    Then again, maybe the comments really just are someone's clear mis-reading of the script.

                    Either way, again, you're not going to change their mind. So it's best to thank them for their time and move on. If you look at the response you were given and at least consider if there's something in there you can use to improve your work, you may find that the experience is more valuable than just a disappointing pass.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                      Originally posted by mixj View Post
                      Had a request for a read and a read at a very respectable management company, didn't hear back, e-mailed and got a pass for a very wishy washy reason that also came as feedback on my script. More than "we don't feel this is right for us" but an actual why and advice on what to do to make the script better. The problem is the person suggested I change the genre of the script (like saying Star Wars would be better as a romantic comedy) and got the gender of my protagonist wrong, and other details wrong, revealing a very cursory, terrible reading of the script.

                      Is this the end of the line or has anyone here run into this problem before and managed to do anything about it?
                      As hard as this might be to hear, this isn't the assistant's problem. It is yours. Any assistant in this industry has read stacks of scripts, so if he/she got so much wrong, most likely it's how you presented it. If the assistant had these problems, any agent/exec reading it would as well. Like it or not, until you're an established writer, no one is going to go out of their way to understand your script. If they don't get it, they're more than happy to move on to the next one.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                        Having been that overworked, underpaid assistant myself, chances are your script got confused with someone else's in his/her memory. Or you just had the bad luck to get read by someone who probably won't have his/her job for much longer.

                        But I agree with everyone else. Unless you get a yes, or feedback that you actually find helpful, shake it off, have a laugh, and move on.
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                        • #13
                          Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                          It's natural to feel disappointed. But just remember, they're a management company, they aren't a paid notes service. They did not have to read your script in the first place, or give any notes at all. They didn't even have to answer your email asking about it. At least the notes indicated they did read it, and it's better to get wishy-washy notes than "you suck" notes. The reader reads a lot of scripts, so excuse them if they mix-up the gender when jotting down notes later. The bottom line, as always is, if they loved your script or the writing, they would have called you. Anything short of that is a big bummer. There isn't "anything to be done about it", except to be sure and thank them for the read, then consider the notes and either accept or reject them, and then get drunk. Good luck on the next query!
                          "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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                          • #14
                            Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                            Originally posted by SoCalScribe View Post
                            It's the end of the line with that person at that company. As others have said, best to move on. If there is something in the suggestions that could improve your script, great. Either way though, it's time to move on because you'll never convince someone that they read your script wrong.

                            I would take a look at the notes though. No matter how ridiculous they may seem, approach it from a place where you try to understand the underlying meaning of the note.

                            Saying you "got the gender of your protagonist wrong" is a very specific note; is there something in your script currently that creates gender confusion, or are certain character details more or less nuanced than you thought they were?

                            Is there anything to be gained from changing the genre or, if not, are there elements in the script currently that could either cause a reader to think that the script is/should be another genre, or disproportionately focuses on particular genre elements you didn't intend?

                            Look at every response and set of comments as an opportunity to re-evaluate your script and see if something's unclear or if there's a better way to get your point across. Maybe your female action hero protagonist has nothing in the script that makes her uniquely feminine and so that seemingly ridiculous comment was the reader's way of saying you need to imbue the script with more of a female perspective if you have a female protagonist. Or maybe this person suggested you change your genre because he identifies with the emotional or romantic relationship between the characters more than the main action or sci-fi or horror plot.

                            Then again, maybe the comments really just are someone's clear mis-reading of the script.

                            Either way, again, you're not going to change their mind. So it's best to thank them for their time and move on. If you look at the response you were given and at least consider if there's something in there you can use to improve your work, you may find that the experience is more valuable than just a disappointing pass.
                            Sorry. I meant the reader got my gender of my protagonist wrong. Referred to him as a she. I am seriously wondering if they replied to me with the wrong notes or something. I understand criticism, I understand not having a handle on your script, or whatever, and possibly a drama would work better as a comedy or dramedy -- but this is a comedic film through and through, and the entire concept is comedic. There's zero chance this movie would fit in the genre suggested. It's as if someone read the Thing script and suggested it work better as a romantic comedy.

                            I ran the criticism by others who have read my script and they were as confused as I was.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: What to do about a horrible horrible read from an assistant?

                              Originally posted by UnequalProductions View Post
                              As hard as this might be to hear, this isn't the assistant's problem. It is yours. Any assistant in this industry has read stacks of scripts, so if he/she got so much wrong, most likely it's how you presented it. If the assistant had these problems, any agent/exec reading it would as well. Like it or not, until you're an established writer, no one is going to go out of their way to understand your script. If they don't get it, they're more than happy to move on to the next one.
                              As hard as this may be to hear, this post is ludicrous and I'm tired of hearing on Done Deal from a bunch of faceless people that the entire problem is the person's script. This person obviously didn't read my script closely, or got me confused with someone else. I know this because other people, many, have read my script, people I highly respect, and countless other writers have been laughed at with projects that turned into hits or amazing films. E.T. was laughed at and called a 'weak Walt Disney film' and no one understood Quentin Tarantino's scripts either. I'm not comparing myself to them, but it's pretty easy as a writer to see a stand out comment that makes no sense and a stand out comment that has validity and is constructive. I agree with the poster below.

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