Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

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  • Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

    Sharknado 2 announced

    The Room is in its 10th year in late night theatrical release.

    Why not write the next "So Terrible it is Good" movie? This could be more difficult than writing a good movie.

  • #2
    Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

    A practical definition of "good movie" -- it's "good" if enough industry people hear the title, laugh, ask for the script and conclude, "I want to make that!" followed by enough regular people laughing and saying,"I want to see that!"

    (Granted, it's not the only definition of "good movie.")

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    • #3
      Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

      Pride?

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      • #4
        Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

        Everyone has different motivations to write. Some people want to simply see their movies on the big screen, some are happy with movies of the week, some want to win awards and won't be complete until they do, others simply want to make as much money as they can and don't care what they write to make it.

        It's your choice.

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        • #5
          Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

          I doubt I've ever written anything as good as The Room or Sharknado. At least not on my own. The scripts I've co-written with fellow writers have been pretty decent, though, despite all of my best efforts to inject major suckage into them.

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          • #6
            Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

            Indeed, since Paris Hilton has both wealth and fame without the intermediate steps of "effort" and "talent", I can't think of a single reason why I should have to work hard to be a successful writer...

            Films like The Room or Birdemic don't catch on "just because they're bad". Anyone who's seen student work from an undergrad film department in flyover country knows there's enough yardage of celluloid from worse disasters than those to reach the moon and back. There is, however unhinged, a distinct unity of vision and force of personality of the filmmakers present there that can be imitated or spoofed after the fact, but absolutely cannot be faked.

            All of which is to say it's pointless to try to game the system, especially when it comes to oddball fare like Sharknado or Troll 2. Could most of us on this board knock off an Asylum-esque "Megashark vs. Deer Ticks" script over the course of a weekend and nail the tone? Probably. But if those aren't the kind of movies you genuinely love, it will show in the result.

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            • #7
              Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

              Because no one will ever remember the name of the writer of Sharknado.

              Look, you could write crappy movies and make an 'ok' living on straight to DVD or cheap cable flick fare. That screenwriter lifestyle seems perfectly acceptable to the majority of writers in the industry as those kind actually make up the majority of actively working writers in the industry.

              Or, you can write epic, influential, and/or just plain memorably bad*ss movies and make a crap ton of money and be remembered as one of the best.

              Up to you which you'd rather be.

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              • #8
                Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                Originally posted by scripto80 View Post
                Because no one will ever remember the name of the writer of Sharknado.

                Look, you could write crappy movies and make an 'ok' living on straight to DVD or cheap cable flick fare. That screenwriter lifestyle seems perfectly acceptable to the majority of writers in the industry as those kind actually make up the majority of actively working writers in the industry.

                Or, you can write epic, influential, and/or just plain memorably bad*ss movies and make a crap ton of money and be remembered as one of the best.

                Up to you which you'd rather be.
                I had no idea they were mutually exclusive. There are quite a few writers whose first break was TV movies and paid work is paid work. There is no list out there that says because you wrote cable films that your theatrical work is no longer considered. You do have to be able to write a great script, but if you do, doors are more open than if you didn't have produced work.

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                • #9
                  Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                  His movie's getting made. None of mine have. Which is better?

                  Also, read Crap Plus One by Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio for a better answer.
                  Patrick Sweeney

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                  • #10
                    Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                    Originally posted by scripto80 View Post
                    Because no one will ever remember the name of the writer of Sharknado.
                    His name is *THUNDER* - lots easier to remember than my name.

                    The director is a friend of mine (from my home town), and we talked for a couple hours last night. He's getting a ton of meetings off this. Now, maybe these studio producers are just bringing him in because it's a freakshow, but once he's in the room...

                    - Bill
                    Free Script Tips:
                    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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                    • #11
                      Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                      Originally posted by wcmartell View Post
                      His name is *THUNDER* - lots easier to remember than my name.

                      - Bill
                      Okay, I'll hook you up: "Lightning Martell"!

                      And here is an idea: TIGERQUAKE. It almost writes itself....

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                      • #12
                        Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                        Originally posted by SirByron View Post
                        Sharknado 2 announced

                        The Room is in its 10th year in late night theatrical release.

                        Why not write the next "So Terrible it is Good" movie? This could be more difficult than writing a good movie.
                        Um, I don't know... four figures vs six-- I'm just sayin'
                        FA4
                        "Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy b/c you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say." -- Edward Snowden

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                        • #13
                          Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                          Originally posted by SirByron View Post
                          Sharknado 2 announced

                          The Room is in its 10th year in late night theatrical release.

                          Why not write the next "So Terrible it is Good" movie? This could be more difficult than writing a good movie.
                          What you get paid for writing movies for The Asylum or comparable venues is, first of all, non-guild and second of all -- really low budget.

                          So low, frankly, that you can't make a living at it. The movie may me amazingly successful, but if they operate like other companies I've dealt with, the writers get zero back end -- you get a pittance for writing the script and see you later. No residuals. No royalties. Nothing.

                          Just like in most animation. You get your check and you go on home.

                          And if you imagine that having your name on "Sharknado" is going to translate into being able to do anything other than write Sharknado 2" -- for exactly whatever they paid you for Sharknado, you're kidding yourself.

                          And what if you refuse? What if you say - Hey, the first Sharknado was a tremendous hit -- I want a big raise for Sharknado 2 -- what do you think they're going to do?

                          You think they're going to say -- My God, he's right, it's obvious that the brilliant Sharknado script contributed tremendously to the success of Sharknado, we can't afford to lose this guy. We'd better give him everything he asks for.

                          No. What they'd say is -- let's find some other schmuck to write Sharknado 2 who'll take the usual cut rate we pay.

                          I don't dispute what Bill Martell says about the Sharknado director getting all sorts of meetings off of Sharknado.

                          But I don't know that the writer's gotten any meetings off of it, despite having spent the last five years writing and directing your standard Asylum fare (American Warships, Atlantic Rim, etc.).

                          One can create a niche working in this area -- although it's getting to be a pretty narrow niche -- but it's very hard to make the jump from this kind of material to anything else (not that it doesn't happen, but it's rare).

                          I spent years working (and going slowly -- and then not-so-slowly -- broke) in these trenches and it never meant anything to anybody, any more than my TV credits did.

                          If you want to sell a feature, then the people you're selling to need to see something that looks like a feature -- and more importantly, they need to see *you* as somebody who writes features.

                          NMS

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                          • #14
                            Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                            I guess I'll be putting my LIZARDZARD script on the back burner, then.
                            "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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                            • #15
                              Re: Why write a good movie when you can be successful writing a terrible one?

                              The success of "Sharknado" kinda bummed me out. Because it meant I had to back-burner a pet spec I've been gently nurturing for years. It's called "PIRHANACANE."

                              Oddly, it's just because of the title. The story itself is actually a tender, heartfelt coming-of-age drama set during the early days of the cold war. I mean...I HAVE been kicking around a script almost as long that DOES prominently feature a hurricane of pirhanas. But THAT one's called "Scorpiunami." So, whatever.

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