MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

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  • #16
    Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

    I wouldn't say a screenplay has to be "good," but it should always be interesting.
    The best way out is always through. - Robert Frost

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    • #17
      Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

      Originally posted by silvercop View Post
      Well, someone wrote: Mega Python VS Gatoroid . Seriously, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson star in this 2010 MFTV SciFi channel bag of crap.

      How DARE you!

      That movie is not a bag of crap. That movie is a bag of AWESOME crap.
      Chicks Who Script podcast

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      • #18
        Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

        Originally posted by emily blake View Post
        How DARE you!

        That movie is not a bag of crap. That movie is a bag of AWESOME crap.
        One of my closest friends is the token Asian chick in that film.

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        • #19
          Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

          The thing about Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid - it was a big hit for SyFy Channel. The writer of that knows how to write something that people want to see - and that is a type of "quality" (and maybe the most important type, since a TV network cares about people watching). There are plenty of TV movies and TV shows that don't get anywhere near as many viewers.

          http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/ar...on/16syfy.html

          As crappy as I think TRANSFORMERS was - people wanted to see it, and there are writers I know who can't wait for #3. Not easy to write something that people get excited about.

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

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          • #20
            Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

            They wouldn't sell it if someone didn't want to buy, relatively speaking. Syfy - it's the new drive-in.
            What I have crossed out, I didn't like. What I haven't crossed out, I am dissatisfied with.
            (Cecil B. DeMille's notes to an unknown screenwriter)

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            • #21
              Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

              I prefer MYTH: A good screenplay is easy to sell.
              Looking to take the "Bono" off my screenname.

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              • #22
                Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                Knaight, I have the copyright on all "Myth" threads. Please don't dilute the power of the brand.

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                • #23
                  Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                  Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                  How DARE you!

                  That movie is not a bag of crap. That movie is a bag of AWESOME crap.
                  Awesome crap is in the bag of the beholder.
                  www.silvercop.com
                  If we don't get the information, and if we don't get the leads, we can't track down the killers.

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                  • #24
                    Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                    "Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good."

                    Good for what, exactly?

                    It's subjective. It depends on the needs of someone else. No two points A and B can EVER become one and make magic together if A and B differ in their purpose / goal / objective.

                    You might have a great script about a young woman, but to the producer seeking male driven material it means crap.

                    You might have the most excellent 18th century script ever written in the history of humanity, but if period films are considered unwanted and impossible to sell, good luck even getting it read.

                    Etc, etc.

                    For anything in this world to work, whether a relationship between two people or a writer and a rep / studio, there has to be some point of convergence, needs have to be met on both sides.

                    I used to work in a field where I was putting artistic people together. What constantly amazed me was people trying to work with people who had not one single thing in common with the other's objectives.

                    A mediocre script in a popular genre is probably more likely to get picked up than an excellent script in a genre that nobody gives a crap about. That's not exactly nuclear science.

                    But in all fairness, I do think the message generally out there is, Write a GOOD script that is MARKETABLE.

                    Ultimately, the question is does marketable = good, and that is really up to everybody's own personal standards, whether as writers, movie-goers, book readers, etc.

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                    • #25
                      Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                      Originally posted by Derek Haas View Post
                      Knaight, I have the copyright on all "Myth" threads. Please don't dilute the power of the brand.
                      Please don't sue me. It was an honest mistake. I'll make up for it in one of two ways. Your pick:

                      A) I'll send you all my 4th Edition Magic Cards.
                      B) Bikini car wash.
                      QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

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                      • #26
                        Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                        From a market point of view, if you have access to a buyer, it doesn't have to be good (when it's generally called a treatment or such like). You then hire someone to perfect it.
                        Story Structure 1
                        Story Structure 2
                        Story Structure 3

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                        • #27
                          Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                          Originally posted by Rantanplan View Post
                          A mediocre script in a popular genre is probably more likely to get picked up than an excellent script in a genre that nobody gives a crap about. That's not exactly nuclear science.
                          It's a popular conjecture, but still a conjecture nevertheless. And it drives people to all kinds of assumptions e.g. Hollywood isn't really looking for good writers with original voices who can write great characters/stories etc. But it's interesting to know just how true that is. I agree about the level of subjectivity. Someone pointed out SUNFLOWER as an example on how screenplays don't have to be good, yet there will be many others who will be quick to defend SUNFLOWER in terms of goodness...

                          As per the other thread, many pros landed their gigs from non-commercial specs. I also recall reading about how most of the scripts that industry readers cover are bad to mediocre. But the rare few that do stand out -- they're the ones that get passed up the ladder. I also remember reading (and correct me here) how Jeff Lowell landed his first gig from a a spec in a very unpopular genre (black comedy). Ditto to Dogtown (fake or real) who posted his very unmarketable spec and talked about how it landed him work to write commercial/tentpole type scripts. The same with Craig Zahler's BRIGANDS (a dark western), who then went on to adapt ROBOTECH. Robotech! From a dark western to a famous 80s sci-fi cartoon!

                          In my opinion, people forget mediocre scripts and the writers who wrote them. And you don't want to be forgotten by peeps and rely on luck to carry you through the gauntlet. Writers still land gigs years down the line from their unsold breakthrough specs in unpopular genres. But the great writing is what makes them stick in the minds of producers.

                          But yeah, your end note is what I agree on: a script that is both MARKETABLE and GOOD. But don't force the marketable bit. Concentrate on the good -- because good outweighs marketable when you're trying to build a career, imo.

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                          • #28
                            Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                            Originally posted by Timmy View Post
                            From a market point of view, if you have access to a buyer, it doesn't have to be good (when it's generally called a treatment or such like). You then hire someone to perfect it.
                            I hate to admit it, but this is true in at least one case I know of. An exec bought his girlfriend's treatment for mid five figures. I read the treatment. It was awful.
                            QUESTICLES -- It's about balls on a mission.

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                            • #29
                              Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                              I almost said that "Screenplay has to be good" should be replaced with "A screenplay has to be marketable" for the statement to be true. I think that generally for a script to be marketable, it being good is part of the equation. Good writing is more marketable than bad writing.

                              Then I realized that Chalie Kaufman has barely written anything that could be considered "marketable", but yet keeps on getting movies produced. Maybe the secret is that he's not merely good - He's great. Maybe if you're great, you can afford to write less marketable material.

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                              • #30
                                Re: MYTH: A screenplay has to be good.

                                A spec screenplay from an unknown writer has to be mindblowingly excellent.

                                After that, the bar dips a bit.

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