How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

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  • How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

    So the Coen Bros. are doing a remake of one of my favorite Westerns, True Grit, and it's scheduled for a Christmas Day 2010 release. It's going to be told from the POV of the teenage female lead as in the original novel.

    http://screencrave.com/2010-01-20/co...-on-christmas/

    Given their history, it's likely to cause at least a modest renewed interest in Westerns, and it's already being talked of as award-bait.

    So how do I leverage this into reads for my own award-winning female-lead Western? Do I need to wait until it comes out and try to hit the 15-minute window?

    Lauri
    "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

    Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

  • #2
    Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

    I think any answer to this is at best a reasoned guess, but perhaps as early as possible because if your script is bought and made, that will take, what .... 1-3 years, pre/post production time.
    If the script is known about town, they can at least go back to it, time for it to grow/repute. And wont all the other scripts hoping to catch the same trend follow the Coen's release date? A glut of derivative westerns !
    Forthcoming: The Annual, "I JUST GOT DUMPED" Valentine's Short Screenplay Writing Competition. Keep an eye on Writing Exercises.

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    • #3
      Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

      what road warrior said. don't wait. if it's market-ready then put it out there. no one makes a decision on the spot. if they read it tomorrow and see true grit in december, they may give you a surprise call in february 2011.

      also - if i were you i'd try to market to an actor to play your lead role. she may be an a-list with some pull or may have her own production company. look what drew barrymore did for her career? a lot of young female actors want to follow in her footsteps.

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      • #4
        Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

        Wow. Another writer with a female lead western spec? I don't feel alone anymore. The thing is -- mine's not finished. I set it aside because I thought it was such a long shot. But if your script is ready -- why not query.
        Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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        • #5
          Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

          Hey, Laura. I love to see proactive female characters of all types, so I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully people have forgotten BAD GIRLS and that flick with Sharon Stone.

          By the way, has anyone whipped up an unproduced script on this female outlaw?
          "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
          - Screenwriting Friend

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          • #6
            Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

            I hate to be a downer, still wish you the best of luck, etc, etc, but have the Coen Bros. ever started a trend? Sure they get critical acclaim. Make some fine movies. Some not so fine. But isn't part of their charm that they're entirely removed from Hollywood trends and off in their own little universe?

            Not that I'd mind some more westerns out there...

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            • #7
              Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

              Originally posted by grant View Post
              I hate to be a downer, still wish you the best of luck, etc, etc, but have the Coen Bros. ever started a trend? Sure they get critical acclaim. Make some fine movies. Some not so fine. But isn't part of their charm that they're entirely removed from Hollywood trends and off in their own little universe?

              Not that I'd mind some more westerns out there...
              Yeah, their project and the OP's project pretty much exist in different dimensions.

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              • #8
                Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                There are westerns with female leads that come out from time to time... THE MISSING with C Blancett a few yrs ago... and that M Stowe script has gotten a lot of attention...

                But seems these types of projects originate from people already in the industry. The Coens' project is another example of this. It's a pre-branded property & they are already established filmmakers.

                A female centric western is not a good bet for a spec script. Too many strikes against it. I think the best you can hope for is that someone loves the writing and it opens doors that way.

                Good luck.


                "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

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                • #9
                  Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                  Originally posted by grant View Post
                  I hate to be a downer, still wish you the best of luck, etc, etc, but have the Coen Bros. ever started a trend? Sure they get critical acclaim. Make some fine movies. Some not so fine. But isn't part of their charm that they're entirely removed from Hollywood trends and off in their own little universe?

                  Not that I'd mind some more westerns out there...
                  Really?

                  You don't think the success of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN didn't positively impact the eventual sale of a project like THE LOW DWELLER and later on THE GUNSLINGER? People pitch stuff as "the next No Country" all the time.

                  That said, I think the OP will get further pitching the project with a great, standalone logline and should steer clear of pitching the project as the next "next" TRUE GRIT.
                  "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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                  • #10
                    Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                    Originally posted by joe9alt View Post
                    Really?

                    You don't think the success of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN didn't positively impact the eventual sale of a project like THE LOW DWELLER and later on THE GUNSLINGER? People pitch stuff as "the next No Country" all the time.
                    There's a big difference between positively impacting an few eventual sales, and starting a genuine trend. Obviously if you can compare your story to a successful, profitable, critically acclaimed movie it can't hurt. But I don't think the Coen Brothers have ever started a trend like Torture Porn or Raunchy Comedy or J-Horror or Superhero Movies.

                    So... even if True Grit does well, either financially or critically... I think that will be largely attributed to that Coen Brother magic. Is there anything those boys can't do? Not to the fact that it was a western with a girl. I don't think it'll set off a revival in Westerns any more than 3:10 to Yuma did.

                    That said, I think the OP will get further pitching the project with a great, standalone logline and should steer clear of pitching the project as the next "next" TRUE GRIT.
                    I concur.

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                    • #11
                      Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                      Originally posted by stvnlra View Post
                      A female centric western is not a good bet for a spec script. Too many strikes against it. I think the best you can hope for is that someone loves the writing and it opens doors that way.
                      That is quite possible. Write it well enough and it might place in some contests.

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                      • #12
                        Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                        Originally posted by stvnlra View Post
                        A female centric western is not a good bet for a spec script. Too many strikes against it.
                        This begs the question: what is a good bet for a spec? I'm beginning to think there's no such thing aside from writing the best spec you can.
                        "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                        - Screenwriting Friend

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                        • #13
                          Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                          Originally posted by LauriD View Post
                          So the Coen Bros. are doing a remake of one of my favorite Westerns, True Grit, and it's scheduled for a Christmas Day 2010 release. It's going to be told from the POV of the teenage female lead as in the original novel.

                          http://screencrave.com/2010-01-20/co...-on-christmas/

                          Given their history, it's likely to cause at least a modest renewed interest in Westerns, and it's already being talked of as award-bait.

                          So how do I leverage this into reads for my own award-winning female-lead Western? Do I need to wait until it comes out and try to hit the 15-minute window?

                          Lauri
                          I don't think leverage is the right word for an unsold and unproduced screenwriter.

                          We are, in a way, the people in the dark until we produce something that gives light on its own, and suddenly we can be seen.

                          Some people believe in writing with one eye to the marketplace.

                          I'm not of this camp. One eye for me, one eye for the audience (derived from the sailor's "one hand for you, one hand for the ship" (or you'll fall into the water and disappear without ever being seen again).

                          Focus on what you'd like to see on the screen.

                          There can be some nice coincidences like a hit movie of the same genre shaking the industry just at the time when you start sending out your script... but you shouldn't count on it. It's pure chance.

                          Stay within yourself and be independent. That's much more attractive and gives a much more interesting script.
                          "Ecco il grande Zampano!"

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                          • #14
                            Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                            Originally posted by roscoegino View Post
                            This begs the question: what is a good bet for a spec? I'm beginning to think there's no such thing aside from writing the best spec you can.
                            This is purely my opinion... The best specs to write are comedies & thrillers.

                            If you can write funny, write a comedy with a good hook & a male protagonist.... or a Rom Com with a female protag...

                            If you can't write funny, write a Thriller with a good hook & a male protagonist.

                            Obviously, the comedies have to funny & the thrillers have to be thrilling.

                            I don't write funny so I write thrillers. I like sc-fi & fantasy, which is popular in the marketplace, so that's what I write.


                            "Trust your stuff." -- Dave Righetti, Pitching Coach

                            ( Formerly "stvnlra" )

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: How do I leverage the Coen Bros. "True Grit"?

                              So "True Grit" is opening on the 22d.... and rated 100% "fresh" last time I checked Rotten Tomatoes.

                              My teenage-female-lead Western "Whiplash" is being read by a 3-letter agency and a couple of managers.... it reached the Nicholl semi-fi's for the third time this year, and also advanced in other contests....

                              I'm following up with some contacts, reminding them about "Whiplash."

                              Anything else I could be doing to ride the hoped-for buzz wave around "Grit"?

                              L.
                              "People who work in Hollywood are the ones who didn't quit." -- Lawrence Kasdan

                              Please visit my website and blog: www.lauridonahue.com.

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