There is a secret to writing a script that sells and it is more achievable than you think. Remember, though, I’m not an expert on selling scripts to studios or getting scripts optioned but I have a few ideas from what I have learned on making a script marketable. The current project I am working on I am writing specifically to be marketable while being able to incorporate my own artistic vision. I never realized the value of having a strong opening more than I did after my first film was released and I was looking at the markets it was released into. The opening of your script is essential for marketability both on the page and after it is produced.
Development – Distribution: I always say this and the more I apply it the more I learn how true it is: “Every filmmaker should start with distribution.” Go to Amazon.com and browse the Video On Demand section and watch a few of the previews, especially the independent films. Now log on to your X-Box or PS3 and browse the V.O.D. sections there and watch those previews, try even iTunes. What do you see when you watch the previews for these films? That’s right, the first few minutes of it. They aren’t always playing trailers and if they do it is usually for the big studio releases. That should be something enough to tell you how important the opening of your movie is. I’m not saying that it has to be packed with action, that might work great for an action movie, but it must be intriguing to the point of making the viewer want to know what is going to happen next.
The Payoff: When you have a script being looked at you need to deliver on two elements, at least from what I can tell. These aren’t the only two things people are looking for but they may help a bit. First off, according to Blake Snyder in his book Save the Cat he mentions that you need to fulfill what your premise states before you reach the turning point (mid-point) of your script, but after you have finished with Act 1. If your premise is “mice learn Portuguese” then in the first half of Act 2 you should spend some time with the mice as the learn to speak Portuguese – stuff you’d see in the trailer. Second and probably more importantly, you’ve got to keep your reader wanting to know what happens next. Never satisfy your reader/viewer’s curiosity in the same scene you perk it with. Make them continue with you to find out what happens next, escalate the conflict so that they couldn’t imagine what could possibly happen next. A recent book I read by a friend of mine, Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos, was awesome at doing this. Every chapter ended with an action or a pursuit, something that required the hero in the story to take action in solving his problem. Action means to move and when a conflict is present that requires action, it requires movement, which will hopefully move the reader/viewer to turn the page or keep watching.
Times are changing with the advent of new media and hybrid forms of distribution. You have to stay a step ahead if you want to stand out, so sometimes when thinking backwards, “What would keep the viewer interested?”, is the best way to approach it. Know your demographic and then push to the extreme of what they want.
Chime in and add your thoughts or success stories.