ScriptFaze

William Goldman Interview

Genius!

 

WGA Registration vs. U.S. Copyright

I heart the WGA. The Writers Guild of America may have shut this town down a few years ago, but ultimately, I come down on the side of any organization that comes down on the side of artists. It’s that simple. The WGA exists to defend writers and get them fair contracts, and things were a whole lot stickier for screenwriters before the unions.

But no institution’s perfect. Everyone has their gimmick, and for the WGA, it’s their Script Registry Service. If you’re curious about my views on idea theft, read How to Tell An Amateur. However—once your script is WRITTEN and can be printed out and held in two hands, you DO want to take steps to protect it. For new writers in particular, it’s just too easy for someone else to print out a cover page with their own name on it and slap it on top of your script. And even if you catch up to them before the BIG SALE, they may have already submitted your scripts to contests, received awards, or used it to open doors which should rightfully be opened by YOU.

So what do you do? After finishing a script, you have two options: Registering it with the Writer’s Guild of America, or registering it with the Library of Congress.

Here’s what you get for registering with the WGA:

•    A date of creation on file with the writer’s union
•    The promise that a WGA employee will appear in court to give testimony            on this date of creation

That’s it. And hey—a date of creation on file with a powerful union ain’t the worst thing in the world. However, it is important to ask: For what reason might you go to court and need this WGA employee to show up in the first place? To prove that you own your script? Yep—that’s right. And what’s another name for this legal proof of ownership?

A COPYRIGHT.

In an emergency, registration with the WGA will strengthen your case for legally owning your own work—which is EXACTLY what a legal copyright already gives you. One type of registration provides a PATH to ownership, and the other IS ownership.

Make sense?

Here’s what you get for filing with the United States Copyright Office:

•    Legal ownership of your script for the duration of your life, plus 70 years
•    Reimbursement of attorney fees if your copyright is proved to be infringed
•    Statutory damages if your copyright is proved to be infringed
•    Immediate access to court in case of copyright infringement

Hmmm. Let’s see… One of these looks a whole helluva lot more beneficial to me. But if legal copyrights are so great, what’s the point of a WGA registry?

Simply put, the point is SPEED.

Hollywood is a fast-moving town, and Copyrights can take up to sixth months to process. WGA registration numbers can be turned around in minutes and printed directly off their website. If you’ve just finished a script and are chomping at the bit to send it out into the world, the WGA registration service is gonna seem a whole lot more enticing. On top of that, WGA registration has become an industry standard, of sorts. Production companies REQUIRE a WGA registration number on their submission waiver forms, and links to the WGA registry now come bundled with scriptwriting software such as Final Draft. Registering with the WGA is almost unavoidable, and has become an accepted quick-fix for writers with a deadline, or writers who can’t sit around waiting for the Library of Congress to register their new material.

Okay—this is the part where I say I AM NOT A LAWYER. If you’re trying to decide how to protect your intellectual property, why do you care what I think? Only a real entertainment attorney can clarify the finer points of the options available to you.

But here’s what I do: BOTH. When I’m registering my scripts, “both” is the only acceptable answer. You NEED a legal US Copyright if you are sending your scripts out into the world. It’s the only form of registration that guarantees your rights, and legally protects you from theft. But let’s face it—theft is unlikely. And with so many companies now requiring WGA registration, it an almost-unavoidable step that has an added benefit of being QUICK, and of providing some record of credit in the rare case that someone rips you off.

Registering your script with the WGA is fun—it takes five minutes, and they send you a cool certificate thingy that you can frame and hang over your desk, and point to as proof when friends challenge your validity as a screenwriter. However, I started this post by calling WGA registration a ‘racket’ – and here’s why: The WGA does a TERRIBLE job of elucidating the difference between registration with THEM, and registration with the Library of Congress. There’s a huge push in this town to get every writer to register their scripts with the writers union, and this is ultimately a disservice. If the shit REALLY hit the fan, registration with the WGA would provide you no real protection. And while it makes TONS OF MONEY for the WGA, WGA registration does not provide you an actual 'copyright' of your screenplay.

So think about that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—a successful screenwriter is not one who spends his career worried about intellectual theft. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a sucker.

Registration with the WGA is a useful and sometimes necessary step, but HELL—you just spent six months writing a script!

Doesn’t it make sense to take the NEXT STEP and ACTUALLY OWN IT?

Comedy Screenplay Contest -- FREE and AWESOME

Urgent Media--a great company and a friend of ScriptFaze--is helping to get the word out about a great new writing contest… You can peek at Urgent’s BLOG or go right to the CONTEST WEBSITE for more details, but in a nutshell they’re looking for kick ass family-themed comedy pilots… The contest is free and offers great perks, like $5000 to the winner and input/guidance from John Wells—whose writing and EP work includes The West Wing, ER, Shameless, and a ton of other shows. This contest isn’t widely advertised yet, so get your scripts in fast… It’s a real opportunity. Here’s the blip from the contest website:

The Alliance for Family Entertainment who have been involved with getting such shows as “Gilmore Girls”, “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Friday Night Lights” on the air are sponsoring a FREE contest. (Full Disclosure: UC is involved with this project! YAY!) They’re looking for comedy screenplays having to do with the modern American family.

The winner will receive $5000, guidance and input from John Wells, whose work includes ER, Third Watch and The West Wing.

Dust off that :30 minute screenplay you polished last year or finish up on the one you started a couple weeks ago. THIS IS WIDE OPEN AND READY FOR THE TAKING!!!!

Submit and additional details here: ComedyWriterContest.com

DEADLINE: October 28th at 11:59 am ET. 

 

Description: LESS is way, way (way) MORE

If you’re a screenwriter in Los Angeles, it’s a pretty good bet that sooner or later you’re gonna meet OTHER screenwriters in Los Angeles, and that some day in the future one of them will ask you to read a script. The first time it happens, you’re flattered—"they TRUST me," you think. "They need MY OPINION to make this script better." The second time it happens, you think—absolutely—I’d love to help, and maybe sometime soon THEY can read one of MY SCRIPTS in return. The tenth time it happens, well… Let’s just say you hope they can write.

I still get a kick out of reading my friend’s scripts, but it’s always a little scary when it’s someone’s work you haven’t read before, and you flip over the cover page to see this:

 

FADE IN

INT. FARMHOUSE – DAY

A warm, cozy, hand-built farmhouse, built circa 1940. Floral wallpaper covers the walls. Some is peeling off, exposing many layers of wallpaper underneath. The main living room is built around a stone fireplace, and the ashen remains of two-months worth of burnt wood has piled high, and is now overflowing onto the room’s oak wood floors.

On a far fall, a single bed is pulled taught against the wall under a small window. Early morning light has begun to sneak through the cracked-plastic shudders that hang jauntily behind old green curtains, pulled taught with a pair of old shoe laces. A cat MEOWS somewhere in the distance. Birds sings. It is morning in Vermont-- 

 

Ugh. THAT one just fell to the bottom of my read-list, and I’ve only made it through 1/3 of the FIRST PAGE!

 

Kidnapping Characters

There’s no such thing as a great screenplay with crappy characters. Yes—the plot is important. Something needs to happen, and in modern-American cinema, that something should involve a few surprises and unexpected twists in the road. But just for a minute, imagine YOUR favorite movie. Now take a second a get a mental image of the main character in this film. And finally—swap this character out for, say… Brendan Frasier. Or Brooke Shields. Unless your favorite movie is Furry Revenge (and statistically speaking, that is very unlikely...) you’ve probably just imagined a TOTAL TRAINWRECK.

Think about it—what is The Godfather without Michael Corleone? The Shawshank Redemption without Andy and Red? E.T. without, er… E.T.? The really wonderful movies achieve a perfect synthesis between story and character, and this balance must be present in any successful script.

SO.

How does a writer think up great characters? Well—some start by buying a stack of notebooks, and painstakingly writing out the life-histories, character traits, and quirky idiosyncrasies of spanking-new people that will one-day grace the pages of their script. I think of this as the “live-birth” method of character creation, and I’m not gonna knock it. It’s a (mostly) healthy process, and every writer should go through the steps of drawing-up a unique, entirely new character from scratch as many times as they can muster. It’s also an exercise that trains one’s imagination, and forces one to dig-deep into a character in way that will be hugely useful in crafting dialogue and navigating scenes down the road.

That said—there are HUNDREDS of great characters whose histories and quirks you already know! And with so much else to focus on in shaping a well-honed script, why not cut yourself a little slack once in a while, and just… KIDNAP THEM.

Seriously. What’s the harm? These are fictional beings we’re talking about!

There are two main methods for KIDNAPPING great characters:

1)    Steal Them From Your Life
Unless you grew up in Canton, Texas, you’ve PROBABLY had an interesting life. And part of what’s made it interesting is the wonderful mixed-bag of people you’ve had the good pleasure OR poor misfortune of crossing paths with. So—put them in your script! Seriously. Just     plug them right in. Don’t even worry about hiding the fact that your dad has become the star of your screenplay, or modifying the crazy boss you had in college.

Really now—who do you know better than your own relatives? Your friends? These are characters you know down deep in your blood, and they’re the characters whose motivations and speaking-styles you will never need to second-guess. So use them! Drawing from the cast of characters close to your life will make your script easier to write, and ultimately more authentic-feeling. And don’t fret—as your script develops, so too will your characters. By the time you’ve finished, even those closest to you will have a hard time recognizing that the infantile psycho serial killer in your script is actually just a thinly-veiled remake of your freshman year roommate. 

2)    Steal Them From Books, TV, and the Movies
What, what, what?? Steal intellectual property? Okay—no. That’s not exactly what I’m saying. Don’t write a character of less-than-average intelligence with a loving mom and a relentlessly positive outlook on life, then name your script Florice Glump. What I’m talking about is borrowing characters, just like I suggested that you borrow characters from your own life in the example above.

Seriously—try it out. Next time you’re in a slump, and need a great character to spice up your script, why not plug in Tony Soprano? Or Nurse Ratchet? Or Seinfeld? What would they say in this situation? What would they do? Using characters you love (or love to hate) from television, films and books is a great method for getting over creative hurtles, and infusing your characters with greater clarity and specificity. And once again—as your script develops, so too will your characters. Their lines will change. Their quirks will evolve. And when you’re all done, these characters will have become totally new entities.

Kidnapping characters is not the end-all of character creation, but it sure is a damn useful tool. Hell—writers have been doing this for centuries. Who are Romeo & Juliet but the Greek characters Pyramus and Thisbe? What makes Luke Skywalker any different from King Arthur (think about that one—it’ll shock you)? And who is Don Draper if not James Bond WITHOUT a license to kill?

Call it what you will – ‘recycling’, ‘borrowing’ or ‘theft’ – but character re-use is a foundation of storytelling (I don’t even want to get going on the BIBLE). So use it! You’ll be amazed how much quicker character development will become when you stop brainstorming—and start KIDNAPPING.

Something I Wish I'd Known As A New Writer: Don't Write Scripts That Can't Be Made

A lot is made in screenwriting classes and books of the importance of a writer’s ORIGINAL VOICE. And it’s true! You don’t want to rewrite Black Swan for goodness sake, or pass on an obvious Tarantino rip-off to prospective managers or agents. You DO need to find your own muse, your own style, and your own point of view. A truly original plot will turn heads and make producers take you seriously. A great hook will get you invited in to pitch. Originality is everything, right?

Well… Sort of.

All of the above is true, but if you can learn anything from THIS writer’s mistakes, it’s important to understand that originality... Is relative.

Relative to what?

The market.

Yep. At the end of the day, filmmaking and screenwriting is a BUSINESS, and the market will only bear SO MUCH originality. Skilled screenwriters know that a great script (read: a SELLABLE script) manages to be two things at once: original AND familiar. When your script is done and out there trying to find its place in the market, producers will be looking for like-films to use as comparison-points in setting budgets, guessing revenues, and inspiring financing. For this reason ALONE it’s important that your script resemble at least a handful of previously released films—but the need for familiarity runs even deeper.

Audiences (and producers, readers, etc. by proxy) like to be surprised, like to have things turned on their head—but also want their expectations met. When they go to an action movie, audiences expect explosions, sweeping camera work, death-defying stunts. At a drama they expect tears, and at a comedy they expect laughs. Blending genres and throwing out the rules may feel revolutionary when you’re alone at your computer, but one of the first things a producer will ask himself when reading your script months later is, “does this script satisfy?” A great script will pull the rug out from under its audience—then catch them in a way that feels familiar and bring them along for the rest of the ride.

Another practical consideration in the “Don’t Write Scripts That Can’t Be Made” category is MPAA ratings. I once spent an entire summer writing a screenplay that I was sure would ‘wow’ audiences and push the envelope to the absolute edge. It was a thriller about a group of urban 13 and 14 year-olds who find themselves witnesses to a murder, and must spent a night on the run from the police and murderers alike. These kids were REAL, I told myself. They cursed, fought, had sex with other young teenagers and generally carried on like the 20 year-old gangsters they were trying to emulate. Just like real kids who’d grown up on the streets, right? I finished the script, ended up pitching it to a few companies, and finally met with one that was interested. Their first note? Make the kids 18 and 19. I made my case for keeping the characters young, but their argument was stronger: A script full of cursing pre-teens will never be made. Why? The MPAA. I had written a rated-R movie starring an age-bracket of kids that are meant to be watching PG-13. Older teens wouldn’t go see a movie starring 13 year-olds, and 13 year-olds couldn’t get into the theatre. It was valuable lesson in market realities.

So there you go. Yes—you should be original. In fact, you need be! You need to write scripts that startle and surprise, but at the same time you need to write scripts that coddle and reinforce. 

It’s a weird dichotomy, but it’s this trick—balancing the old with the new, and the worn-in-the-pants with the cutting-edge—that will determine your ultimate success and longevity as a screenwriter. Sometimes when I’m writing, I try to imagine the audience in the theatre watching my film play out—I literally try to see their faces and imagine their thoughts. I’ll ask myself—are they thrilled? Are they one step ahead of the plot, but never two or three steps ahead? Are they being surprised? And finally—are they getting the experience they were promised? The answers to all of these must be YES—or else you need to step back and recalibrate.

And, uh… Only write movies your target audience is old enough to see!

 

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To the castle!!

 

Paul Haggis Interview