Life On The Bubble

Dave McNary (Variety): Story brightens for H' wood scribes

Hollywood scribes saw a 12% rebound in earnings last year -- recovering much of the 15.4% financial hit that they took in 2008 from the double whammy of the recession and the 100-day strike.

The Writers Guild of America West, which sent its annual report to its 8,000 members this week, disclosed that total earnings covered by WGA contracts hit $931.4 million in 2009, up $100 million from 2008. That gain, the report noted, was fueled largely by "strong" earnings by TV writers.

Despite the salary increases, the number of writers employed declined last year by 11 slots to 4,328. And guild leadership took pains to point out that the number of writers getting paychecks has declined by 4.7% from 4,542 in 2006 -- the most recent pre-strike year.

"While earnings have rebounded, the impact of macro-economic pressures is reflected in the number of writers reporting earnings," noted the report, which is traditionally released in the mid-summer.

TV earnings set a record with 10.1% rise to $502.4 million -- $31 million above the record set in 2006 -- but small-screen employment gained only 27 slots to 3,094 last year. And the number of employed writers was down by 241 from the record of 3,335 in 2007 when pre-strike stockpiling drove hiring.

Feature film earnings rebounded 14.5% to $426.4 million in 2009, recovering about half of the steep 29% plunge in 2008. Studio stockpiling had lifted feature earnings in 2007 by 20.5% to a record $525.4 million.

The WGA also disclosed that residuals edged down 0.7% last year, or less than $2 million, to $286 million. TV residuals rose 2.8% to $141.5 million and screen residuals slid 3.3% to $133.3 million.

New media residuals -- one of the key WGA strike issues -- jumped from $100,000 in 2008 to $2.1 million for TV last year, including some delinquent payments. New media residuals for film went from a negligible amount in 2008 to $690,000 last year.

via www.variety.com

Interesting spin, especially compared to the LA Times article I linked to earlier today.

LA Times: Screenwriters find work is dwindling

This week the Writers Guild of America, West reported that while earnings for screenwriters have bounced back to pre-strike levels, there is a lot less work going around: employment has fallen 11% in the last three years, with 226 fewer screenwriters working in 2009 than 2006, the year before the 100-day walkout and the lowest level in at least six years.

via www.latimes.com

If you don't mind "glass half empty" articles, this one's worth reading.

I'm surprised the above number is only -11%. I would have guessed in the mid- to high teens.

Mike Fleming (deadline.com): Warner Bros Cracks Down On Screenwriter’s Late Delivery Dates

In a move that has writers and their reps buzzing, Warner Bros has just put out word that it will start to enforce delivery dates on first screenplay drafts. That means writers who signed contracts had better deliver on time, or risk the wrath of the studio.

via www.deadline.com

Interesting read.

Patrick Goldstein (LA Times): How Fox throws writers under the train: The real story behind 'The A-Team' script fiasco

At Fox, the process that led to the scrum of "A-Team" writers is routine, not out of the ordinary. With the exception of movies made for Elizabeth Gabler's Fox 2000 imprint, where writers are held in high esteem, nearly every movie at Big Fox is put together this way. Finke was apparently protecting a valued source when she made the preposterous claim that Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman "wasn't that close to the tortured 'A-Team' development process." As anyone who's ever worked at Fox can attest, the brilliant, hard-working and, well, often overbearing Rothman is at the center of every key decision -- and some not-so-key decisions -- made at the studio.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

I missed this last week, and it's worth click through for another take on the topic. I have a selfish motive for linking to this tonight, though, too: The final paragraph includes a couple of lines that echo my own conclusions in the intro to the latest Spec Market Scorecard (out tomorrow afternoon to my email list).

Nikki Finke (deadline.com): How 20th Exec Alex Young Lost Control Of ‘The A-Team’

I can report exclusively that the Writers Guild recently decided the credits on The A-Team, the movie based on the '80s TV show and opening this weekend. There were 11 screenwriters who worked on the film -- 5 single writers and 3 teams of two: Kevin Broadbin, Bruce Feirstein, Jayson Rothwell, Laurence M. Konner and Mark Rosenthal, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, Skip Woods, Joe Carnahan & Brian Bloom, Mathew Carnahan. And that's with the interruption of the writers strike. The final credit now reads: "Written by Joe Carnahan & Brian Bloom and Skip Woods. Created by Frank Lupo & Stephen J. Cannell." In other words, 11 writers, and in the end, the director and his partner get first position credit. The WGA has a history of idiotic credits decisions. But the story behind these 11 writers that interests me most is how Alex Young lost control of The A-Team.

via www.deadline.com

The title's a little misleading. It's less the anatomy of a screenwriting train wreck and more an opportunity to take a whack at the widely-disliked Alex Young. As one commenter points out, it feels like there's a bit of spin going on here (it takes more than one executive to hamstring a movie), but it's still a fun read.

TV Staffing: What dramas to spec in 2010

After criss-crossing several sources, it is now time to review what dramas are good to spec, and which are not. As usual, when available, a sample script is offered for each show listed — usually the pilot episode.

via www.tv-calling.com

Again, hat tip to tracking-board.com for pointing out this link (and the one for the Comedies that I just posted).

Like the Comedies, I generally agree with the shows included in the Over-specced and Mainstream categories (click through to figure out what I'm talking about), but for different reasoning than TV-Calling's. Also, I would suggest not specing Bones (too old and not watched by Hollywood) or Breaking Bad (serializations are just too risky). I would have put Castle in Bones' place, and I'd have been bold and put Parenthood and The Good Wife in the Mainstream category, too.

Also like the Comedies post, I wouldn't bother with any of the other shows listed in the Wild Card, Outsiders or Gambler categories, primarily because none of them are particularly popular with Hollywood insiders. Again, if you're thinking about writing a spec for TV, I'd recommend writing a spec pilot (or even a spec feature) instead of one of those, especially if you already have one of the Mainstream specs amongst your samples.

TV Staffing: What comedies to spec in 2010

This time around, I've doubled things up and am dedicating a post respectively to the best comedies (half-hours) to spec, and then the best dramas (one-hours). I'm also offering a little bonus: a script for each of the shows listed -- when available.

via www.tv-calling.com

Hat tip to tracking-board.com for pointing out this link (and the one for the dramas that I'm about to reblog).

I agree with the Over-specced and Mainstream categories (click through to figure out what I'm talking about), but I wouldn't have included "United States of Tara" in the Wild Cards section, and I would have bumped "Modern Family" up to Mainstream and Cougar Town up to Wild Cards.

In fact, I probably would have abandoned the Outsiders and Gamblers categories altogether -- specing one of those isn't a gamble, it's a complete waste of time. If you're thinking about writing a spec for TV, write a spec pilot instead of one of those (again, with the possible exception of Cougar Town).

Hot tip: Check out Spec Chaser

When a creative executive friend of mine came up with the idea last Fall for a website that would provide coverage of spec scripts currently in the marketplace, I thought it was a brilliant idea and wished I had enough time to blatantly steal it and incorporate it into lifeonthebubble.com or itsonthegrid.com myself.  If you haven't heard of or checked out Spec Chaser (http://specchaser.wordpress.com), you should.  

There's a bit of overlap between the spec listings there and sites like blog.itsonthegrid.com, trackingb.com and tracking-board.com, but two things set Spec Chaser apart from us:

• A growing library of spec scripts currently on the market; and
• The periodic coverage they do on active spec scripts (as opposed to ScriptShadow, which seems to focus on projects already in active development).  

Since launching itsonthegrid.com last Fall I haven't had as much time to read specs as I'd like, and catching up on the ones I've missed by reading Spec Chaser's synopses has been helpful on more than one occasion.  I just wish they had about half a dozen more readers contributing to the effort so every single spec in the marketplace could get covered.  

Spec Chaser's proprietor also does excellent coverage and studio-style notes for a very reasonable fee (I know they're excellent because I've read a couple of examples), so if you're in the market for such a service, be sure to request a sample.

Spec Chaser:  http://specchaser.wordpress.com

Tales From The Script: Advice for New Screenwriters

Hat tip to Andrew Stroscher for retweeting the link to the below.  It's a promotional piece for a new book called "Tales from the Script:  Advice for New Screenwriters" by Script magazine contributor Peter Hanson, but don't let that stop you from watching.  It's definitely worth watching if you're in an aspiring screenwriter.  Hope there's a Kindle version of the book...

I dig Girl on Girl Action (girlongirlaction.wordpress.com)

So here is the not-ridiculous part of the post: I have been thinking back on this past year of pseudo-career as a young pseudo-screenwriter. I mean, I kind of am a screenwriter in the sense that I have been able to con Manager Guy and Agent Guy into representing me, and I have specs, and I go on a lot of meetings, and people in those meetings seem to think that I am a Real Writer, and like sometimes the assistant will be all “Elana?!? Oh man, it’s so good to meet you, I loved your sample!” – which makes me think that they don’t realize that I am just some chump off the street or whatever.

BASICALLY: I am a screenwriter, but only in the sense that I am expected to function as though I am one, with the writing and the meetings and the being available all the time and the pitching, etc etc. Of course I am totally clear on the fact that nobody is paying me, so it’s not like I’m a REAL screenwriter. You know? It’s just like I have this weird full-time job I don’t actually make any money doing.

I have a couple of friends who are in this same place, and I was talking to them recently about what’s going on. We all had many of the same comments. So I thought I would write them down and post them on the internets and maybe someday in the future some young baby writer will happen on them and find them useful.

via girlongirlaction.wordpress.com

(Come on, if Elana can make that joke, I can rip it off.)

So I'm probably late to the party and Elana Frick's blog has already been bookmarked by everyone who's anyone, but I stumbled over it this afternoon for the first time and am a big fan. If you haven't, you should check it out, not just because she's got several great posts on how she almost died a month or so ago (seriously) but also because she's in a stage of her writing career that's all too common and writes about it winningly (and humorously, and candidly, and self-effacingly, and so on).  I dig her voice.  And the name of her blog.

Go read it. Right now.

A Modest Proposal: Uniform Script Notes

Most professors believe that clear and effective writing is important in all levels of psychology and in most of the professions for which we are training our students. And most professors give their students writing assignments because they believe that practice will improve students’ writing. And as part of this process, most professors (and their teaching assistants) believe that their feedback will improve the quality of students’ writing, so they spend countless hours providing written comments on these papers (after all, psychologists have long known that practice without feedback is futile, right?). Of these three assumptions, probably only the first one is true.

via www.psychologicalscience.org

Interesting article. I was tempted to joke that you could replace "professors" with "managers" and "students" with "aspiring screenwriters" (NOT "clients"), but I there are enough comments about the particulars of students' writing habits that I know I'd get in (unintended) trouble. In any case, I think it makes sense to use a set of standardized feedback like the list in the article.  Not unlike the now-ubiquitous (and for good reason) Save The Cat! structure.

[Hat tip to Anne Thompson for retweeting the link to the article.]

Scriptmag/Dwayne Alexander Smith: Screenwriting is Hard

My dear, dear pal looked at me with the most sincere expression ever and said oh so matter-of-factly … "Oh, I need to make some quick money so I figured I’d just write a horror film or a comedy or something and sell it real quick.”

via scriptmag.blogspot.com

Good post by Dwayne Alexander Smith on Script Magazine's blog. Love that quote.

Shameless plug: Check out www.itsonthegrid.com

I just posted the Spec Market Roundup for October, and since that always means a bump in traffic here, I wanted to post a reminder to check out www.itsonthegrid.com, the new feature film development website that launched last week.

I dig Courier 12

If you haven't checked out John Gary's blog, Courier 12, you should.  It's a great addition to the ScriptShadow oeuvre.  Nice work, John.  Keep 'em coming.

johnaugust.com: Pitching "Prince of Persia" with video

Jordan Mechner has posted the game-footage trailer we used when we pitched the feature film version of Prince of Persia to the studios six years ago.

Most movie pitches don’t involve video, but with PoP, most of the studio executives weren’t familiar with the game at all, so it became an important way to introduce them to both the franchise and the world. As Jordan notes in his post, this trailer doesn’t really tell the story of the movie, but it does give a sense of the characters and style: the dashing prince’s acrobatics, the devoted priestess/princess, the dagger with its time-reversing slickness.

via johnaugust.com

Man, John August's site is such a great resource. Click through to read his description of the pitch for "Prince of Persia," which includes a link to Jordan Mechner's site, where Jordan has posted the game-footage trailer they used during their studio pitches.

Looking forward to PoP the movie, by the way. Heard earlier this year that it could end up being the most expensive film ever made, and have the biggest marketing budget ever, even adjusting for inflation.

[Hat tip to proseriesalumni.com for pointing out the johnaugust.com post.  If you haven't discovered ProSeriesAlumni, check it out.  It's always got a great bunch of links to screenwriting-related articles, interviews, etc.  And I'm not just saying that because they usually repost my Reports...]