Helping a friend with scriptwriting

Niceguyeddie616

My friend wants to write a movie script that is suitable for submitting to a major movie studio. He wants me and a friend in film school to help him write it because he doesn't know all too much about scriptwriting. He's sent me a few pages in Microsoft Word that weren't really in script format but were at least in short story form. So I guess what I want to know is where do I start with helping him? Is there any free programs that can help him write in script format? Is there any editing I can do to make it better? and how much of a chance does he have of somebody actually getting this picked up? (I realize that his chances are probably pretty small, but what sort of positive chance does he have?)

Skullo

Look into Celtex. I can't give you all the technical jargon about it whatnot (not that saavy), but I can say this: It's a neat little word processing program that is geared towards writing scripts. It does a lot of the functions for you, keeps track of characters and scenes and stuff, and I figured all that out just from fooling around with it for a minutes.

Jacobkosh

First off, go to the bookstore and buy some movie screenplays - they're usually filed in the "film/film criticism" section. Get a bunch. Have your friend read them until his eyes bleed and he contemplates suicide. And, obviously, watch the movies in question in conjunction with this project. It's important for any would-be screenwriter to know what he's actually supposed to be writing about rather than trying to direct and act and edit the movie all right there on the page (the classic newb mistake).

Protip: unlike other sorts of writing, programs are actually useful in screenwriting because the rules regarding margins and tab-stops and everything are incredibly exacting and thus incredibly distracting. It's hard to get your flow going when you're fucking wth fonts every other line. The program that the couple actual professionals of my acquaintance use is Final Draft Pro, but it's $169 so should provide an interesting test of your friend's commitment.

And your friend really should be doing all this himself. There's nothing wrong with wanting to write; even though the odds are fairly astronomically against, random scripts do get picked up every year, but it requires a level of commitment that most people simply don't have.

Niceguyeddie616

uh, movies in question? He is writing a script based on an existing property, but if he was writing something original what would you suggest he watch?

noir_blood

It really depends how involve you want to get into the process. If your friend wants to be the sole owner of the story, then he really has to write it himself. Someone already said to pick up lots of film scripts, I'll tack in watching lots of movies and reading lots of books. Like pretty much anything your friend has to be aware of what works and what doesn't work in a story, and more especifically, what's become a cliche in his genre.

And for god sakes have him pick up Story by Robert Mckee. It's pretty much the template that Hollywood uses in their script, and it's chock full of good advice. Plus it also disects scenes in some big films.

There's a pretty nifty free screen writing program somewhere out there. I can't find the link to it right now, but I'll try to find it and post it here later.

uh, movies in question? He is writing a script based on an existing property, but if he was writing something original what would you suggest he watch?

Have him pick up scripts of that property if movies have been made, if not, of the genre he's working on. Is it an action movie? Sci fi? Romance? Etc.

And let your friend know that he just lessened his chances of his script being picked up even more than usual. See, one of the quickest way to get a script out there is to hire an agent, but most agents won't pick up unsolicited scripts based of properties, for the single reason that there really is only one or two especific studios that could buy it(whoever owns the rights to the property) so why waste his time? I would honestly advice him to either start on something original, or work his existing idea and set it into an entirely new world.

Niceguyeddie616

Would you happen to be talking about Sophocles? I heard good things about that. I'm already getting a lot of good advice in this thread. My friend wants us to help him write because not only would it help him out, but he thinks it would give us something to put on a resume (although im not so sure how credible writing somebodys script would be.) I want to help him with this, I just hope it doesn't turn into another Joe Cracker story. With the property he's using there's most likely a slim to none chance itll get picked up.

Jacobkosh

Niceguyeddie616 wrote: »

uh, movies in question?

I apologize if that was unclear; by "movies in question" I mean, watch the actual movies of the screenplays he's reading. Like, if he's reading the Casablanca script, watch Casablanca.

He is writing a script based on an existing property,

SCREEEECH okay stop right there. He can't do that. Getting a script sold in Hollywood is a crapshoot at the best of times, but nobody nobody nobody nobody nobody is interested in "Aliens vs. Monty Python vs. Buffy" or whatever. Existing properties are owned by people who pay other people money to do things with those properties; they also pay lawyers to scare away people who write that stuff, because if they actually make an "Aliens vs. Monty Python etc" movie and it bore the slightest resemblance to some crappy script in their submissions pile, they could be sued.

So no. Just no. If your friend's not interested in being a writer, but only a Buffy writer or whatever, then he has no business roping you guys into his (at-this-point-complete) fantasy and should confine his ambitions to impressing the fellow members of some fanfic message board somewhere.

Nobody gets anywhere in writing without having the courage to put their own stuff out there. He needs to show that he can do the serious work of coming up with a setting and characters all on his own.

but if he was writing something original what would you suggest he watch?

The good ones, or at least the ones noted for their writing - The Philadelphia Story, say. Or Casablanca, obviously. LA Confidential had a fabulous script that's a real lesson in telling a complex story with economy. Oh, or anything by David Mamet.

Honestly, though, if your friend is serious about this he should have some idea of this stuff himself. If he doesn't, it's not the end of the world or anything, but he should take another step back and spend a few months perhaps taking a film study class or blazing through his Netflix queue to really immerse himself in what making a movie actually entails.

TychoCelchuuu

Just a quick aside: The program is "CeltX," not "Celtex." It's super helpful though. And yeah you can't write a script based on someone else's stuff and expect to get anywhere especially if you're just starting out.