Jonny Atlas Writes

I’m back from the dead. Sorry for the long delay. I’ve been writing. *gasp*

There was a ridiculously long thread on Done Deal a while back titled “Do you think you’re better than the guys making all the money out there?”. I avoided the thread like the plague. I thought the topic pompous, and the discussion futile. It produced such statements as “I’m sure we all know plenty of talentless hacks in the ‘real world’ who get by on looks, charm or simply the ability to kiss ass.” and “No seriously there are a lot of people that are really good and aren’t selling squat. Does it really matter?”.

There was one statement in particular that sucked me in: “when you look at a movie like “Crank” for example which really has no three act structure or Shoot ‘em up which is just one long orgy of gunfighting they’re not something you’d read and go Ahhhh what arcs, what structure. You’d go… we get it. they shoot a lot of stuff and blow it up wheee! So again no one really cares about the writing in many cases.”

Wow. No one really cares about the writing in many cases?

Really?

Here is my vehement retort.

While spec sales are mostly about the idea, if I have the most kickass high-concept idea ever and I hand it in scrawled on bar napkins in my own blood, nothing’s happening. In the same vein, if a great concept is executed horridly, absolutely nothing will happen with that script, or its writer.

Even if, by some odd chance, the spec sells despite the bad writing, you can guarantee that the writer isn’t going to be getting any other work. You can also be sure that their name will not be on the final product (if it actually makes it that far). Bad writing will destroy any chances one had at a career.

In essence, when it comes to getting a spec script read, concept is king. You won’t get your script read without a killer concept. Period. If we don’t say “wow, that’s a movie I’d like to see” when we read your logline (and even your title!), why would we ask to read your script?

However, that only goes so far. It only gets you in the door. If your execution is shit, or even just less-than-stellar, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

How about we make this a little more personal? Paint a fucking word picture and shit.

Let’s say, for instance, that you have the mother of all concepts. Everyone wants to read your script. The thing is, you suck ass at screenwriting. You don’t know this, of course. If you did you wouldn’t be trying so damn hard (or maybe you’d be trying harder). So you get 25 requests for your script. You’re shitting bricks in excitement. While you wait for the bidding war, here’s what’s going on behind closed doors:

The reader goes through your script, writes coverage. It is something along the lines of “concept is incredible, execution shit. Strong consider.”

It gets passed on to a development exec. The exec. reads the coverage, then the script. He or she makes notes of their own, which equate to “great concept, but the writer is horrible. Can we get *pro screenwriter X* to rewrite?”

This process continues. Each production company that plans to buy the script lines up writers to properly execute your concept BEFORE THEY EVEN CALL YOU BACK!

Then one of them buys your script. If it is a WGA signatory, they are required to give you two rewrites and a polish. As soon as you finish your contractual obligation, you are off the project. The writer they already had lined up steps in, throws your shit script out the window and does a page one rewrite based on your concept.

Back to your end. You’ve waited a few days, maybe a week. Finally, the phone rings. Production company X wants to buy your script for six figures. You shit yourself, grab a manager and a lawyer (even an agent, if you’re lucky). You have your meeting, sign the contract, give the company your info, get your check. You hammer out your rewrites and your polish to get your other checks. You make sure to give your manager, lawyer and agent their fees. You set aside 30-35% for taxes.

Then you get fired. You only see about half the contracted purchase price, because the total amount was contingent on you being the sole writer through the film’s production (yes, this really is how contracts are laid out).

Think about that for a minute.

The six figure deal they offered you was based on you being the sole writer, but they already had someone lined up to take your place.

They knew they were going to fire you. That six figure deal was just a fluff package to get you to sell. They never intended on paying you more than the contracted minimum.

Let’s say that six figure deal was $250k. That shit sounded pretty good over the phone, right?

Too bad the production company only intended on paying you $125k.

Still a good chunk of change, right?

Oh, let’s not forget that you only get to see 45-52% of the money you actually made from the sale thanks to rep fees and taxes. So after everything you’re only going to see somewhere in the vicinity of $56,250.

So, of the $250k promised, you wind up with a little over $56k. Your lack of execution screwed you out of nearly $200k. Still, $56k is a decent one year salary, right? Not too bad for one script. You’ll probably get out of debt and upgrade your car or home furnishings. Cool.

Now on to that next script, right? Only one problem with that…

The industry now knows you’re a shit writer. A one-hit-wonder who had a good concept and couldn’t execute it. You’ll be lucky to get another read. Assignment work is out of the question.

Basically, your career as a screenwriter was over before it began.

If you think I’m making this up you have no idea what this industry is like. This shit happens pretty often out here.

See, while concept is king in the land of query letters, it is execution that is truly king over the screenwriting world. Without it you will never have a career as a screenwriter.

Of course, without killer concepts no one will ever see your execution in the first place. What I’m saying is that you need both if you want to get anywhere in this crazy world of ours. Concept rules the gates, but once you’re inside execution will kick your ass right back out if you don’t meet its expectations. Once that happens, execution tells concept never to let you back in. There is never a harder walk of shame.

Taking this back to the beginning of the post, the idea that no one will care about the writing if the concept is good enough (regarding movies like Crank and Shoot ‘Em Up) is absolutely absurd. If the writing was shit, they wouldn’t have made it through the door.

For starters, Crank does have a three act structure. Check it out:

PP1: The doc tells Chev he was given the “Beijing cocktail”, and that if he stops he will die (central problem stated, 14 minutes in).

Midpoint: Chev grabs his girlfriend just as the guys are coming to kill them, and now must take her with him along this crazy ride (stakes are raised, 42 minutes in).

PP2: Chev realizes that he loves his gf, and that he wants to be with her forever. At the same time, he finds out there is no antidote and that his boss is behind it all. He throws caution to the wind, becomes stronger and smarter, and heads off to defeat the bad guys (hero gets crucial piece of info that allows him to overcome adversary, 105 minutes in).

Same goes for Shoot ‘Em Up, though I’m not going to bother breaking it down right now.

While many people are blinded by the balls-to-the-wall action in these flicks, they still have plot, developed characters, and arcs.

Arcs? Really?

Yeah. Really.

Chev’s arc in crank is his realization that he loves Eve. He goes from being pissed off at her (and having a causal, dishonest relationship with her), to realizing he would do anything to stay with her (and having a serious, honest relationship with her).

In Shoot ‘Em Up, Mr. Smith follows the standard “mysterious hero” or “man with no name” character arc, which has its origins in Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op stories - specifically Red Harvest. It was then carried into film by Kurosawa with Yojimbo (an Asian interpretation of Red Harvest, which saturates the public perception of the samurai to this day). It was later brought back to the west (and westerns, specifically) in Leone’s A Fist Full of Dollars. The same arc has been revamped throughout the years, primarily in the action and western genres.

Many claim it is, in essence, the lack of an arc. I must argue that this is not the case. The mysterious hero comes into the picture and is caught up in affairs that originally had nothing to do with him. Nonetheless, he now must fight his way out to survive, and save an innocent in the process. In serving justice and preserving the life of the innocent, the mysterious hero finds contentment within his own life, however minimal it may be. Call it what you will, but it’s still an arc.

On top of that, the scripts for Crank and Shoot ‘em Up scripts were fun as hell to read. It had everything to do with the writing, and the writers understanding of the genre they were working in. It all comes down to this: A great idea gets you in the door, great writing keeps you there.

In case you think I’m full of shit, or unjustly touting the writing of people you may consider hacks, check this out:

Michael Davis (writer/director of Shoot ‘Em Up) has 10 produced scripts under his belt. Ten. Those are just the sales that got produced. If you give any merit to Blake Snyder, by these credentials you should worship this guy’s every word. “Blank Check” is hardly better than “Prehysteria! 2“, and Davis has a way stronger track record than Snyder. Hence why Snyder turned to the life or a guru for his career, and Davis is still making movies.

As for Crank, Taylor and Neveldine (the team that wrote the script) are in serious play right now. After hitting big with Crank, they got another script, Pathology, produced and released last year. They now have three more scripts coming down the production pipeline (Game and Crank 2 this year and Jonah Hex, a comic book adaptation, in ‘10). They wouldn’t be getting work like that if their writing wasn’t top notch.

You people can talk smack all you want and call the majority of what is sold and produced “crap” (and let’s be honest, most of you amateurs just loooove to do that), but the fact of the matter is that these guys know what they are doing. Think what you will, but the guys making all the money out there (like Davis, Taylor and Neveldine, who probably sleep on giant piles of cash) are better than the gurus you look up to. The proof is in the portfolio.

If you’re looking up to Blake Snyder and Syd Field, then you’re not even fucking close to being on par with the cats making all the paper.

I’m not saying that the gurus don’t have some helpful advice. Don’t misread that. I own their books just like everyone else. I’m just saying that if they were as good as the people who are still in the game, they wouldn’t be gurus.

Cats like Ted and Terry are legit. They hand out the advice for free, and they make ungodly amounts of money (Rossio, along side Marsilii, holds the record for the highest selling spec ever with Deja Vu, which sold for a little over $5 million). That is proof that they are people to listen to. Go see what they have to say about Crap-Plus-One.

The lesson? Don’t go out half-cocked. The industry will always be there. Find the great concepts. Work them over and over until you have executed them with excellence. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself an exile from the land of the pro screenwriter.

-Jonny fucking Atlas.

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