Brigitta Manthey

successful

RUN, LOLA RUN by Tom Tykwer (1998)

successful

GOOD BYE, LENIN! by Wolfgang Becker (2003)

successful

THE LIVES OF OTHERS

by Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck (2006)

successful

RABBIT WITHOUT EARS

by Til Schweiger (2007)

successful

THE WHITE RIBBON by Michael Haneke (2009)

Wanna be successful?

…but what is a good script?

• „nobody knows anything“ ! ?

• everything is subject to individual taste ! ?

• a good story is an original story ! ?

• dramaturgical craftsmanship or anti-structure ?

• identity or meaning ?

• …and what is it about the communication with an audience???

there are three rules to a good script - but nobody knows one of them (Paul Schrader)

1. beginning is unclear, complicated & does not get you into the story

2. protagonist is too passiv

3. sagging second act does not advance to the third act

4. ending is too sudden or too explicative or still open

5. facts are lacking research

6. story is too complex, overcharged, wants to please everybody & everyone

7.  dialogues – too many / too bad

8.  nothing new - ‚we had it all before!‘

8 reasons for rejection

nobody knows anything…

with lack of competence & waiver of quality check…

…. what do we get?

• misconceptions or pseudo-communication about filmprojects

• absence of talks about optimization of a script

• wrong diagnosis of a script with financial risk

• a product left to mere chance

let‘s get the opinion of funders…

a good script

…so what is a good script?

a good script is not everything, but without a good script everything is nothing! (unknown author)

is emotionalis locigalknows it‘s rulesworks with people!

some facts in business

filmstories are the raw-material & the key currency of the film businessa promise to a latter filmnot exclusively artistic, but also an economic product

• no product is offered to a market without a quality-check!

• products with quality-check sell better!

… and some more facts

there is no routine in the filmbusiness

filmmaking is teamwork, but business-people‘s know-how is heterogenious

the relation of scripwriter & producer is important

there is a interlocking of development & production processes

• money is the foodstuff of film let‘s think strategically!

• what is quality? - it can be planed!

here we have a nice script!

• is it a good idea & a strong concept for a filmstory?

• is the story logical & emotional?

• does it follow rules?

• is it standard or something else?

• does it communicate?

• can it be summarized it in two or three sentences?

• potential for cinema or television or both?

• potential for larger or smaller audiences? (best represented by the theme)

• is it a good script?

to determine the quality of a script is far reaching & difficult, but also with all chances

the quality of a script can not be objectively measured or ultimately prooved

check and double check

you have been working for long on a script?

writer, co-writer, dramaturg, producer know exactly what they want & know their project by heart?

but there is this uneasy feeling …

have a bird fly over it & have a good look on the whole!

the reader‘s report – what is it?

first & most objective, easy attainable assessment of a filmscript at a certain point of time

quality check & decision aid along professional standards, applied to individual materials for a script

3 to 4 page-expertise of an independent reader

with a

summary

examination & evaluation

final rating

3 to 4 pages

for whom?

on the desks of producers & editors usually unsolicited sent in scripts pile up…

financiers & distributors want to sort out the promising idea sketch from an only feasable skript…

actor‘s agents look for leading roles in quality-scripts – strong, cool, hipp & relevant 

writers

directors

producers

dramaturgs

editors

financiers

funders

distributors

banks

agents

(audiences!)

at any step to a final script

idea

story outline

treatment

step outline

first draft

further drafts

director‘s draft

final script (shooting-script)

front page

résumé of content

detailed commentary

reader‘s standard questionnaire

reader‘s standard questionnaire

types of reader‘s reports

1. reader‘s report

2. second opinion

3. reader‘s report in comparison

4. reader‘s report for legal purposes

5. Story-Notes

6. advanced reader‘s report

reader‘s standard for story notes

max. 5 Pages

no synopsis

a technical listing of things – no elegant prosa

clear structure, easy reading

What decision-makers want to know:

not only identification of problems, but rather radical solutions

how does the film work in the head of scriptwriter or producer

what is his vision for the film?

10 chances of a reader‘s report

1. avoids blindness to the shortcomings in one‘s work & possible disappointment

2. triggers necessary irritation

3. initiates discussion & new directions of thinking and developing

4. considers the marketability of a project

5. serves as argumentation aid

6. best at the intersection of writer, producer, editor & funder

7. safety net for decisions in a company or institution

8. ready made information – also for subsequent use

9. saves money & life-time

10.easy to get & for little coin!

last not least: 3 truths

Personal choices and feelings are the elements of the

creative process, which is unique to every screenwriter, and

to each and every screenplay and filmproject!

(Philip Parker)

You are an artist now and then, but you have to be a

craftsman all the time!

(Andrej Wajda)

If you have 10 readers read your script , you will get 10

different opinions !

(unknown)

contact

www.medienboard.de