A Manifesto of Sorts

Ever get the feeling, as you’re leaving your local multiplex, that something was "off"? No, not the large popcorn you snarfed down before the previews were over. I mean, off about the movie. Perhaps it wasn't outright terrible, but it left you unsatisfied. The actors might have been fine, the direction and editing snappy, the cinematography beautiful. And yet, something didn't come together. Want to know the reason?

It's the script, stupid.

Or the opposite. You switch on the TV one afternoon and get sucked into a movie or show. Your friends call, your cat whines for attention, but you just can’t turn the thing off. And when it’s over, you think to yourself: "Self, what a great flick!" Sure, the direction was pedestrian and the lead actor a tad bland. But you had a great time. Why is that, you ask?

It's the script, stupid.

In recent months, you can't open a newspaper, magazine, or website remotely connected to the entertainment industry, without being blasted with the news that the business is in crisis. Box office receipts are down. Studios are going broke. People simply aren't going to the movies anymore, at least not in the numbers they once did. Why is that?

Conventional wisdom says we live in an over-saturated media environment. Video-games, the internet, even books(!) clamor for our attention, and consequently our entertainment dollars are spread thinner.

Is conventional wisdom right? An abundance of media-choices is a factor, yes, but not the whole story. There've been crises before, before YouTube and Wii's, so we can't blame everything on them. Ultimately, I think the reason is the same now as it ever was:

It's the scripts, stupid.

When the Studio VP can't understand why Saw 17 didn't make money...

When the indie-auteur laments that My Navel and the Lint Within It couldn't find an audience...

When the network exec is surprised the buzzy new show got canceled after 3 episodes...

The reason is always the same. Altogether now: It's the script, stupid!

There's no greater factor for a movie or show’s success – both artistic and financial – than its script. That's true regardless of genre, budget, or country of origin. It's the script, the script, the script. Stupid.

While it's perfectly possible to take a good script and make a crappy movie/show out of it, it's next to impossible to make a good movie out of something that's fundamentally flawed to begin with.

And that's the kicker: The script is done first! Before actors are cast, sets constructed, and millions of dollars spent, there's just those 120 pages of paper. It's cheaper and easier (not to mention possible) to fix problems at the script-stage than later on. Yet time and again, movies and shows are rife with problems that appear to have been there from the beginning and never got fixed. And that’s all our loss. Just as it’s our gain when a rock solid script – naturally – hits us right in the gut.

These are the notions I'll explore in this blog. It’s intended primarily for writers (including wanna-bes like myself), but hopefully others will find it interesting as well. I'll try not to digress too much. Hope you'll stick with me, when I do.