How many drafts does a script go through in general before it goes into
production?
Officially, the WGA recognizes story and revised story, draft, two revisions
and a production polish as the standard MOW writing steps. (6 steps total).
There is always debate as to what specifically constitutes a polish (e.g.,
how much work is involved) and sometimes the production polish may be used
as a step and an additional polish during pre-production is purchased
independently. Frequently the production company will ask the writer for
minor changes before submitting the official draft to the network.
During
production colored pages are churned out daily, even with scripts that
change in indiscernable ways. These are minor changes which may not involve
the writer, dealing with location specifics or names which may have legal
clearance problems. You rarely hear the song "Happy Birthday" in a film
even when a writer scripts it. It is copyrighted material and is not public
domain until (I'm guessing here) 2006. You frequently hear the song "For
S/he's A Jolly Good Fellow" which is in the public domain and no one really
sings in real life but frequently does at birthdays in TV. Writers may fix
a line of dialogue which doesn't quite play. Sometimes a writer will be
called to approve a suggested specific change. The WGA protects the writer's
efforts (as they should) and allows very specific changes without the
writer's consent.
Sometimes a troubled script or rush job (usually a true
story in competition with a rival network's version of the same story) may
be written while being shot. Not always the best experience in the world,
but it happens. I did a true story once that was ordered as soon as the
word "Guilty" was out of the judge's mouth and we were writing throughout
the entire production. The Director did the rewrite, which was great, but
that film was about six years ago and I suspect he's still catching up on
his sleep. A true story, a network staple, has a million legal issues to
deal with. Before shooting, text that has passed creative muster must also be approved by lawyers and standards departments as well as insurance
companies protecting the film from lawsuits (Errors and Omissions or "E&O"). It's a lot of work, and a lot of cost to write as you shoot. It happens, though.
Back to the questions
Do you usually work with the original writer all the way through? Is it
common to bring another writer in?
I am very proud of having worked on over 60 films at the network and
replacing only one writer (over differing creative sensibilities) in the
entire course of that. There were two cases where the writers asked to be
replaced for various reasons. Both were true stories and in one case the
writer was exhausted by the massive requirements of a very high concept
fact-based story based on a rather notorious scandal involving some very famous
people. The other had to do with the actor attached to play a glamorous
period Hollywood biography. She was concerned about dialogue that she felt
wasn't working. I told her I did not want to give up on the writer but
named the writer I knew would come to the rescue if necessary (having
already discussed this with the dialogue polish writer). I also told the
original writer, whom I enjoyed working with, that there were specifics our
star was looking for. At the end the writer said he felt comfortable being
rewritten on the dialogue. (Whether this writer was being honest or
gracious I don't know, but I felt pure respect for him and would happily
work with him again, this being a business of reputations. I don't know if
he would work with me again, but he made me feel he would and I consider
the experience honorable all around.) I felt this was proof of my basic
belief that honesty, is indeed the best policy.
I don't like to replace
writers. I believe the writer/producer relationship is a creative marriage
and it behooves both parties to learn how to share the blanket, which is
also in the best interests of the children (the film).
Back to the questions
As producer, how much impact do you have on the script? Do you ever
rewrite them yourself?
I'm a producer, not a writer, and don't presume to do the task of someone
else. As the producer, however, my creative sensibility has tremendous
impact because (everyone, in unison please) MOWs are a producer's medium. I
will work with the writer as much as they want to while they are writing. I
will meet at great length to talk about scenes that I would like to see in
the film, long after I have hired the writer based on my conceptual
thoughts on the film (e.g., the statement I would like to have the film
make must be the guiding premise in the film. When in doubt, revert to the
concept. It would be foolish of me to hire a writer who doesn't see my
concept in the material. That's why I insist on meeting with writers before
recommending to the network.) I am available around the clock for a writer
in need, and will check in while they are working since the story is
critical and the first draft will take the writer 4-6 weeks to write.
I am
very awe-struck by the onerous task of filling over a hundred blank pages
with black markings that make sense and would never presume to interfere
with someone's process. If I were a writer, I would want to work with a
producer like me, but if I wanted to write a MOW I would have to find
someone else to produce the script. We have our assigned roles, partly in
order to create a forum for appropriate response and criticism.
I wouldn't
mind writing but have no idea if I have the aptitude. I wrote a sit-com
pilot once because I felt it was important to try to fill those pages. I
trained in theatre and like to work with creative people. That's the only
reason I do this for a living. If I didn't love being part of a
collaborative creative process, I wouldn't do it. If I didn't do this, I
would take a non-emotionally-involving or time-consuming job and trade in
the spare time for a great time working in theatre (even community theatre)
and a personal life; both of which I have had to give up large chunks of in
order to do something I seem to be compelled to do. I believe that's the
only reason to be in the arts. Success is luck and timing and a lot of
preparation. Art, on the other hand, is a noble bondage. If you can free
yourself from it, by all means, you should.
Back to the questions
MOWs seem to have changed over the years. You don't see many "Execution
of Pvt. Slovik" or "Bang the Drum Slowly" kinds of films now; they seem to
be more "reality-based" and even tabloidy. Do you agree? If so, what
accounts for the change?
I agree with the fact that MOWs have changed; but you're also citing
examples of a form in its early days and commenting on what has happened to
it since. While I think many Network TV MOWs have become more reality
based, I think they have always been tabloidy (e.g., exploitive). I haven't
seen a film with"Centerfold" or "Portrait Of A ..." in the title, for
instance since the highest rated NBC film of 1982 was called "Policewoman
Centerfold", and I don't think teen prostitution movies have changed all
that much since "Dawn, Portrait of a Runaway" or "Off the Minnesota Strip".
The forum is extremely topical and issue driven. "A Case Of Rape", the
first major rape-themed TV movie seems a little parochial today; its
message: rape victims are victimized continually through the process of
recovery from the assault. The very real issues of that film have been
superceded because of public awareness of victimization and the rights of
victims to compassionate treatment. The public awareness exists in part
because of MOWs which reflect specific issues and attitudes about them. I
don't know if "Shogun" would work today, but the success of "Gulliver's
Travels" indicates a marketplace for epic literature. (The networks are
developing movies and mini-series based on "The Odyssey", "The Time
Machine" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" for example, partly in
imitation of the success of Gulliver.)
The market is changing and often
finds new success in its old forms. There are over 150 original MOWs made
each year for a growing number of venues (original movies are on CBS, NBC,
ABC and FBC, but add to the mix: Family Channel, Disney Cable, Lifetime,
USA, HBO, Showtime, TNT as well as A&E [for which I am producing an
original 2-hour movie], PBS and any number of other outlets I'm forgetting.
And consider that the more personal stories have found smaller niche
markets. This year, Lifetime, for instance, did Jessica Savitch, middle
class heroin use, a Nazi resistance film among their originals; HBO did
Rasputin, "The Late Show", "Marilyn and Norma Jean" and TNT did their epic
Westerns and "The Heidi Chronicles", among other films. Add "Gulliver's
Travels", "The Beast", the many Larry McMurtry westerns and, of course, the
true crimes to the familiar stories of stolen babies, battered women and
rapes and you have a pretty varied program.
I would say network audience
erosion has made the need to play safe more significant as the advertisers
balk at increased costs for lower numbers. I would say NBC's movie
franchise has been very successful at creating a marketplace for films
about young girls in roles that were traditionally played by an older
leading lady - on NBC, it seems Tori Spelling, Kelli Martin, Candace
Cameron, Melissa Joan Hart are tending to play roles that CBS tends to cast
with Judith Light, Lindsay Wagner, Marlo Thomas, Cheryl Ladd, Patty Duke
and the late Elizabeth Montgomery and Lee Remick. There is still event TV.
This year there were films with Jessica Lange, Kathleen Turner, Ted Danson,
Lou Gossett, Jr., Maureen O'Hara (!) Lolita Davidovitch and any number of
people I'm forgetting. I occasionally get dispirited by what seems to be a
sameness in the product I'm involved in but the truth is my development and
production right now consists of a best-selling spiritual book, a pulp
fiction piece from the 50s, a "these are the times we live in" true crime
(in the tradition of a successful film I worked on a couple years ago, "A Friend To Die For" based on a Rolling Stone Article called "Death of A
Cheerleader"), a family drama, a totally fictional piece I wrote the concept
for and a thriller based on unknown but
contemporary crime technology. As someone who plays even money to keep
myself working, the mix is more heartening than disheartening. I love each
of the projects for different reasons and when I look at them individually,
I really can tell them apart.
Back to the questions
What is the ballpark figure paid for the rights to an average true story?
It depends, since there is no average figure. A story a lot of people are
chasing will go for more than a story you find. I've seen rights designated
different ways. If someone's are the only rights necessary to tell a story,
a TV Movie will probably pay them between 25,000 and 50,000 if the movie is
made, with some percentage of the money traditionally paid to option the
rights and the large payment saved until the film is made. Most rights deals
assume the first year is a percentage which may be applied to the purchase
price, while the second year is non-applicable at the same rate. Thus a
40,000 rights purchase for a story that took more than one (but less than
two) years to develop into a film with a 10% payment structure would end up
costing the producers 44,000, paid as follows: 4,000 (10% applicable to the
40,000 purchase price, leaving 36,000 when the film was made) plus the non
applicable 4,000 for the second year and the balance of 36,000 paid when
the film either went into production or wrapped production.
Deals are
flexible and involve many issues. At the end of the day, the network is
going to a pay a fixed rate for the picture, so the goal is to spend less
money for things that don't show on screen and try to get as much on the
film as possible. Sometimes additional rights may be required so you want
to leave yourself some room in the rights payment category to cover
additional rights, or transcript costs (for a trial) or consulting fees for
experts, etc.
Back to the questions
What does a network pay, on average, for a MOW script?
The network will start an unproduced writer with the WGA minimum for
two-hour broadcast network MOW fees. (The Guild has rates for every length
and type of programming you can use a writer for.) There are different
rates for different kinds of writing: adaptation of books, research-based
scripts, etc. A writer is also given a production bonus, which is usually
the essence of a complicated negotiation for a writer and, frequently, a fly
in the ointment. The WGA minimum is around 42,500 for a MOW, but I haven't
looked at minimums in a while so please assume this as a ballpark figure.
The WGA will happily provide the exact information but be prepared to know
exactly what the project is. A network will increase the writer's price by
degree, based on the success rate of the writer and how frequently the
writer works. Sometimes one network will not recognize what another network
has paid a writer as a cost determinant. Frequently a network will reuse a
writer, which can make it difficult if you are trying to get them work at
another network. WGA also guarantees residual payments for the life of a
film. I have no idea how residual structure works for writers.
Back to the questions
Is an annotated script required for true-story MOWs? If so, is its
submission required before or after the deal is made?
Annotated scripts are required for fact-based. I will ask each network for
the current annotation guidelines as soon as a film is put into development
and give the guidelines to the writers as soon as they are hired.
Annotation is required in part for standards: the networks each decide what
the accreditation of "A true story" (almost never used unless pure
transcript is being used), "Based on a true story" (a very hard designation
to get), "Inspired by a True story", "Inspired or suggested by Actual
Events", etc. Audiences like watching stories that have something in them
that they perceive as real and the networks need to protect their ability
to tell the audience what it is getting.
Legal departments are
understandably worried about the network's financial and legal
responsibility with respect to what they say about people who have a right
to protect themselves from being defamed in front of millions of viewers.
Although E&O coverage protects a producer from massive settlements, the
networks are concerned about people going after the vast financial
resources of the network, or even expensive nuisance suits. Annotation is
indeed part of a fact-based writer's obligations. I'm doing one now for
which the writer has kept the notes but has a deal protecting him/her from
actually having to do the annotation. FBC required substantial annotation
on SBTL, which although based on a book had to substantiate claims it made
about the central character's two clinical deaths as well as about
characters portrayed within the film. It might seem otherwise, but the requirements of docudrama are massive, and somehow, so are
the latitudes of storytelling even when done within the context of these
requirements.
Back to the questions
How much time elapses, on average, between a network's purchase of the
rights to a true story and the airing of the completed MOW?
The nice thing about MOWs is that they usually take about a year to make. If it
isn't made in the year, or at least clearly headed towards production,
something's rotten. So why the second year option? Because I've had the
material for some time before submitting it to the network, during which
time I've played with it and shaped it into what I hope will be saleable form.
The network may spend time considering the project. (In one case of a film
I'm now doing, the network waited seven months before putting it into
development.) Then the writer search begins - usually a two month process.
Then the writing period. Figure four weeks of preliminary research on a fact
based, involving the trip and the sorting of facts. Figure another 4-6
weeks to turn that into a story. If there are notes on the story (remember,
this is the critical step, in my mind), figure another 4-6 weeks for
revisions. In between these steps, also figure a week of my notes before
turning it into the network. Figure 6 to 10 weeks for first draft, plus my
week for notes before turning it into the network and figure 4-6 weeks for
the two revisions. Separate and apart from that, try and schedule a meeting
with a group of people who are doing their jobs, taking their vacations,
handling their crises and add another 6 weeks of random time. If the film
is ordered, it's going to take at least a month to agree on how much the
film will cost/be licensed at and to cast the lead. Add eight weeks of
pre-production (ideal, but frequently as few as six, during which locations are
found, crews are hired, script is polished, non-leading roles cast, etc.),
add another 4-5 weeks total production and eight weeks minimum post-production. Then the movie is aired and over in two hours.
At the network, by the way, I
had 75 such projects in development at one time, took as many pitches each
week, and supervised, in a single year, as many as 23 pictures (and that
year I simultaneously exec produced "Fall From Grace: Jim and Tammy Bakker"
for the network's in-house company). Most writers who have done a few
pictures are doing more than one simultaneously, and as a producer I've
got about 40 sets of stories at any given minute that I'm trying to sell, while
developing my films that the networks have said yes to. You do the math,
because I get confused.
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