New technologies mean that filmmakers now may have a hand in production and distribution. You can now write, produce, edit, and find a distributor for your own film, without having to resort to third parties. I don’t need to tell you how empowering this is, but in acting as your own mini-production company, there are pitfalls. The most relevant one is quality control.
Yes, I know that Hollywood churns out a lot of mediocre movies every year. Nevertheless, in the traditional old model of filmmaking, in order to get a script made, it has to pass through a lot of desks. Professional script readers were the first hurdle to clear. However much we may bitch about this system, those readers provide an experienced, objective, and (brutally) honest feedback on a screenwriter’s skill. Whatever we may say about the finished films, in essence, those readers represent quality control. Fine, so even clearing that hurdle doesn’t necessarily mean that your movie will eventually be made, but at least it proves that your writing (and your script) has reached a professional level. The story is good, no, it’s probably fantastic. The structure is solid. Either way, if you get a Recommend, you know your script is good — no, actually, it’s probably freakin’ great.
Sure, the notes you might get from producers might be mindless, capricious, or – worse – threatened to destroy a finely-wrought script’s integrity. But the fact that the script had to be vetted by so many experienced people meant that even if the finished movie was mediocre, the script itself had to be workable.
Now, eliminate all those sets of eyes reading a script, and, yes, we have more creative control, but we’re also at risk of losing objectivity – to the detriment of our project. We may think our character is wacky when really she’s coming off as dangerously insane. We may think that the fight scene crackles with escalating tension when it actually reads like vaudevillian slapstick. In other words, without the hurdles of multiple objective readers, we may end up believing that our script is fantastic when it’s not. Then we may end up going ahead and shooting it, and end up with a movie that sucks. Ever meet a kid with a mug only a mother could love? Trust me. You don’t want to be the cinematic equivalent of that love-blind Momma.
“But,” you counter, “I made sure to give the script to others. And they loved it!” I believe you. I just hope that doesn’t mean your grandma (unless she’s Pauline Kael and you’ve sent her your script via Ouija board). You owe it to yourself as a writer to seek the opinions of colleagues and people you’d consider your target audience. The latter is not for marketing purposes, by the way. The only way to become a great writer is to learn how to control your material; is your writing affecting people the way you think it does? You can learn how to format a script, how to craft a scene, how to write lifelike dialogue, but are your scenes hitting the intended emotional notes?
After these trusted third parties have read your work and you’ve incorporated their notes, go one better: submit your script to contests and services that provide professional feedback. The BlueCat Screenplay Competition, for instance, will give you two sets of notes from two different readers in the industry. As far as I’m concerned, this is GOLD, whether or not I place in the quarterfinals. It’s one thing for people who know me to find my script funny; but if two nameless industry readers laugh at my jokes, then I can stop worrying that I’m being delusional about comedy chops. By the same token, if they tell me something ISN’T working, I better pay attention. This goes double if the two make similar comments.
The point of this post is not to push the advantages of professional coverage services; it’s to remind you that just because you’re your own de facto producer, you can’t afford to be deluded about the quality of your work. A mediocre script leads to a bad movie, one with your name on it. Whether that movie gets a handful of viewings on YouTube or downloads on iTunes, it’s a step toward establishing your reputation. You don’t know who’ll see it and be impressed by it, or where it may lead.