When the process of script development succeeds it is the most enjoyable and satisfying experience. Discussing stories with other creative people is an education and endlessly fascinating and feels like a huge privilege. Of course, script development may often be unsuccessful and disappointing. This chapter describes the nature of script development and offers some guidance on how to best ensure the development is a successful process.
The main problem with the ‘job’ of script development is that it isn’t written down anywhere. There is no fixed description that sets out the process or the boundaries of development work, or any useful document to refer to that can help guide us through the different scenarios we may encounter. There is no list of probable or possible situations and how best to navigate them, and often, to cap it all, lots of us ‘fall’ unprepared into the role of script developer. Though we may approach the task responsibly, if we are not clear about demarcating the roles and boundaries it may prove to be a very stressful and difficult process.
To be clear, my definition of script development is the process by which the developer works with a writer on a project with the intention of making the script better placed for the next stage, i.e. finding a producer, seeking an agent, making an application for funding, or production of the film itself. The script developer will be anyone who works on the script who is not the writer. This could be another writer, or a producer, or a director, or a script developer who may be attached to the production or the production company, the funding body or working freelance.
A developer may have started out as a producer (though often styled ‘creative producer’ rather than ‘developer’). Coming to development via producing usually means that the developer has completed at least one project such as a short film, television content or a feature film. The process of reading a story idea and then seeing it go through the various development stages to reach the screen is a very sharp and useful education in story development.
The other route to script development is to be good at script reports. Readers who write reports that are useful and valued sufficiently by either the writer or the producer become script developers when one or both ask the reader to do more detailed, face–to–face work.
The transition from writing script reports or producing content to running development meetings is a major one and should not be underestimated. Producing becomes driven by largely practical considerations and reading scripts and writing script reports is a task requiring skills in analysis and the understanding of the potential and the problems of the proposed project. The process of script development, however, is all about the writer; the developer has to productively assist the writer achieve the best potential that exists in the written script. This is the most important task of the developer, and the developer’s biggest responsibility is to create a working climate in which the writer may produce the best possible work.
The two important maxims of the development process are: (1) writing is re–writing, and (2) in rewriting, nothing is sacred. Developers have to hone and perfect two interpersonal skills to do this job well – the ability to listen and the ability to communicate clearly, as the development process is guided through meetings.
When meeting a writer for the first time, here are some points to bear in mind. First, make sure you have enough time between receiving the script and the meeting date to prepare. Find out about the background to the project: is this the first draft or has the project already been through stages of development? If so, don’t ask for earlier drafts or previous scripts, but, if a short document exists that articulates the central idea, try to obtain it. Find out the origins of the project: is it the writer’s original idea, or the producer’s? Or is it an adaptation? The answers will affect the way you approach the material. Writers will have a very different relationship to their own stories, as opposed to having being hired to do the writing.
If the story is adapted and you are not familiar with the original, you need not necessarily read, watch or research the source material. Your contribution to the process is in assessing the project as a piece of film, and knowledge of the source may be a distraction. Do research the writer, however, and find what else they have written, and read or watch it.
It is essential to read the script in one sitting so as to get a sense of the whole story. Most scripts you read will remind you of other films, and you should note these as they may be a useful topic during a meeting with the writer. If the story appears to conform to a genre that you are not especially familiar with (kids’ films, westerns, sci–fi, war films) find time to watch classics of the genre. A second reading of the script will always be worthwhile and ensure more accuracy in your notes and thinking. Remember to note good elements – a well–written character, a beautifully crafted image – as well as your reservations.
Prepare, and, if possible, memorise, the points that you believe are pertinent to the script you have read, but be flexible enough to respond to what the writer says at your meeting.
The heart of the problem in any script may often be connected with the relationship between the premise, the structure, the characters and the genre. Anyone who reads a script will be able to offer an opinion about whether or not they like it. What characterises a good developer is in offering the writer a way of understanding why and how elements of the script may not be working well. This is not the same as knowing and giving the writer the answers. In fact, try not to provide your answers because that is what the writer has to do. The developer needs to concentrate on knowing and pointing out why there is a problem. The purpose of the meeting is not to tell the writer what may not work or how to fix it, but to hold the discussion that will allow them to make the useful connections for themselves.
Do not omit to catch up with where the writer is by the time you meet; since your reading the draft, the writer has probably thought a lot more about the script and has often done further writing. Be sure to find out what work the writer thinks is required. If the writer has also noted something that you have (e.g. ‘I am struggling with the structure; I am not sure where the first act should end…’) then open the discussion there. If the writer doesn’t suggest any ways to work on the script that they have considered, then it’s up to you to raise your most important point.
Always outline possibilities in a value–free way but don’t expect immediate responses. It takes time to absorb and process change but a good writer will do so. Asking the writer what, precisely, they want the audience to feel at certain points is a good way to begin the discussion. You will be in a good position to describe the way your feelings were engaged by the script and your response should be valued by the writer. Finally, it is important to remember when writing meeting notes that they are a plan for the meeting only; you can’t plan for the development of the project – the object of the meeting is to assist the writer to do this.
Using genre as a framework for your discussion is one of the best ways to help the writer see why certain elements in the script are unsatisfactory. Referring to films that you and/or the writer see as belonging to the same genre as the script is an invaluable aid to establishing areas of agreement. This can produce an agreed way of discussing why elements of the script do and don’t work within the generic conventions. It is, of course, important not to be prescriptive. The developer’s job is to confirm the genre the writer is following and, where two or more genres may be cited, to discuss the story in the light of the conventions of both genres.
Finding out from the writer of the script where the original idea came from may be useful but not of primary importance. Often the origin of the story and the story in the script may differ. A long account of the inspiration for the idea may have very little to do with your assessment of the problems that need to be discussed. But, if you are trying to establish what matters most to the writer, enquiring about the original idea may be revealing, not just for what is important to the writer but, equally, for what is not.
Negative reactions to a script are more common than we may care to admit. It is absolutely essential that a developer does not arrive at a meeting feeling angry about the way the writer has represented some character or some topic (homeless people, or the middle classes, or dolphin–watching voyages). In particular, do not indicate how tedious and boring you found reading the script.
The fact that someone has worked to complete a draft script is assurance that it has importance and matters to them. Your job is to discover this key to the script and, as far as possible, to nurture it. All the other decisions about the events and the structure of the story, which characters are needed, who they are and how they are characterised, and where and when the story is set, should be open to question. Your job is to make sure the best choices have been made to serve that original and essential inspiration.
One approach that works well in the developer’s relationship with the writer is for the developer to relate a personal experience that chimes well with the events or the themes in the script. This can strengthen the enthusiasm and trust between developer and writer.
This happens at moments that begin with, ‘You know what? Something like that happened to me. I walked in on a conversation that I wasn’t meant to hear…’ Or, ‘I missed a ferry on a Greek island and had to find someone to take me in… ’
Basically, this involves giving something of yourself that is personal and human. You can’t plan this, and it can’t be forced, but don’t be fearful if it just happens. It is a good thing.
The main purpose of the meeting is to agree the priorities for the next stage. Although you go to the meeting being clear about what you consider needs attention first, it is important to keep your mind open to what comes up in the meeting – it may just be that something the writer says unlocks a big problem and becomes clearly the best thing to do next.
If you have been given formal requirements for the development process, these must, of course, be observed; but, if you have the freedom, it may be more useful to go on to produce an outline or a treatment rather than a full redraft as the next stage.
There are many different ways of communicating. If you are meeting with someone who doesn’t say much don’t panic about filling the silence. Similarly, if the writer doesn’t pause for breath, lob in questions that will slow them down so you can maintain your place in the process. Don’t allow the conversation to get sidetracked into discussion about particular scenes; if this is happening, steer the conversation to much more general things as it will be more productive in the end.
There are lots of apparent problems in a script that can be resolved with a camera and an edit suite but it is hard to disguise a lack of truthfulness in the premise, or a main character whose actions are implausible.At the beginning of a meeting with a writer–director make it clear that the job of development is to get the story right. The director and producer will make the latter–stage changes to the script to get it ready to be filmed and this will be made far easier if the development has been carried out really well.
It is important with co–writers to spend a bit of time finding out how they work together – literally who does the typing, how often they can get together, when did they meet, have they done other projects together. If both are equally inspired and committed it shouldn’t make any difference if you have one or two writers in the meeting.
The meeting ends with a reiteration of the agreed priorities for the next stage of the development process. If the priorities are as you anticipated in your preparation, all well and good, but if some other issue arose at the meeting (or even subsequently), make sure you note it for when you meet again, which may be some time later. Deadlines must be precise and jointly agreed and you should confirm whether or not your brief allows you to be available to the writer for further discussion. From the developer’s point of view, it would be unfriendly to say, ‘Don’t speak to me until we next meet in January.’ The developer should be in a position to offer to clarify points or discuss possibilities that occur to the writer. The situation to avoid is having the writer use you as a ‘permission person’ or as a distraction from progressing the development. The writer should leave the meeting absolutely clear about what to do next.
Once a script is in development it is possible to enter a situation where the developer has to steer the project between the various, and often competing, demands of the team involved in it.
To do this the developer needs to know what the competing demands are. Typically, an actor has a fixed and limited window in which he or she can read the script, but the writer or director is still not happy with the draft; or the producer wants to bring in a new or additional writer; or the director has quite a different approach to the story–world from the writer. There is no easy way to calm such troubled waters but the developer is well placed in these situations to negotiate and offer solutions, effectively working for everyone, the developer’s only priority being the script.
Another important role of the developer is to champion the project and the writer to the people and organisations who may enable the film to be produced. The developer needs to be able to talk skilfully about both the writer and the project in a way that excites interest. Many writers may find it hard to speak (as opposed to write) about themselves or their project in an interesting way. One reason for this is that the writer has been working on the idea, if not the script, for years, and the original simplicity of its meaning has been lost. Writers will commonly enthuse over their latest addition to the script, which, out of the context of the last draft, appears nonsensical.
Another reason to do this, though, is to gain the respect of the industry so that your opinions are trusted. Good developers are hard to find, and building a little reputation, just one good producer who really values what you think, will raise your own standing and that of development in general. This also holds true when you are talking about films. It is really important not to express negativity or hate them. If they didn’t work for you, use your skills to figure out what was missing, or why it was boring, and talk analytically rather than critically.
It is common to hear new writers talk about development hell. In fact, this term refers to the point when a script is put into ‘turnaround’, i.e.the script is available, but encumbered by the prior development costs. However, the term is used by writers to mean that they are struggling!
It is a very valuable experience for a writer to have a script in development, and, however difficult it seems, to describe the process as hell is wrong. Of course, if it wasn’t so difficult, everyone would write film scripts. The writer’s responsibility in the development process is to consider all suggestions with an open mind; to respect the experience that is being offered and not to be negative.
Developers should never overinvest in a project; it’s not your job to lie awake worrying about a script problem, or to email every thought you have about it, or to research everything there is to know on kidnapping in Russia, or cotton–picking in the deep South. And you certainly don’t have to mourn the end of a project if it doesn’t go into production. Most projects don’t! It is still a really fun, creative, demanding and rewarding job if you can balance your levels of involvement well.
A couple of years ago I was running a workshop with the Israel Film Fund and one evening our group went to a Bedouin settlement in the heart of the West Bank to a makeshift cinema for a screening of a film called The Lemon Tree. This tells a simple story about a Palestinian widow, Salma, whose lemon orchard has become a sniper security risk to the new Israeli Defence Minister, who has moved into a new home behind it, and the order is given to cut the orchard down. Salma takes on the might of the Israeli government to challenge the decision and, in the process, has an affair with her young, handsome lawyer. At the screening there were five young Palestinian village girls, maybe 14 or 15 years old who, I was told, had never seen a film before. As it began they went quiet, and didn’t move a muscle as they watched the character assert her human and moral rights, and express her sexuality with passion. I don’t know what the girls were thinking and feeling but they were completely engaged and I am certain they will never forget that experience and how something significant changed for them that day.
Film is such a powerful storytelling medium. Our privileged access in the West means we may catch a nap or check our emails during a screening, and it is really shocking and humbling to be reminded that it matters.
The aim of this book is to help improve the quality of screenplays available internationally, quite simply because all our stories matter.