Writing and Selling Drama Screenplays Read online

  The UK has a rich history of drama in terms of produced content. Since our little island frequently wins both international recognition and awards for its drama, I have attempted to ensure the films chosen for the case studies in this book are predominantly British. I have also included ‘non-typical’ characters and makers in terms of age, race and gender, including (but not limited to) female directors where possible. Here are my loglines for the projects I will discuss:

  The Short Film

  Cancer Hair (2014). A young woman, in remission from cancer and wearing a wig, attempts to go on a blind date but comes unstuck.

  The True Story

  Saving Mr Banks (2013). All about the battle of wills between Walt Disney and author PL Travers over the rights and adaptation of the classic novel, Mary Poppins.

  The Enlightenment Story

  Dear Frankie (2004). A single mother writes letters to her son, pretending they are from his dad who she says is away at sea. When ‘his’ ship docks in their town, however, she is forced to hire a stranger to play the role of Frankie’s father.

  The Morality Tale

  Kidulthood (2006). After the suicide of a fellow student, a group of teenagers get the day off school, which ends with violence, mayhem and even murder.

  The Portmanteau Story

  Night People (2005). Told over the course of one night, a selection of people must make a decision that changes their lives forever.

  The Coming Out/Coming of Age Story

  Beautiful Thing (1996). When a young teenage boy’s abused neighbour comes to stay, the two lads experience new feelings and realise why neither of them has ever quite fitted in with their peers.

  The Responsibility Story

  Hours (2013). Newly widowed, a lone father has to keep his premature daughter alive in an incubator in a hospital that has no power and limited supplies due to Hurricane Katrina.

  The Family Drama

  Rocketboy (Unproduced). An old man recounts his childhood building rockets with his grandfather, detailing how he fell in love along the way.

  As you will see, I have also tried to make sure that most of the case studies (and other produced dramas I mention) are relatively recent. The industry is constantly in a state of flux, plus many column inches online and in other books have been dedicated to ‘classic’ dramas (accounting in part perhaps for why screenwriters end up recycling ‘old’ material or tropes and writing ‘movies of movies’, rather than letting personal experience drive their stories). Last of all, I also felt all the works here were made well and were interesting! But even if you do not care for the individual movies or their subject matters, I still recommend you watch the works cited here (again, if necessary), to gain the most insight possible from this book and avoid the usual traps so many drama spec screenplays fall into.

  YOUR OWN DRAMA SCREENPLAYS

  It should be noted that, whilst I have concentrated on feature-length drama screenplays in the writing of this book, this is because there is, in my opinion, a significant dearth in the spec pile of authentic drama features with non-clichéd characters and non-samey stories! I would venture that drama feature screenplays achievable on budgets of £500,000 (or lower) offer significant opportunities for writers to attract producers and filmmakers. However, an individual writer’s format preference will obviously be their own, and the key element of drama – an emotional, well-conceived, character-led story with light AND shade – lends itself to short film, TV pilots and web series just as easily. So whatever route you choose to go for, keep in mind the ‘essence’ of good drama from the case studies I’ve chosen, rather than believing that movies are somehow different, because they’re not. And, whatever you do, NEVER attempt to tick boxes – miserable character (CHECK!); miserable life (CHECK!); miserable story world (CHECK!) – in the hope of satisfying a producer or filmmaker out there who wants some dire, depressing screenplay, because they DON’T!

  But what do they want? Let’s find out…

  WRITING VERSUS SELLING

  WRITING DRAMA SCREENPLAYS

  ‘Low-budget drama’ is a phrase that may invoke trepidation in any script reader, producer, exec, agent or filmmaker. Why? Because, too often, writers will mean the following when pitching their drama:

  ‘A miserable character leads a miserable life THEN DIES (or worse)!’

  The story will frequently include extremely two-dimensional, clichéd characters and other storytelling elements (poor people living in sinkhole estates is the favourite). Never underestimate how many writers are churning out the same-old, same-old, with little chance for innovation. Yet, in my experience, writers are extremely reluctant to confront this about their own drama screenplays. Whilst, obviously, no one wants to accept they’ve conceived a stereotypical story with rubbish characters, the level of self-delusion some writers indulge in can be total. ‘But if I’ve written it, then it’s my unique voice! Surely that will carry my story through?’ they might insist.

  No! A million times, no. These are the facts: not only will it take not writing ‘the usual’ to get you noticed; drama screenplays have to be about SO MUCH MORE than concrete shitholes, teenage mums and drug dealer boyfriends. You need only look around your local DVD store (if it still exists!) to confirm this. There’s simply no excuse for dropping storytelling cliché clangers. But that’s the bad news. The good news is, it’s the same as writing any other kind of spec screenplay. YOU’RE the writer! You can write about whatever you want, just so long as it’s within the parameters of a great story that’s fresh and original, with characters who feel real, confronting issues, scenarios and problems that seem authentic and relevant to your target audience. And the second bit of good news? You’re not the first writer and/or filmmaker to tread this ground, hence the drama case studies here! I have broken down what we can learn from each one into two parts – ‘write tips’ and ‘selling points’ – at the end of each case study.

  SELLING DRAMA SCREENPLAYS

  This is the thing: you probably won’t get rich off a produced drama screenplay (well, you probably won’t get rich off any one screenplay, to be quite honest, especially outside LA). But whilst it is at least possible to get paid actual money for the most marketable, high-concept, spec genre screenplays (especially comedy, horror and thriller), there is a strong likelihood you will be paying your OWN money out to get your drama screenplay produced. Yes, you read that right. The sad fact of the matter is, produced drama content is frequently a ‘labour of love’ for all involved: writer, producer, director… sometimes even the named talent starring in them! Michelle Williams was a huge star at a young age in the nineties thanks to teen-angst TV drama series Dawson’s Creek. Even before her Oscar nominations for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and My Week with Marilyn (2011), she ‘just knew’ she had to star in Blue Valentine (2010), no matter what. ‘[It] took years to get off the ground and I was able to stick with it,’ she later told Lynn Hirschberg in W magazine. ‘I first read the script when I was 21, 22, and it became my reason for being for the longest time. When I ran into Ryan [Gosling], he said, “What about that movie?” I was surprised; I thought Blue Valentine existed only in my head. Until he said that, I was worried it wasn’t quite as good as I had thought. He validated my reaction.’

  On this basis, then, I will not be talking in this book about selling drama screenplays the ‘traditional’ way because the sad reality is, if it’s still hard for filmmakers to get their drama productions made with the likes of Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling attached, then the rest of us mere mortals have to think even MORE creatively to get ours made, sold and out there! What’s more, Williams hits the nail on the head when it comes to getting people – producers, filmmakers, investors, even distributors – on board our own drama screenplays when she says, ‘I was worried [Blue Valentine] wasn’t quite as good as I thought.’

  It’s really important to remember that the key strength of a well-written drama screenplay is the personal nature of its story, but it can also be its ma
in weakness. Genre screenplays with strong hooks may immediately speak to the fears or desires of mass audiences and thus ‘sell them off the page’ in just a sentence or two, the very definition of ‘high-concept’. In comparison, it’s much harder to do the same for even the best-written drama screenplays. Dramas by their very nature are those kinds of stories about the minutiae of life, so reducing them to grass-roots level in the same way as a genre screenplay may make those stories seem puzzling to others or, at worst, even dull. With just a logline, and without the opportunity to walk industry pros through the characters, their world views and one’s own motivation for wanting to write and make such a screenplay (not to mention what the audience might get out of it), it’s extremely unlikely that a writer will be able to interest others in their idea. But my purpose here is NOT to depress writers and say it can’t be done, because it obviously can! But you DO have to make it happen for yourself and for your work, arguably even more than you would with a genre screenplay.

  So forget about the traditional channels and methods. Instead, you will need to work on a number of things, all of them obvious, the first being the story and characters. Whilst ALL spec screenplays must stand head and shoulders above the rest in terms of story and characters (not to mention compete with producers’ own ideas for stories!), at a grass-roots level it’s arguably ‘concept’ that’s key to a sale when genre writing. As unpopular as it is to admit it, many genre movies with underwritten stories and paper-thin characters DO get made, and audiences often flock to see them. This is not because audiences are stupid, or even easily pleased, but because they are attracted to different produced content for different reasons. It is well known that a person (especially one who is not a writer or involved in the industry) may watch a movie with an underdeveloped story and/or characters because s/he is primarily interested in the spectacle of it, especially when it comes to Hollywood blockbusters. People may watch a movie for curiosity or nostalgia’s sake, too: this is why remakes, reboots and movies about children’s toys are also popular. When it comes to low-budget genre screenplays, indie filmmakers obviously don’t have the luxury of being able to realise their vision on as grand a scale. However, they CAN still indulge their audiences’ desire for spectacle in ways that do not cost much money. The most obvious example is the horror genre, particularly so-called ‘torture porn’. Audiences who enjoy the extreme suffering of people on screen often don’t care whether those characters are well developed; the audience just wants to see gore. Other low-budget horrors and some thrillers, especially the supernatural kind, may create similar levels of fear via suspense, making their audiences jump via techniques commonly used in found footage- type stories.

  In comparison, then, a drama screenplay – whether it’s ten thousand or ten million pounds’ worth (or even more!) – is ALWAYS a much harder sell from the offset, which is why its characters and story must be absolutely watertight. When there are more spec screenplays and projects in development than could EVER be made, with millions more being written every single day, your characters and story must ROCK to be even in with a chance of catching someone’s attention. This is because just about everyone in the industry, big or small, has a ‘great idea’ for a drama, a passion project, something they want to do even though everyone else might tell them they’re CRAZY. So, that’s the first hurdle writers have to jump: they have to persuade others they should make THEIR passion project, instead of their own. The second hurdle: is YOUR project as ‘good’ as you think it is? Remember Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. They might have loved Blue Valentine, but until it was actually made, no one on that production – not even two child actors who had grown up to be big Hollywood stars – could have known whether audiences would respond to it. Whilst it’s certainly true that this a gamble where ALL films are concerned, genre pieces do have a kind of framework to work within, based on convention and audience expectation. Chances are that ‘if an audience liked X, then they’ll probably like Y’, especially if it’s in the same kind of ballpark, by the same people. This is why so many movie posters proclaim, ‘From the director of…’ or ‘From the producers who brought you…’ Dramas, on the other hand, have no such framework. Remember that they can be about anything, using any storytelling devices and methods they want, with characters of any kind. As a result, produced dramas can be the ultimate crapshoot: what looks good on paper can be disastrous financially, or vice versa!

  Luckily for everyone involved in Blue Valentine, audiences responded wildly, with the movie winning big on the film festival circuit. But we must remember that, for writers, filmmakers, talent AND investors, producing a drama screenplay involves an even bigger leap of faith, emotionally and financially, than a genre production. So what else can writers do to make their spec drama screenplays seem more appealing? For starters:

  • …Know what you’re taking on. Having a solid grasp of the writing craft is obviously a must, but, more importantly, you need to be realistic. Industry pros always stress that filmmaking is ‘a marathon, not a sprint’, but this only holds true if we replace human runners with SNAILS who all have arthritis (and probably dementia, too, because they periodically forget what they’re doing and stand still). Apparently it took ten years for Derek Cianfrance to both write and bring us Blue Valentine. I don’t even like to think too hard of the kinds of things going on behind the scenes there: of how many people must have chucked a spanner in the works at various times; of unexpected, random crap that happened just because it did, screwing other stuff up; or of how many times Cianfrance, his co-writers and crew thought the whole thing was more trouble than it was worth and that they should just chuck in the towel and become goat herders in the Andes, in pursuit of a more quiet life! I don’t even have to know the specifics to know that’s the kind of thing that happens behind EVERY produced drama.

  • …Know who you can rely on. Dallas Buyers Club (2013) might be a multi-award-nominated and winning film now, but back in 2008 it had achieved the dubious accolade of being ‘Hollywood’s most stalled screenplay’. Original writer Craig Borten wrote a first draft way back in 1992, and various (great!) attachments were made throughout the rest of the nineties, all to no avail. It wasn’t plain sailing, either, for DBC’s eventual executive producer Cassian Elwes, (who coincidentally was also co-executive producer of Blue Valentine). Despite having a huge list of credits to his name, Elwes revealed in his viral article, ‘How I Raised the Money for Dallas Buyers Club in Three Days’, that when he lost the investment money to make DBC (and not for the first time), he was officially out of options. So he sat down and figured out who really owed him… and he called in that favour. The guy who gave him the money didn’t even want to do the movie! That money man believed the subject of DBC was ‘too difficult’ and there was no real market for it. But he gave Elwes the money because he owed him his own start in the business. The moral of this story? Give and you shall receive! Yes, you may not be a big shot like Elwes (yet!), but the more you give, the more likely it is that you will get the help you need – small OR big – to get your own projects off the ground, made and out there.

  • …Know that it’s not all about you! So, your great idea may indeed be fabulous (not to mention your exquisitely crafted story and characters), but you have to realise, right from the offset on a drama, that you need to ‘walk the walk’ as well. If you’re not going to pitch and ‘sell’ your spec drama screenplay in the classic sense of signing on the dotted line for actual real money, you’re probably going to stay with the project right from its inception through to production. This means you HAVE to be easy to work with. Remember, there are more unproduced screenplays out there than any producer or filmmaker will ever need, plus you’re competing with their own ideas as well. So don’t sabotage yourself by not knowing how the industry works or, worse, being a complete div. If you make someone’s life difficult, s/he will walk away in a heartbeat. It really is as simple as that. So, okay, you’re the writer and the idea originated with you; but it
is a shared dream and thus a shared project. All films are. If you can’t handle that inescapable fact, make your life, and everybody else’s easier, by writing a novel instead!

  With all this in mind, then, look out for what I have deemed ‘selling points’ at the end of each of the case studies. These are ideas for getting your own project off the ground. Whatever they suggest, they are ideas for making your spec drama screenplay happen, because the onus is on you, nobody else, to kick this off… otherwise your work is staying right where it is, on your desktop. Forever.

  REASONS TO WRITE DRAMA

  Make no mistake: drama has always been a hard sell. Even so, there are still reasons to consider writing one for your portfolio. Here are just some of them:

  • Challenge. Writing a good drama screenplay is HARD. Whilst writing a genre screenplay is clearly difficult as well (hence the large number of ‘misfiring’ scripts in the spec pile, generally), a spec genre screenplay like horror, thriller or comedy at least has a framework of conventions to play with, not to mention a set of audience expectations to either satisfy or subvert. This might not make it ‘easier’, but it is at least a starting point. In comparison, a drama screenplay can be anything. Literally anything. We’re talking story-wise, character-wise, or even in terms of craft elements like structure, arena, whatever! It’s no wonder so many spec screenwriters’ brains explode and they feel compelled to churn out stereotypical stories about clichéd characters living in sinkhole estates as standard!