How to Get a Recommend from a Script Consultant

By Danny Manus

In case any of you read Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s recent survey and analysis of the best Script Consultants out there, you may have noticed two things. One, I was named one of the Top 15 “Cream of the Crop” Script Consultants. And two, there are well over 100 script consultants out there, and each has their own point of view and experience and opinions on what deserves a recommend. 

Writers always want to know how they can get this elusive “recommend.” But even more than that, writers wonder what they should expect from a script consultant, how to find the right one for them and if the whole industry isn’t just a bunch of scam artists.

As for the last question, the answer is No. Are there less than credible consultants out there giving less than adequate or constructive notes? Absolutely. Are there people who charge far too much and deliver far too little? Absolutely. Personally, I think your script should never cost as much as your car. And I don’t suggest writers use anonymous services where you don’t know who is actually giving you notes. But as a whole, I have found that script consultants are writers/producers/executives/ teachers/managers, etc., that truly care and want to help writers improve and succeed. And they bring their experience and knowledge to those who need it.

I bring the executive perspective to my notes and I think that’s a valuable, different voice than many other consultants out there. I’m not putting down any other consultants, but many companies give you notes from another writer’s perspective (granted, a more established successful writer than yourself that probably has good insight), but when your script is ready to go out, you’re not going to be sending it to other writers – you’ll be sending it to executives!

I liken consultants to the American Idol judges (see my Mission Statement on my home page).  Simon’s not a singer, he’s not a songwriter, he’s not a performer – and yet he’s the one people trust because he’s the one that songwriters and singers GO TO and submit their stuff to – he’s the one that actually evaluates talent.

I say a good script consultant’s job is two-fold.  

1. To improve your writing abilities and open your eyes about your own script, giving you insight into your story (and the many story elements) that you perhaps did not see before, giving you a fresh set of eyes on your material and constructive feedback.  And…
2. Help make an uncommercial script more commercial so it has a better chance to sell or do well in a contest or garner you attention.

At No BullScript (did I mention we were recently ranked as one of the Top 15 “Cream of the Crop” consultants by CS Magazine?), I use a 20-point grading grid of elements to judge a script – including story, structure, concept, characters, commerciality, tone, dialogue, transitions, format and spelling, pacing, stakes, climax, originality, international appeal, etc. But then there’s the X factor. And for me, the X Factor is – does it read like a first time or amateur writer wrote it? That’s really the last and ultimate question I ask myself. Does this feel like it was written in 3 days? Does it feel like this is a first script? And if so, then it’s not ready and it doesn’t get a recommend.

But I ask myself these three questions before deciding on a grade:

1. Could I sell this? Is this something that could do well in the marketplace?
2. Could this script be a contest winner? Is the voice, writing and story strong enough to do well in screenwriting contests?
3. Even if it couldn’t sell and wouldn’t win a contest, would this script be a nice writing sample for the writer that could score him or her meetings?

If it’s a NO to all 3 questions, then it doesn’t get a recommend. At the end of the day, I put my executive hat back on and ask myself – would I pass this on to my boss to read? Would I be willing to put my name on this? And if the answer is no, then I can’t recommend it even if the basics are there. I would be doing you a disservice. And my reputation is more important to me than repeat business.

Too many companies out there hand out recommends because they want repeat business. I find that repeat business comes when you give good notes and specific, constructive things to work on. And I will say that almost all of my clients come back with a second script.

If your script has great potential but it isn’t there yet, I will give it a ‘Consider’. But if I can answer at least ONE of those questions above with a resounding yes, then your script has a good shot at getting a recommend.

Good luck and keep writing!

The Eternal Carrot

The whole entertainment industry is based on a Bugs Bunny Cartoon. That silly wabbit was constantly being led around by a carrot on a stick placed strategically just out of reach, though it seemed so close. This is the very essence of Hollywood and why thousands of people – from the homecoming queens to the techie geeks – swarm to Los Angeles every year. And it’s why people who have been in Los Angeles for 5, 10 or 15 years, stick around, even if they have yet to find success, money, or fame.

Everyone – actors, writers, directors, producers, etc – come out to LA with five year plans. But when five years comes and goes in what seems like a blink of an eye and you’re nowhere near where you thought you’d be…you have to find something that keeps you going.

Enter, the Carrot.

The lure of Hollywood is the fact that one month, you can be living on Ramen noodles and doing menial tasks 12 hours a day and the next month, you could be making a 6-digit salary and getting invites to the Oscars…And most of it is all due to luck and timing. I have a friend who, when he stepped off the proverbial boat, signed up with a temp agency and the first job he got through that agency was as Tom Cruise’s personal assistant. Seriously.

And we’ve all read the pieces in Variety about the boy from the Midwest who graduates college, moves out to LA one week, sends his first script (which he wrote in two weeks) to his old roommates’ friends’ brother who happens to be an assistant at an agency, who loves it, brings it to his boss, who also loves it, who gives it to a junior exec at Imagine or Bruckheimer or some studio and one week later, BAM – that lucky fresh off the boat sonuvabitch is eating so many carrots his face turns a lovely shade of orange.

But for most, it’s a much longer chase.

A solid 50 people from my graduating class moved out to Los Angeles around the same time. Bright-eyed and excited about our new paths in life, we’d all hang out and help each other, rooting for each other’s success. By the five year mark, probably 50 percent of them had left the business or moved back East. And since then, probably another 20% have joined them. By year ten, probably another 10% will have bitten the dust. And it’s not because they couldn’t hack it – it was because they stopped caring about the carrot.

They stopped visualizing it. Some just stopped enjoying the chase.  And others realized it wasn’t the right carrot for them. For some, their carrot became family, babies, and buying a house instead of isolation, long hours and eternally renting. I don’t blame them.

And while I miss some of them, part of me is happy they are gone because it means there’s one less person chasing that damn vegetable, so perhaps my odds (and yours) just got a bit better.

The limitless possibility for success is what separates Hollywood from other professions. It’s also the reason that entry level wages in Hollywood are insanely lower than almost every other profession – certainly lower than any profession for which you need a college degree. Teachers start at around 45k, Cops around 42k, Doctors and Lawyers around 150k. An entry level assistant in Hollywood starts around 20-25k. In Los Angeles, that’s barely livable wages. It’s all part of the test – to make sure you really want to be here. To make sure that you’re willing to sacrifice for your success. But it’s not really a question of “if” you’re willing to sacrifice, it’s “for how long?”

Because you just don’t know when or where or how you are going to get that big break – but it’s coming. Maybe it’s this next project you find, or write, or direct. Maybe it’s this little indie project you acted in for free. Maybe it’s this new assistant job for a bigwig studio exec. You just never know. And everyone thinks it will happen to them.

And just when you start realizing it might not…your best friend signs a multi-picture deal at a studio or her pilot spec gets bought or he books a role in a studio movie…and then you’re faced with an even bigger problem – trying not to hate your friend.  But that’s a whole different story.

You have to be optimistic. Keep writing, keep working, and keep planning. And keep telling yourself that you’re not giving up until you get a taste of that delicious carrot.

The Age Old/Old Age Question

I was recently asked by one of the writers in my seminar – “Am I too old to be writing screenplays and trying to break in to the business? Am I too old to get hired?” And my short quick answer was NO! However, the longer answer is a bit more involved and not quite as inspiring.

Of course you are never too old to write – even if you’re too old to hold a pen, you can still write. And there is no age limit on creativity. A writer can be prolific at any age and if you’ve been writing for 30 years, you’re probably a lot better then you were when you started. But writing isn’t the same thing as breaking into the film industry. There is no question that Hollywood is an ageist industry. If you START writing screenplays when you’re 60, you’re going to have a harder time than those trying to break in at 22 or 25 years old. This business is run by billionaires over 60 and executives under 35.  In most industries, the older you are, the wiser and more experienced people think you are. In Hollywood, the older you are, the more detached from the prime demographic you are thought to be.

There are a few reasons why being older makes it harder to break in (though definitely not impossible).  First, as you get older, chances are your connection to what’s “hip” and what can sell gets that much more removed. Do you know the hottest TV shows, movies, books, music, actors, internet sites, words, phrases, lingo, etc.? Probably not.

Writers write what they know or what they would like to go see themselves. The problem with this is that if you’re over 50 or so, chances are what you like to see isn’t the same as the prime 18-49 demographic. Most writers over 60 that pitch to me have either written a period piece, an autobiography or story about something that happened to them, or a family drama that suspiciously sounds like their own family. And these aren’t what sell. You know how when you go over to Grandma’s house, sometimes she wants to whip out the old home movies…well…if your grandkids don’t want to watch them, why would kids all over the country? It’s just about connecting with what sells (see my previous articles on the period piece and autobiography for more on this).

Second, because executives are usually 25-35 years old, sometimes it’s hard for them to give notes to their grandparents. And speaking from experience, the older one is, often the more “stuck in their ways” they can become and to succeed in Hollywood, you have to be incredibly collaborative, malleable and willing to completely change everything. In other words, don’t be that old curmudgeon on the porch who screams and rants about “those crazy kids.”

Lastly, and this is going to sound harsh, but if you’re first breaking in at age 65, then an agent or manager has to look at how many productive and creative years they have left to work with you. Most agents look for clients that they can have a long, productive and profitable relationship with. And five or ten years isn’t that long if you’re still working on only your second script.

Something I’ve discovered is that everyone wants to leave a legacy. Everyone wants to leave their stamp on the world in some way (other than just having children) and screenwriting is a great way to do that. I think this is why so many people, upon retiring from their different chosen profession, choose to start writing. The day job is over and now they can write and tell their story, express themselves, etc. It’s the legacy they want to leave. If you get a movie made, your name is forever and always on that project in the history of Hollywood (for better or worse). And this is completely understandable and commendable. However, I will point out that Jay Leno had a chance to be remembered as one of the great late night personalities of all time, and now he will be remembered as the person who not only killed NBC, but perhaps killed primetime.

Now before all you AARP members throw your Final Draft CD away and come after me with pitchforks and torches, I want to give you the upside. Companies are so hungry for new, original, well-written material that they don’t care who or where it comes from. A couple years ago, I was queried on virtualpitchfest.com and I asked to read the script. It was a young, female-skewed romantic comedy. I loved it, my boss loved it and we optioned the script. Six months later, the writer, who lived in the Midwest, made a trip to LA and we finally met – and he was a tall, older man – easily in his 60s with pants higher than my grandfather’s. Ya know what? It didn’t matter. His script was great. I connected him with a manager, who got him an agent and he has gone on to write numerous projects for Hallmark Channel and is now writing full time.

Screenwriting contests and query websites are completely anonymous. No one knows how old you are or where you’re from. They only know if you can write and tell a good story. If you are a finalist in the Nicholls or Disney Fellowship or some other prestigious contest, you’re going to get representation and meetings no matter how old you are. So, at the end of the day, while it is harder, you can absolutely still break in at an older age. You may just need to go about it a different way and you need to pay attention to the marketplace and pop culture even more than your younger competition so that no one can say that you’re out of touch. Now let’s go grab that early bird special and get to work!

Josh Olson Won’t Read Your Fucking Script…And Shouldnt Have To

This past week, A-list writer Josh Olson, who penned “A History of Violence” and a whole bunch of other stuff that hasn’t been produced yet, wrote an article in the Village Voice titled “I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script.” You can read the full original article here: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/09/i_will_not_read.php?page=1.

Since its posting online, and re-posting on Nikki Finke’s website, hundreds upon hundreds of professional and amateur writers have commented, as well as producers, execs, script consultants, etc.

The comments range from calling Josh a hack and a piece of shit selfish asshole who doesn’t deserve to ever work again, to the most brilliant tell-it-like-it-is martyr for everyone who’s tired of reading a stack of shit they feel forced to read by personal connection or profession.  So where do I fall in this spectrum?

Well first please allow me to preface my comments. Josh was talking about reading people’s scripts for FREE. People that speak to him once or are friends of friends o long lost family members who think that he is their IN, and therefore use that referral to ask him to read their script for free. Obviously, since I run a script consulting company, I am MORE than happy to read any of my clients scripts (yes, even the bad ones), and I appreciate and am grateful for everyone’s business! So, please keep in mind that my comments are regarding the freebees that Josh was referring to in his article.

This wouldn’t be No BullScript if I sugarcoated it, so for me…Josh was absolutely right. Sure, he seems ungrateful because after all, someone took a chance on him when he started, right? But here’s the bottom line – karma might be a bitch, and maybe he’ll never work again, but no one ever said that you HAVE to pay it forward. It’s everyone’s individual choice.

This town is dog-eat-dog, and he’s the Rottweiler who just decided to take a bite out of the neighbors’ Yorkie. He doesn’t owe you anything just because he became successful. He arguably worked hard to get there, and he works even harder to stay there. And as a screenwriter, the first thing you need to learn is that no one owes you anything. No one HAS to give you a shot or your first big break. YOU have to make that happen.

And Josh’s reason for no longer wanting to read scripts from everyone he has barely met has great merit. People outside of the business are constantly told that they need referrals and an “in” to get anywhere in this industry and that’s true. But that means every single wannabe writer, director, producer and actor trying to break in, is contacting that ONE person they know to see what they can do. And it gets tiring for those on the inside. We have hundreds upon hundreds of scripts to read per year just for work. And then probably another 50 we want to read just for fun.

Of course, I’d be happy to read my old college roommate’s script and give him my thoughts, but his friends’ roommates’ cousin? No, I’m not going to read his fucking script…unless of course he’s paying me to.

There are only so many hours of the day, and the more successful you are, the busier you get. Josh is currently rewriting at least 4 studio movies, so it’s not out of the realm of plausibility that he actually doesn’t have TIME to read every wannabes’ script that comes across his desk. Every exec in town is scared to meet new people that are writers because we know that after the niceties subside and we’ve talked about the weather, our alma maters, and the latest viral video, they are going to ask us to read their script! And either they want us to read it and give them notes, or they want us to read it to see if we’d like to produce it. And Josh is right – it’s not fair that everyone we meet assume that we are willing to do this.

If you and I are close, then fine. But if we just met, don’t be so presumptuous. And it’s worse for executives and script consultants than it is for writers. Why, you ask? Because writers aren’t PAID to READ scripts. If I make my living reading scripts and giving wonderful, constructive notes, how many freebees do you think I can possibly give just because you know someone I know and we had a 5 minute conversation? That 5 minute conversation just cost me over $100.

And I can commiserate with Mr. Olson’s worry about how to word his response just so, because you don’t want to piss off a friend, but chances are – they suck.  It’s hard to give constructive notes without feeling like you’re being too rough or a total asshole. Now, those of you who have used my services know that’s not usually a problem for me, but that’s because you know what you’re getting into before you submit your script. How do you tell your friend or family member that they suck? It’s easier and cleaner if you just refuse to read it.

Now, because I have had luck with younger, unrepresented, unproduced writers, I’m usually willing to give anyone a chance. But with someone you know personally, you can’t just stop reading after page 10 if it’s awful. It’s just an awkward situation.

To summarize, yeah, Josh might have been a bit harsh and certainly seemed a bit holier than thou when really, he isn’t, however he was just expressing an opinion that (whether they admit it or not) every single executive, professional writer, director, actor and producer actively working in the business feels. And if you are so deeply offended by the fact that someone successful isn’t reaching out a hand to help you, then this business isn’t for you, because going back to the my point…no one owes you anything.