Business screen magazine (1946)

How to Get MOST Out of Scriptwriters CKKATIVK SMI. I. (;()()I'KI{ATI()> AM) CONFIDENCE = GOOD FILM PLAN l»V Oeveste Graiuliirci* IF YOr ARF USING your scriplwriter only as a writer, then you're not gelling llir most out of your srriptw riter! Now since we're going to be kicking the word "scriptwriter" around, it might be a good idea to nail down just what kind of bird we're talking about. Is he a dreamer, floating gently above such mundane matters as production budgets, shootability, location troubles, casting problems, delivery dates, and so on? No. that's not the kind of scriptwriter we're talking about. Is he a parrot, wlio merely gives back to you all the words and nil the ideas all vour people have told him iiuisl go into the fjlm':* Nope, not him either. Is he the genius type, whose ideas come to him as bolts from the blue, to be written in imperishable letters of fire a foot high? No sir! He's the Architect of Your Film What we're talking about is the scriptwriter you can, and I think should consider ... an architect you employ to work out very carefully the blueprints and the specifications for building your particular motion picture. OK — so much for that. Let's assume then that you've selected your architect. How do you get the most out of him? Well first, and let me say it right boldly, rather than toe dance around it — be prepared to pay your scriptwriter . . . enough. Only you and he can decide how much is "enough"', because research and planning problems vary so widely from film to film. Bui — monev uell spent at the architectural stage of building a film will save you bigger money later on, or assure )ou a better film — or both! Let's go on. You can do a lot in the way of advance deck-sweeping to make the first story conference highly profitable all around . . . and I'm sure you do — but you'd be amazed how few others do. First off, come clean with the scriptw liter! You cho.se him because you ha\e confidence in him, so put that confidence to work. Give him the names and titles of each of the men who'll be present at the story conference ... so he can write them down and avoid the boner of misnaming anyone. Explain "who reports to who". Clue him as to which voice or voices speak the loudest, carry the most weight, so far as the •Mr. Granduci is head of tliH film writing organization uhirh bears liis name and the author of many successful scripts. The helpful ideas (cnlained in this article were presented at the annual meeting of the Industrial .\udio\ isual .^ssociation in Chicago this spring. him is r<inccrned. .\nd if anv of the personalities ilasli. tip him off on that. too. fii\'e llini Your Preeoncei\'ed Program Prior to the first story conference, you may have already established within your own organization the purpose of the film and the audience of the film. If so. tell him what the film is supposed to do, and tell him what audience it's to be designed to reach. And perhaps even more important ,tell him why. The whv's are important because, unless the writer thoroughlv understands them, he's quite likely to go astray without knowing it . . . often impressionistically astray rather than directly — and that kind of error is extremely hard to correct because it's apt to involve the organic structure of the entire script rather than a word or a scene. Now of course let's face it. there's always the hidden-purpose film — the sales film, for example, that's really being made to persuade the President that Sales Manager Joe Blow is "on the ball." Unless you've tipped off your scriptwriter in advance, either directly or adroitly, you mav find him unconsciously stepping on Joe Blow's toes . . . with your feet. AU these things are especially true, of course, if this is the writer's first time over your course. However, if it's not — or if he has a good background of experience — he can contribute very worthwhile ideas on film purpose and audience. He can bring to his work for you the judgment gained from the experience of other film sponsors. It's free, too. As a matter of fact, a good dependable scriptwriter can be made almost an extra member of your own staff . . . without showing up on your payroll. Another angle of "coming clean" with vour scriptwriter to get the most out of him has to do with "taboos". If one of your bosses can be driven to the very verge of apoplexy bv the mere mention of the name of a certain competitor, don't trust to luck — tell your scriptwriter. Howe\er, unless you've worked with him enough to know him as well as your own brother, you nmst . . . for your own protection . . . assume that your scriptwriter hasn't fully learned the gentle art of . . . keeping his trap shut! .So when you tell your writer something in confidence, tell him it's in confidence. I don t mean to say that you've got to let your hair down to your ankles. But let it down . . . far enough. Let the Writer Know Your Ideas Another thing you'll want to do is to tell your writer your own ideas, so he won't inadvertently tip the scales against you. For instance, vour ideas about the budget for the film. You may feel certain that the job can be done quite effectively for say twenty thousand dollars, regardless of the fact that our friend Joe Blow thinks his film ought to cost fortv thousand. Or mavbe vour budget will only stand X dollars for produi lion because you have to figure on Y dollars for distribution. Don't be coy on budget mat'crs with the scriptwriter who's working for you, any more than you'd hold out on the architect \ou employed to design your home. Also, if for reasons of your own you want a particular kind of film say so. If you want lipsync handling of the subject, or if you want a straight Voice-Over treatment tell your writer, in advance of any sessions with your principals. Conversely, if you ilon't have any prcc-onieptions. and want to kick it around with vour writer after he has his facts and before he starts writing, tell him that. And. if you dont want the writer to discuss the subject "in meeting", don't expect him to read your mind. At this point, take one extra precaiit'on for ibc sake of your ulcers — tell your writer in no uncertain terms that you are the guy he's working for "and don't forget it! And furthermore, while we're on the subject'', tell him, "any differences of opinion you and I might have about planning this film are our business, and not anxbody else's around here!'' Tell him that in the beginning and you won't have to tell him . . . after it's too late. All right — so here we are at the first storv conference. Everybody's talking ... at once. .\nd if that keeps up. all the writer gets out of it is a lesson in human nature. So he'll need your help in keeping the session on the track ... in getting the basic facts be needs. And he'll need your help in getting an accurate appraisal of the relative importance of the facts. What Are Your (Competitive Factors? It's not enough for him to know that your product contains a super-reflux parting valve, if all your competitors do, too. What's your product got that competition doesn't have? Now let me spell that out a little — using a sales film as the example, although the idea applies with equal force to all kinds of sponsored films. .i^t this point your scriptwriter is simply a sponge, and it's important that he sop up the right information. He'll ask plenty of questions, but he doesn't know enough about your subject yet to ask all the right questions. He needs vour help, because if you help him keep the session on the beam so he gets all the relevant facts, he'll be able to come up with a sales film plan t!iat w ill soft pedal competitive claims he can't refute, and not only refute otlier claims, but knock the spots right out of them. He may even come up with a sales point or two your own people have overlooked because they're so close to it. Ive seen it happen. Facts are really important to a film writer, believe me. But — give him facts. Differentiate between facts and claims, in order not onlv to keep his thinking straight, but to keep your film straight. The good writer will treat facts and claims differently in a film, if he knows the difference. If he doesn't the film will go soft in spots — whether it's a personnel relations film, a training film, a public relations film, a sales film — or any other kind of film. Now, there's another set of facts, too — facts about the audience. The more you can help your writer learn about the specific audience I C O .N T I N L E D ON PAGE S I X T Y <> N E I BUSINESS SCREEN MAGAZINE