I received an email from a reader who articulated an oft asked concern about pursuing a writing career in the motion picture industry. The questions he asked, in an email with the subject line that has now become the title of this post, are often asked of me (hundreds of times, perhaps)... as if I have some precognitive, clairvoyant insight. Hollywood legend William Goldman famously wrote of Studio Executives (see the yellow highlight in the photo below):
For those of you who can't download images, the text says, "Compounding their problem of no job security in the decision-making process is the single most important fact, perhaps, of the entire movie industry: NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING. ... Again, for emphasis— NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING. [Goldman, William (1969). Adventures in the Screen Trade. New York, Warner Books. page 39.] I've included the picture from my copy of the dogeared book (a must read for anyone thinking of writing screenplays) to prove that it was not I, but the author who capitalized and centered like an on-screen super: NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING.
Now, two things about this famous line have always caught my attention. (1) NOBODY is bad grammar. It's suppose to be "NO ONE," or at least it was in the good-old-days, whenever that was. But then William Goldman is one of the most celebrated and successful entertainment writers... books and screenplays. He's wonderful to read. And, (2) if you drive around Hollywood much and gawk at the mansions or hang-out inside of a few of them, as I have on occasion, it's clear that A LOT OF BODIES KNOW SOMETHING.
On the other hand, I am not claiming to be one of those bodies. I think I know a thing or two. But there are always those that know more. There are also those whose different experience would prove things are different on the other side of Wilshire Blvd, although things are pretty much the same on both sides of Sunset Blvd.
Okay, enough of the wisecracks and disclaimers. But before I get to the question of the day...my reader praised The Moral Premise for it's left-brain practicality, and without shame I need to pass on his kind words:
I found your book actionable and free of a lot of mumbo jumbo that just kills progress in the writing arts. ... What was great ... it was concise and manageable. I did an internet search today and... glad to see you're not dead.
Are you sure? Let me check. (SFX: padding down body.) Yeah, guess you're right.
THE QUESTION:
My gut feel is that Hollywood is dead and movie making has no place in a short attention span society It seems like short episodic content is all people can handle...bing watching Netflix series etc., or play games on phones. I'm just wondering if I should sink my life into writing in a medium that seems to be past it's heyday. What movies do get made are blockbuster copy films.... I'd want a chance at actually getting my screenplay made into a movie and maybe making a living.
I'm not sure really how to approach all this. Before I go all in I wanted to get your advice on possible outcomes and what I'm actually looking at here professionally.
Let me parse this into smaller questions:
1. Due to society's short attention span are long form movies dead?
No, for the same reasons that movies did not replace novels. Short attention spans have been around a long time. It may seem that social media (e.g. TicTok) has made attention spans even shorter. But really all it's done is attract a wider audience that had short attention spans to begin with. I like TicTok videos. But I still like long novels and movies. What is to be learned here is that everyone is different (both creators and consumers). I have a neighbor who is a successful entrepreneur. He is highly intelligent, possesses reams of common sense, is energetic, has a strong work ethic, and his ability to focus on tasks is never ending. Yet he falls asleep when he reads a page from a book, or so he says. I've never witnessed his malady. But he'll watch and learn from YouTube all day. He learns differently. So, with each new media invention we widen, not narrow, our audience.
2. Is short episodic content all that people can handle...binge watching Netflix series for example.
My wife and I have been hooked at times on binge watching Netflix and Amazon Prime content. We also like feature length motion pictures and have a large collection of DVDs and Blurays by our HD video screen in the living room. We have been known to spend 4 hours in one evening binge watching an Amazon Prime series, of one-hour episodes. That is about twice as long as a "long" motion picture. So, at least in one respect "binge" watching is not any shorter than the acts, scenes, or sequences of a motion picture, and often longer. Look at it this way. If you're writing a 500 page novel (I currently am), you have to make EVERY page of 350 words interesting. If you're developing a long motion picture, every scene better have conflict in it, and at the end of a sequence of 12.5 minutes there better be a disaster than propels your audience to watch the next sequence, or the next episode... or turn the page. It's true in writing novels as well as screenplays (whether comedy or horror) there better be a "reveal" or "discovery" or something "good" on every few pages or you'll lose your audience. At the same time, every scene on a script, like every paragraph and sentence in a novel better be well written if not ironic, metaphoric, shocking, or revealing. Now, times do change. There was a time when Noah lived for hundreds of years, and the ark took only a few of those to build. But for the most part he sat around and had nothing to read or watch... and then there was Abraham who wandered in the wilderness for a long time with nothing to look at but sand and camels. Now, do I think social media sucks brain cells out of users? Sure do.
3. Should I sink my life into a medium that is past its heyday?
What you should do is not a question I can answer. My advice in terms of your life goals is to follow the advice of Laurie Beth Jones (Jesus CEO, The Path) and Jordan Peterson (12 Rules for life, Beyond Order). The two authors cross paths frequently in their advice, e.g. JBP's Rule V (Beyond Order) corresponds to Jones's Mission concept: "Do not do what you hate... but what you're passionate about."
As to if the medium being past its heyday? No, it's not. Not anymore than Streaming has replaced DVDs. Now, that may require a little unpacking. The sale of DVDs are clearly declined in favor of streaming. But in my situation I hate streaming and love DVDs/Blurays. Why? Well, (first) because although I have an ultra high speed Internet connection, streaming movies in my neighborhood is still fraught with disconnections. The movie stops in the middle and I can't get reconnected. And (second) because DVDs and Blurays have all that extra documentary material on them that is absent with streaming. And, (third) because buying or renting two DVDs a month is cheaper than a movie package from the cable company.
BUT NONE OF THAT IS MY POINT... which is that stories are never going to be out of vogue. The crux of culture, at anytime in history, and anyplace in the world, is THE STORY.... and the longer the better. You can write and produce for short attention spans or long attention spans. But life is long, and the stories of people's unfold across decades, not seconds. Further, people will be happier and more satisfied with their lives the more they lengthen their attention span, especially for the work that they pursue in their lives (c.f. Beyond Order, Rule VII: "Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens." ... and then there's Rule VI "Abandon Ideology")
4. What movies that do get made are blockbuster copy films.
In a SMALL sense that is true. But such films are few in comparison to the many films that get made and released. Do some research. Get on IMDB and categorize all the movies made in the last year before the pandemic shut down production. List the original movies (even if their antecedent was a book) and those that were copy films or sequels. You'll be surprised.
5. What are the chances that my screenplay can be made into a movie?
Pretty small. Near zero, if not zilch. Unless...
- You're a very talented writer
- You work very hard and develop your talent over many years
- Your friends are filmmakers and they like what you write
- You live in LA, NY, etc and you're good at selling what you write
- You have access to a lot of money to risk on funding what you write
- You are multi-talented and can produce, director, & fund what you write
- Any combination of the above... the more the better.
6. Can I make a living at writing screenplays
Very few people do, unless a few of the bullet points above apply. There are two very apt adages that go along with the movie industry:
- You can die from encouragement.
- You can't make a living, but you might make a killing.
There are, however, a lot of writers in the industry that make a living at writing for the screen, but they're not what you might call feature length motion picture screenwriters. Well, they are in a sense, but here's what they do for a day job (writing) while working on their passion screenplay that may never get made... although there's always hope and encouragement (see the above adage about death).
- Write for a movie industry trade publication
- Write and produce PPV (VOD) media for Internet (for a company or yourself)
- Write video media for corporations (on staff or independent)
- Write commercials for Internet, TV, or Theatrical release
- Write for television and Internet channels
- Write and rewrite scripts for others without credit (many do this)
- Write for live television shows
There are thousands of writers in the industry (spread around the world) that do the above. and the jobs are more like a regular job, except just about EVERYBODY (ah, EVERYONE) is freelance. I know a couple of full time writers in L.A. who make good money year-after-year, by writing anything that comes along. Literally, they've done all of the above, plus writing for games. You'd be surprised how much a gaming script looks and reads like a motion picture script.
Hope this helps.
Stan
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