tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post5052326897953769761..comments2024-03-28T22:40:10.893-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: What I Wish I'd Heard At Graduation, Part 3: They Can’t Buy You, They Can Only Buy Your MaterialMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-35736426870775528542012-05-31T21:05:39.916-04:002012-05-31T21:05:39.916-04:00Taking the beginning of John Logan's career (y...Taking the beginning of John Logan's career (yeah, I know was already an established playwright) as an example, I would totally understand him having done a lot of free work on RKO 281 (because it's interesting material that's up his alley thematically and because of the relationship it started with Ridley Scott) but I could definitely not see him wasting more than a few hours on free treatments of TORNADO! or BATS when he could be working on anything else.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-72579233045095249032012-05-31T20:27:16.030-04:002012-05-31T20:27:16.030-04:00But writing remains the cheapest part of the whole...But writing remains the cheapest part of the whole production process. And it's the easiest level at which to correct the mistakes. And if everybody is genuinely excited about something to the point where it is likely to be made won't their be real money or talent involved? <br /><br />To be clear, I'm not talking about the process of biding for open assignments on real paid work or doing free work on projects you think are great and/or ones you've originated or maintain control of the IP on. I'm talking about being expected to pitch bottom of the barrel remake rights for foreign films, short stories or graphic novels that will never be American movies but that somebody just happened to have a cheap or free option to. And to work them up like it matters. For free.<br /><br />What I'm talking about is more like pseudo-development or anti-development. Whereby producers with free time in their day toy with writers using material that they can afford to neglect because it's likely already too shitty to treat seriously. There's no downside for them if you somehow spin the poop into gold. But you still don't own the material or have any real rights to it, haven't been paid for your work and could be kicked off the project at their whim.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-19877061854347910622012-05-31T20:11:24.746-04:002012-05-31T20:11:24.746-04:00Well, things always were this way, except that eac...Well, things always were this way, except that each draft used to be paid. Now that the money is gone, our zombie-like industry insists on acting just like it always has, despite the fact that it no longer makes any sense. <br /><br />Amazingly, they've so far gotten away with being just as demanding without pay as they were with pay, because there are hundreds of hungry new Screenwriting MFAs every year desperate for "work".<br /><br />I certainly have thought, "Everybody on this conference call is being paid for their time today except for me, and everybody on the call can demand the script be a certain way except for me, so why am I the only who seems excited?"<br /><br />In short, you're right. Something has to give. The zombie will die soon a new system will be born.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-37807572855653431692012-05-31T19:25:19.823-04:002012-05-31T19:25:19.823-04:00Once again, I'm curious about the point of all...Once again, I'm curious about the point of all that free work. Hazing? Okay, but unlike, say, fraternity life, things weren't always this way. Why is it so now and who actually benefits? I've never known anybody who had anything come of free spec pitches/outlines/treatments for projects that weren't already their own favorite ideas. Everybody working on this free stuff seems not to take it very seriously except the writers at first, who fear they will lose the respect of the people they're developing some half-assed idea with if they don't do a bang-up job. Yet, inevitably the half-assedness of the idea itself is usually to blame for the fact that everyone remains unenthused and it goes nowhere. So I'll ask again: Wouldn't it be better to spend time writing more specs you actually care about until you write something that somebody wants to buy? Isn't money the only real sign of interest that counts? What's the deal with this strange dance where writers and producers collude to do passionless make-work on junk so as to keep their imaginary options open?j.s.noreply@blogger.com