Industrial Scripts
is a London-based script development and training organization, founded
by some of the UK's leading script analysts and sponsored by major film
companies, delivering a wide range of script development, information and
support services to writers and filmmakers from around the world.
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The
clocks roll forward and the early blockbusters jump the gun for spring
releases - which means it must be time for the newsletter...
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London’s
O2 doubles for Park City, Utah as Robert Redford pulls up the indie truck
and unloads its container of delights for Sundance London. Highlights
include UK premieres of Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD and Michael
Fassbender starrer FRANK (underneath that papier mache head), and panel
discussions with Richard Ayoade (SUBMARINE, THE DOUBLE) and Gareth Evans
(THE RAID 1&2).
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The
Wachowski’s JUPITER ASCENDING and GODZILLA were among the sneak previews
as studios tested the water of public reaction at Las Vegas’ showcase CinemaCon.
Early
word on FIFTY SHADES OF GREY is of an attempt to play the material for
love story rather than sado-masochistic erotic adventure – probably a
wise decision when lobbying for global cinematic event.
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European
VOD platform Viewster
is running a film competition open to public voting – shortlisted films
are then presented to a jury for final rankings. Can the format generate
buzz for indie film in the same way as the traditional festivals?
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“Generally,
when I get sent British scripts - and this isn't a generalisation - nine
times out of ten my heart sinks after about three pages” - BBC
article
Is Toby
Stephens (DIE ANOTHER DAY, SEVERANCE) on the money with his assessment on
the state of the average UK spec script?
Whilst
it would be all too tempting to leap to the defence of British
screenwriters – or more likely, screenwriters in general – it’s difficult
for anybody in development or script assessment positions in the UK not
to concur with Mr. Stephen’s view. Nailed on ‘recommend’ scripts are of
course a rarity – but even those which come into consider territory are
few and far between in the Brit landscape. Too few screenwriting degrees?
Too little development from managers and agents? Or is the UK in no worse
a position, in average quality, than any other professional industry
which opens the doors to all-comers? The internet is awash with kindle
fiction and youtube band videos – so it’s likely true that the average
quality of any art form is a little lower than one would hope. So then
perhaps Toby should recalibrate his viewpoint, and be incredibly happy at
the one in ten scripts with strong merits.
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Amusing
Snippet of the Month:
ACTION HERO CHAMPIONSHIP BELT
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Bruno-Tyson-Holyfield-Lewis-Klitschko…
the heavyweight boxing champions.
McQueen-Eastwood-Norris-Sly-Arnie…
the action superstar champions?
What if
there were a championship belt passed down between the reigning box
office action stars? What would that lineage look like? Bill
Simmons at Grantland traces the champs back to Steve McQueen’s
BULLITT days – with a surprise or two along the way.
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OPINION PIECE
The
invisible THE INVISIBLE WOMAN - the
curse of the understated Brits.
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THE
KING’S SPEECH set the template – little known historical story which
brought an entirely new spin to a well-documented period with the use of
a previously unheralded character. BBC Films' recent THE
INVISIBLE WOMAN) seemed set to follow in its footsteps – telling
the tale of Charles Dickens’ long affair with a secret mistress. Granted,
not quite the same rousing narrative and high stakes, but still a costume
drama which deployed one of the premier brands in English literature, and
should have looked forward to some healthy box office takings.
So,
after a Feb 7th bow in the UK, where does THE INVISIBLE WOMAN stand? As
of March 23rd, the BFI’s
Box Office Report shows the film’s UK takings had only reached
£767,389, having debuted originally at Number 14 with £132,021. An
underperformance for a concept with such potential, directed by and
starring a name of the ilk of Ralph Fiennes and written by one of the few
Brit screenwriters to make a name with the public, Abi Morgan?
Why such
an uninspiring take? Reviews were generally positive, if not quite
glowing, with a 6.5 on IMDB, a 75 on Metacritic and 76% on Rotten
Tomatoes – though not helped by the timing of the film’s release, in the
flurry of awards season, but with only costume nods in both BAFTA and
Academy nominations. Backers might have expected a bigger lift for a film
which seemed like awards-season fodder.
The pure
box office figures don’t tell the whole story – the film managed a decent
screen average on its debut, with the 5th best takings per screen of the
week, a site average of £2,589. So distribution was perhaps a factor,
with the film performing strongly where it did open, but lacking
widespread release.
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But talk
must surely turn to the title itself and the advertising campaign. A
William Shakespeare picture which did not mention the bard in the title
would likely be a strategic error – well done SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, and
commiserations to the appallingly-named Roland Emmerich flick ANONYMOUS),
which seemed to remain as such with most audiences.
So why
would a film about Charles Dickens fail to make mention of his name in
the title? Why, with the power of one of the world’s most famous brands
at their disposal, would the producers decide to turn down such a strong
marketing boon? And surely, if the decision was made to forego reference
in the title, would the poster not scream and shout its USP? Some might
claim that Dickens’ beard can be held in the same esteem as Hitchcock’s
profile or Chaplin’s cane, but the visual recognition doesn’t seem strong
enough to hook casual passers-by to the story. Many an underground
traveller would be hard pressed to discern the tale from the ambiguous
poster.
Of
course, the film focusses more on the mistress, Nelly Ternan, than
Dickens himself – but that seems little reason to undermine Box Office
and Distributor chances with a non-descript title and poster campaign.
Perhaps the Hollywood machine can be a little crass at times, but you can
bet an LA producer would have made better use of such a famous name. And
after all, it was THE KING’S SPEECH, not THE SPEECH THERAPIST.
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WordsWorth Writing Store continues steady growth..
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We are
delighted to reveal that our sister company, WordsWorth
Writing Store, which opened for business in early 2013,
continues to build up steam with steady sales and customer interest.
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The store
stocks a comprehensive range of storytelling and physical production
software, available at the most competitive prices and with brilliant FREE
bonus packs, unique to us, attached.
However
what we're particularly pleased about is that we will be the first UK
software company to provide ongoing phone support to our customers, so
rather than tearing your hair out on hold to some call centre in Kenya we
can call you back if something goes wrong.
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Unheralded Scene of the Month: STAND BY ME (1986)
In our
"Unheralded Scene of the Month" section, our consultants
nominate a classic film or TV scene, which in their view hasn't received
the admiration it deserves.
It might
be a scene from a classic movie, which has been crowded out by other,
more "showy" scenes and set-pieces. It might be a deleted scene
which is outstanding in its own right but wasn't quite in-sync or
critical to the final cut of the film. Warning: plot spoilers below.
Unheralded
Classic: STAND BY
ME
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The
film: Rob Reiner’s adaptation
of Stephen King’s short story ‘The Body’, itself from shorts collection ‘Different
Seasons’ which also gave rise to APT PUPIL and THE SHAWSHANK
REDEMPTION. Perhaps the pinnacle of teen coming-of-age flicks – at least
for the boys in the audience.
The
plot: In 1950s America, four
young boys spin lies to their parents to sneak away and look for the dead
body of a missing teen in a local forest. Bookish and sensitive Gordie
(Wil Wheaton), tough kid Chris (River Phoenix), weirdo Teddy (Corey
Feldman) and puppy-fat clueless Vern (Jerry O’Connell) embark on a
journey which will see them battle past older kids, junkyard dogs,
lagoons of leeches and steam trains on bridges as they face up to the
transition from childhood to teenage years.
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The
scene: A quieter conversation
scene. Whilst walking along the train tracks Gordie and Chris discuss the
upcoming school year, as Chris warns that smart Gordie will be separated
from his friends – college courses vs. shop classes. Gordie, somewhat
naively, claims he won’t let that happen, but Chris forcefully tells him
it’s better to leave his idiot friends behind…
You can
watch the scene here
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Why
it's unheralded: Leeches in
sensitive places, trains hurtling along narrow bridges, pie eating
contests, projectile vomiting, running from junkyard dogs, waving guns in
Kiefer Sutherland’s face, and that classic Ben E. King soundtrack song. The
highlights of STAND BY ME are many, and in emotional stakes, Teddy’s
break-down scene is perhaps stronger.
Why
it's great: The inversion of the
usual roles – tough kid Chris actually sees how things are, whilst smart
Gordie is held back by insecurities and immaturity. Rather than a
morality tale of being tempted to succumb to those around you, this scene
challenges the protagonist in a new fashion, and provides surprising
character moments for both boys. “Do you think I’m weird?” is a universal
doubt of all teens and acts as great hook to open the scene, whilst the
momentary cut-away to a juvenile conversation between Teddy and Vern (who
would win in a fight, Mighty Mouse or Superman?) helps to back up Chris’
warnings about the nature of Gordie’s friends. Emotionally, the scene
sets a question for Gordie; should he leave his friends behind? This
question plays on his thoughts for the duration of the film, elevating
his internal dilemma.
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SCREENPLAY SPEC-SPOTTER MARCH 2014
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Information
is power in the film & TV industries, so here is our vital burst of
screenwriting-related intel for your mainframes!
Spec
Sale for Young British Writer
Young British writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns’ sci-fi thriller AETHER sells
to Filmnation. Krysty is repped by UA, and story tells of a detective
investigating sounds from crime scenes.
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Fox acquires VACATION FRIENDS
Brothers Tom & Tim Mullen pair Anna Faris and Chris Pratt for tale of
a pair of holiday couples who can’t keep the buddy vibe alive on the
return home.
Million Dollars, Baby
After beating out bids from WB and Universal, Sony wins the war with a
seven figure sum for an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s St. Nick origin
story WINTER’S KNIGHT, written by newbies Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton.
LA Horror Story to Sony
THE BRINGING sells to Sony, based on spooky real-life events – follow
story for an unsettling CCTV hook from real ife…
Magic
Pitch Sells to Disney
Perhaps looking to replicate success of last year's NOW YOU SEE ME, real
life illusionist Derek DelGaudio has been brought on board after
successful pitch sale .
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Anyway
that's about all from us for another month, but just scroll down for
details of our script development services and upcoming training courses,
not to mention our exclusive Insider Interviews series.
The
Industrial Scripts Team
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At
Industrial Scripts we run premium, high-quality training
courses which deliver serious value to participants. Our
courses are tailored to suit the requirements of the industry, and are
led by professionals with proven track records of success in their own
individual area of the business.
For 4
years we've been running training
courses in script reading, low-budget filmmaking and
screenwriting. We currently run 3 courses:
HOW TO WRITE A SCRIPT - SCREENWRITING FOR
BEGINNERS is our first screenwriting course and has
been designed for creative individuals who possess great ideas for films
or TV shows, but don’t know where to begin. It delivers a huge amount of
information, condensed into one intense day, to participants new to
screenwriting, new to writing, or both. Focussing on both the writing
process, and the industry writers find work in, the course aims to
heavily de-mystify the process by which people become professional
screenwriters, and help new writers navigate the sometimes precarious
early years of the screenwriter.
Next
course date: Saturday 12th April 2014
Our EFFECTIVE SCRIPT READING 1-day
training seminar continues to go from strength to strength, winning
consistently stellar feedback from participants...:
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The
course includes comprehensive contacts documents detailing all the paid
script reading outlets in film and TV in the UK, and also offers
attendees indefinite, ongoing email and phone support once the course is
over. We can't turn you into a great script analyst overnight, but we can
speed you up and save you a lot of time and effort in the process. Click here
to book.
Next
course date: Friday 25th April 2014
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EVERYTHING AMERICA is our
new course dedicated exclusively to the business of working in the
world's largest film and TV industry.
The
course covers agents, managers, attorneys, VISAs, where to stay, where
not to stay, the structure of the TV industry, the spec script market,
and much much more. It's perfect for UK Producers, Writers and Directors
with one eye firmly on America. Click here
to book.
Next
course date: Sunday 1st June 2014
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We
formed Industrial Scripts to provide writers and filmmakers in the
independent TV and film sector with high-quality, industry-standard script
development services not usually available to them. Our
consultants all have considerable experience working for and with the
very best companies, and are currently very active in development (we
don't believe in trading on past glories). We offer 15
different types of script development service, some are listed
below, but you can visit
our website to view them all...
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Project
Selection Service - £39.99
"Should I spend 6...12...18...months of my life developing this
project?" is a question that haunts many writers, who invariably
have more ideas than man-hours. Here writers submit 10 loglines (without
synopses), and Industrial Scripts will put them in order of excellence,
encouraging writers to channel their efforts into promising ideas rather
than, as above, wasting time and energy writing themselves to a dead end.
This service also includes an overview (up to 250 words) on why
particular projects merit more attention than others.
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Coverage
Report - £124.99 *
eligible for TALENT
CONNECTOR
This report on feature-length scripts consists of 4+ pages of notes and
feedback to help the writer move on to his or her next draft. This is
most suited to writers either in the early stages of development (at 1st
draft stage, for example) or right at the very end of the development
process, when notes to help "tweak" the script are required,
rather than offering substantial changes.
Detailed
Development Notes - £269.99 * eligible for TALENT
CONNECTOR
Our Detailed Development Notes service delivers an extremely detailed
analysis of your feature script, together with lengthy suggestions on how
to move forward to the next draft. These reports run to 12+ pages, and
offer a truly forensic analysis of the script, which will leave you in
absolutely no doubt of how to improve the project and move it forward.
Script
Doctoring - Fees Vary *
eligible for TALENT
CONNECTOR
Through our resident Script Doctors we offer writers, producers and
directors the opportunity to have their project re-written, doctored,
polished, re-structured and significantly improved according to their
requirements. Fees are by negotiation, to book any of our doctors to work
on your project or to request a quote please contact us with as much
detail as possible about your script, and your requirements.
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Industrial
Scripts brings you The
Insider Interviews - exclusive FREE content
from leading industry professionals that you can't access, anywhere else.
Click here
to access these free interviews and either download them to your iPod, or
read them online:
STORY
Guru Robert Mckee
"Charlie Kaufman...what an as*...he's Mr. Theory! He's not an
anti-theorist!"
Download
the podcast...
Screenwriter
Kevin Lehane (GRABBERS)
"I think the horror-comedy is a really tough genre...I wanted to
write a monster movie, like TREMORS, or GREMLINS".
Download
the podcast...
Head
of Development Sophie Meyer (Ealing Studios)
"If I had to boil it down to one thing it would be "does it
make you care?"
Download
the podcast...
Writer-Director
Ben Wheatley (KILL LIST, DOWN TERRACE)
"Short films are a waste of time...I thought if I was going to put
in that much effort, I may as well try and make something I can
sell..."
Download
the podcast...
Screenwriter
Jack Thorne (THE FADES, THIS IS ENGLAND '86, THIS IS ENGLAND '88, THE
SCOUTING BOOK FOR BOYS)
"I wrote 12 plays before I had anything produced..."
Download
the podcast...
Producer
Richard Holmes (RESISTANCE, EDEN LAKE, WAKING NED, SHOOTING FISH)
“I thought to myself "this is filmmaking: doing something you don't
want to do and for which you will probably be punished by God!””
Read
more...
Film
Journalist Nev Pierce (Editor-at-Large, Empire magazine)
"Interviewing directors is my favourite thing...it can be thrilling
if you're meeting someone you admire...to sit down for 2 hours with David
Fincher...I feel incredibly blessed to have that kind of
opportunity".
Download
the podcast...
Producer
Gareth Unwin (THE KING'S SPEECH, EXAM)
"I'd done something a bit daft just through eagerness and I said to
someone within The Weinstein Co. - "I hear I'm not in Harvey's good
books anymore" and she said "Harvey doesn't have good books,
there's just people he hates less that week!"
Download
the podcast...
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Actor
Tom Hiddleston (THE AVENGERS, THOR, WAR HORSE, ARCHIPELAGO)
"(when the THOR call) came in I was just about ready to sing and
dance...it was the longest audition process I've ever been through...".
Download
the podcast...
Literary
agent Rob Kraitt (Casarotto Ramsay)
'I once sold a book to Tom Cruise - it was before he and Michael Mann
made COLLATERAL. It was a big six-figure deal and doesn't happen very
often.'
[at the time of recording Rob Kraitt worked for AP Watt]
Download
the podcast...
Literary
agent Nick Marston (Curtis Brown Group)
'There are these moments in agencies when one generation wants to leave
and the other generation has to somehow find the money to take over...
and in our case that came from the 'honey pot' of the Winnie the Pooh
estate.'
Download
the podcast...
Studio
Executive Alexei Boltho (Paramount Pictures)
'A typical working day for me? Smoking cigars, that's about it really!'
Read
more...
Screenwriter
Stuart Hazeldine (EXAM, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, KNOWING)
'I had to keep the faith, and finally the phone rang and it was a big
agent from ICM in LA saying he had read my two scripts and wanted to take
me on...'
Read
more...
Screenwriter
David Scinto (44 INCH CHEST, SEXY BEAST)
'GANGSTER NO.1 is one of the best scripts we ever wrote, sadly in other
hands it was ruined. Bastardised. Mutated. Amateur.'
Read
more...
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Industrial
Scripts is a London-based script development and training
organisation, founded by some of the UK's leading script analysts,
delivering a wide range of script development, information and support
services to writers and filmmakers from around the world.
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