Will you be Hollywoods' Bitch?

It's a weird question. I had a script optioned a couple of weeks ago where the first thing the producers told me I had to change was the ending. I was in love with the ending - the entire reason I wrote the thing was for the ending - but I went home and changed the ending anyway because the financing was coming fast and furious, there was a lot of momentum behind the project and at the end of the day, I'd rather have a go-project (and the $ associated with said go-project) than the ending I thought was so golden (it was a cost issue that changed the ending).

This weekend, I had a script optioned and was told straight up, we're changing everything, you're off the project, a fat check will arrive in the mail that will smooth all this over when it gets set up. I could've cared less on that particular one as it was a spec that didn't sell, I was never planning to do another pass on it EVER, and I will gladly take the money and go home (and might not even try for anything beyond "story by" should the script accidentally get made some day).

But then two weeks ago, while working on a studio bit, the creative exec on the thing was like, "We want you to change all this stuff." I told him to fuck off, called my managers and told them I'd walk off the project if the studio was going to stick by that and fought to keep what I wanted in the story. They backed down, I turned in a new treatment on the bit, and they fucking loved it.

It's all about choosing your battles and seeing what matters most to ye.

i'd like to think i wouldn't, but the thing is with all the added production elements (dir, actors, filming, editing), it's really tough for a writer's "vision" to really come out the way they want it to regardless of changing storylines, personally i'm just looking to sell a script, i write other things that i take more seriously and wouldn't want anyone to touch, that's what self-publishing is for, so the stuff i write for scripts right now is expendable, it's either that or do it yourself, which in my case, as much as i'd love to, ain't gonna happen...

I couple of years ago i woulda have said no, that my viion is too important to fucked up. But our world is run with money and with enough money i will write them a sequel to Halloween Friday the 13th, or any other down hill franchise.

That said theres also another side to that which Jack brought up. I mean, you have to pick your battles. I still want to create my own visions, thats why i dont only wish to write, but also direct. I mean i like to be involved in full creation here. But am i going to pass up a job thats going to pay my bills because itll make me a sellout? Hell no. I mean sometimes i'll have to give in a little, maybe a lot, but the truth is they dont need me i need them. They have the money i want, and i can only have it if they are willing to pay me. Basically be like Jack, fight the good fight, but fight smart. Dont ever think your beyond them, i mean its simple if you want to make it into the business you gotta deal with these people, sometimes you may not get it your way, and if its not essential you can pass on it. But sometimes you gotta suck it in, take one in the ding ding, and just give in.

You also have to look at it like this.

They want to change your story. You say no. They say, Oh well, goodbye. You are not rich. Your story never gets made into a movie. Where are you now? With nothing, not even the money from the script.

It's all about comprimise. SJR was right on in what he said. Know when to stand up and fight and know when to give in. Get your story made into a movie, make it a real good story, and you will get your chance in the future. Just make sure you have thick skin. Remember, they have the money.

I was told once by an Oscar winning screenwriter that the worst thing you can do as a writer is fall so much in love with your writing that you can't seperate yourself from it. Here is a real good quote that many screenwriters refuse to adhere to: Kill Your Babies.

If you want to know a lot about the shit screenwriters have to deal with, read both of William Goldman's books. They are Adventures in the Screen Trade and What Lie Did I Tell. Great, great books. He is why I write today and he has a lot to say about the topic.

It needs to be said that I am officially jealous of SJR. Congrats, bastard.

I was going to write up my opinion but SJR summed it up perfectly.

I would think if you got the greenlight from a major studio you would realize they are going to change your script. Everything I have read or seen about Hollywood always talks about how as soon as the script comes in, everyone starts making notes.

If you don't want your script to be altered, you need to go the indie route and make it yourself.

Of course, you could always sell a screeneplay, let it be changed and earn some money so next time you don't have to change it.

totally agree, SJR is right on the money here.
You have to give and take, you cant buckle under the first onslaught from a producer/studio otherwise they'll think ur a pushover but u cant tell them to fuck right off, if they clearly have a point.

Oh and Good on ya SJR for selling ur stuff, be sure ot let us know when they get made.

I think it would depend a great deal on how much I liked the script and what they wanted to change. If they suggested something that made more sense than what I was doing I would agree to change it, but if they were butchering something I really loved I would probably tell them to fuck off.

That's some great news for SJR.

I have a friend that is in a similiar situation. He has a finished feature that he is shopping around, but the people that are interested in it want him to give up a lot of rights before they'll buy it. It's a tough call. Do you let them take it, and hope that it gets you through a door somewhere, or do you just sit on it, and hope you can recoup the money you spent in another way. A tough call.

To my possible regret, I think I'd tell them to fuck off.

Seriously though...I think I'd first try the "independant" route first. If my script called for too much money, then I would try to go through the big studio route, but only if I couldn't raise funds for it first.

- Fixxxer

That makes a world of sense.

a side note about writers. I was just listening to the commentary on Big Trouble in Little China and John Carpenter said writers on the set can just cause trouble because they dont see the director doing what they intended.

It reminded me of one of the reasons for the recent writers guild strike. They want the writers allowed on the sets and the director's did not. I think the writers won this. One thing I remembered was when director Penny Marshall banned the writer of Big from the movie set during filming.

I am on the writers side here but feel they need to remmeber that once filming starts, the writer needs to understand it is now the director's movie.

I think I would be a quiet observer. I would just want to be there, so if they want re-writes, I can go do it myself right then and there. I would not cause any problems by shooting my mouth off all the time.

If they were fucking my screenplay up, I might not come back though. You can only remain quiet for so long when they are killing your baby