# Must Read...seriously...



## lux (Sep 11, 2009)

hehe, a fun reading, thanks Brian

I loved the part with the email about a new draft :mrgreen: 

as a side note, and from a very general point of view, i would just add that probably someone read his fucking script once. Or at least he had to fuck someone else's sister just to be in the position of be read. Or he's just a son, brother, cousin or accolade of someone so influencial to earn him a fucking reading from someone else.

THIS is the dose of reality 

In general I think this should be read by all people who submit stuff. Self criticism and selection is a good way to get faster in the business. Even if its not easy at all. And we all often fail on that i think.


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## john rodriguez (Sep 11, 2009)

Good read, I guess I can see where this guys coming from but he comes off as kind of an arrogant tool. Is it soooooo hard to just smile and politely decline due to (fill in the gap with any of the stock BS excuses) like most of the other people out here? I know this guy wrote History of Violence but I have to think there are more respected, accomplished and prolific writers than himself who manage to just chalk it up as one of the burdens of success and not be such a crybaby.

I'd love to know how he got his start. At some point you have to bridge the gap between being anonymous and being appreciated, usually by having one of your scripts either tactfully or luckily find its way into someone's hands who probably had something better to do.

I understand that this guy and everyone else out here with a little juice isn't obligated to make or take part in anyone else's career but I'd like to know what he would have done with one of his first scripts had he had the good fortune of being acquainted with an Oscar winning writer?


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## kid-surf (Sep 11, 2009)

Mrs-Surf sent me that earlier today.

I generally agree with the sentiment. Beneath his angst is this core idea: Entitled Syndrome. 

The guy in question who got the read does NOT appreciate the time it takes. That's the lesson of this article. Time and again, the lay person is NOT ready to be shredded by a professional writer. It is BRUTAL getting notes...at first. But that's what screenwriting IS. Screenwriting is very stressful. The pro screenwriter, in my view, was pushed to the breaking point. It's great, like a (flawed) character we get to see how he deals with this dilemma. He was actually quite funny about it. I imagined it as a play. I'd be laughing. Truth often stings. Truth is often ugly.

Anyway...

It's as if screenwriter hopefuls need a class on JUST how to deal with getting notes. Everyone has an opinion, even when they are dead fucking wrong and have PROVEN shitty taste. The lay-person says "be as honest with me as if I were a pro". The pro thinks, "If I were THAT honest with you, you'd be in tears after I get through shredding your work...that's how fucking hard it is to write great scripts."

BTW -- his line about "that's the most amateur move ever! [re: pulling something back]". If we're talking a synopsis, yes (who the fuck writes a synopsis anyway?). Screenplay? No way. At least, not the way I do it. I write so fucking fast that I'll want to pull something back because I'll suddenly want to change one word/line that, in my mind, makes or breaks the script. Happens every time I write something. Even though nobody else would notice the change. 

I just wrote a pilot in 9 fucking days. So what if I want to change a line, the thing is 99% ofò:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:}   ¯n:~   ¯n:~   ¯n:~   ¯n :~   ¯n!:~   ¯n":~   ¯n#:~   ¯n$:~   ¯n%:   ¯n&:   ¯n':   ¯n(:   ¯n):   ¯n*:   ¯n+:   ¯n,:   ¯n-:   ¯n.:   ¯n/:   ¯n0:   ¯n1:   ¯n2:   ¯n3:   ¯n4:   ¯n5:   ¯n6:   ¯n7:   ¯n8:   ¯n9:   ¯n::   ¯n;:‚   ¯n<:‚   ¯n=:ƒ   ¯n>:ƒ   ¯n?:ƒ   ¯[email protected]:ƒ   ¯nA:ƒ   ¯nB:ƒ   ¯nC:ƒ   ¯nD:ƒ   ¯nE:ƒ   ¯nF:ƒ   ¯nG:ƒ   ¯nH:ƒ   ¯nI:ƒ   ¯nJ:ƒ   ¯nK:ƒ   ¯nL:ƒ   ¯nM:ƒ   ¯nN:ƒ   ¯nO:†   ¯nP:†   ¯nQ:†   ¯nR:†   ¯nS:†   ¯nT:†   ¯nU:†   ¯nV:†   ¯nW:†   ¯nX:†   ¯nY:†   ¯nZ:†   ¯n[:†   ¯n\:†   ¯n]:†   ¯n^:†   ¯n_:†   ¯n`:†   ¯na:†   ¯nb:†   ¯nc:†   ¯nd:†   ¯ne:†   ¯nf:†   ¯ng:†   ¯nh:†   ¯ni:†   ¯nj:†   ¯nk:†   ¯nl:†   ¯nm:†   ¯nn:†   ¯no:†   ¯np:†   ¯nq:†   ¯nr:†   ¯ns:†   ¯nt:†   ¯nu:†   ¯nv:†   ¯nw:†   ¯nx:†   ¯ny:†   ¯nz:†   ¯n{:†   ¯n|:†   ¯n}:†   ¯n~:†   ¯n:†   ¯n€              ò:†   ¯n‚:†   ¯nƒ:†   ¯n„:†   ¯n…:‡


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## rJames (Sep 11, 2009)

On the contrary...

You've probably all heard the old adage that goes, "If you stand on a street corner and ask everyone who comes by if they'd like to [email protected]#k, eventually one will say yes."

For me the moral of that story is that most people are clueless and have not seriously scrutinized their own strengths and weaknesses. But any artist who has a modicum of talent probably should be asking everyone who passes his street corner for a little intercourse.


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## mikebarry (Sep 11, 2009)

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/movie ... t-studios/

and this is classic also


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## choc0thrax (Sep 11, 2009)

I read this yesterday on another forum. It must suck getting dissed by Josh Olson, legendary scribe of 2002's Infested:

Synopsis for Infested:

A bunch of pseudo-30-40 year olds get together to fornicate on their friends funeral day. It all turns south when a bunch of flies show up and start buzzing around the flowing reproductive juices. In quick succession all of the older, uglier chicks get taken over by flies (wtf?) leaving the conspiracy theorist who his high on ectasy all the time and the dead guys girlfriend (youngest, hottest) to discover that the song "DA DA DA" is in fact the flies achilles heel. A plan to blow up the flies using a stereo playing DA DA DA falls through when the two remaining fornicators try to make a run for it. The movie ends with the original dead guy coming back and attempting to jerk off into his ex-girlfriends hair. The movie plays out like VERY BADLY written porno, where the main actor looks like your dad and has a tiny flaccid penis.


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## videohlper (Sep 11, 2009)

"http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/[email protected]#king-script/

Enjoy....if you don't get squeamish"

No, I will not read your fucking link. 

Just joking. I'm hilarious.


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## Ian Dorsch (Sep 11, 2009)

rJames @ Fri Sep 11 said:


> But any artist who has a modicum of talent probably should be asking everyone who passes his street corner for a little intercourse.



:lol:

Fantastic advice!


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## poseur (Sep 14, 2009)

i'm not sure i understand how this writer's ranting "should" relate to those who truly desire to become
active film-composers?
???
certainly, any composer more concerned with the thoughts of other composers,
vis á vis potential reviews of their own "works",
than with confidently getting those works into the hands & ears
of directors, producers, writers & etc is entertaining at least mild forms of delusion.
???


clearly, this dude is as angry with himself as he is w/the "new" writer(s) in question;
he's pissed-off at himself for, until now,
a) being frightened of being socially branded as "a dick", 
b) having made an error in judgment in regards to the nature of the relationship with said writer,
&
c) being heretofore incapable of doing an effective job of prioritising his own time & schedule.
(wherein he might say, eg: "i won't be able to consider reading your script on any timetable 
other my own, which could take as much as a year or so".)

of course, in regards to a):
now, he's clearly revelling in his own newfound & self-allowed freedom to "be a dick".....
..... which i personally find --- at his chosen decibel-level --- to be emotionally puerile,
at best.

was it simply a "professional conceit" that led him to 
"accept the task", from the outset? or, maybe he was just high at the time,
on alcohol, social excitement, drugs or his own sense of self-worth?

but:
i do get where he's coming from;
i receive an awful lot of unsolicited demos, & many requests for "critiques" where my
critique should not, imo, be anything even remotely worthy of being sought.
still.....
the intense nature of his exposition says, to me, as much (or, maybe more) about him
than about any
potential "self-entitlement" expressed by the incoming, beseeching writer.

if mr. olson has any proclivities or interests at all regarding useful & functional pedagogy,
maybe he could (instead) pursue a course that includes for the teaching of candidates whom he, personally, screens for entry?

a friend of mine, a relatively famous & certainly influential musician,
repeatedly begged his musicianly fans to stop sending him material.
when that failed, he simply (and, publicly) told them that if they wanted him to listen & make simple comments,
'they would need to include $75. with their cd.

me, i listen when the person interests me, and i comment or do not,
and don't get livid about any of it.
it's just not that important, in the scheme of things,
and neither are my thoughts
to anyone other than me, my family & friends..... & the folks with whom i work.

d


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Sep 15, 2009)

poseur @ 14/9/2009 said:


> me, i listen when the person interests me, and i comment or do not,
> and don't get livid about any of it.
> it's just not that important, in the scheme of things,
> and neither are my thoughts
> to anyone other than me, my family & friends..... & the folks with whom i work.



And... us. Thanks. :wink:


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## poseur (Sep 15, 2009)

Ned Bouhalassa @ Tue Sep 15 said:


> poseur @ 14/9/2009 said:
> 
> 
> > me, i listen when the person interests me, and i comment or do not,
> ...


thanks, ned!

maybe what brian was pointing to, here


Brian Ralston @ Thu Sep 10 said:


> *but more as a cold hard case of reality, especially for any of the younger folks fresh out of school and clamoring for a film composer career. Think twice about your tactics and your approach to things.*



.....was the appearance of ungenerous & surly resistance to our "entry" into the biz that we all face,
in one way or another?
that the attitude of "show me what ya got!" has, behind it, a deeper attitude of
"i couldn't care less what ya got"?
beyond that, i'm just trying to suss out what brian means to say.

i'm not hoping to kill the thread, in any case;
i am interested.

d


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Sep 15, 2009)

A few thoughts splattered here for any to pick on:

- Is Brian offering the advice that the next generation must not expect that they are owed work in the biz just by virtue of the fact that they are next in line biologically?

- Could it be that the biggest hurdle most new composers face is that the field is very, very crowded?

- Some people could really use a wake-up call and pursue something they are really good at instead of trying too hard to be what they are not meant to be (professionally, I mean). I have some people in my community that are unhappy in their work because, IMHO, they have not picked the right career for their skill set.


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## rJames (Sep 15, 2009)

The thing is, on this planet, we pursue our dreams, not necessarily our strengths.

We are also caromed about as we go through life's experiences by our parents wishes, our environmental situation and our prior choices. (and a few other things; [slight understatement])

Not so easy to find and pursue your bliss.

We ask people to "read our scripts" to help us along this path. Sometimes it takes a while for reality to sink in. We have to allow for the natural evolution.

I wonder how many guys who lived in Liverpool in the 50s thought they were going to be in the best rock band ever? I'll bet there were hundreds. I wonder how many *knew* it would come true for them in all of Europe? Only four were accidently correct.

EDIT And I should have added that Ned is right and we should all be reevaluating where we are and where we are headed daily (or bi-weekly depending on how much time you have).


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## MaraschinoMusic (Sep 22, 2009)

Thankfully I have never heard of Josh fucking Olson, or have any idea why anyone gives a fucking shit what the bespectacled little asshole has to say. He should get a fucking shave...!

Wow, that feels better - there's something to be said for all this profanity :D


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## kid-surf (Sep 23, 2009)

poseur-

I get where you're coming from and can recognize the truths woven through your dissection. But...I think you may be peeling back more layers than necessary. To say that, the man, for me, is irrelevant, it's the message, despite much conjecture, that holds it's own truths.

-generally speaking-

I can relate to the manifesto from the stand point that I had that exact experience just a few weeks ago; The retyping of the e-mail time and again, to the point that I had realized what I was actually TRYING to do was, in fact, to structure the story for them. The difference being, it was a close friend. Same response after I'd spent 3 hours sweating over a poorly drawn synopsis (it was swiss cheese at best - a total disaster to the point that I am certain they [my buddy is working with a partner] didn't bother to read it back to themselves even ONE time.) "Ok, no prob". That's the response I get after spending three hours trying to help guide an unguidable (is that a word?) synopsis.

There's so many levels with which to be offended by such a throw-away response like that. Namely at the total disregard for the CRAFT of screenwriting...more specifically the CRAFT of, drum-roll......STORY. As if none of it really matters, as if getting this story RIGHT is like, "whatever...it's just a movie. My story is...you know...cool, right?"

I would argue that Olson didn't turn into an (raging) asshole until the moment he received that response...scratch that...the moment he heard through friends that this writer hopeful felt he was being a dick (or whatever language was used). Up to that point he DESPERATELY tried to help this person. Here's the irony, as I see it, Olson likely spent more time trying to figure out how to FIX the dude's outline than the dude likely spent CREATING it. 

That, to me, is the crux of the issue. That folks (writer hopefuls in particular) often have not one clue in the world the hell it is to actually write a GREAT screenplay. Most writer hopefuls never even finish a 1st draft, let alone approach anything worth reading. From that standpoint I relate to the ways in which Olson felt taken advantage of, however naive to it the writer hopeful may actually have been. Of which, I'm quite certain, based on the reaction.

My guy, my buddy....he too doesn't want to EARN it, he simply wants to get his movie made. He feels he's got a great idea, so...shazam...time to call Spielberg. He's got no idea in the world how far he actually is from selling that screenplay. I'm going to make the prediction that he NEVER even writes an outline, let alone a screenplay, let alone a readable screenplay, let alone a GREAT screenplay.

I suggested he read some screenplays in the genre, including all of mine, and my pilot (considering he wants to pitch me TV ideas). Nope, can't be bothered with reading. Of course not. Also can't be bothered to learn what 'my' voice is. If only just doing that is too much work, holy golly, imagine actually trying to write something GREAT - something better or as amazing as guys who do absolutely nothing with their lives other than write amazing screenplays and/or novels. That's the thing, the hopeful is sometimes so green that they don't even realize their project is up against every Class-A guy in the business. Grand slam type guys, who absolutely crush it. Who, in every sense of the word, were BORN to do just this. I mean, the studio is making/buying their movie/tv-show or they're making/buying yours. So...READ their screenplays so you know what you've got to outdo just to be in business.

Which I feel is maybe Olson's biggest gripe, that: My god, if you want to do this, it's not going to be EASY. I believe he merely wishes to never come in contact with those who haven't done the bare minimum to learn that fundamental aspect of creation. Sadly, (sometimes annoyingly?) those types, who've got no self-awareness, they are the ones who stand in the way of the truly talented/gifted people getting reads (or listens) from the [busy] masters. It truly creates a climate where nobody wants to read (listen to) anything. In fact, all the "readers" go into their reads thinking "I'm going to absolutely hate this". (thankfully my stuff doesn't go to them -- they would say it sucks, they're that jaded and brainwashed IMO -- and yet their bosses dig my stuff. It's tough out there for a pimp.)

Screenwriting is a different beast, as everyone feels they "could think of better movie than that crap!" A select few can, most fail so miserably it's beyond words. Or well, it's words on a page, but that's the extent of it. It's no...STORY. It's no GREAT story.

The kid I'm somewhat mentoring, he appreciates it. He understands it to be a grueling prospect with no quick fixes, that everything must be earned (unless you're Diablo Cody). I tell him my secrets. I tell him that he may very well skyrocket past me, and that if he does. GREAT! 

But that...I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the powers that be buy my stuff and not his.  



~More ramblings from Kid-Surf...you may or may not disagree with every word of it.


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## clarkcontrol (Sep 24, 2009)

Right on.

I just finished working on a movie that will never be sold, IMO, yet these friends of mine are in love with themselves. Talkin about limos and stuff...

If it looks like a movie and sounds like a movie then it is a movie. (to them)

I'm no editor but putting music on this poorly edited footage revealed that their rough edit of dailies WAS the final cut. groan. Come to find out they sent a copy to some Emmy winning friends of mine in LA and they said rip it apart and reedit from scratch. What did they do? Blew 'em off. Course they never told me, I found out from the LA guys.

So this is my last project with them. 

When I care about the project more than they do that's a BIG red flag.

Clark


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