Saints, Digits And Paws, I Swear!

It’s been some week. “Hellish” sprang to mind -- just like “that”-- without even trying!

We hear wonderful words of encouragement from GREEN DARKNESS fans, who swear to cross their digits, paws (!) and even pray to the saints if only that will help us get this film made! We are so very grateful!

Seems like we may need some heavy-duty prayers—because we’re providing a good deal of our own swearing. Half kidding. LOL

Our initial foray into marketing hasn’t achieved the projected targets. We had planned on a far higher (perhaps unrealistic?--we are only human after all) rate of “Yes, send it. We’d love to read it” than we got.

Sigh. Back to the keyboard, to tap, tap, tap our brains for more persuasive pitching materials and then we’re off again, at a more modest pace.

Dang, if this marketing stuff isn’t enough to make a person mosey up to a bar and ask for a bottle! Sure, we've marketed scripts before, but this time we're doing it semi-publicly...

Hooray! We’re now getting  more script requests with our amended synopsis and query letter. Whew!

As those of you who are screenwriters know, "just" getting the script into the hands of a producer, agent or manager doesn’t guarantee a sale, nor a speedy response. It can take a year and occasionally even longer for busy execs to get to their pile of scripts.

What’s a person to do? We hang in, we keep our heads and stay away from those bars!

Never wait. Thus we start on the next project. I’m turning one of my comedy scripts into a novel; Marla’s working on her rewrite of a comedy.

If you hear of any sanity for sale, think of us, would you? And pray, pray, pray….:)

Till next time~~

Angela

When Is A Script Like A Fat Lady?

When it sings, Baby! LOL

We know we’re finished at last-- because our script is “singing”. What does that mean exactly? It’s hard to explain, but it’s akin to the difference between a hothouse tomato and one that’s ripened on the vine. You can just taste it! One looks like a tomato and even tastes like a tomato, but the other one explodes in your mouth and makes all other tomatoes a dim memory.

Our script was OK before. Heck, we thought it was damn good! :) but we made a few tweaks after we got the final critique and WOW what a difference! The changes were really very minor. It was what I would call a Fast Polish.

We are now both really excited and ready to market with no reservations.

On to the next phase—Pitching.

We’ve had so much fun, we’re already wondering what to work on next! But we’ll wait on that for a bit and let our minds and bodies recover from this stress first.

Stay tuned for the responses! Fingers and all other appendages crossed, please!

Hurray!

Angela and Marla

Name That Writer!

We give up! We'll never solve this mystery...

Excerpt from a recent phone conversation while fine-tuning the latest draft of our adaptation of GREEN DARKNESS:

Angela:  I don't know where you got that quote, but I like it there.

Marla:  Me?  You should know where it came from, you put it in.

Angela:  No I didn’t! You did!

Marla:  No I didn’t!

Angela:  Yes you did. 

Marla:  Well, I didn't write it.

Angela:  I thought you did.

                                                      Marla:  I thought you did.

                                                      Angela:  Oh my God, we don't know who wrote what anymore!

                                                      Marla:  And we're arguing about it!

   

No, we weren't unintentionally performing our own spontaneous version of Abbot & Costello's 'who's on first' routine. It seems we've created a screenwriting version of the Vulcan mind meld: Scriptwriters' Synchronicity – or maybe great minds really do think alike? And please don’t go to the corollary of that statement! LOL

Marla tells me that sometimes she'll read sections of her own screenplays and not remember writing it. Maybe psychic Sylvia Browne was right when she told Marla that Marla's late father was always helping her write. Psychic writing? Channelling from the afterlife? Hey, did her Dad know my Mom? I’ve had the same experience, time and again.

But now we’re having that subconscious experience simultaneously while we’re supposed to be collaborating. Did I mention that we changed the first scene and I suggested to Marla that we should add a certain detail-- and she’d already done it? 

So who’s going to take the final bow?

Angela: Not me!

Marla: Okay, not you.

Angela: You don’t always have to agree with me.

Marla: Right. Just eventually…

Angela: We’ll bow together. 

Bowing out until the next time!

Angela and Marla 

Gimme A Cold One! -- Script, That Is!

Who knew the present could meet up with the 1500s? Angela and I did, or at least we hoped it was possible. We were right!

    

It happened April 2nd when nine actors, ranging in age from 10 to 60-ish, met at Angela's house.

    

Their mission? They thought it was to participate in a cold reading of a new stage play, but were pleased to learn it was a table reading of our screenplay adaptation of GREEN DARKNESS - at first glance, they liked our revised title. Good sign...

    

Angela delegated the major rolls - she chose well by having professional actor Derek McGrath read the dual role of our protagonist in present and in past.

    

Minor roles fell where they may - the 10-year-old boy read well, including one word ("whore") his father was going to explain to him on the drive home. Many of the minor parts were doubled up. Angela even marked all the scripts, highliting the appropriate role for each actor. That really helped to decrease the confusion.

    

With all the action/description being read aloud, too, the event took almost two and a half hours to complete. (That included the failure of the camera, crash of my Skype connection, leaving me looking at a blue screen of warnings! Time to get my CPU worked on. From then on, I listened in via speaker phone.) Through it all, Angela did well - she resisted both speaking and adding sound effects.

    

At times the one actress mixed up an American southern accent with an English accent - and made it work! That character may now become an American from the south in our script.

    

Angela got a little teary-eyed at the climax. That's a very good thing. Other positive comments overheard included experiencing goosebumps at various stages as well as the climax and needing to resist turning the page, before everyone else, to see what would happen next.

    

Spontaneous applause signalled the end of the reading - praise for the people and the material. And the pizza's arrival.

    

Yes, we have a few things to consider as we tweak the script just a 'little' more. The decision was unanimous that we had hit the genre bull's-eye. McGrath took his copy home to read again, promising to email further feedback.

    

Was the reading worth the hostess' jitters? Definitely.

 

Now on to the next step~~

Marla

 

 

Eating Our Words or Reading Our Food?

Table Reading or Food Fight?
Writing a feature script adaptation like ours can readily be compared to creating a gourmet meal - appetizers are akin to act one; the main course to act two; dessert to act three. In a screenplay, words, phrases and dialogue add spice and surprise to the taste buds of those consuming the 'meal'.

How better to continue this comparison than by having a reading of the present draft of our GREEN DARKNESS script before we send it off for a critique?

The reading will be held around a dining table at Angela's home. Angela's Mom always told her not to read at the table--in case she got confused and ate her book! Make note--Refreshments to be held in reserve until the reading is done!

We figured organizing such an event would act like dangling a carrot in front of two donkeys (there's that food analogy again!) - Angela and I both work better/write faster with the pressure ax swinging like a pendulum over our heads. We've already chosen a new title, written a movie poster tagline, and now this new draft.

Angela proposed the table reading to an acting group from a city near her hometown. We kept the number of readers that we'd need down to a bare minimum by doubling up supporting characters and having one actor read many parts. (Our script helped a lot with this whittling of numbers, because we have three lead characters who play dual roles in the present and past.)

Wow! We were overwhelmed at the group's positive response to our proposed event. They haven't done anything like this before. Enthusiasm runs so high that we didn't object to having to go through the script again to separate the speaking parts. Fingers are crossed that everyone who wants to take part can find a date that works into their schedules.

Hopes soar that the table reading will be filmed, so Marla can see it too - we don't live in the same city. Angela may have to wear a gag so she'll refrain from defending or explaining any part of the script during the reading. She's just supposed to listen, but duct tape is at hand, just in case.

We're not under any illusion that the flavor of our words will be enough to fill stomachs. Snacks and non-alcoholic drinks will be provided for our actor guests. Reading aloud can dry one's mouth.

We just hope that the spice and passion of the script doesn't result in an actual food fight worthy of posting on YouTube!

Stay tuned for the reading's result -
Marla

Wrangling Three Octopi – And A Horse

Tackling an adaptation is a daunting task. You need to find the most interesting scenes, the ones that will translate well to the silverscreen and then make the plot your own.

Tackling a rewrite of an adaptation is not for whimps. Marla and I have both done a lot of rewriting in our time and I have also rewritten scripts for clients. It’s tough but somehow this one has proven to be much harder.

Part of that challenge has been the fact that we received feedback from a trusted consultant who recommended we dispose of the entire first act. That meant changing all the dramatic introductions that we’d worked so hard at, and since we were changing the location we had to start from the gate.

First step? Outline, of course. Which we did, until we had a solid plan for the new beginning. I was concerned that the new first act was going to come in short in terms of the page count. In a one hundred page script, the first act should be about 25 pages, the second act 50 pages and the third, 25. Those are rough estimates but you certainly want the act “breaks” to fall at about that page, give or take 2 or 3 pages.

So I transferred the outline into our screenwriting software and proceeded to flesh it out, BUT, since I knew Marla was going to be busy I decided to surprise her. Big mistake!

Did I mention that Marla and I are usually on the same wavelength? LOL We must have been that day, because she decided to surprise me! And did she ever!

I was barely halfway through my “fleshing” when I received a call from her. Apparently, Marla had had a fabulous idea for a new first act. It just jumped up and grabbed her unbidden and out of nowhere. That’s how inspiration works sometimes --and she couldn’t rest until she had it all written down. She nearly had to cancel her plans that day, but found the idea so strong it stayed with her all during the movie she went to see! Now that’s one very unforgettable idea!

And I loved it!

But then the octopi attacked. I should explain, that a rewrite is like tackling an octopus. I had already added a second octopus to the fray when I started fleshing out our outline and now Marla’s brainstorm was added to the frenzy. Three octopi, 24 tentacles, and suction cups galore.

A beastly sticky situation if ever there was such a beast.

It was a tough job, but I managed to assemble it into a semi-coherent mess. It’s in chronological order now, and that’s at least something we can work with! And we now have more conflict in the story, more hooks and intrigue.

No pain, no gain. Improvement has its ruts along the way. We’re getting there.

Now we “just” have to rewrite 30 pages in act 2. And change the mess into a masterpiece.

Oh, and the horse? Since we picked the actor we really want for the protagonist, and I saw him on a horse, I’ve been kind of obsessed with our protagonist riding a horse at some point in the story. Marla has been laughing at me for weeks, but her new intro…?  Have I got her on my wavelength at last?

Neigh! LOL
Angela

The First Review Is In!

The verdict from our consultation has finally arrived! We have some rewriting to do. Go figure!

The feedback covered many points that we’d done well and some areas that are still weak. It’s great to know where we’re on the right track.

We've decided to rewrite based on the notes we received. The notes indicated that we were getting into the story too late -- and looking at it objectively, we completely agree. We had tried to stay in the 'present' part of the story too long. Our previous midpoint will move to the end of Act One.

A new outline will be our next step in the restructuring process.

The consultant pointed out two areas of concern, so we’re going to eliminate those to remove any confusion.

We’re not totally starting over, just beginning the script again! :)

This is why it’s crucial to get professional feedback! Even script consultants use a script consultant.

We’ll be kneading our brains for the next while, but we’ve received questions and will be answering those in the meantime.

So stay tuned~~
Angela and Marla