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June 1994

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Sender:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
From:
"Richard J. Leskosky" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 10 Jun 1994 10:09:09 -0500
Reply-To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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>In the real world of show biz, a talented writer full of ideas often do not get
>his/her script read or sold.  "Catch 22" is very common.  You'd have to have an
>agent, be a member of some union, have great contacts, etc., etc.  You can
>never sit back and hope for the script to get picked up.  It is a hustle
>business.  It's hard.  I've known the unfair game that the lousy writers gets
>their scripts read while the bright ones don't have that lucky chance.  Other
>reasons why the prods. don't get the script made into film is:  the writer
>wrote the script for a certain actor and that actor didn't want it and hmm, it
>goes to the garbage (I heard that a number of writers wrote a total of about
>ninteen scripts for a certain young actress and her agent didn't agree with any
>of them and so, result is...all scripts went straight to the garbage instead of
>giving to any other actresses.  Sad but true in this biz.), or that actor will
>be available some yrs later, or bids for the script wasn't satisfactorily meet
>the agent's demands, or the budget asking was way over the limit, or 1001 other
>reasons.  Show biz is like a political mess and it isn't what it used to be
>where you can afford to be creative and toy around and money is plentiful and
>where everyone volunteered to get it made.  No longer does a person have a
>creative control over his/her work...is what most people will find in this real
>biz!  Any questions?
>
>   ----------------------------------------------------------------
>    Margaret Arnold              BITNET: [log in to unmask]
>          INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
It seems to me that most disappointing or bad films are that ultimately
because of the script (although it's hard to be sure:  editing can
eliminate enough crucial shots or scenes to make any script seem disjointed
and incomprehensible).  What I can't understand is this.  Even if a
producer starts with a bad script, there are enough hungry good writers out
there so that a minimal additional investment could tighten it up, improve
the language, make the story more coherent, etc. But nobody seems to do
this.  (Conversely, there were over forty writers involved with THE
FLINTSTONES, and look what happened there!)
--Richard
 
Richard J. Leskosky
Unit for Cinema Studies, UIUC
office phone: (217) 244-2704
FAX: (217) 244-2223

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