March 14, 2023 | Issue 3175
Screenwriting may be the most depressing job in the film and television industry, because of "ten lives and nine yellows", because "forced by Party A to change to madness", because "his own son is unrecognizable in the end", because "a rush to the end is all kinds of games disappear"... The screenwriter's complaints will always make you feel that there is a special lack of respect and integrity in their work.
However, if you really sit down and chat with screenwriting practitioners, you will find that most of them are optimistic, confident and lively outside of work. This is probably because "screenwriters" have both a threshold for entry and a high elimination rate, but it is not easy to eat this bowl of rice.
The screenwriter's work forms are very rich, some people maintain free body, some people team up to fight, and some people sign into companies or studios; There are very many ways for screenwriters to enter the industry, some are from professional colleges, some are writers across borders, some are crawling on the set, and some are changing careers.
No matter what kind of screenwriter they are, their original intention and reason for insisting on it are nothing more than two - ideal and reality.
As the epidemic stamped the film and television industry as "particularly poor", the screenwriter group has also experienced the densest wave of dispersion. Look at the departing companions, look at the projects in hand, and they have to re-weigh the weight of ideals and reality. Recently, the film and television monologue talked to three young screenwriters (two men and one woman). Their narration gives us a glimpse of the changes in the mood of screenwriters before and after the epidemic.
The following is the narration of the three screenwriters
"Screenwriters should try to get into the inner circle"
When I was in middle school, my Chinese grades were very good, and I often scored perfect marks in my essays. Because I was always praised by the teachers, classmates, and relatives around me, I also moved my heart to engage in writing. Later, it turned out that the screenwriting industry is difficult to easily cope with with talent. I know several great screenwriters who have won the Magnolia Award and the Golden Rooster Award, and they can't "come with their mouths open" and "write chapters". The script is too large, and there is no screenwriter who is not an effort type.
Barton (John Turturo), the screenwriter of "Barton Fink"
Before entering the industry, I was a joker, and after entering the industry, I was lucky that the first drama that participated in the screenwriting was very popular. After more than ten years in the industry, although I have encountered difficulties and I have not done very well, I have never thought of giving up. It's just that I stopped writing in the middle and went on a poor trip for two years.
I really like to travel, or sojourn, because I can go deep into unfamiliar environments and unfamiliar people. Sitting on the side of the street and observing the life of the locals, chatting with them, guessing the relationship between the characters of strange pedestrians... It's a lot like thinking training in the classroom when you go to school. In recent years, with the impact of the epidemic, everyone has become more and more comfortable with online communication, and I can even live with projects.
In his early years, he encountered a strange thing. Everyone has heard that actors encounter unspoken rules and sexual harassment, but I didn't expect that screenwriters may also encounter them. I was talking to a director at his company about scripts, and it was noon, and he asked me if I wanted to take a lunch break. So we went to a lounge. He pulled out his phone and played a recording that shocked my three views—a secret recording of a boy's bed. Feeling extremely obscene, I immediately chose to flee. Fortunately, this kind of thing has only happened once, otherwise my broken three views would be difficult to heal.
David (John Cusack), playwright in "Bullets Across Broadway"
If you summarize ten years of experience, there are two very important: one is to dare to stop losses in time; One is that you should try to get into the inner circle.
I came across an IP adaptation project, at the beginning they wanted the big male protagonist of the original book itself, after writing for a few months, they wanted to change it to the big female protagonist, and after two or three months of rewriting, they had to add the crossing element. Each time it is a reversal revision, and for two years before and after, even the outline has not been finalized, and the cost cannot be settled. Therefore, the screenwriter must first open the fire eye when receiving the project, and if he can sift it, he can avoid it. If you really catch up with this super unreliable, you must dare to exit and stop the loss in time.
Try to go it alone, learn to find reliable partners, and be good at using the power of others to overcome difficulties. As a screenwriter, in the early days of entering the industry, they are all "ten lives and nine yellows". If you can enter a relatively stable team and have senior teachers who recognize you to take you to do large projects with long cycles, you will have the ability to resist risks.
For example, this epidemic. In three years, large companies will also cut the screenwriting department, and small companies are more likely to switch careers directly. I have two screenwriting friends who used to write satellite TV dramas, and they both had to find other jobs. The reason why I have not been affected too much is precisely because the project I am involved in now is big enough and the company behind it is strong enough. For three years, the project has been moving forward, and although the progress is slower than expected, the phased costs can be paid.
Joe (William Holden), the screenwriter of "Sunset Boulevard"
Don't compromise on attribution, because production companies look at attribution. Your weakness may cause the path to become narrower and narrower. Dunning is definitely the norm for screenwriters. I once spent 10,000 yuan to fight a lawsuit for just 30,000 yuan in the final payment. Another time, I just sent the chat record of the consulting lawyer to the other party, and the arrears that had not been heard from for half a year were recovered that afternoon.
Legal means are still very useful when screenwriters defend their rights. And now the screenwriter's lawsuit is not complicated, as long as the contract is signed in a standardized manner, it can be solved by using the mobile phone court, and there is no need to even hire a lawyer.
"After becoming a mother, I have to think about livelihood"
I love writing, but there was only one motivation for being a screenwriter from the beginning to now – to make money.
Screenshot of "Nankai Jusanro"
When I was an undergraduate, I started writing novels, writing short and medium stories, and I could get about 1,000 yuan for submitting articles to magazines. Obviously, the future cannot be expected to support itself. At that time, a classmate was already taking on the script, and I asked her how she earned. She said something that I will remember for the rest of my life: "It's quite a lot." ”
My first screenwriting project was "aborted" halfway. It was an animated film led by our school teacher. At that time, I had no idea what to censor, and the teacher said that I wanted to do adult animation like "South Park", so we added a lot of sharp, needle-catching content. Looking back now, this kind of project was destined to be difficult to produce.
"South Park: Post-Covid" poster
I've been a screenwriter for almost ten years now, and I've never had the luxury of writing a hit that will box office and how many broadcasts, and I haven't set a similar goal. Maybe it's because I poured my ideals on the side of the novel, so I have a peaceful mentality on the screenwriter's side. Others agree with what I write, and I am happy to get money; If I don't agree with what I write and don't get paid, I'm frustrated, very pure.
Four years ago, my husband went from director of promotional films to screenwriters for film and television. Our husband and wife became partners. He's a perfectionist, and he's a big contrast to me. For example, every time I finish a draft, no matter how good or bad it is, I will become very relaxed and happy, and quickly think about where to eat delicious; On the contrary, he couldn't relax his heart after writing, always thinking about where he could change it.
The initial run-in will definitely be accompanied by fierce quarrels, and sometimes even sigh because of the other party's train of thought: "It turns out that you are such a person!" "So that's how you think about XXX!"
After running in a tacit understanding, I found that it is actually good to have a partner with complementary writing styles. He tolerated me, I didn't fight him, and I was able to improve quality in the process of changing and changing. If both of them are perfectionists, I am afraid that they will collide very violently, and they will be very uncomfortable.
Screenshot of "The University of Laughter"
What screenwriters envy each other may not be talent, but energy and efficiency. For example, when I was in school, I heard that a teacher completed a 20-episode TV series in just one week. The speed alone is convincing. In addition, many teachers are both script writing and teaching, and their energy is also very admirable.
Why do I envy other people's energy? It is because after having a baby, my state of mind has changed a lot.
Many people feel that the epidemic has led the film and television industry into a cold winter, in fact, my experience, as early as 2018, after the tax storm began, life began to become less. Coupled with the fact that I was pregnant and gave birth at the end of 2017, I entered a certain degree of "lying flat".
When the epidemic first came, my time was occupied by children, and I didn't care about how the industry was doing. Two of my best three screenwriter friends left the industry during the pandemic.
One returned to his hometown to take care of his sick family during the epidemic, but could not return to Beijing due to the delay in control. Originally, there were few new projects in the film and television industry in the past two years, and it was even more difficult to get jobs if they couldn't go back to Beijing. Although she was able to return to Beijing later, she still could not receive the project, and after only three or four months, she completely abandoned the business.
Another experienced more twists and turns, seeing that the momentum of the epidemic was not right, he wanted to find a stable job from 9 to 5, and ended up entering the more tragic education and training industry. Later, she worked for some time related to copyright transactions, and finally chose to leave Beijing.
What particularly struck me was not that they left the screenwriting industry, but that they showed an unspeakable disappointment in the city of Beijing.
The screenwriter in "Leaving Las Vegas" (Nicolas Cage)
Speaking of myself, after becoming a mother, I had to think about my livelihood. Because of the need to repay the mortgage and raise children, the fixed expenses of more than 10,000 per month are so clearly in front of you. In the past, when a project came to me, I would still worry about whether it could be achieved. I don't think much about it now. What I value more is whether the family can have a stable income. As for whether the project succeeds or not, it has its own life.
What has been in front of me recently is a difficult choice: on one side is a short play, the other party draws a 1.2 million pie, but neither of us likes it; On the other side is a serialized novel, with a monthly manuscript fee of 4,000 yuan, which is an opportunity I once dreamed of.
Me, which one should I choose?
"If I haven't starved to death for three years, I can still talk about ideals"
I am a science student, with the lowest score in five subjects in the college entrance examination. But by mistake, 8 years after graduating from college, he had a new identity - a film screenwriter.
The screenwriter of "Trumbo" Trumbo (played by Brian Cranston)
In order to answer the doubts of relatives and classmates, I summed up a reason that even I believed: a large amount of film reading and good logic. In this way, I should be considered a fan screenwriter - the motivation to write the script is out of love for movies.
In those years, I basically watched more than 400 films a year, and I was familiar with the routines of various types of films. With the appreciation and promotion of your nobles, my first theatrical film received more than 11 million at the box office with a cost of about 2 million.
As a movie fan, I actually saw my own page on Douban and IMDb!
Subsequently, many similar projects of small-cost theatrical films came to me one after another. I also quickly experienced the screenwriter's famous "ten lives and nine yellows". After encountering several times in a row that the other party disappeared after writing the first draft, I had to reflect on the question: Is what I wrote okay?
Say no, compared to those new films in the theater, it's not bad; Say okay, anyway, the producers are no longer advancing, if you don't ask, there will be no news, and if you ask, you can't pull investment.
The arrival of the epidemic has been devastating to freelance screenwriters like me. Because the small cost projects of small companies have almost stopped, it is impossible for the head company to see our footwriters. Changing careers is inevitable and imminent.
Charlie (Nicolas Cage), the screenwriter of "Adapted Screenplay"
What is the ideal? It's about writing something that makes you proud. What is the reality? It is eating, sleeping, dressing, and seeing a doctor. No one can talk about ideals without solving real problems. In the same way, since the epidemic has not starved me to death for three years, I can continue to talk about ideals.
In fact, it is not difficult for people who can be screenwriters to earn a basic income. Many of my screenwriting friends have other ways to make money during the pandemic. Some went to write scripts to kill, some went to do self-media, some went to do short video writers, and some went to record audio books...
Although I don't worry about money now, although I hate staying up late and having meetings, although the situation of "ten lives and nine yellows" will not improve immediately, but as the industry recovers, I am back to continue to take over.
【Text/Full Hoard】