Advice — paul chitlik

In every movie of quality, there are three stories going on either simultaneously or in close proximity. One of the first things you need to look at when you approach a rewrite is to make sure all the stories are fulfilled and in the right proportions. The closer they are in theme and proximity, the better. They should support each other and the script as a whole. Knowing what they are and how to integrate them will make your script more consistent and stronger in its core. Here’s how I do it and how we talk about it in my...

I can absolutely guarantee you, based on more than twenty years experience, that the second thing a reader (be she a script reader, development exec, agent, producer, or studio head) will do when she gets your script, is thumb through to the end to see what the page count is. The first, of course, is to read the title and name, possibly your agent's name and contact info. But the most important issue for her will be the length. What? Length over quality? You mean to tell me you'll be judged on length? Not exactly. Here's how it works. Readers...

In every movie of quality, there are three stories going on either simultaneously or in close proximity. One of the first things you need to look at when you approach a rewrite is to make sure all the stories are fulfilled and in the right proportions. The closer they are in theme and proximity, the better. They should support each other and the script as a whole. Knowing what they are and how to integrate them will make your script more consistent and stronger in its core. Here’s how I do it and how we talk about it in my...