Christmas Schadenfreude

If you're wondering why your spec didn't sell this year, relax, spec script sales collapsed in April, sez Nikki Finke:

The wide spec basically died on April 30, 2009. For the first four months of 2009, 8.2% of the specs that went wide to the town ended up selling (16 out of 195). Not a great percentage, but probably to be expected, all things considered. From May through the end of the year, however, sales of wide specs fell off a cliff: 3 out of 178 wide specs sold during that period, or 1.7%.

Basically, "three studios put a moratorium on development spending."

It makes sense. Scripts are the first thing in the pipeline, so if you want to cut costs without affecting output immediately, those $200K vs. $500K deals are easy to cut.

Things should pick up at some point, when execs start getting antsy about having a dry pipeline. When that will happen, who knows. My feeling is that January is going to look better than November, but that's just a gut check.

And then there's this:

According to BoxOffice.com, 2009's domestic cume has already topped 2008's record haul of $9.626 billion from January 1 to December 31, 2008.

At some point studios will realize that they are actually making a profit, and need to continue to make product if they want that to keep up.

I thought this tidbit was also interesting, if you're wondering about the seasonal cycles of Ho'wood:

The Spring selling season is roughly twice as long as the Fall season: this year, there were 21 weeks in the Spring (from the end of Sundance to the week before Independence Day) versus 10 weeks in the Fall (from the week after Labor Day to the week before Thanksgiving).

Timing is Everything

Q. How much time is there between the end of taping an episode of a single camera, half-hour comedy, and the point in which it airs?

I turned this question over to comedy maven Ken Levine, who writes:

A. The actual answer is it depends on the air schedule. Sometimes you have months, other times mere days (with people working double overtime). It's faster now because the editing is all done digitally but for a single camera comedy I'd say five days minimum from when it wraps. A multi-camera show -- three.

So there you go.

Q. Speaking of hiatus, do you think that most shows will cut into the start of their vacation time to finish episodes ordered by their network to complete the season?

Well, of course. In show business, "vacation time" just means "when they're not paying you to work." If the network orders more episodes to finish the season, you keep working on them, and if that means working straight through to next summer, then you won't be summering in San Miguel.

Q. I was curious about this because now that the strike is over, I'm trying to pinpoint the time a particular show's staff will go on summer hiatus.

You might try calling the production office. Call the studio that produces the show. Ask for the "OFFICE production office" if that's the show you want to talk to. The studio receptionist will direct you to the production office receptionist. He or she may very well know when the hiatus is. I don't think it's a big secret; he or she may very well tell you even without an explanation.

Staged Readings

Is there anything other than queries to do with these scripts that I've finished, and actually work well?

You mean, aside from sleeping with agents / movie stars / producers and leaving them on the bedside table?

There's always staged readings in LA. Rent an Equity Waiver 99 seat theater on a Monday and get a bunch of actors to read it out loud. Invite every agent and producer you can. If your hook is good, they might come. Or send someone. If the dialog is great, that might make a bigger splash than a query letter.

Q. The thing that is weakest in my writing now is my character voices and popping dialogue, do you have any strategies on making them shine?

Same answer. You don't necessarily need to rent a space and invite people, but if you can con or pay actors (or feed actors) into reading your script out loud, there is nothing better for hearing what's working in your dialog and what's not.

In a pinch, your friends can read it out loud, but they may destroy your lines, so don't feel bad if they do.

Try writing a couple of scripts that rely heavily on character drama rather than action / suspense / intrigue / mystery -- internally driven rather than externally -- that may help you develop your character muscles.

Also try watching character-driven TV shows, and analyse how the plots work. What do the characters want? What are the obstacles? How are the stories set up and resolved? Try simple shows like EVERWOOD rather than pièces de résistance like MAD MEN. I couldn't tell you how a MAD MEN plot is constructed. But if you want ten hours of slightly cheesy but well executed TV drama, and really think about what's going on, that might help you understand drama better.

Striking Question

Q. Should the looming WGA strike affect my timing? Should I try to get a spec out there sooner, or later?

I think you can drive yourself crazy trying to second-guess the market. I'd send your spec out when you don't think you can make it any better, and not before.

I don't think the writer's strike will really affect non-Guild writers. I went through a few writers strikes before I got my union card, and it didn't help me. TV shows can't hire scabs. The studios aren't likely to authorize hiring a non-union "baby writer"; they'll wait for the high-priced union veterans to come back on line. And the kind of producers that might consider hiring a non-union writer wouldn't be working with union guys in the first place.

On the other hand, try to get your spec out there significantly before the strike ends. What do you think all those union writers are doing when they're not walking the picket line? That's right. Banging out specs. After every strike, a flood of specs hits the market.

(Oh, and if you need a laugh ... go check out the WGA picket line. Writers. In the sun. 'Nuff said.)

And a Time to Every Purpose

Q. When's the best time of your to send out a spec screenplay to potential agents? I'm writing a spec this Autumn with a view to having it out to agents early in the New Year.

Timing isn't as critical for features and feature agents. I would avoid sending anything out in August, which is pretty dead, and December, when people are wrapping things up so they can leave town for Chrismukkah. January is good because people are back at their desks and feeling antsy about getting something done. I would say the second week people are back is good.

For the TV season, check out my many posts on staffing season.

A Time to Gather Stones Together

Q. Could you run down the best/worst times of year to do things? When it's good/bad to query an agent, when it's good/bad to pitch producers, how many weeks you should allow before and after things like Banff, CTF announcements, etc. I know producers and agents are ALWAYS busy, but I sometimes fear that I'm showing my greenness by contacting them at a bad time of year.

I wouldn't dare. But I will make a few observations from personal experience. Here are some regular events that distract producers and agents from the important business of giving you a career:

Christmukkah: it is useless to try to start any new showbiz between the third week in December and the first Monday after January 1. The town shuts down. On the other hand, this is a good time to go to Aspen to bump into people who are -- surprise! -- also in showbiz.

Mid-January: Indie people go to Park City for Sundance. Studio types and agents show up for a few days if they can get their boss to spring for it, but they don't make a meal of it. Still, it eats up much of January.

Mid-April: MIP-TV. I'm guessing not too critical for American network and studio TV types. Important to TV producers in all other countries who have to cobble together multiple sales to fund their series.

May 1: In order to ensure a successful summer movie season, producers and agents gather on Catalina Island where they sacrifice a dozen unproduced screenwriters by burning them in a giant Wicker Man. Tickets go on sale February 2.

Mid-May: Cannes. Producers who do international co-productions will devote most of May to pre-festival, festival and post-festival. Haut studio types go there to strut and ogle the half-nekkid women. Some international co-pro-type producers take their vacations right after Cannes, as they are already in the South of France.

Mid-June: Banff. Primarily a Canadian TV thing. American network types go there only if they grew up under the Maple Leaf Flag.

August: New York goes to the Hamptons. LA goes out of its head. "From a marketing perspective, you never introduce new products in August."

Early September: Toronto International Film Festival. Like Cannes, this is principally a distraction for movie distributor types and producers who want to make international co-pro deals. It doesn't cripple most of the day-to-day operations of the town.

Mid-October: MIPCOM. I'm not really clear what the difference is between this and MIP. Can someone explain?

Those are the major events I can think of off the top of my head. There's also the AFM, MIFED and the umpteen film festivals: Venice, Berlin, Montreal, Telluride, Slamdance, New York, Hamptons, etc. But these are less important than Cannes and Toronto and if you're a writer they don't really affect you.

In fact, as a writer, I would say that the only times that seriously affect you are Christmas/Hanukah and August. These are the times you're better off skipping town, as it's way too depressing to try to get anyone on the phone then. If you can swing it, go to a resort where other show people go (Aspen, East Hampton, etc.), otherwise drive to New Orleans and get yourself a story to tell

The rest of the year, just call up the assistant and ask if now is a good time. If her boss is too busy packing for Cannes, she'll tell you.