RULES OF DEVELOPMENT aka HOW TO TALK TO A SCREENWRITER

Rule One
READ THE SCRIPT IMMEDIATELY .

Rule Two
YOU'VE FINISHED THE SCRIPT, NOW CALL THE WRITER IMMEDIATELY AND PRAISE THEM!

Rule Three
BEGIN YOUR PRAISE WITH A VAGUE COMPLIMENT, THEN FOLLOW IT UP WITH SOME SPECIFIC POSITIVE COMMENTS.

Rule Four
SET THE MEETING AND STICK TO IT

Rule Five
THE MEETING - START A VAGUE POSITIVE STATMENT

Rule Six
DO YOUR BEST TO TAKE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE SCRIPT

Rule Seven
GO THROUGH THE ENTIRE SCRIPT PAGE BY PAGE AND TELL THEM SPECIFICALLY ALL THE MOMENTS YOU LIKE!

Rule Eight
BEING NICE PAYS OFF - AKA THE BENEFITS OF BEING POSITIVE

Rule Nine
WHEN GIVING A SCRIPT CORRECTION BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE

Rule Ten
DON'T PUSSYFOOT ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE.

Rule Eleven
ASK QUESTIONS!

Rule Tweleve
CONVINCE THE WRITER THERE ACTUALLY IS A PROBLEM

Rule Thirteen
SOMETIMES YOU WILL BE WRONG.

Rule Fourteen
THE WRITER IS WRONG AND REFUSES TO SEE IT. WHAT DO I DO?

Rule Fifteen
DON'T OFFER SOLUTIONS. CONVINCE THE WRITER THERE'S A PROBLEM AND THEN LET THEM COME UP WITH A SOLUTION.

Rule Sixteen
DON'T "SPITBALL" IDEAS. (SEE RULE FIFTEEN)

Rule Seventeen
THE WRITER SHOULD FEEL IT'S THEIR STORY...

Rule Eighteen
BE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND VAGUE ABOUT GIVING A SOLUTION

Rule Nineteen
WHAT IF YOU HAVE A GREAT SOLUTION?

Rule Twenty
THERE'S A PROBLEM AND YOU'VE DROPPED HINTS AND DESCRIBED YOUR GREAT IDEA VAGUELY, BUT THE WRITER CAN'T GRAB THE HINT?

Rule Twenty One
SUBMIT YOUR IDEA AS A CLICHE THAT SHOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY DISMISSED

Rule Twenty Two
DANGER! HACK WRITER AHEAD

Rule Twenty Three
PREFERABLY HAVE ONLY ONE PERSON IN A ROOM, ONE EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT EXEC FOR EVERY WRITER

23. PREFERABLY HAVE ONLY ONE PERSON IN A ROOM, ONE EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT EXEC FOR EVERY WRITER

(This probably should have come earlier, and I might just rearrange all these rules someday. But now, bear with me.)

I once sold a screenplay called BAD DOG to DreamWorks for millions of dollars. The first creative meeting involved three people, Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes and Laurie McDonald. Yes, I actually met and talked with Mr. Steven Spielberg hisself.

Once .

Because the second meeting didn't have Spielberg nor McDonald, only Walter Parkes. And by the third meeting Walter was gone. Though there were three execs in third meeting, there was nobody from the original meeting .

Ideally the writer should deal with just ONE exec throughout the process. This way there is only one master to please, one opinion, and no mixed messages.

This may be difficult because some execs are dying to be in the meeting. There is a way to coordinate it, but ideally you should be meeting first and be of one mind when you talk to the writer. I've been in meetings where not everyone agrees and it is terribly confusing.

Coming in the next installment - the most common problem with screenplays and a possible fix.

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