James McCormick at 2012-04-04 19:25:44:

I think the flipside of this is people who don't understand that this is how the business works. Taking notes like "I didn't connect with the characters" to heart and drastically obliterating a draft all because one producer has given this note and most likely didn't read the script. Several writers I've worked with have felt the overwhelming need to "fix" a script when nothing is wrong with it because of such a note. In fact, this also goes for movies that make it into production. Believe it or not, but you can write a good script that doesn't get bought. Hell, isn't that why the BLACKLIST was created in the first place? I've said this time again, but the only consistent "notes" I've ever gotten on a screenplay is this -- "I will read about twenty pages; if I like those twenty pages, I read on until I don’t like it anymore or I finish. If I get all of the way through, I probably will get involved with the project in some way;" Just get them to the end of the script in the most entertaining, engaging, page turning way possible and you'll get meetings.

Geoff LaTulippe at 2012-04-09 20:46:57:

First of all, I LOVE this piece because what Polone says is honest and blunt and, at the end of the day, not necessarily a bad thing at all. A NOTE BEFORE I SAY ANYTHING ELSE: Some of my comments are going to be vague for obvious reasons. However, in full disclosure, I do not know and have not yet worked with Gavin Polone, though I know OF him very well. Please do not attribute any of the following comments to him. Thanks. Second, what he's saying, as far as I'm concerned, often gives you and INCREDIBLE advantage as a writer. There are many, many, many excellent studio execs and producers who are fantastic at their jobs, love what they do, and KNOW what good material is. And there are just as many who are in it solely for the money, are there via nepotism or dumb luck, and couldn't possibly give a shit about quality - they just want to get movies made and be "Hollywood". In BOTH of those cases, Scott is absolutely right - their associates and assistants are underpaid, overworked, and have read so much absolute shit over the last weeks or months that they are DYING for just ONE great piece of material. And if they find it, you can bet that they will forward it to every other associate and assistant they know faster than you can blink, because they're all in the same boat. Subject Line: FINALLY SOMETHING GOOD. And when that happens...you've built buzz. When assistants and associates are all talking about the same thing, the execs and producers hear about it. The good ones will jump at the chance to find out if there's something there they love and want to get behind; the bad ones will jump at the chance EVEN FASTER if for no other reason than to either a) be the one that found the Next Big Thing or b) at least NOT be the one who IGNORED the Next Big Thing. No matter how you slice it, that's GREAT for you. What happens afterwards is a complete crap shoot. There will be execs/producers that just don't have time to read. There will be others that love it but really don't see it working for them for whatever reason. There will be others that just don't dig it. Best case scenario, a great exec/producer falls in love and you make a sale to someone who believes in what you've written. Less ideal is you make a sale and a shitty one makes your life hell during development, and you move on to the next one eventually with a nice paycheck for your troubles. But maybe more important than anything, there's this: Hollywood is filling up more and more with young creative people who want to work in the industry not because they want to get VIP tables at clubs and have celebrities on their speed dials, but because they love. Movies. Period. That means there are a TON of young people out there right now working in Gatekeeper positions who want to find something they love and FIGHT for it, not just pass it on because they think it'll get them a promotion. They're willing to make noise. When you write something that you love, you're going to write your best. When you READ something you love, you're going to do your best to get in the ear of everyone who can help make it happen. So, as Scott mentioned, don't read Polone's thoughts and get discouraged. Coverage is a necessary part of the process, and if you write a great script, it can be the biggest part of the process for you.

Nate Winslow at 2012-04-10 01:11:58:

As one of those underpaid and overworked interns/assistants, I back wholeheartedly what Geoff just said and agree with him completely. I read a lot of scripts. Right now, I'm currently working for 3 companies (that shall remain nameless--so, like Geoff, forgive any vagueness here) and one Black List. Between two of those companies, I'm in an office 5 days a week, spending the majority of that time reading scripts: when I come home from those offices, I spend the majority of my time reading more scripts. In the off chance that the other testimonies weren't good enough, I can tell you first-hand that the majority of the scripts that I read are not great, life-changing pieces of writing. The VAST majority of them aren't, actually. I can't speak for my fellow underpaid and overworked brethren, but for myself I can say that Geoff is spot on when he says that I really, really REALLY want to read a great script. More than you know: I'm sure the writers that get back my coverage (with my name hopefully erased. I want to live to be 30) with a big fat PASS on the bottom might struggle to believe that, but I start every single script hoping and praying with all of my might that I'm about to read something great. Because not only would a great script be a huge relief to my soul and briefly restore my faith in the art of storytelling; not only would it have me fist-pumping and emailing everyone else I know who are looking for great scripts; it gives me, for however long I manage to have it in my hands, the most valuable currency in this entire town. A. Great. Script. When you write a great script and I get to read it--in an official or unofficial capacity--you're doing me an enormous favor. You’re giving me something I can yell about and fight for. You're giving me something that I can get behind and believe in and gush about and rant about and talk about to my friends and--most importantly for both you, writer friend, and me--go to my boss about. If I have the opportunity to read something that I think is absolutely fantastic, and something that I think my boss will potentially love just as much, I'll find a way to get it in front of him. And the reason for that is exactly because there are so many crappy scripts that cross in front of my eyeballs. Too many! And readers, like Hollywood at large, are ALWAYS looking for a great script--and when you find one, it's like finding a Golden Ticket. I speak from experience. (Apologies for vaagueness here) In the past year, I read a script for coverage that I absolutely adored. Flat-out loved, and believed incredibly strongly that it was destined to not only be a movie, but a huge hit movie that would potentially win a ton of awards and entertain millions and millions of people. So I gave it a RECOMMEND and unconditionally raved about it in my coverage. I told a supervisor this story the other week and he looked at me like I was insane: he's got a few years on me and he told me he expects to give three RECOMMENDS out in his ENTIRE LIFE. Rare birds, those recommends. But I gave this script one and instead of just sending it to my direct superior and letting them read it, I sent it to my direct superior and then emailed them a 4 paragraph email explaining to them that if they do nothing else this weekend, please please please please read this script. Please. I was a little more eloquent, but that was the gist. They read it. They loved it. I got asked to explain myself to THEIR boss, and I did--they read it and THEY loved it. Then it went up the chain to THE boss, and it sat on the top of their to-read pile and waited. Unfortunately it was right in the middle of an incredibly busy time at said company and there just wasn't quite enough time to get it read and do anything with it. (Coincidentally, two weeks later, that script sold to a studio for a large sum of money and is going to get made imminently. Validation of a certain kind.) But that was a script that blew me away to the point where I cared enough to bug people that I normally have no cause or reason to bug. And, luckily, after they had read it, they all shared the same feelings I had for the script so I didn't get fired, but that's all it takes. Make one person care enough to make other people listen to them. We read far too many screenplays. The idea that we're rooting for a screenplay to suck or sharpening our claws to rip it to shreds while cackling gleefully is ridiculous. Readers aren't masochists. I love movies. I want to make great movies. And my part in all of that right now is reading a lot of them and trying to find the great ones. Good scripts are a drug and whenever someone I know finds one, immmmmeeeeediately emails get sent out and PDFs are shared and read and shared again. One intern with a decent amount of friends and contacts reading your script and loving it is one step removed from fifteen other people getting sent that script—each of them send it to fifteen of their friends, each of whom send it to fifteen of their friends, each of whom…20 minutes later, 500 people have heard about your script. Be nice to the little people. I probably read 15 scripts a week, I don't get paid to read a single one of them and I open every last script hoping I'm about to find something that I can take to my boss and force them to make it. Readers are your friends. Make someone fall in love with and believe in your script and you'll be shocked at how hard someone is willing to work for you.