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Jennifer Lerch, How to Get Past "The Gatekeeper"
by Ed Proudfoot
(September 2000) |
On September 9, the Scriptwriters Network was fortunate to host Jennifer Lerch, author of 500 WAYS TO BEAT THE HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT READER: WRITING THE SCREENPLAY THE READER WILL RECOMMEND, as its guest speaker. Lerch answered questions posed by the Network's own Georgann Grunebach.
Georgann Grunebach (GG): I want to talk to you about the process of reading and how a writer would get a recommendation...how you do the reading...what you look for in good scripts...what you've thrown back into the pile...and hopefully, we'll learn more about the reading process. So Jennifer, talk to me about how you do your job.
Jennifer Lerch (JL): I work as a freelance script reader for the William Morris Agency...I read for various agents. I'll read scripts from movie studios, production companies, scripts that want to attach a director or a star, or a writer who's looking for representation.... I look for a script that I have a good time with, where the conflicts are intense and take the whole story to resolve, where the characters are complicated or funny - they're people I want to spend time with. And the stories I like are smartly put together or different enough to engage today's media savvy movie-goers.
GG: So you bring to your background an ability to identify the key commercial elements?
JL: It's plain old good storytelling that lures me in. I have broad tastes and a simple goal when I read: I want to have fun and experience life through a characters' eyes. Judging whether or not a story is good isn't brain surgery. We're a media culture. Any ten-year-old who's been watching television for seven or eight years knows a good story when he or she sees one - they know whether or not the conflict is drawing them in, whether or not they like the characters, whether the humor makes them laugh. It's a matter of identifying those things and writing it up smartly in coverage.
GG: How many scripts a day do you read?
JL: I can read up to 10 scripts a day. That's my record. Of course, I don't do that every day! (Lerch has read 10,000 scripts in her more than 10 years as a free-lance script reader.)
GG: And that includes writing the coverage?
JL: Yes.
GG: And when you do that coverage, you're talking 10,000 scripts...in that time have you seen a trend in those scripts? Have they been getting better?
JL: What I see in screenplays reflects what's happening in society. There aren't a lot of two-parent families, there are more alienated kids. It's interesting that what's happening in today's screenplays echoes what's happening on the news...about a year later, but it comes around.
GG: How is it for women's roles? Are there more women in leading roles?
JL: There aren't as many women in jeopardy, there aren't as many women running from the guy with the knife…there are still a lot of roles for women who are your basic Playboy bunny.
GG: Well, you've read 10,000 of them, you know what you're talking about. Over the last ten years, have you seen a maturity in the scripts, where the women aren't Playboy bunnies? Where there's a sensitivity that they can be more than just the mom or...
JL: There are still a lot of moms. There are still a lot of women who are eye candy, because they want to draw in the male audiences, the young men...
GG: These are not good tips, these are the reality tips. So, now, you've worked for star production companies as well. Talk about the distinction between reading for an agency and reading for a star.
JL: The last production company I worked for was looking for anything that was good...budget was not a problem. When I would read for them, I was looking for a good story.
GG: [Lerch] brought me an edited coverage...I'm going to read this briefly. These are the comments she would make to the management. [From the coverage]: Not tops, but this has its charms as an innocuous comedy...Situation-driven light comedy features lots of talk, predictable story direction and characters who audiences can relate to. It's the comfortableness of the formula and the brisk pace that could hold the interest of moviegoers as it covers silly, favorite ground. Dialogue sounds authentic, story moves well, the subplots that flow from their relationship are neatly woven. Neat formula genre piece has a modern streak...isn't a great example of the genre, but would be diverting, an undemanding date movie if casting brings chemistry to the screen. That's the kind of read you want to get.
JL: Right. Because the bottom line is, a script doesn't have to be perfect and a script doesn't have to be great to get good coverage. Film is a director's medium. A director can come in and generate some chemistry between the actors, keep the pace moving along and really create something that's a visual experience beyond what is indicated in the screenplay. Chemistry between the actors can make all the difference, especially in dialogue-driven romantic comedies. In entertainment, it often comes down to what stories sound the best when told over the phone. It's a pitch-driven business. Can you sell it in one or two sentences?
Scriptwriters Network Member: How do you like the characters described?
JL: I like an age, and it's nice to have a brief descriptive phrase, like "he's a jolly green giant of a man" or "a fireplug of a person" so I can create a quick sketch in my mind. Include details that reveal relevant personality or physical traits.
SNM: How do you describe special effects?
JL: What happens in the action? What happens to the characters? The bomb EXPLODES. Jim is HIT! The minutia of how it happens and how it's choreographed is up to the director.
SNM: What about setting?
JL: I like a city name, a time of year, a mood. NYC in August, hot, sticky, miserable...
SNM: What about action?
JL: Break your action into three line paragraphs. Don't bold or capitalize too much, because it might encourage the reader to skim just those sections. Less really is better. Make your writing as lean as you can, but make it fun - capture the spirit of what's happening on the screen.
SNM: What do you look for in a script?
JL: CONFLICT. Always conflict. That's the number one reason for passing on scripts, lack of conflict.... Act two is the Grand Canyon...[A writer friend says] act two is Oz....act two is the story, so don't ease up on the conflicts in act two, like many writers do. Create a conflict that can go the distance and chances are you're writing a screenplay that will go places.
SNM: You've talked about the commercial potential of different projects. Does that mean you don't like independent projects?
JL: I love independent movies. There are A list actors, B list actors...Everyone wants to work. And many actors are wanting to branch out and do something different.
GG: Commercial could be big-budget commercial and it could be BLAIR WITCH commercial.
SNM: Do you find some subject matter offensive?
JL: I'm looking for a good story. I'm looking for a character who takes a journey, who takes risks on that journey, and who experiences internal conflicts that tear them apart and cause them to do something worth telling a story about while searching for the resolutions to those conflicts. Concept is also important. You want a concept that you can sum up in one quick line that leaves the person who reads or hears that line wanting more, just like the people who see the one-sheet will be wanting to know more, and will pay their money at the box office to find out what happens next.
SNM: What do you look for in the dialogue?
JL: The keys I look for are subtext, where people don't say what they really mean, where people talk around each other, at each other, where their personalities and points of view are distinct. Everyone sounds different
on the page.
SNM: What do you look for in comedy?
JL: Somebody who writes funny, creates laughs and conflict on page one, and has a skewed way of looking at the world.
SNM: What do you look for in a character?
JL: Somebody who's appealing. But appealing doesn't mean perfect. Somebody you can relate to. Appealing doesn't mean they do the right thing, it means you care enough about them to root for them to do the right thing. And by all means make your characters active people who take the initiative rather than passive people who only respond to the stimuli around them.
SNM: How do you get good coverage?
JL: Write what you love. That will come across as enthusiasm and the reader will have a good time in your story. When the reader has a good time, that's when you get a good coverage. When you see a character doing a very bad thing, that's hooking into the looky-loo complex, which is a good thing from a reader's point of view; it pulls us into the story. We want to see how it all turns out. Show conflict on page one, and you'll hook the reader.
Here's how to test if you've got a great story: Tell your story to friends and family, and when people's eyes start glazing over, that's when you know you have to make some changes. Take time to think through your idea before you start scripting it. Make sure you're investing your time in something that's going to grab people's interest. Above all, follow your heart and write with
passion.
GG: And all your other questions can be answered in the book. Thanks for coming, Jennifer.
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