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    The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script
    The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script
    The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script
    Ebook191 pages2 hours

    The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script

    By Joe Aaron

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    About this ebook

    the low-budget screenplay, how to write a produce-able script gives a writer/filmmaker the tools s/he needs to not only write a great story, but also how to get the script to the screen.
    the low-budget screenplay is written by film and television writer joe aaron. it is not a book of "rules," but rather "tools" that aaron has unearthed over his many years as a writer.
    the low-budget screenplay is not a "paint-by-numbers" approach to storytelling, but rather a guide to character, plot and story elements. it offers readers a writing strategy, showing how to take an idea from a premise to the final draft. and it offers ambitious filmmakers advice on getting their stories funded and produced.
    the low-budget screenplay is a fun, light, conversational and witty read. it takes complex issues and breaks them down so that even a beginner can get it. aaron gives readers useful, actionable information that will get them started, or rebooted on their story.
    learn the most useful archetypes; how to create them and how to make your hero "arc."
    learn to create an empathetic protagonist.
    learn to create an ally matrix.
    learn to deconstruct your favorite films so you can master your genre.
    learn to design your plot using the 4-act structure.
    learn cause/effect scene mapping, crossing the emotional line, context as character, and closing the exits.
    learn why you must understand the stages of grief, the counter-argument, stacking, and how to write "off-script," and the power of "value words."
    also, learn about "the biz." why you are invisible and how to create a track record. learn about four-walling and how to recoup your money. and learn the truth about crowd-funding.
    no matter how many books on screenwriting, storytelling or myth-making you have read, you are certain to find unique, useful concepts in the low-budget screenplay that will take your writing to a higher level.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJoe Aaron
    Release dateJul 24, 2014
    ISBN9781310909924
    The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script
    Author

    Joe Aaron

    JOE AARON is a writer and teacher of writing. He worked for years in television, HBO, Cinemax, Comedy Central, E!. He is best known for his work on the Doug cartoon, which he co-created. He has written several low-budget shorts that have been produced and is the writer, director, producer, and "star" of the indie feature Crazy Jones, which played at several festivals, winning the Cinequest International Film Festival, Audience Choice Award. The film also ran for two years on the Showtime network. He is the author of the young adult novella "Paradise High," and is a graduate of the American Film Institute.

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      Book preview

      The Low Budget Screenplay, How to Write a Produce-able Script - Joe Aaron

      The Low-Budget Screenplay was written to be used in conjunction with any of the other fine books on the subject (mentioned at the end) to take your writing to the next level. This book talks about storytelling, but also about ways to keep your budget low, and I'll offer many advanced weapons for your writing arsenal. When I give shout-outs to writing gurus within these pages, I do it for clarity. 

      This is not only a book to help you write, it's also a commercial for the great books that already exist. Read this book first for the basics, make note of the comments I make about the other books, then decide which one is right for you, all the while knowing you can always come back to this one to re-read or for reference.

      I never intended to write a book on screenwriting. I am a screenwriter myself, not a guru. However, when I went to teach my first college class, I realized I had more to say, based on over 25 years of experience, than I could find in the existing books. Yes, the other books are great. But there's more, an entire book's worth of more information that YOU need.

      My examples are old. I talk about Terminator (which you need to see before you read this book because I reference it a LOT), Ordinary People, Seinfeld, Friends, etc. I use old movies and TV shows because I know them better, and I think they are well written. I do use widely known Hollywood films, so I'm sure most of you will have seen them. If not, watch them. I reference only great work.

      When you're through reading this book, I want you to design a script. Write it and re-write it until it's great. Run it past a line-producer to make sure it's doable for $10 to $30K (or more if you can score that kind of scratch). Then go out and raise the money and shoot the film. My goal for you is not merely to write a great script, but to turn that script into a great film.

      Then, in the end credits, under Special Thanks, put my name first. JOE AARON. Once you do that, contact me. I want to see the monster I encouraged you to create. I don't want your story to languish on your hard-drive. I want you to get it done!

      _____________________________________

      The He said/She said problem. In this book, when referring to a writer, I use the words he, him, etc. instead of the clunky s/he, or alternating back and forth. The reason is simply this; that's the way I was taught, and I'm not P.C. enough to change.

      Also, in my world, a guy is anyone. Male, female, dog, cat, pig, tree ... I don't care. Please don't make me write guy/gal every stinking time. I just want to make a point about a character, not his or her sex. In this book all stories are about a guy (or some guys), so please don't think I'm leaving women out. I know females can write. I know a character can be a woman. I'm not looking to make enemies. I had to make a choice, and this is it.

      1.Who Says You Can't Teach Writing?

      I hear it all the time: You can't teach writing. As if some people just spring from the womb, writers, while everyone else is doomed to mere reader-dom. Ridiculous.

      I learned to write. Anyone who is literate learned to write AND read. Why would anyone make this claim? I remember, years ago, a person at a party was so impressed to find that I was a writer. Her question was:

      PARTY GIRL

      How do you know you're a writer? I mean, it's not like you wake up one day and say, 'Today I'm a writer.'

      After a bit of apologetic back-pedaling, I informed her that, yes, that is exactly what I did. I had been a woefully unsuccessful actor trying to scratch out a living while I trudged from audition to audition to get my fair share of abuse. One day, I woke up and literally said:

      From now on I'm a writer.

      I went on to say (to myself) that I'm NOT going to be one of those loser writers who are really just frustrated actors who don’t know what to do so they’re going to call themselves writers. NO! I committed to really learn how to write and become a money-making writer. Within a few years, that's exactly what I did.

      So when people say you can't teach writing, what are they talking about? Do they mean You can't teach storytelling? That too is wrong.

      We learn how to live by listening to stories. In fact, nearly everything in the human experience is a story. Religion is a story, history is a story, dreams are stories, trying to explain to someone what happened the other day is a story, imagining what you'd like to do in the future is a story -- LIFE is a story, and you are not only a character in it; you are a teller of it.

      Stories are thoughts, thoughts that have been focused, arranged, and edited for the purpose of eliciting an emotion or communicating an idea. Some people don't have very interesting thoughts. Others have profound thoughts. Some people don't bother to learn how to arrange, focus and/or edit their stories; others spend a lifetime mastering the craft.

      Some people are more creative than others. Some are more disciplined. All of those factors are out of my hands. I cannot guarantee that if you read this book you'll have success as a screenwriter. But, to borrow a line from Bob Fosse's excellent film, All That Jazz:

      JOE

      I don't know if I can make you a great dancer.

      I don't even know if I can make you a good dancer.

      But if you stay, I promise, I'll make you a better dancer.

      Deal?

      And that's what I'll say to you. If you read this book (maybe even more than once), and if you read some of the other great books on screenwriting, AND if you devote 10,000 hours to reading, writing, deconstructing, etc., I can promise you'll be a BETTER writer. Deal?

      The point of this book is not to teach you how to make a film, though I will speak to that issue some. The point is to teach you how to write a low-budget film that you could feasibly make.

      However, first you need to know how to tell a story. You need to know how to create interesting characters, relationships, events, drama, etc., and THEN we'll figure out how to keep the budget low.

      There are three major sections of this book: CHARACTER, PLOT and ADVANCED TECHNIQUES. All the other stuff is interesting and should be read, but those will be the most useful.

      I encourage you to read the entire book from start to finish, THEN, when you begin designing your story, review those sections.

      The Character section forces you to get to know your main characters. It is from the characters you will design the plot. Some people think you design the plot first, and then drop your characters into that really cool story.

      Wrong!

      Stories are about people. You must make us understand, care about, or at the very least be curious about them. Action films aren't about an actor holding a gun and running. Horror films aren't about an actor screaming and getting stabbed. Comedies aren't about an actor in a wig making odd faces. They're about people we invest in emotionally. If we don't care about the character, we won't care about the plot.

      Even Babe, which is about a pig, is really about a person. Babe has the same hopes and dreams and coming-of-age issues we all relate to. The story is not about pig issues; it's about human issues. This is why human audiences feel empathy for Babe.

      From this book you will learn storytelling craft. You may apply this craft to screenplays or any other medium you choose. It is my dream that, once you finish this book, you will sit down and hammer out a story. If it's your first, just get it done. Completion is more important than brilliance right now.

      If you're a writing veteran, I hope you find SOMETHING useful, or will at least be entertained. I really hope that once you finish your script, you'll get with a team of filmmakers and actors and have your movie shot.

      Good luck as you exit civilian life and step into the Hollywood (or indie) spotlight!

      2.YOU'RE INVISIBLE BECAUSE ...

      Steven Spielberg doesn't know you exist. That explains why he hasn't called. That explains why nobody's called. Is it your goal to write a big blockbuster that's so cool that you'll sell it to one of the studios for $50,000,000?

      Good luck with that.

      You realize there are more lotto winners walking around than there are unknown screenwriters who got their big break selling a multi-million dollar screenplay, right?

      The odds of hitting the big-time, going from obscurity to the big payday, are billions to one. That's not a business plan; that's a pipe-dream.

      Let me hit you with some reality -- until you've done something that EVERYBODY has heard of ... you're invisible.

      You won't get a meeting with a true player (someone with green-light power) until you're famous OR ... you have some hotshot agent. And you won't get into the top four agencies without a connection.

      That's right. You need an agent to get an agent. Don't believe me? Send a script to WME, or CAA or ICM or UTA -- see what happens. Or better yet, don't bother. I'll tell you what happens.

      They send it back, UNOPENED, with a polite (yet stern) letter from the legal department explaining that they don't accept unsolicited material.

      So, unless your daddy is a Hollywood power-broker, or you're a really hot chick with a type A personality and no morals, you're going to have to do what the rest of us do -- create your own track-record.

      Want to make Batman? Make Memento first. Want to make Spy Kids? Make El Mariachi first. Want to make Iron Man? Make Swingers first.

      The list goes on and on, going all the way back to Mean Streets by young Marty Scorsese and THX 1138 by young George Lucas. That's right. There's no Star Wars without first Indies.

      This is how you get a track record. This is how you become visible. This is how you get an agent. This is how you get that meeting with Steven. By the way ... did you notice something about all the indie films on the list above? Notice what they all have in common? They all have EXCELLENT stories! Cool ideas, well-executed scripts, competent acting and filmmaking. (And a bit of luck.)

      Too often filmmakers and actors get this idea in

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