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Writing and Selling Drama Screenplays

Oldcastle Books

WHAT DRAMA IS NOT (AND BEYOND)

DRAMA VERSUS GENRE

Many writers confess to being unsure what 'drama' really is. If you look online, you will often see the label used interchangeably with 'genre'. On IMDb, most films appear to be tagged 'drama' and many writers will argue that drama is a genre in its own right. But forget how you personally feel about drama and what it is. What's key here is how the industry perceives genre and drama:

'Genre' — think BIG stories; event-driven with high (typically life-or-death) stakes; stylised storytelling; often highly commercial with large audience appeal

and

'Drama' — think SMALL stories; individuals; relationships; private moments; tragedies; personal; emotional; typically niche audience

Or in other words:

• GENRE: horror, thriller, comedy, and all their subtypes and mash-ups; mostly star-led; so-called 'plausibility' secondary; epic arenas; special effects; explosions; often large casts of secondary and peripheral characters; often mammoth productions with large crews; very frequently high-budget, but also micro-budget productions with minimal characters and locations — though they will generally need to be large in scope, aka 'high-concept'.

• DRAMA: everything else! Character actors, rather than big stars (though there may be a few); plausibility a high priority; some larger than average arenas, but mostly smaller; generally minimal locations and characters; often small productions with small crews and low budgets (relatively speaking, even when seemingly 'high-budget').

Of course, no definitive checklist exists for any story (and nor should it). What's more, drama can basically be about pretty much anything, so it's perhaps more advantageous at this juncture to pin down what drama definitely is NOT, namely:

• 'Big' in scope. Stories are predominantly personal affairs, and even those dramas that unfold across a broad canvas, both geographically and temporally, are still 'smaller' than a large-budget action-adventure, thriller or horror that does the same. What's more, even a produced drama with a budget of millions will still clock in at far less than its nearest genre counterpart.

• Event-led. As drama stories are largely personal, the target audience for this kind of produced content is signing up to see the world view of a set of characters, namely their responses to the situations in the story and the effect on them and others. Resolution comes NOT from solving a problem or resolving an issue so much as 'coming to terms' with it. This means a writer has to render a metaphorical concept physically as image, which is why dramas are so damn difficult to write!

Now let's look at some produced dramas and consider what 'makes' them and why they may be popular.

POPULAR PRODUCED DRAMAS ON IMDb

As mentioned already, just about every produced film or show listed on IMDb is tagged 'drama' (which can add to scribes' confusion). On this basis, then, I decided to do an advanced search for a 'typical' type of drama. I chose the word 'biopic', a biographical drama based on the life of someone who (usually!) really existed, either famous or not so famous, but generally noted for doing something remarkable and/or infamous in so-called 'real life.' Now, allowing for the (general) US bias of IMDb (meaning these are predominantly star-led dramas), and excluding television, TV movies and documentary, these were the top 20 most popular biopic searches on IMDb at the time of writing:

1. Goodfellas (1990). IMDb Rating: 8.8. The story of Henry Hill, who worked his way up the mob hierarchy of 1950s Brooklyn. Adaptation (book).

2. A Beautiful Mind (2001). IMDb Rating: 8.2. The story of brilliant mathematician and Nobel Prize winner John Nash. Adaptation (book).

3. Alexander (2004). IMDb Rating: 5.5. Biopic of the ancient king of Macedonia, who conquered most of the known world.

4. The King's Speech (2010). IMDb Rating: 8.1. The story of King George VI, who had a stutter and needed speech therapy on taking the British throne.

5. J Edgar (2011). IMDb Rating: 6.6. Powerful head of the FBI for 50 years, J Edgar Hoover looks back on his professional and personal life.

6. 50 to 1 (2014). IMDb Rating: 7.9. Story of the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, 'Mine That Bird', who triumphed against 50 to 1 odds.

7. Ed Wood (1994). IMDb Rating: 7.9. Story of the legendary eccentric director, claimed to have made the worst movies ever. Adaptation (book).

8. The Iron Lady (2011). IMDb Rating: 6.4. Biography of UK's first and only female prime minister. Female screenwriter AND director.

9. Man on the Moon (1999). IMDb Rating: 7.5. The life and times of eccentric comedian, entertainer and star of Taxi, Andy Kaufman.

10. Serpico (1973). IMDb Rating: 7.8. The true story of an honest New York cop turned whistleblower on force corruption. Adaptation (book).

11. The Express (2008). IMDb Rating: 7.3. Drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African- American to win the Heisman Trophy. Adaptation (book).

12. Stand and Deliver (1988). IMDb Rating: 7.4. The story of Jaime Escalante, a high-school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.

13. Sweet and Lowdown (1999). IMDb Rating: 7.3. In the 1930s, fictional jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolises Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute.

14. Bird (1988). IMDb Rating: 7.2. The troubled life and career of the jazz musician, Charlie 'Bird' Parker.

15. The Pride of the Yankees (1942). IMDb Rating: 7.8. The story of the life and career of the famed baseball player, Lou Gehrig, whose name is still synonymous with motor neurone disease in the USA.

16. The Babe (1992). IMDb Rating: 5.8. Biography of the baseball player Babe Ruth, especially his relationships with others off the field.

17. Dark Victory (1939). IMDb Rating: 7.6. Cancer story about a young society 'it girl' diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. Adaptation (play).

18. Till the Clouds Roll By (1946). IMDb Rating: 6.5. Biopic of the Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring many of his most famous songs.

19. Modigliani (2004). IMDb Rating: 7.4. The story of painter and sculptor Modigliani's bitter rivalry with Pablo Picasso, and his tragic romance with Jeanne Hebuterne.

20. Knute Rockne All American (1940). IMDb Rating: 6.9. The story of legendary Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne.

What I find interesting about this list:

• The age of the movies. I was expecting to see mostly new movies turn up as the most searched for with the keyword 'biopic' and was really surprised to see only one film — 50 to 1 — coming up from 2014, not to mention a movie nearly 25 years old in the top spot, i.e. Goodfellas. Of course, Scorsese is an icon, but he has also made several dramas since Goodfellas, so it's really interesting that this was his most popular on the day of my search. I was also intrigued by the number of produced biopics from the thirties and forties, not to mention the complete lack of ones from the fifties and sixties, with only one turning up from the 1970s.

• The subject matter of the biopics. I was unsurprised to see kings, politicians, FBI head honchos and the like dominating the list: target audiences are always interested in powerful people and what they're like 'behind closed doors'. Similarly, I figured I would see a number of famous people, like comedians, film directors or sports stars. What did surprise me, however, was the number of dramas about musicians and artists and the relative lack of stories about illness, particularly cancer stories (just one in the top 20 in Dark Victory), especially since cancer stories are so prevalent in the spec pile. I was also very surprised at the lack of crime stories here, since crime is also a popular subject matter for spec drama screenplays, especially British ones.

• Adaptation. All the films are adaptations in the sense that the stories are about real people (if not the protagonists, then the secondary characters, though this was difficult to check in the case of some of the older movies). However, a large number of them aren't adapted directly from books (fiction or non-fiction) or plays, which I found surprising.

• Age, race and gender. As ever, the majority of protagonists are white males, though some are older than the 25 — 40-year-old protagonists generally expected in genre films. There are some female protagonists, and if people of colour figure in the list it's usually as sports players or, in one case, a teacher. Several of the true stories here talk about either the 'troubled' or 'eccentric' lives of the main characters. Last of all, and somewhat inevitably, the vast majority of screenwriters and directors are male — though, intriguingly, 50 to 1, which deals with the traditionally 'masculine' sport of horse racing, has not one but two female co-screenwriters.

Whilst not a magic bullet or even a recommended way of making concrete market decisions, IMDb can perform a useful function for both writers and filmmakers in showing various trends and flagging up the potential interests of audiences. In my experience, many writers use IMDb in a very sporadic way: they may check titles or dream-cast stars in lead roles in their screenplays. Yet knowing what has gone before (if anything) in the arena of your chosen drama idea is crucial research for the spec screenwriter, as is knowing how previous works have approached the subject matter, so you can differentiate yours (so it's not a story that has essentially 'already been told'). Now, obviously, writers should not write solely for the market; that's madness, especially when a spec drama screenplay SHOULD be both personal and passionate in terms of subject, story and characters. However, doing one's research can help inform one's approach to a story — or even stop a writer from wasting his or her time writing a complete duffer! What's not to like?

CASE STUDIES IN THIS BOOK

The word most commonly seen in relation to 'drama' online is 'depressing', but I will venture to argue later in this book that this is where many writers' misunderstanding of drama screenplays begins. For now, I posit the notion once more: 'real' drama is NOT about abject misery, dying and/or losing all hope. Instead, I believe drama is about STRUGGLE. No human being leads a charmed life; we will ALL struggle in the course of our lives, so it's not difficult to see what is appealing about watching characters doing the same on screen.

The UK has a rich history of drama in terms of produced content. Since our little island frequently wins both international recognition and awards for its drama, I have attempted to ensure the films chosen for the case studies in this book are predominantly British. I have also included 'non-typical' characters and makers in terms of age, race and gender, including (but not limited to) female directors where possible. Here are my loglines for the projects I will discuss:

The Short Film

Cancer Hair (2014). A young woman, in remission from cancer and wearing a wig, attempts to go on a blind date but comes unstuck.

The True Story

Saving Mr Banks (2013). All about the battle of wills between Walt Disney and author PL Travers over the rights and adaptation of the classic novel, Mary Poppins.

The Enlightenment Story

Dear Frankie (2004). A single mother writes letters to her son, pretending they are from his dad who she says is away at sea. When 'his' ship docks in their town, however, she is forced to hire a stranger to play the role of Frankie's father.

The Morality Tale

Kidulthood (2006). After the suicide of a fellow student, a group of teenagers get the day off school, which ends with violence, mayhem and even murder.

The Portmanteau Story

Night People (2005). Told over the course of one night, a selection of people must make a decision that changes their lives forever.

The Coming Out/Coming of Age Story

Beautiful Thing (1996). When a young teenage boy's abused neighbour comes to stay, the two lads experience new feelings and realise why neither of them has ever quite fitted in with their peers.

The Responsibility Story

Hours (2013). Newly widowed, a lone father has to keep his premature daughter alive in an incubator in a hospital that has no power and limited supplies due to Hurricane Katrina.

The Family Drama

Rocketboy (Unproduced). An old man recounts his childhood building rockets with his grandfather, detailing how he fell in love along the way.

As you will see, I have also tried to make sure that most of the case studies (and other produced dramas I mention) are relatively recent. The industry is constantly in a state of flux, plus many column inches online and in other books have been dedicated to 'classic' dramas (accounting in part perhaps for why screenwriters end up recycling 'old' material or tropes and writing 'movies of movies', rather than letting personal experience drive their stories). Last of all, I also felt all the works here were made well and were interesting! But even if you do not care for the individual movies or their subject matters, I still recommend you watch the works cited here (again, if necessary), to gain the most insight possible from this book and avoid the usual traps so many drama spec screenplays fall into.

YOUR OWN DRAMA SCREENPLAYS

It should be noted that, whilst I have concentrated on feature- length drama screenplays in the writing of this book, this is because there is, in my opinion, a significant dearth in the spec pile of authentic drama features with non-clichéd characters and non-samey stories! I would venture that drama feature screenplays achievable on budgets of £500,000 (or lower) offer significant opportunities for writers to attract producers and filmmakers. However, an individual writer's format preference will obviously be their own, and the key element of drama — an emotional, well-conceived, character-led story with light AND shade — lends itself to short film, TV pilots and web series just as easily. So whatever route you choose to go for, keep in mind the 'essence' of good drama from the case studies I've chosen, rather than believing that movies are somehow different, because they're not. And, whatever you do, NEVER attempt to tick boxes — miserable character (CHECK!); miserable life (CHECK!); miserable story world (CHECK!) — in the hope of satisfying a producer or filmmaker out there who wants some dire, depressing screenplay, because they DON'T!

But what do they want? Let's find out ...

WRITING VERSUS SELLING

WRITING DRAMA SCREENPLAYS

'Low-budget drama' is a phrase that may invoke trepidation in any script reader, producer, exec, agent or filmmaker. Why? Because, too often, writers will mean the following when pitching their drama:

'A miserable character leads a miserable life THEN DIES (or worse)!'

The story will frequently include extremely two-dimensional, clichd characters and other storytelling elements (poor people living in sinkhole estates is the favourite). Never underestimate how many writers are churning out the same-old, same-old, with little chance for innovation. Yet, in my experience, writers are extremely reluctant to confront this about their own drama screenplays. Whilst, obviously, no one wants to accept they've conceived a stereotypical story with rubbish characters, the level of self-delusion some writers indulge in can be total. 'But if I've written it, then it's my unique voice! Surely that will carry my story through?' they might insist.

No! A million times, no. These are the facts: not only will it take not writing 'the usual' to get you noticed; drama screenplays have to be about SO MUCH MORE than concrete shitholes, teenage mums and drug dealer boyfriends. You need only look around your local DVD store (if it still exists!) to confirm this. There's simply no excuse for dropping storytelling clich clangers. But that's the bad news. The good news is, it's the same as writing any other kind of spec screenplay. YOU'RE the writer! You can write about whatever you want, just so long as it's within the parameters of a great story that's fresh and original, with characters who feel real, confronting issues, scenarios and problems that seem authentic and relevant to your target audience. And the second bit of good news? You're not the first writer and/or filmmaker to tread this ground, hence the drama case studies here! I have broken down what we can learn from each one into two parts – 'write tips' and 'selling points' – at the end of each case study.

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Excerpted from Writing and Selling Drama Screenplays by Lucy V. Hay. Copyright © 2013 Lucy V. Hay. Excerpted by permission of Oldcastle Books.
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