How can you effectively manage conflicting feedback on your screenplay?

In my personal experience and with three different projects, which went from the development of a feature film and to two different TV series(fiction/reality), I had to deal with the feedback of directors, potential cast, co-producers, sales agents and executives of networks and platforms. all have their own perspective of one's work. Obviously, cast and directors will mainly praise it because they want to be involved and wouldn't risk to give a negative view of your script. On the other hand, sales people and executives see themselves as major leagues and they are all about business, so never take it personal. They might be condescending, but yet go for your throat. But they are doing their job, even if it isn't what one expects it to be.

Go back to your initial instinct when you have conflicting feedback. Remember why you wanted to write this story and drill into again, your driving intentions in terms of character, tone, message and plot. If the feedback points to a clear weakness in your initial intention - for eg: 'this is a thriller story lacking in energy' then approach the feedback like a clear and open path to making your script better. In a nutshell, your intention may not actually be delivering on the page. Writers in my experience are often too close to the project to be objective, so this is where feedback is vital to keep an open mind about how your project is actually landing.

The other thing I need to add, is if feedback is conflicting, then again revisit your initial intention for the project and be totally honest with yourself - which reaction does your instinct tell you is the better and most useful feedback? For eg: 'I couldn't relate to the central character' conflicting with 'the central character is unlikeable but the others are relatable'. In this instance, I would revisit the central character because it's absolutely fine to have an unlikeable character central to the story, but you need to make them relatable to your audience. This note would make me work on the subtext; the emotional driver of the central character to bring up their humanity more.

Normally you will be getting that opinion from the experts, as your family and friends don't count for the purpose. So this are people that probably know what they are saying. From an objective point of view, their comments must be taken as a guideline to go back to the working table and improve your narrative or the plot itself. In all honesty, wee can get carried away, because there is no dumb nor ugly child for a parent. The film industry can be a crude one. Most of the time it isn't exactly what you expect to hear, but it is what it is. Those who succeed might had compromised their content, but are the ones who most likely get their work on the screen and might get or not famous.

The key with feedback is always to understand the note behind the note, so you can actually see what the real issue those who are providing feedback are seeing. Very often feedback feels contradictory because readers make a wide variety of suggestions and requests for changes, but at the heart of it is a single issue they’re trying to solve in different ways. Identify the core issue and address it either with their suggestions or your very own solution.

This is great advice Dave. I find getting industry people and non industry people to read my scripts is key to weeding out the good and bad feedback. If both point out a flaw then I know it needs to be changed.

The method that has worked best for me is, I give my script to several of my filmmaker friends to provide me with feedback. As I get their notes I don't make any adjustments until I get them all in. Once they are all rounded up I look to see if anyone hits on the same point/issue in the screenplay. If more than one person hits the same note, then that is when I go in for changes. If the notes are all over the place I notch that into the "opinion" column and brush over the point to see if it is valid and am more shrewd with any changes or adjustments at that point.

I was once told that the world is divided into Don Quixotes and Sanchos. I've come to believe it is true. We need to be eclectic. One can fight for what we think is the best to do things, others can simply ask, " where must I sign". Unfortunately it is a business of survival. I must confess that have idiotically jeopardise a project for being morally stubborn. But then, I stood for what I believe in. Perhaps there is more of the skinny knight in me, than anything. This is a personal decision at the end of the day. I am sure that other screenwriters stood by their horses and got their projects thru, one of them Sylvester Stallone. Life is about choices. "My Way" remains as my favorite song and here, dear reader, I rest my case...

Be specific about who you share your script with. I send my script out to specific individuals with a very brief outline of what I want them to focus on. For one person, it may be to proofread for grammatical mistakes and spelling. I might ask someone else to read it for clarity and pace. Another might be asked to look at it for tone and flow, or I may even ask an expert in a field that is specific to the story to examine it for plausibility and authenticity. Lastly, I like to use a survey app to send out Q’s for people to answer anonymously. You’ll get honest feedback and can easily see overlap in people’s responses.