Part 69: Location, Location, Location!
Geno Scala
Exec. Director of Academy Awards; "The Script Mentor"; "Ghostwriter to the Stars"; Creator of "The 20 Day Screenplay";
Some writers believe, to paraphrase “Field of Dreams”- “If you write it, they will come”. Writing the great screenplay CAN eventually find its way into the right hands. Sometimes, though, you have to nudge those hands to your screenplay.
?How do you do that?
?One area to consider is location- the setting where your overall story takes place. This needs to be seriously considered during the CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT stage, a step that I often find many writers gloss over WAY too quickly. This is the time to really think your story through, asking yourself...
“Is this a marketable idea?”
“Is it plausible?”
“Does this concept appeal to the widest range of people (four quadrant concepts)”?
“Is this a concept I want to devote twelve months of my life writing, and perhaps an entire lifetime defending and/or discussing?”
?When you start with location, first think globally. I’m fairly shallow, and not well-traveled outside of this hemisphere, so naturally all of my stories take place ON EARTH - and usually in the United States, but that’s just me.
Next, I think in terms of regions within the United States- north, northeast, south, southwest- you get the idea. I think of the area in which the story makes the most sense. If it’s a story of a Civil War family, I’ll be concentrating on the northeast or the southeast region, for obvious reasons. Sometimes, this is an area where you might consider TWISTING your story. Hundreds of stories about the Civil War used these locations, but what about a Civil War back-drop in Texas, or the Arizona territory or Montana? I haven’t done any research on this so I’m not exactly sure which states and territories even existed at that time. ?
I’m wrote a screenplay that involved a World War II and Cold War back-drop, but here in the States. Normally, one might consider Washington, D.C., Hawaii, perhaps even California (Spielberg's "1941").
I chose a desert location in New Mexico, for reasons that are important to the story’s concept.
?When considering locations, I also keep dollar signs in the back of my head. Personally, I target stories with three main goals:
1) Develop highly marketable stories, with characters for A-list talent.
2) Production costs (don’t use a submarine when a rowboat will do).
3) Write major roles for at least one actor over 55 years of age.
These are MY personal goals, and I’m not suggesting anyone else needs to use these guidelines.?
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?With that in mind, I target locations (states) that are more “friendly” in terms of production. Georgia, Louisiana, the Carolinas, all have a rich history and great track record for working with production companies. They offer financial assistance in terms of tax breaks, and less constricted rules and regulations as they attempt to convince filmmakers to use their states (benefits their local unemployment offices substantially). Toronto and Canadian locations are often used to simulate the average American city for these same reasons.
I also dig deeper in the location pool. If you have a shoot-out scene, having it take place in a bar or on an empty street, or busy street for that matter, is rather passé. Change up scene locations, as well.
How about a Laundromat shoot-out?
Have a car chase scene? Consider mopeds, in and out of L.A. traffic, or in a mall.
Car chases too expensive? I gave one writer the idea of a pursuit involving security taking place in an airport using electric wheelchairs; yes, it WAS a comedy, and involved characters over 65! In "Banking on Betty", one of the police pursuits involved a riding lawn mower! I try to find the unlikeliest locations, ones that are less cliché than others. It helps with the overall appeal and interest with the story.
?Writing a great screenplay will solve a lot of problems, but a good screenplay can be enhanced by making these considerations throughout your writing process.
I’d be interested in any of you who might have a similar process, and perhaps examples of where this process of yours has taken your story and whether you feel that it was elevated as a result.
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Words have always been Solange’s passion. Now so, more than ever.
WRITER'S BIO:?Geno Scala spent 22-plus years in the Hollywood community and was the?Executive Director?for the?72nd Annual Academy Awards, as well as?The Soul Train Awards,?The Grammys,?The Blockbuster Video Awards Show?and?The Saturn Award Show.?
Currently, he and his team are adapting several books into screenplays, including the fascinating autobiography?"Call Me Zena",?by?Sally Barnard?who, after a brief illness, developed high-level artistic skills overnight.?He is also developing biopic projects of rock pioneer?Jimmie F. Rodgers,?Motown star?Tammi Terrell?and iconic folk?singer?Harry Chapin - all while continuing to mentor hundreds of new writers and self-published authors.
Geno has several screenplays produced and currently on Amazon Prime and Tubi;?"Assassin 33 A.D.", "Black Easter"?and?"The Tombs".?Most recently, he was the?Executive Script Consultant?and Writer of a?major motion picture?scheduled to begin filming in Australia, Spring of 2022.
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Gate Gourmet - Author - Screenwriter
2 年It's good to read there is an interest in older characters. I was under the impression the focus was on young characters.
Screenwriter. Tell Me What Kind of Story You Need. I'll Write It.
2 年I often wonder why a studio would reject a screenplay because it's too expensive to shoot in the named locale. If it's a great story, why not set it somewhere cheaper? Same thing with a diverse cast. If all the characters of consequence are white 30-year-old men, why not recast some characters as LGBTQ or as people of color or as middle-aged with soft bodies?
Installation Project Manager | "Big Iron" Medical Imaging Equipment | Site Management | Contract Negotiation | Safety Compliance | Delivering CT, MRI, C-Arm, & X-Ray Solutions | On-time Hospital & Clinic Projects
2 年Great info and ideas about planning it out in advance ??
Writer, Editor, Ghostwriter, Author
2 年Is there a "set" number of different "sets" or "locations" we should use? I've seen movies with less than 10 and I've seen movies that seem to be constantly in motion. I know in a lot of old westerns, the scenery moved, not the actors. How much is shot against a green screen with the background added in later? Also, why did I think tip #69 might have been about romance and sex? You can set that in a lot of different locations, also. Really an excellent article, I understand Kevin Costner demanded certain locations on a movie and it took the film way over budget. Keep the great articles coming, really loved the photo of John Belushi from the movie 1941. There is a Civil War movie set in Colorado. The union was gathering wild horses and sending them east for the war. One group of southern sympathizers was stealing the horses after they were rounded up and corralled. A man was put into the southern camp as, not only a spy but, someone in a leadership role, to direct the sympathizers into a trap.
Former Federal Agent and SWAT Sniper Turned Screenwriter
2 年One real-world example. I wrote another script set on the U.S. border. About half the story is set on the US side, the other half on the Mexican side. For years I got zero traction on the script. The reality is, no one wants to shoot a movie in Mexico. It's just too dangerous and the cartels would certainly harass the producers until they got a big chunk of the movie. So I rewrote the script and set in Eastern Europe, where they have experienced movie crews along with great tax credits and rebates. Now I have a producer, director, and distributor onboard and we're almost ready to make offers to stars. Location matters. So does budget. Simply put, the more your movie is going to cost to make, the fewer producers can afford to make it. In most cases, you're better off fishing in the big lake than in the little pond.