Screenplay: A numerical postmortem.
Here's the script I wrote in 2017 for an animated direct-to-DVD feature as seen by the numbers:
Total pages: 67
Estimated movie length: 75 minutes
Total writing time: 5 months
Note cards used: 222
Draft outlines submitted: 8
Draft scripts submitted: 5 drafts and 4 punch-ups.
Average turn-around between outlines: 1.5 weeks.
Turn-around time between drafts: 2 weeks.
Turn-around time between punch-ups: 1 week.
Total creative and corporate individuals that had to be presented to and sold on every draft of the project: 12-15
Business trips to Japan: 3
Estimated hours discussing with partners in meetings: 80-100
Estimated hours on Skype with Japanese partners: 15-20
Here are five thoughts worth noting from the numbers above:
- Collaborating with two very different partners (a US-based financier/distributor and a Japanese Director and production staff) was the most time consuming part. After that, the writing itself was actually surprisingly fast.
- I easily wrote triple the amount I was expecting to write in terms of drafts and submissions even though my screenplay was probably 2/3 the length of a typical live-action feature film.
- Being a writer isn't just sitting alone typing. It took me a 100 hours worth of meetings, talking, and listening to other people. It was a constant game of selling and convincing, pitching and adjusting.
- Writing for me is equally about looking at cards on the floor as it is looking at pages on the screen. I didn't launch Final Draft until about 2.5 months into the process. For the way I write, the story happens on the cards and the scenes and dialog happen on the page.
- The script is only the beginning! 2018 will all be about how we make this thing! I'll be posting updates as they (the distributor/financier) allow me to do so!
Episodic Director at Bento Box Entertainment LLC
7 年So proud of you brother.
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7 年Super interesting! Thanks for sharing. A few questions, though. What are "punch-ups", "note card" and "outlines" ? I fail to understand the process. those are really definite and segmented parts, it seemed to me it was all part of a draft, but I guess you subdivise this as well in several layers ?
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7 年Fascinating , Eric Calderon!
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7 年Cool share!
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7 年Thank you for sharing this! I'm dabbling with a story that some producers are interested in. It's not animated though. I’m deciding whether or not to go with a short film or a feature film.