Yesterday I was invited to watch an unfinished cut of an animated short film I wrote. Really it's more like the first episode of a series. As with most screenwriting endeavors, I have had no input past writing the script. I've not been to the animation studio or even gotten to meet the animators past an introductory meeting. I've not met the voice actors and I've not been asked for any input from the producers once the script was greenlit. So I didn't really know what exactly I was going to see in this cut.
Much was changed from my original script, as per usual in this business. But there was 1 line in particular that was changed/added that was just terrible. Like stand out from the rest of the writing terrible. Something that people would remember in a bad way after watching the episode. One of the silent producers, who was seeing this for the first time, openly complained about the line, turned to me, and asked "Did you write that line?"
I was fairly certain I hadn't but because I didn't have the script in front of me, I didn't want outright say no. Then the lead producer who was actually managing the whole project interjected and stated that he was pretty sure that I did write the line. It was at this point that I went and retrieved the script, found the scene, and verified that I had in fact not written the line. I made sure to make that clear to everyone in the room.
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Ack! Sounds like a nightmare! Good tip Terrence Sellers. Just curious, what genre of animation did you write?
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Terrence Sellers nice one, great advice and pivotal moment!
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Thanks for sharing the story and tip, Terrence Sellers.
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Good that you defended your reputation! Also, what good did it do anyone for your lead producer to try to argue into taking the blame? Shouldn't the next sentence out of your mouth be, "If you feel that strongly about it, let's discuss options on how to rectify the situation." I'm just sayin'...
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Rachel Ochsen This is a sci-fi fantasy series. I was contracted to write it based on a pre-established world that I was tasked with rebooting.
Oh, jeez! What a nightmare. Good thing you still had your script. I'm with you. I save EVERYTHING! You just never know...
Sage advice. I'll keep it in my kit.