Screenwriting : What do you need to help you write the perfect screenplay? by Russell Palmer

Just write it, then write again, then rewrite it. The best way to solve the problems isn't in any software or books. Just write.

Check out YouTube video essays.

Surely like I wrote in here before as many disagreed but AI-driven software might take over our film in the future for people to write "Bitesize" stories and even make films I guess as everyone is so passionate, desperately wanting that approach to be accepted, normalized in the mainstream.

As many will get creatively bored mellowed down from this constant overhaul of Tiktok, youtube, or Instagram kind of short videos making us lose Patience, Creative strengths as we lose our ability to connect to our subconscious mind and making long films requires multiple short attention spans driven by so-called AI-driven software story writing thing, could be a near future.

And this craving to figure out how a software or a formula of act structure can be turned into a financially viable film to mint quick money could be the new norm in the entertainment industry!

But writer's block is a human psychological issue and got many individual reasons associated with that. And most software doesn't really help or solve any human problems as it claims it does. It only acts as if it helps but realistically it just creates an illusion/delusion that we are being helped by making another layer of problem statement which is basically to make us do the thing in the "Predefined timeline", which itself would be the main act. Like someone said, "WRITE WRITE".

But maybe you are right since like many of us believe that buying using Final Draft or Movie Magic or this or that software and some fixed story structure will make us industry-accepted greatest screenwriters. We do try it but nothing works so far you see. We all have had that software for years but none of the scripts we write gets made into film because most of what we have written isn't that good enough. So probably I have to get back writing now. :-) As I do experience writer block too but I use scribbling on paper or sometimes here and there to spark my subconscious mind:-D like I just did.

Uwe got FI telling you if your script is good or not on next edition...

https://twitter.com/fadeinsoftware/status/1456115445380091904

Upcoming will be even more...FI will probably sell your script on spot once u type in "The End"...

Interesting, yes I saw a few start-ups at AFM this week that intake a script and output predicted outcomes (box office revenue, award nominations, rotten-tomatoe and IMDB ratings, etc.) Even one called Largo.ai that gives recommendations for Casting your characters... interesting!

Each has a "human-in-the-loop" and doesn't replace a job, merely augments an existing Casting Director's skillset, saving them some time and research, and possibly even breaking them out of tunnel-vision to consider more diverse casting possibilities (not every leading man needs to look like Leo and Brad, as much as we all love them and their work).

10 minute rule. Force yourself to write for at least 10 minutes and give yourself permission to stop after that. More often than not you won't stop because you are in it by then. There's no software or technical app to help, that's even a weird idea.

Thanks yes agreed, I also use that rule at the gym... once you're there it's easy to stay longer

Hey Russell, this is Karen from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Authoring & Playwriting to Screenwriting, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

The answer to all your questions is no. No I don’t need help. The only thing a person needs is talent. I love playing guitar. I could play and practice everyday and I will not be as good as Chris Buck (welsh blues guitarist, do yourself a favour youtube him).

One day they will create some software that will replace silicon valley. But never writing.

Talent. That is it.

I'm very dubious about AI for writing tasks. Several companies work in this area, mostly for marketing writing and corporate comms stuff.

Because I have a background in languages, linguistics and publishing, I often get job alerts from these companies. From the job descriptions it is quite clear that teaching a machine to write is not easy.

But, glancing over your skill set, you might consider an app that would be able to generate basic story boards from written material. Let the AI turn text into pictures, in other words. That would be useful to writers, and I, for example, have zero illustration skills. Probs easier said than done, however :D

In my humble opinion: The only answer is to write like you're on a deadline. Writing is extremely difficult ... but it's easier than actually making yourself to sit down and write. The psychological preparation can be overwhelming - but once you start, follow your vision and your instincts ... it's a beautiful thing. Thank you for posting this!

Great ideas and suggestions! Thanks all

PreWrite is already out there and working in this space - it's a visual outline tool.

There have been experiments using AI to write screenplays - you can see the result from one of those here: https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2019/08/14/a-i-bot-writes-hilarious-batman-...

I detail my whole process, including the software I use and have on my radar here; Turn & Burn: Build Better Screenplays Faster by CJ Walley

Hi, Russell Palmer. November Write Club Challenge helps push me forward writing my script (www.stage32.com/blog/Join-Us-for-the-7th-Annual-November-Write-Club). I use Microsoft Word to outline scripts, but I think a software to outline scripts would be easier. Looking forward to seeing the software you guys are making.

Sometimes you can't go wrong with prompt cards and a wall/cork board. A lot of writers worry before typing about getting everything right, whereas this way you go hard in the opposite direction and throw everything out there! Ideas that work can be moved around and others that don't can be kept for another day. Its like solving a jigsaw puzzle when there are lots of bits in the box that might not fit or are missing - Its better to get everything out of the box first and then try to put it together. Then if there is something doesn't fit or is missing it is easier to see.

I have an older version of Final Draft and haven't seen their beat board function. I've downloaded beat sheets such as the one from Blake Snyder. If that tool or any other tool helps the writer plan their story better, I say amen to using what works. However, I'm not a big subscriber to adhering to an exact formula. My philosophy is, to begin with, an idea I can define with a one-sentence, (and God forbid) high concept logline. From there, I do an outline that gets me at least halfway through the screenplay. I generally try to open big and have a clear inciting incident. I believe every scene that's in the screenplay should contribute to moving the story forward. Anything that adds no value should be eliminated after reviewing the first draft. And without worrying about the precise planning of midpoint finales, reversals, debates, and B-stories, I endeavor to let those things develop organically. This is not to say that things don't need to happen, but I leave a lot of room for characters to take me where they want to go and to have story ideas spring up during the creative writing process. But for that to happen, one needs to have a very clear premise and reason for why you believe your idea will make a good story. For example, I wrote a gothic western using the infamous Bloody Benders family as my antagonists. In a high fictionalized story, I had them relocate from Kansas (where they really lived) and moved them to Tombstone, where they wind up tangling with protagonists Doc Holliday, Nellie Cashman, and Wyatt Earp. Nellie and Doc partner up in a kind of detective story but there are also classic elements of the American Western genre. Though I began with a basic scene outline, I had no idea how this screenplay was going to end. That came to me during the writing process. This screenplay won Director's Choice at the Wild Bunch Film Festival (the only festival dedicated to western films) last year. Another essential is having the discipline to sit down and create whether you feel inspired or not. Sometimes inspiration needs a jumpstart.

Russell, I work pretty much the same way Phillip does...the only tool I start with to fill up a blank page is my brain.

I begin with a logline, then list six plot points. Then I do research online to flesh out the story I want to tell...and after I've done enough preliminary factfinding, I'll come up with a combination scene list/outline.

And I won't even hit my copy of Final Draft 6 until I'm ready to type out the script. (And even then, as long as it helps out the story, I'll do some more research in order to make the screenplay believable.)

Wishing you all the VERY BEST, Russell...glad you're on Stage 32! (And good luck to you and your brother on the software tool you're both developing!)

More time & enthusiasm.

Thanks all! We have built a prototype based on your suggestions above and our ideas, I'd like to invite everyone posting above to try it out: www.cyberfilm.ai to sign up for free Beta version (or sign up on Google Forms link: https://forms.gle/6HaZEV8qnbR8sa2X7 )

If anyone signs up please give feedback here.

Thanks Craig! I agree we should get a fair shake. For legal reason I must say this product is not publicly launched yet for purchase, and that we are still in development stage not yet Live (see: https://beta.openai.com/docs/going-live).

But I could not agree more: Those who sign up for our Beta test are free to give their opinion on what they saw - no problem there and I am excited to hear what they say. Would you like to sign up Craig?

-RP

Check out John Truby ... he has the Blockbuster software which can help you. Think it's on sale right now for 50% off.

+1 Huge Truby fan https://youtu.be/CDKLuUfKYHQ

Russell you work in software. You will know that your biggest problem is no defined problem to be solved.

There is very little in screenwriting that cannot be done with a pencil and paper. Software does formatting. That solved the problem of getting pages looking correct.

But story development is your brain pulling in all your life experiences and pour them out through character. Some people will try and push formula and false hope. Software guarantees consistency, which is the death of creativity.

Yes @Craig I would have agreed several years ago. But software just changed in a big way, and it's now different than you understand it... I explain here: https://russellsapalmer.medium.com/how-a-i-can-benefit-hollywood-and-sol...

Not sure I agree however, are you saying an author can't add character unless it's their personal life experience? That seems limiting. I say software can add structure, which is consistency yes but not the death of creativity. It's just a tool - no one wants to kill your creativity.

Russell Palmer I read that article. I don't see that any writer, or any producer, will be interested in AI generated stories. You're selling that idea to the wrong crowd. No one, not even the public, but certainly not the artist, is interested in AI generated art, other than as a novelty, and it boils down to that.

Russell Palmer You passionately want to build a Dinosaur Park not understanding its consequences. Will clarify this at the end.

Your article shows an extreme case of cognitive dissonance. I'm sorry to be blunt and if it feels rude, pardon me but thought I got to lend my honest opinion here backing @Craig @Shadow and every artist here.

I don't mean to displease you or any engineers with my words, but many Software Engineers today in the Tech space got to understand this, "World doesn't solely run based on our Tech and Medical evolution". This is hardcore truth and we all including myself who once had strong views backing my tech ideas got to DIGEST this truth, fact, and get this in our thick skull.

There are many complex fields of studies involved beyond just Technology and the Medical field's grasp which if we forcible touch with our delusional approach to fix something as per our wishes to earn quick bucks or push a change to the world we are pushing Human extinction at an alarming rate beyond even Virus or Pandemic potential. Lab Doctors tried it with the current pandemic to either fix or break the situation and we are still living under pandemic, while many countries haven't still got the report of its source. Don't want to cook up conspiracy theories around that..

Many of us in today's world are taught through our modern education of "POSTMODERNISM" ideals that WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD, WE HAVE TO DO IT FOR GOOD. But... We don't know what is GOOD WORLD and what its consequences are. We have no idea, knowledge to see the consequences of anything we are building and we don't want to see it, because it's scary as shit.

And guess what, We genuinely are not changing anything of the world around us.

TRUTH IS: Change is happening to us unknowingly from the extremely complex world around us and we are trying hard to figure out, how to adapt to that change.

But in that process, we are killing every human, species around us by adding to the complexity. And technology is leading to that mass extension adding the worries of the already complex world holding a false compassion view that we are changing the world.

The artistic, creative field is one such dangerous field which many think it's an easy cupcake to chew on, just like education and medical sector and exploit fully but is still unable to decipher how easy it can be to the deadliest weapon to destroy the world, even more, faster than any, forget about AI or ML if we push more of what tech and medical field are building on to the creative field, it will ransack everything in the world. And this I can 100% guarantee that. Even America itself knows how terrible their medical economics field is to help their own people in any adversity.

If today any insane writer from any country writes a script or story or makes films to alter people's perception, you don't have to wait for years to experience World War 3. Why do you think Germans or Brits burnt famous novels or books. It's not just about Linguistic Hegemony or such. And you are talking about handing this power to AI, it clearly shows you don't know AI, ML true potential. It's a double-edged sword. If it can make something fast, it can break the whole world into pieces in no less time.

A person like Osama Bin Laden who is strongly influenced by a religious text can break the World Trade center brainwashing many and still the world is struggling to contain terrorism, unable to handle it or hold it. And you are talking about writing more stories by AI. Seriously? Do you even know what are we are thinking?

I being Computer Engineer turned Artist, learned, worked in the field of Tech, Psychology, social work, and hardcore once learned biology in my younger days, as well as writer, have to express my disapproval to your article. It's like, forget Jews once being burnt alive in cambers by Hitler, modern technologists we are making it worse than even what Jews, Asians, Africans suffered during colonialism, World wars and we are so happy of doing it.

That article you shared to draw the attention of writers, doesn't even hold a good 3ACT story idea. It is a hotchpotch of tech perspective just to justify what many Engineers are holding onto, working on AI/ML. You just vaguely labeled ACT1, ACT2s to pamper creative people and many even today understand why it is 3ACT or why even Aristotle or Joseph Campbell came up with this concept in the first place.

After reading your article, I'm 100% guarantee that most of your right brain regions slowly has stopped working which is the creative and locomotory part of the human body. And this is a scientific fact. Have you lately encountered any issue on your left shoulder or left face. Do check with a doctor if you do. You can try this, try to ride a bicycle holding your left arm on the right handlebar and right arm on the left handlebar. You will see the difference between what makes our right and left brain, and why I'm saying your right brain doesn't work fully.

Recently like a few years ago, I slipped out from an offer to involve in a team of MIT engineers who were working on an App that monitors new Alzheimer's patients and findings, putting new and aged American patients suffering from psychological issues and providing them household work, running those monitored hospice services without any human contact. Charging heavy prices on these old age people's hard-earned savings to run their product. It's a toxic visceral cycle of completely broken social structure. They wanted my help to build a pitch for their product which didn't sound any good for me, neither for my own parents I would do that, let alone sending any old aged Americans or European people or anyone in the world, but they were knee bent of doing that, assuming they are perfectly fine, and nothing wrong in it. Yes outwardly it doesn't look any wrong but.. there are many issues in that.

And while I was making research, guess what I found, like 10 to 20 years down the line, most Americans, Europeans above the age of 30 will suffer from major psychological issues and even Alzheimer's, and it's from American Medical report. You can google it yourself. Many writers, filmmakers, artists here on stage32 too might suffer who are dreaming to be quick super-rich working, writing for super big studios according to their whims and fancies and guess who will be major supplies to these Hospices? Engineers and those in the medical field themselves. As each of these professions pushes not using their certain parts of brain anymore in a healthy way. Like the medical field is passionately using CRISPR, so are Engineers banking on AI, ML. We are basically pushing people to be cyborgs and assuming that we are evolving as humans.

And, I'm seriously not cooking this up just like you did in your article to back your argument. You can find those reports on American Medical Counsel online, as you already are an expert in web-scraping using AI, I presume.

But I'm sure those MIT teams will build the team, get funding because as soon as investors see MIT they have this assumption that HEY!, THEY GOT TO BE BRILLIANT, RIGHT in whatever they are building. And even if you build this product claiming to help writers by AI, you will end up being the farm chicken kind of human feed for the same ecosystem hospice being built having VR Glasses stuck to your face watching your own uninspiring nonhuman written AI-driven stories without being able to guess what went wrong and whom to complain. And that my friend is what you are working on.

Many I have closely observed are involved in projects pampering their "professional ego" justifying their work without having any idea whatsoever of psychology, biology, sociology or anthropology, or any other fields of study, reflecting no connection to complex world problems and projecting a dystopian world as a Pseudo Utopian world view.

Minds of Engineer and Artists are completely different my friend and it has to be as it is organically speaking holding a balance. Simple to put it. Though I don't want to use Nietzsche's Apollonian and Dionysian ideas, because in India we already had those Duality concepts since ages by Great Saint Philosopher Shankaracharya brought it up even before many Greek, European civilizations figured it out later but I am more speaking in scientific/biological way. Once I wrote about America having to face had time backing Mark's Facebook and bringing Trump, and let me tell you, everyone, many countries are going to have a worse phase ahead following this Post Modernistic approach.

Sorry to blabber all this, just got triggered reading your article which you used to justify.

It reminded me of a famous scene from Jurassic Park. That's what I mean initially that, you want to build a Dinosaur Park and want everyone to agree to your view. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nz8YrCC9X8

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg Thanks for your opinion. I understand people will be skeptical, but if the tools works and helps people produce great works of art, I think you'll change your mind.

Hi @Dan I don't want to make movies using algorithms. This is what I explained in my post, Machine Learning goes beyond algorithms. It's brand new tech you haven't seen before. I would not be surprised to hear Apple/Amazon/Netflix doing this, it's going to help democratize creativity for the next generation and help make thousands more of those shelved screenplays in to movies. Imagine if GD Toro could upload his unused screenplays, press a button and 5 new movies pop out based on each idea? That would be pretty cool for him and us, the audience. I would like to see MORE great movies, not fewer.

Russell Palmer You have mistaken me for someone who doesn't know what they are talking about, and further, someone who deals with fools gladly. You are wrong on both counts. I said you are selling to the wrong crowd, and the commentary here reflects that, unless you are in denial. You are selling a solution for which there is no problem. No writer has ever said, gee I wish I had a computer to write my script for me so I can have a coffee and just call myself a writer. They write because they are artists and artists express themselves. Its silly to put words into my mouth about present and future generations - who have no bearing on the question at hand, but who by definition are human. While it is apparent that you have little or no experience in scriptwriting or creative story telling or producing or directing, I do have a background in computers and programming (including machine language & assembly language) going back (almost) farther than you have been alive. In 1997 Deep Blue came along and beat Gary Kasparov 3-1/2 to 2-/3 (though the IBM team possibly cheated). It was an exciting series. But when Deep Fritz beat Vladimir Kramnik 4-2 in 2006... no one cared. When someone asks do you play chess? no one ever replied why bother, AI solved that problem. The perfect script is not a thing. Never was, never will be. A game of chess, at a deep level, is human relations; it is communication between two people. Story telling, and thus scripts, are also communication and connection between human beings. We do them because they are expressions of human thought. Neither of these is a challenge or problem to be resolved, and solutions to these non-problems are unlikely to be of interest to anyone... except possibly for the novelty. "Oh look here's a story written by an AI program". "I've already seen one of those. What's on NetFlix?" So let me ask you this, which you haven't alluded to here, and which isn't or couldn't be outlined in the article: what makes the objectively superior script? If you can't articulate that, you're not going to be able to assess any machine learning results in the first place. And I am pretty sure you can't articulate that.

If you aren't willing to create an outline, then don't really care about the idea. And if you don't really care about the idea then it's never going to get written. MS Word with the numbered list setting activated is all you need to make an outline. If you can't take the time to do that, you have a thought, not an idea.

No Russell you don’t understand the world. Unless you are solving a real world need you are fun and trivial, like a “coat hanger with a built in cigarette lighter”.

Can you clearly state the problem you are solving. We are asked to state our 120 pages screen plays in a highly specific way, in under 30 words. It is called a logline. If you cannot write a logline the belief is you don’t really understand your own story.

In two sentence can you state the problem you are solving. Without vague statements like “expand creative options” or “develop story and plot directions in new ways”. What problem are you solving.

Welcome to the notes process (inside joke for the writers).

Russell Palmer Seriously man, terrible ACT3 article again which proves again from my earlier reply that you got no idea what you are talking about nor the understanding of people at any closest nature of whosoever you listed.

Musky? Seriously buddy? I knew! I exactly knew you are going to bring him in this picture to justify your view. That's the reason I pointed that Jurassic park movie video. It wasn't just about Dr. Malcolm dialogue, but you're unable to read people like Hammond's ( Richard Attenborough) character of Jurassic Park in real-world as an example to get to your senses. This lack of understanding of genuine world problems, lack of creative brain activity, ideas, unable to see the evil side of humans is exactly why I said, you seriously lack the right brain creative strengths.

Many are assuming letting that the analytic engineering part of the brain take over their creative brain and passionately equating that as creativity and it's what many Engineers do today to justify their work as CREATIVITY. And unfortunately, it's NOT what creativity is! Sorry to break the bubble. 80% of Engineers in Silicon Valley and many are doing that themselves.

Even I have mentioned here before many times and at many forums too that yes, Story, Poetry is sort of a Math equation. Sure it is. BUT!!!. That equation is an abstraction derived from a creative brain. And that human brain got to exist to create that abstraction themselves because it's not just coming from his/her brain but also from the world outside they live, biological/organic brain's neural networks and many aspects geopolitical aspects which I tried hard to explain, but you and many are unable to get to their head.. That is the HOPE! A BELIEF which is holding this EARTH man!! You are working on a powerful tool unable to understand its potential to remove HOPE, BELIEF on earth which is what keeps humans alive on earth, connected. You want to sell a Nihilistic, Narcissistic fake hope, beliefs to people.

And many in the American Universities and Silicon Valley are narcissistically delusional working on those to replace that human brain with AI, so that they can pamper satisfy their analytical ego brains. And guess what it will rip the whole world apart as I explained before. Those IDIOTS there have ZERO IQ, EQ whatever Q to understand this. It's running -ve in their brains. I wouldn't mind saying they are the dumbest idiots on earth right now.

Musky seriously. That sn/o charmer which all those American investors, people blindly got fooled to fund his stolen projects from people who were working on it without funds, Roadster model cars right, those age-old projects of "underground tunnel rail system" rebranded those products as hyperloop, claiming it as his own vision giving fake fancy names and stealing many other people work as his own, and called himself the inventor, visionary sort of guy. As everyone calls HAIL MUSK! That guy? Who was so self-boasting writing about himself self-pity cooked up childhood story in his book self proclaiming of getting bullied and so on so that he can get some favoritism. Used the name of Nicolas Tesla to sell his products in hindsight to do a cheap trick of crediting Nicolas Tesla, but banking on his shoulders to sell. Even in India and other parts of the world, they do too, they use scientists or other famous names to sell their crap products.

He would have killed those Thailand kids trying to prove his "Boring" product to work. That guy, who has no knowledge of AI, just read delusional assumed Engineering theories, and standing on other bright engineers, geeks, and cheering those fooled engineers turning them to lemmings to cheer his delusion to back him up. Please don't put words in my mouth. If I went on listing all his work, you will literally hate your profession, puke feeling disgusted about the engineering work we have been involved in for years now.

Billy Goots!! whose motto is "Embrace, extend, and extinguish". I don't want to talk about Hawking, I knew you are going to pull his name too to justify. This Bill Gates guy right you mentioned.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-show-bill-gates-has-given-319-mi...

America is filled with billionaires, millionaires people stolen from African land and Native American land and live in this bubble of rich false utopian world view on things they are working has got no idea what so ever of world problems and trying hard to prove they are the saviors but all they could ever do is exploit people, subjecting them into a technology genocide in our times now. I'm not against Americans overall, but it's now filled will really troubled souls who will not only kill their own people but everyone around the world.

And I can understand you have been passionately involved in AI and ML for ages, and even I have been for a few years too, but like I said you built this professional ego, wrapped with a delusional idea of that stream and assumed the wrong problem statement which is taken your consciousness, fueling an ego around it which completely destroyed your clarity of thinking.

I have written here on Stage32 a year ago about GenZ issues and GPT-3 project as well. Even I spoke about the pyramid Ponzi schemes of Bitcoins, NFTs which many are working in Silicon Valley and trying all methods to sell in every business, even in the Entertainment industry as well. I can see that there are many selling such stuff too.

You know why I left the Software Engineer sector and got into the creative sector, the same reason what it has turned you and many into. And I can see the inability to understand what's happening to their smart engineer's brain, views, perspective, and assuming that everyone who is disagreeing with your ideas is wrong.. So is why I often say, America, Europe, China, India, and many other countries now look like a sinking ship filled with "Exploitative minded people" who once were once brilliant but not anymore.

People can save this ship only, if we know one or few among them who's out of his/her mind making a hole in the ship, but if the whole ship is filled with people passionately poking holes it in, no one can save it. And guess what, you want everyone to agree to poke holes in it, and jump into that idea of the world.

Robots are made to help people in less populated countries where humans eventually can't do heavy, loaded machinery jobs, not replace humans themselves to pick some creative job. And this BASIC.... BASIC COMMON SENSE is lost in today's GenX, Z. There are so many issues of similar nature, and I don't want to drag it more. But whatever you are doing is not good is what I can end saying. You and many will repent of what they are working on these in Universities and companies, and I'm 100% sure about this. Guess what, what I have seen and predicted, it happened and I feel so bad or predicting such. And it doesn't even require a Predictive analysis AI, ML algorithm to show this.. That's why sometimes I feel like living in an "IDIOCRACY" kind of world. It really disgusts me to the core. Because many are ripping the whole human purpose of life.

Personally nothing against you, but man oh man, you seriously need some help to think straight. Even many here bullied me once when I mentioned IDEA, its legal issues, and Technology and its new raging issues from AI, ML, and I for split-second thought like, let me jump into GPT-3 project and prove to these people here how readily and easy it will be for many to write AI-driven stories and ruin the whole world, but you know Anger, Rage, Hate is a powerful motivational tool which can be used to destroy the world. Hitler, Mao, many colonialists used to their full advantage. Unfortunately, it is disgusting to the core.. But buddy, you got to think straight, or else you got something in hand which not only destroys everything in this world but your family, kids' future.

AI, ML for many right now. Similar to many in medical and every profession they love something which they don't realize what they are pampering.

Shadow Dragu-Mihai, Esq., Ipg @Craig @Rohit

Wow, thanks for your comments! I could do without the personal insults (you really don't know me at all), but that's what you get posting on Internet forums. :) I will use this discussion as inspiration to grow this company and vision, and I hope to check back with you in 5 years. I'm afraid you still don't understand what I'm trying to achieve, so while your straw-man comments above look lethal, you've got me all wrong.

I wish you no animosity and hope you continue making successful movies, in fact I expected at least a couple replies like this, so thank you for the direction and I will use it to craft a sharper vision. Obviously using AI to disrupt an industry is going to have lots of backlash, and the creative industries will likely have the most as seen here... but that doesn't make it correct, so I guess we'll see what the future holds.

Warm regards, Russell

[Edit Aug'22: Thank you for reducing the temperature of your comments after the fact, will hold on to copies of the original but leaving my admonition above for the record... your updated comments are sharper and less personal, so I applaud that]

Agree with @Craig @Shadow @Rohit yet mean no disrespect @Russell Al generator may indeed help those incapable of free thought feel better about themselves. There are many fools toys on the market (fake or real) making consumers feel they fulfilled a need ranging from perfume to gadgets. Theatre/cinema/web is still performing stories written by feather quill and ink from hundreds of years ago or charcoal pencil such as Shakespeare, Ibsen, Checkoff. Technology only brought ease of mass execution and perfect format but character and story can only stem from a human brain.

Russell Palmer Stop trying my friend, it's fine. No one is insulting or attacking you personally, in fact, you are not respecting any people's profession, the creative field itself and are unable to accept any rational criticism, inputs from anyone be it from @Shadow or @Dan or @Craig or forget me, anyone here. That is what the sad painful bit people are showing.

The perspective to disrupt the industry itself is a flawed idea. Just now you spoke which I pointed is a serious issue in today's startup ecosystem.

And think about it, why did you come here? To get some DATA in your AI system from authentic people as a way to prove your system works to create a pitch deck for investors, isn't it? And everyone didn't contribute to that, so you are trying hard to call people inputs as strawmen arguments. Just because people didn't give you what you wanted and tried to rationalize the real issue, rejecting it doesn't make your or any AI or any other industry's force-fed solution any better.

Many writers, filmmakers, artists are struggling to even get paid, get proper value to their work, so man what are you really trying to solve? Nothing!

Like @Dan was saying there are many scripts already in the big studios, everyone knows this so everyone here is still passionate to write stories, wants to be made a film, so what are many in the startup ecosystem talking about to solve the problem in itself is a false assumption..

You don't have to wait for 5 years to know this. Try this buddy, survive for 1 year just by writing a novel without the use of any technology. Just write a simple story(not SCIFI or Tech related) in the format of a novel and sell it to a publisher and make it a top-rated book without tricks and try to survive your life on this. You will get the real pain, the real problem statement is. If a novel is hard, make a painting and survive for 1 year and you don't need AI or any tech to make sense of what we all are saying which you claiming as Strawmen's argument to nullify the real threat and issue.

That my friend will prove in 1 year you will realize, who is insulting, hurting whom!

Best of luck with that buddy. And guess what no one is insulting you, people are just passionate, in fact, it's the other way around.

Fair enough, and with respect to you as well @Debbie. :) Agree to disagree.

I mean, that sounds romantic and poetic but, just know people a decade ago said the same thing about Chess and GO ("Computers will never be able to master these games, only the human brain can perform such complex tasks").

For those posting I encourage you to read my blog and then retort, but stating "character and story can only stem from a human brain" well - you just can't prove that - sorry! How do you know what computers will be capable of in 15 years? In 100 years? It seems more hopeful than proven fact. I totally understand that creative writers don't WANT these programs to be good at their craft, but what evidence is there that the line is drawn at creativity?

I'd be happy to continue this discussion on a friendly 30min Zoom call, if interested please DM me. I would love to hear more from the filmmaking community and be able to respectfully discuss this topic in real time.

Russell Palmer I don't see that anyone was mean to you Russell. I said you are selling to the wrong crowd, and... duh... you finally seem to understand that though you don't seem to understand why. For myself, I merely responded to your erroneous but not so veiled assertion that I don't know what I am talking about. You apparently didn't read my response, as I addressed the irrelevant-to-chess-players application to AI to chess. Your idea is a nice AI problem; it has no practical application to the film industry, or indeed writers in general.

Russell Palmer Read this article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815939/

I hate spoonfeeding information but... What to do man, many don't get it(facepalm)..lol

It says "Art, in its many forms, is practiced by almost all human cultures and can be regarded as one of the defining characteristics of the human species"

"DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN SPECIES". This is what @Shadow, me and many were trying struggling hard, very hard to make sense to you. NO one really cares what AI or a computer can do, all they care about is what "HUMAN CAN DO, as an artistic expression". The more we push, machines to do the artistic expression of what humans are meant to do, the less creative art forms will be, less human expression it will be, disconnected humans we will be, and pushes a Cognitive dissonance and that's what many are suffering, which is what I explained in my first comment itself. And it not only ends there, but it also paralyzes humans for life ahead.

Your passion for Engineering and your years of work in AI is commendable, but that has blinded you not able to see what Creativity or Art genuinely means for people and to oneself. And just want to see AI write stories that are all.

That's why I said, many engineers, doctors stopped caring for humans anymore or their artistic, any other professional expression and just want to see their tools or medicines working on humans like guinea pigs rather than truly treat them as humans.

Once Technology(Technics- Greek word for ART) was a branch of Art, but now it's not anymore because they started to disassociate it because of extreme inclination towards commerce and alienating themselves from humans. That's what I often say about Dystopian world lovers for Postmodernists kind. That's why I frequently said many of such works will rip apart the Human species. You are unable to understand or take inputs here and you want Zoom call just to reject stuff to pamper your PET DOG AI there like I shared that cartoon lol!

To map out your story and character arcs, sometimes you can't beat a pack of prompt cards and a big wall or table to map your story on. This way you can add, can and move things around in an easy way that shows you what your story looks like. Some screenwriting software have "corkboard" functions for doing this too.

@Russel cool we agree to disagree. I’m not saying your product won’t help individuals needing a paint by numbers answer for something they can’t do themselves but as @Shadow pointed out the market is not here. Speaking for myself, ideas are so hard wired in my brain I need no help generating them albeit do admit needing software to perfect industry format. If I was marketing a product like Al I would try to partner up with book companies such as “…..For Dummies.” Some will benefit from a touch button “Chance Tombola” to receive a random feedback of words to give them the confidence to carry on.

Russell Palmer I was using as direct language as I could, I am saddened that I upset you.

Don’t be inspired by my words. Find a real project. “more plain words coming”. You are on a one way trip to an asskicking. This will hurt you.

@Ewan Dunbar Agreed. Just listened to a nice podcast last night, in which the guy who wrote Dead Poets Society described his process. He writes endless notes, then breaks them down into beats, one per page, prints them all out and then physically lays them out on the floor to create his outline.

As he said himself, it is cumbersome, but works. I also think that the physicality of index cards, printed pages or whatever can be helpful in itself for some reason.

I use "Samsung notes" on my smartphone to catch ideas when not on my desk (sometimes rethinking stuff while hiking), my plain white office cabinet doors with a bunch of post-its for laying out the structure and final draft to write it down (for getting help with formatting). I tried to use the final draft beat sheets recently, and maybe I'll do that more often in the future, but probably I'll stick to sticky notes for the first iterations.

Russell Palmer, I personally like what you're doing here and feel it's being grossly misunderstood at a conceptual level. Would like to talk more with you about it.

Russell Palmer Russell, you are on the right track. I couldn't possibly read through all this, and couldn't not encourage you.

[Edit: Adding these lines after glancing at your medium article. I'd encourage you even if you are a bit more enthusiastic about AI's potential to beat experts. In storyworld, even if it EVER happens, human ingenuity from genuine life will rule and coexist.]

Yes, Final Draft is an industry standard by nearly all accounts, and solves one important problem very well, it's not the only problem writers face. You got some hints here (especially read between the lines where people say you can't.) You are going about it the right way to start on what you see as potential. As long as whatever you do can also talk to Final Draft, if you make a tool that helps you, it will also help other writers. If you don't reinvent that wheel, it will save you time and fitting tires.

There are a few high end packages I don't know much about and can't really even name them, but in general software for screenwriters is not even in it's second generation yet. So believe in your vision, I can see you are onto something, because there is a lot of potential ... Yes even if AI is definitely not going to solve all the problems, it will help.

@Dan, “Algorithm” shouldn't mean just one thing or one app's variant to us. Just like language shouldn't be written off because of hate speech.

@All I see all sides of this debate but on a personal level feel Al will be of no benefit to me albeit it could be of benefit to others. @Russell has a horses for courses idea, for some but not others. Al is not right or wrong. We all understand beat sheets, scenes, theme etc but for me the characters themselves drive the plot to their own extreme end to which only they themselves are capable of. I write organically even after waking from a night sweat where a character has said something in my dreams but could never punch a software key to enable a character to talk. For others Al may produce results.

Maybe stop talking to writers and getting discouraged and just sit down and write rather than trying to plan out an outline, just write and it will come to you - I never do an outline or plan I just write and the words flow!

I find it hard to imagine that writers who need help getting words on to the page are going to be able to compete with the multitude of writers who can write with ease.