Various Festivals request the first 10pages in order to assess a feature script, now Regina Lee is charging $124 (reduced by 50% even) to advise on grabbing your audience in 5pages - what next? A course in how to grab your audience in 1page for only $100. I despair at these so-called professionals who think writing is all about formulaic ways of constructing the first 1, 5, or 10 pages, and have the audacity to take your money for their misguided wisdom. Dear writers, forget it. Read a good book on screenwritng construction, do a recognized Uni course, if you want the academic route, or simply follow your gut, write from the heart, and create something truly unique that smashes through the repeated status quo that is being offered by folk such as Regina Lee. Sorry, Regina, you may be a wonderful person, but reducing the screenwriter's art to the first 5pages is a non-starter. Please reconsider, and allow the more vulnerable and gullible amongst us to save our dollars for more constructive learning. Not to mention food and rent.
Screenwriting : Is this the answer to 5-Page Writer's Block? No! by Kevin Short
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On one hand, the first ten pages makes or breaks a screenplay - if a story doesn't capture my interest by page ten I toss it aside and read another one.
On the other hand, capitalizing off 'how-to' artistry is the sleaziest back alley business practice of Hollywood wannabes... so sign up for my course "How to avoid seminar swindlers" - only 299.99$
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Hi Kevin,
Those specific remarks you made about Regina Lee are pretty insulting (and probably slanderous). If you knew anything about Regina Lee, you would know that she has a very long track record of success working at studios and production companies. And if you had ever talked to her in person or on the phone (like I have), you would know that she is very qualified to advise writers on their stories.
One of the reasons I (and many others that I know) stopped posting here was because of the hateful and wrongly-motivated attacks on a wide range of topics in this forum. I hope you would reconsider your position and delete this post.
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I had several 10 pages feedbacks even a recorded read form a bunch of pro UK actors on my latest script - for free...as my elders used to say "the cure is only two pennies worth, but u gotta know it" :)
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Regina Lee has a long and successful film industry experience and a back ground behind her to support her helpful comments. I would give credence to what she tells you - she is one of the 'good guys'.
I almost never agree with Bill on anything, but I do in this case.
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There are some executives on this platform who have said screenwriters need to hook the audience in the first 5 pages. Some have mentioned that Netflix likes the hook to be in the first two pages. I have hooks throughout the script from the 1st page, the fifth page, and even the 10th page and beyond. I would not worry about what people say though and just find an executive who produces the same kind of material you write and it should be all good. Thanks so much for the post!!!
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I'll do the first five words of any screenplay for $4.99. And I'll throw in one sentence of script notes. If you can't grab me in five words you're not quick enough. And I'm pretty slippery..
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Hi Bill, I'm sure Regina Lee is a wonderfully talented individual in her field, I just don't feel reducing things to the first 5 pages is the way to go, and maybe reconsidering this idea would help the future of screenwriting and the near penniless pockets of the potential screenwriter. Doug, I have no doubt Regina may be one of the 'good guys' but, at the risk of repeating, this learn how to grab 'em in 5-Pages is not a good avenue to pursue if screenwriters are going to develop any originality. Dan, no I did not pay for her services. Kacee, yes, I agree. And Phillip - ha! A near $ per word, I like it. POW!
Kevin: LOL
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I can agree and disagree. What makes an audience be “grabbed”? That is just the opposite of don’t be boring. Many people think the opposite of boring is some huge attention grabbing hook. I don’t think it is. I think it is just a lack of being boring. For me there is no grey, you are boring or not boring. The quality comes after that first assessment.
I will guess everyone has listened to the radio. If you think catching music, then there is a hook, perhaps a catchy chorus. Then you have Phil Colins “in the air tonight”, drum machine, single guitar chord and then haunting stabs of sound. No formula for a pop song. Just a complete lack of boring.
Here is my assessment criteria.
By halfway down page one I can tell if someone can write. Not just tell a story. But has a command of the storytelling.
By the end of page2 I can tell if they know their story. If story lacks a coherent narrative. Even if the story isn’t obvious, you can tell when the writer knows what is happening.
By the end of page 5 I need to know where I am, tone, and what could be at stake. Even if I don’t know the exact story. If the writer knows what they are doing I can the shadows of a story. I can see where drama may be happening. I can see the potential.
To push art into formula and catchphrases destroys art and makes it engineering. Engineering can be elegant in its complexity or simplicity. Engineering can be beautiful. But it is constrained by rules and the laws of physics. Therefore those constraint mean it cannot be art.
I believe writers are artists not engineers.
Keven - yes it is. Agree or not.
Not. Especially as you spell my name incorrectly, Dog.