Screenwriting : Screenplay length by Rick Wheeler

Generally, yes, for two reasons that pop into my mind:

Shorter scripts can translate to smaller budgets (maybe lol)

Shorter scripts often mean writers have really cut out the fat (hopefully)

It's excellent practice as you get into it to keep your scripts as tight as they can possibly be! It usually forces you to make tough writing decisions, which lead to stronger work overall.

But you know what producers really want? The best fucking script ever.

When I'm breaking in a story, I try to ignore word count and get all my scenes and story beats onto the page. Then, when it comes to editing, you'll find a stage to polish and shine the story until it looks like what you want - this is when I'd worry about page count. Then I get someone to read it, and provide me with quality notes. Then I rinse and repeat.

Once you have a draft, it can be a really fun and painful challenge to take off twenty or thirty pages of it. In my experience, that's only ever helped my scripts. I was really surprised when I started out how much that streamlined everything.

TLDR: Write your draft without worrying about logistics too much - just get it down on the page! After that, challenge yourself to knock twenty pages off of it. See what you come up with.

The exception being if you write it under 90 pages - that's a whole different beast of problem solving.

I'm not sure if that's true for Drama scripts by newbies, Rick Wheeler, but I've been seeing a lot of script leads from producers recently (and for a few years) asking for shorter scripts. Around 90 pages.

Yes Rick Wheeler that is the sweet spot for most producers.

In the independent film world, sales agents typically need a ~90min movie to fit in with market screening schedules and distributor demands. Scripts generally run at a minute of screen time per page.

If we're talking about a lower budget indie drama, I'd shoot for 90-110 with the aim being on the low end of that range if possible.

I never shoot for a page count for initial drafts, but leave room to trim the fat on later drafts. unltimately, the narrative will decide its length. I strive for a STORY WELL TOLD then let the chips fall where they may.

“Rules” are broken all the time but if you're looking to get produced then you need to try looking at your script as a sales tool, not necessarily as a work of art. 90-to-110 is acceptable. Plus, it’s always good practice to trim, omit needless words and, say more with less.

I just ran the numbers and the average length of the scripts in my spec portfolio (11 screenplays) is 93pp. The shortest is 84pp and the longest 100pp.

I'm targeting the indie market and my scripts are dialogue heavy. I also have the benefit of having seen my scripts turned into film so I know my pages run a little over the 1min per page average.

The way I see it, any development is probably going to lead to more pages being added than taken away, so it makes sense to start as lean as possible.

This all said, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Trimming can take place in both pre and post production. A good script is a good script and no sane producer is going to walk away from something which is so easily changed to fit their needs.

From a craft development perspective though, holding yourself to a tight page count really develops your writing skills. I took some time out writing five page shorts for a year or so. I wrote around 35. It was a great boot camp.

I always think of a quote from Brian Helgeland. He handed Clint Eastwood an 80 page screenplay. Clint held it in his hand like he was weighing it and said “this is already the best screenplay I have ever read”.

If you cannot tell a story in 100 pages, I think you need to tighten the story.

Shorter screenplays are more marketable as they are (depending on genre) generally less expensive to produce. Unknown screenwriters are a bigger risk, so...

Everyone loves a 90 page screenplay. In my experience, if you're gonna push 120, your story either better be really moving, really funny, really mind-bending, or really action packed. And it better be written super lean and sharp, where you're making the most of every single letter in that script. Overlong or overindulgent screenplays can be a turn off. There's no rules, but there are general tastes and preferences.

Dan Guardino I would say a well-fleshed out 75 pages is the feature floor, if it really sings, but 80-85 pages is probably more effective. Anything under 80 does prompt the questions: "are they doing enough with this concept?" or "is there more here?"

I strive for a STORY WELL TOLD without regard to page count. My longest is 116 pages and it’s the one most requested because it reads like a 95 page story. Story well-told gets them every time.

I like a 90 pager for most scripts unless it is an epic or historical. It is a great page count to get the story across and keeps it taught and to the point.