Has it come to this?

Read the attached article here, "Has Hollywood Finally Killed The Screenwriter."
Yikes but, the fact is, it's pretty dead on.
People hire me to write screenplays for them, I write the script and they tell me to make changes and I make changes until they stop telling me to make changes.

In my class yesterday, a student whose script goes into production this weekend as a group project, had to sit and watch in horror as he officially lost control of it, as the producer said to him, "I have to play producer here and say that the script is finished, there's no more time to tinker with it."

Brutal, yes. Heartbreaking for the writer, yes. Hard for me to see it happening to another writer, yes. But, I have to admit that that producer did the right thing. The script had been revised by committee several times and the production was two days away from the first table read, six days away from shooting. Sometimes it just has to be like that.

Of course, in my experience with "Aftermath", the producers optioned my 80 page screenplay and hired me to do re-writes. Over the course of six months, I turned in numerous drafts, I got over 120 pages of notes, the page count eventually rose to 106 pages and then, of all things, began to decrease to, guess what....82 pages, where it now stands.

Last week, I turned in first draft of a screenplay to the producer/director who hired me. He took out some of my stuff, added in some of his stuff, sent it back to me for another pass and then, after that, asked me to change/add/replace some more material.

I don't know what I am exactly saying here but this is the way it is: Go strong or go home(?).

http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/features/j%E2%80%99accuse-has-hollywood-finally-killed-the-screenwriter.php

Who, what, where?

I have a screenplay due on April 15th. I am not even at 50 pages into it yet and the goal is 90. Am I worried? Not really. I have a solid treatment and lots of notes to work from. It should be a breeze. Of course, it won't be and I will be scrambling late into the night, early morning and, quite possibly, the late afternoon to finish it.
Why? Because I just finished doctoring another Bollywood screenplay, I am doctoring a thriller and, because the muse hit (and when she hits, she hits hard), I paused to write a short film for a director who is looking for material.

So, I am having trouble keeping track of what I am working on, where it's going, who I am supposed to be working for and what I am supposed to be doing next/now --- so I blog.

Back to the real world --- one of the guys who I am writing for is im-ing me on fb.