Whether you’ve fallen out with your current creative partner, or you’re looking for a head full of fresh ideas, there’s a few things to bear in mind when you’re looking to hire a professional screenwriter.
I’m going to walk you through four of them, so you don’t end up employing either an ego on legs who will fight you to keep each one of his irrelevant sentences, or a tired old hack who’ll do only the bare unoriginal minimum to keep his pension pot afloat.
1. The obvious resumé stuff:
If you want your film to be a success, a professional screenwriter needs to be exactly that. Anyone with a pen can call themselves a writer, but that doesn’t mean they can make a good job of your domestic violence thriller that needs sensitive handling and a lyrical verse. Check the writer you want to hire has the relevant skills and experience for your project.
2. Always commission a fresh script:
Let’s say you’re on a tight time constraint and the studio has 3 weeks coming up next month when they could shooting something instead of sitting around. It’s tempting to take the ready-made script the writer’s offering you and pay them an eye-watering fee for it, simply so you can get on with pre-production.
However, if that script is complete, that means it’s almost definitely been seen and rejected by numerous other producers. Those who didn’t reject it may be working on a variation of it (as IP is so difficult to prove) and that means you’ll have a race on your hands to get it released, as well as a potential lawsuit if you don’t get it out there first.
Professional screenwriters, who are at the top of their game, write fast. They collaborate well and work to deadlines. They will be able to create a brand new film script for you within a restricted time frame (and if they can’t, they’ll let you know why)
3. The best scripts come straight from the heart:
How passionate is the screenwriter you’ve approached about writing your script for you? If you’re keen to shoot a noir detective drama set in Tel Avi, but you detect an initial lack of interest, how closely do you think the screenwriter’s ideas are realistically going to match your vision? If you’re hearing red flags, while the screenwriter is talking, make sure you speak up. This is your film after all. Don’t be tempted to tell yourself the writer is a professional and knows best simply to avoid confrontation. It’s important your screenwriter is a good match for the story you want to tell.
4. How important is audience reaction to your screenwriter?
Impressing the audience is the name of the game. Yes, it’s important to keep the critics happy, because their reviews will increase the success of your film, but ultimately if you’re telling a story, isn’t it the audience you want to feel satisfied / inspired / motivated by the result? Feel free to test any professional screenwriter with any the following question: How do you think the audience will feel after watching this film? Look out for a thoughtful answer, that proves to you this question has already occurred to the screenwriter you’re interviewing.
If you’re looking to hire a professional screenwriter, who will put heart and soul into your story to write a successful script with a thought-provoking takeaway, that will take into account your budgetary restrictions and creative vision, then why not get in touch with me? Let’s have a chat over email or social media.
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