I've recently been approached to work on a collaborative writing project. The project is three shorts and six writers that will work in pairs and as a team. One writer from each group will direct the filming of each short.
I don't have much more information than this since we have yet to have our first meeting....
I'm curious if others that check this board have had experiences collaborating on scripts. If yes, I'd like to hear about your reactions to the experience. What kinds of problems were encountered? What were the pros and cons etc etc....
Thanks in advance,
Steve
collaborative writing
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steve hyde
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Evan Kubota
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It might be ok as just an exercise, but I would be extremely hesitant to fully invest my creativity into a co-written script. I don't believe that two people can independently arrive at such a similar conception of the project that they will be able to write a script together. I've written one script with a friend, and you always end up compromising so the other person gets some of their ideas in the finished product. Not as good as writing it yourself, IMO.
Production Notes
http://plaza.ufl.edu/ekubota/film.html
http://plaza.ufl.edu/ekubota/film.html
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steve hyde
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....well, for better or worse it is happening. I'm co-writing a script with two other writers and the producer. It has actually been a lot of fun so far, but we haven't gotten to the hard work yet. At this point we are mostly brainstorming and drinking a lot of wine. A lot of good ideas are bouncing around and we have a good mix of characters involved in the writing project.
1) the producer is also an entertainment industry lawyer 2) we have a poet/ playwright just graduating from the university, 3) we have a journalist and then myself: sociology/visual communication etc. It is actually a really interesting mix.
I do a lot of collaborative research already and I have learned that there is a method to making collaboration work. It is simple to describe and it is difficult to practice. The simple description is to make sure the goals of the project are clearly agreed upon at the outset. In research this means having clear research questions and a clear method for answering the research questions. The practice is actually following through with the method with a sharp focus on the research question(s) Individual briliance emerges when a researcher is challenged to overcome an obstacle within the constraints of the research method. I don't think writing for film is much different.
For film I think it is key to have a story idea that can be described in one verb. Our story idea is "self-forgiving" We want to present the story of a character that has to find a pathway to survive guilt. With that in mind we are challenged to explore the ways that people do that. We want every scene to be a step along that complicated and ultimately unknowable path.
So here is the thing: If we agree that this is the *idea* and we hold ourselves to the test of not losing sight of that idea, then we can work together productively because each participant's ideas only suplement the *meta-idea*, which is *self-forgiving* So in the end if we succeed at presenting a coherent story about self-forgiving, we will have succeeded at writing a structurally sound screenplay. If that does not shine through then the project will be a failure.
This is something I learned from "Sculpting in Time" I think one of the most salient quotes in that book is the one where he talks about the artist's commitment to concept. (I referenced it in the crafting short films thread) He says the hardest thing for a filmmaker to do is to develop a concept and stick with it. Maybe this is why so many contemporary films seem to find focus on spectacle rather than concept.
So to sum up my response, I think it is possible for writers to work together on a script. Television people do it all the time. However, all of the writers have to intimately *know* the characters they are writing about and all of the writers have to *know* what idea they are working to present. Does this make sense? I'm still thinking-through this stuff and the outcome of the project remains to be seen.
Thanks for you input,
Steve
1) the producer is also an entertainment industry lawyer 2) we have a poet/ playwright just graduating from the university, 3) we have a journalist and then myself: sociology/visual communication etc. It is actually a really interesting mix.
I do a lot of collaborative research already and I have learned that there is a method to making collaboration work. It is simple to describe and it is difficult to practice. The simple description is to make sure the goals of the project are clearly agreed upon at the outset. In research this means having clear research questions and a clear method for answering the research questions. The practice is actually following through with the method with a sharp focus on the research question(s) Individual briliance emerges when a researcher is challenged to overcome an obstacle within the constraints of the research method. I don't think writing for film is much different.
For film I think it is key to have a story idea that can be described in one verb. Our story idea is "self-forgiving" We want to present the story of a character that has to find a pathway to survive guilt. With that in mind we are challenged to explore the ways that people do that. We want every scene to be a step along that complicated and ultimately unknowable path.
So here is the thing: If we agree that this is the *idea* and we hold ourselves to the test of not losing sight of that idea, then we can work together productively because each participant's ideas only suplement the *meta-idea*, which is *self-forgiving* So in the end if we succeed at presenting a coherent story about self-forgiving, we will have succeeded at writing a structurally sound screenplay. If that does not shine through then the project will be a failure.
This is something I learned from "Sculpting in Time" I think one of the most salient quotes in that book is the one where he talks about the artist's commitment to concept. (I referenced it in the crafting short films thread) He says the hardest thing for a filmmaker to do is to develop a concept and stick with it. Maybe this is why so many contemporary films seem to find focus on spectacle rather than concept.
So to sum up my response, I think it is possible for writers to work together on a script. Television people do it all the time. However, all of the writers have to intimately *know* the characters they are writing about and all of the writers have to *know* what idea they are working to present. Does this make sense? I'm still thinking-through this stuff and the outcome of the project remains to be seen.
Thanks for you input,
Steve