For a movie, the script is the foundation of a qiē, and no script means no story and no movie. This is a very simple and important truth, but Hollywood will never pay more attention to screenwriters than directors, actors, or even cinematographers. The importance of screenwriting in filmmaking has always been underestimated.

On the one hand, because the director and actors stand in the spotlight, and their glamorous appearance is more topical, which is also the inevitable result of the commodity society; On the one hand, it is also because script investment is the most basic part of the film industry, and it is also the smallest part of the investment.

In special cases, one person and a computer -- or a typewriter -- can write a script, and the whole creative process can be said to be almost zero-cost, and anyone can do it, as long as they have an idea, as long as they can type, they can create a script. This also means that the uneven quality of scripts is very common, and it is also normal for screenwriters to be uneven.

Therefore, there is no way for major film companies to pay more attention to screenwriters. But this does not mean that the competition for screenwriters is not fierce, on the contrary, because there is no threshold, the competition in the Hollywood screenwriting market is far more fierce than that of actors and directors, according to the Writers Guild of America, 50,000 different types of scripts are created every year - this figure does not include the works of students, enthusiasts, and amateur screenwriters who are not registered.

There are many great films, but only 2,000 films are made each year – and most of them don't make it to the big screens, which is one of the big reasons why the Sundance Film Festival is so popular.

For film companies, finding a suitable script and an excellent script is also a perennial headache. In every film company, there is a position called a film and television pre-development manager, and reading scripts is one of their important jobs.

Each of the pre-managers had to submit a certain number of scripts to the producers each year that they thought were worth shooting, but it was a very heavy and boring job, "It's a bookstore full of books, you know it's got great content, but each book has a white cover, the binding, the format is the same, it's just in alphabetical order, and I can't go home if I can't find the best one." ”

Due to the competition and coexistence between major film companies, many scripts will be circulated between major production companies, but they will not be cross-read, which leads to the fact that the pre-manager who works behind closed doors will read a considerable amount of repeated scripts, which consumes energy, manpower, and time, but has little effect.

Generally speaking, there are certain criteria for the selection of scripts by managers in the early stage, because these scripts will be screened for a second round before they enter the hands of the producers, and the duration, theme, dialogue, plot, and twists of the works will be reviewed and checked by special personnel. To put it simply, the script needs to be 90 to 120 pages, each page can be shot for an average of one minute into a movie, every five pages - that is, every five minutes - a small high/tide, the dialogue needs to fit the character and fit the MPA classification standards, and the subject matter needs to be in line with the trend.

After screening and getting the approval of the producer, it is possible to enter the production process - just "maybe".

But this kind of screening can only bring qualified commercial scripts, and those niche scripts that are not popular or mainstream are often shelved. This has resulted in a huge amount of reading, low efficiency, and no good scripts.

In addition, due to the particularity of script creation, most screenwriters cannot find an agent to represent them, which also makes it impossible for the production company to identify the originality of the writing material, and in order to avoid lawsuits caused by plagiarism and plagiarism, they often refuse to have further negotiations with these unrepresented screenwriters.

On the one hand, Hollywood film producers complain that they can't find good scripts, so that sequel movies are popular; On the other hand, talented newcomer screenwriters are depressed because their work is not appreciated.

Since genre films appeared on the stage of history in the 80s, Hollywood's film production companies have faced such an embarrassing dilemma, and reached their peak in the 21st century, which ushered in a sequel frenzy, as well as a boom in comic book adaptations, novel adaptations, and even mythological adaptations. Previously, Lance designed to use epic movies as bait to let Diorama Pictures shoot "Troy", that is, with the help of the influence of such a wave.

This situation continued until Lance was reborn, and it was never changed drastically; But at least after 2005, it was relieved by a small object called the "blacklist", which set off a small Hollywood revolution, dedicated a large number of classic masterpieces, and indirectly promoted the pace of independent films on the stage of history.

The so-called blacklist, not terrible works, on the contrary, but excellent works that deserve recognition but can not be discovered, after ten years of development, this list has quietly become a must-see list of Hollywood studios every year, and many Oscar-winning works have even been born.

In the previous life, the person who created the blacklist was Franklin-Leonard, a pre-development manager at Universal Pictures, who suffered from the inefficiency of screening scripts early in his career, often wasting a lot of time and energy and failing to achieve the expected work goals, which was really frustrating.

On Christmas Eve 2005, Franklin finally had enough of it and sent an e-mail to more than 80 of his peers, asking them to list the best scripts they had read that year, just to keep themselves there for the Christmas holidays. In exchange, he would also provide these peers with the "best scripts" submitted by others, and from the recommendations of these peers, he would select the best scripts that had not yet been put into production, and named them "blacklist".

To put it simply, it is the exchange and sharing of resources, which is also a major change brought about after the Internet era.

This seemingly casual act has given birth to "Juno", "Inflatable Doll Love", "The Queen", "Burst Drummer", "Imitation Game", "American Sniper", "Escape from Tehran", "Slumdog Millionaire", "King's Speech", "Social Network" and other masterpieces.

Before the blacklist came out, Hollywood's scripts were only 0.3 percent, but eleven years after the blacklist, the proportion of scripts filmed is as high as 32 percent. In other words, the production rate of blacklist scripts is a hundred times higher than the average level of good labor.

In the beginning, the blacklist was just a list circulated among the early development managers, but after 2011, Franklin created a website, made the blacklist online, and the number of industry insiders who participated in the selection reached 500, which is enough to represent the aesthetic taste of the entire Hollywood, which also makes the authority of the blacklist skyrocket.

This blacklist is very popular with industry insiders, on the one hand, it is selected by industry insiders, and the quality is guaranteed to a certain extent; On the other hand, the entire list has no commercial interest, and it doesn't care about the fame and status of the screenwriter, and the only requirement to be on the list is to be recommended by at least six industry insiders.

By 2015, the blacklist site had become the nation's premier screenwriting platform and had developed a membership system. For just $25, authors can upload their scripts on the website for more industry insiders to see; If you pay a certain fee, the script can get guidance from industry insiders. High-scoring scripts can be on the "blacklist" and seen by more production companies, and more than 10,000 movies and TV scripts are brought together on the entire website, becoming a must-have tool for many industry insiders.

Although the charging system of blacklist websites has been criticized by a lot of people, many people believe that in the mode of paying membership fees and uploading scripts, using money to buy qualifications will corrode the fairness and justice of the blacklist; But it must be admitted that justice is always relative, and in the case of large production companies, the blacklist has become a platform for many new screenwriters to win a glimmer of life, which undoubtedly creates more possibilities.

In addition, the so-called membership fee is actually used to maintain the website and pay for the script to be reviewed by experts, and the subscription and browsing of the website are completely free. The blacklist did not serve as a conduit for Franklin to "sell scripts", he merely provided a platform, but it made Hollywood's work more efficient, and at the same time gave more opportunities for talented newcomers.

Lance thought of the blacklist at this time, not because the blacklist contained huge business opportunities, but because the blacklist hid an endless treasure trove of resources.

If Chaos Pictures establishes a blacklist website, they can not only prioritize the selection of suitable scripts for filming, but also establish contacts with major film production companies through the blacklist, and friendships are established through repeated conversations and even cooperation.

However, more than these additional benefits, the fame gained by the blacklist is what Reims desperately needs. On the one hand, Chaos Pictures can establish a more profound professional image among the majority of movie lovers, and on the other hand, the platform through the guò blacklist can attract more screenwriter talents.

These invisible riches will become an important cornerstone for the next stage of Chaos Pictures' development.

Diorama Pictures is the biggest and most important opponent of Chaos Pictures at present, but Lance's vision will not be so short-sighted, Chaos Pictures should not become the second Diorama Pictures, Lance wants to see what height Chaos Pictures will eventually go under his leadership.

The unknown future is full of mystery and fun. (To be continued.) )