Modest Expectations

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After six years without selling a script or booking a gig…

After Parting Ways with my reps…

After co-writing two audio shows I was super proud of…

After putting a metaphorical Help Wanted sign up in the hopes of getting a new manager…

After getting a new manager and deciding on my next script…

I got to work. When starting something new, the ultimate goal is always to sell a script and get a movie made. But no one had paid me for a script in a while so I tried to keep my expectations modest. What I wanted from this new project was:

1. To get a new agent

2. Make some new fans

3. Maybe make a few bucks

I haven’t written about process very much on this site as I’m not sure how many readers care about the insides of screenwriting. I’ll give a brief overview here, and if anyone wants me to dig deeper in a future post, please let me know in the comments.

Because I was working with a new manager, I felt it was important to share steps in my process so he could a) see how I work and b) feel invested, since he’d be giving me feedback along the way. This is my basic process:

1. I start with a logline (2 or 3 sentences describing the idea)

2. A 2-3 page beat sheet that covers the main beats of the story

3. 30ish notecards on a board that lay out the main scenes of the story

4. 10-page treatment - a prose document that describes the story in more detail

5. 20-page scriptment that adds even more detail and some dialogue to the treatment

I don’t do all of these steps every time, but this time I did. JB (my new manager) shared feedback along the way, and I felt by the time I got to my first draft, I had answered a bunch of important questions and knew my story inside and out.

As I worked on the script, I shared drafts and got feedback. I generally think three drafts is what it takes to get a script worth sending out to prospective buyers. JB is pretty detail-oriented so we did three big drafts and then two additional smaller drafts where I tweaked language and made minor cuts.

When all was said and done, it took me one month for all the “pre-work” which was everything up to and including the scriptment and then four months of writing drafts to get to the “final draft.”

When the draft was ready, my manager suggested it was time to find me a new agent. JB sent the script to a few colleagues, and one of the agencies that responded was Paradigm. They were exactly what I was looking for: a mid-sized agency with plenty of good clients, but not so big that I’d get lost in the shuffle. I zoomed with my prospective agent and we hit it off, and I signed with him in fall 2021. Expectation #1 was met!

Then my reps sent the script out to a bunch of production companies. And we waited. The response was generally good. No bites at first, but I can tell when a script is well-received by the number of requests for general meetings (see my Origins post for more about those kinds of meetings). I ended up getting ten generals off this new script. Everyone pretty much said the same thing: they liked the script and the writing, but they already had something similar in development. Still, expectation #2 was met.

My tenth meeting was with a producer at a company that mostly specializes in repping already-completed films at big markets (like the Cannes Film Market) but they’d been getting more into producing and my script was exactly what they were looking for. They negotiated an option, which gave them exclusive right to shop the script around and attach elements. Every produced film of mine had been optioned first so this was a very good thing. By the beginning of 2022, the deal had closed. And with that, I made a few bucks. Hello expectation #3!

Months passed as the company worked to put the movie together, which generally means finding a director and an actor or two. That, along with the script, is usually enough to trigger financing. I was eventually brought on to do a rewrite where I moved the action from the east coast of the US to in and around Rome. I was also asked to incorporate notes from the actor interested in starring in the movie - Aaron Eckhart! I quickly knocked out a draft, turned it in, and waited.

Soon, there was good news. Aaron Eckhart had signed on to star. Tim Roth and Abigail Breslin signed on soon after with Roel Reiné taking the reins as director. The title was changed to Classified and production began in Malta in the spring of 2023 (well before the WGA strike). This triggered the step in my deal where the script was actually bought. I hadn’t dared to tempt fate by making this an expectation, but what I want from every script had happened:

The script sold and it got made!

You can find the trailer here.

All in all, it took about three and a half years from when I first had the idea to when the film will be released. That’s pretty quick in this business, believe it or not.

But that’s what I’ve always said is the best thing about being a writer. Acting, directing, hell, every job in this industry is tough. But at the very least, a writer can close the office door, write a new script, and reignite their career.

I’m living proof.