From the Other Side of the Desk - A Development Exec Comes Clean

Dispelling Myths of the Development Executive
by Frederick Levy

Writers often voice a concern that the development executive never reads anything that hasn't first been read by an assistant or reader. They believe that anyone reading their script, other than the development executive, is a sure sign of trouble. The parable of the reader as a frustrated and unsuccessful writer has perpetuated through Hollywood for years. Stories of readers with a vengeance still haunt agency mailrooms and Internet web sites. Let me attempt to dispel this myth.

There is a lot of material to be read. I'll bet that everyone reading this article either has written a screenplay, or knows someone who has written a screenplay. I'll venture to take that one step further. I bet everyone you know, knows someone who has written one. And guess who gets to read all these scripts? The development executive.

Sure, if each one were the shooting draft of Shakespeare in Love or American Beauty, I'd gladly stay home, locked away, reading them all. Let me back track. If just one promised to be as good as either of the aforementioned screenplays, I'd remain steadfast searching for this pot of gold. But alas, that's rarely the case.

In order to get through the almost insurmountable collection of screenplays that passes through my office, it is necessary to have help with the reading. For some reason, however, writers view this as a bad thing. It's not.

To explain, let me tell you what I do read, and in what priority. First, I read new drafts of active projects on our slate. This is generally followed by me generating a series of notes.

I also read any spec script that is submitted to me by an agent who tells me they need an answer the next morning. If you are as yet unfamiliar with the workings of the spec market, it is well detailed in my book, Hollywood 101: The Film Business (www.hollywood-101.com).

I read new scripts by writers whose work I have read previously and of whom I have become a fan.

Finally, I read any script that one of my readers recommends. In fact, at their endorsement, I will stop whatever I'm doing and read the screenplay.

Think about it. My job involves finding that next great script. If I want to keep my job, I must find that next great script. A great script is one that everyone thinks is great--not just the writer, or in this case, not just one development executive. If a script comes to me with a recommendation from a neutral party (a.k.a. my reader) saying that I will like the script, there is a very good chance that I'm going to love it.

Once I'm in agreement, I can present the project to Marty Katz, the producer whose company I run. He'll read it, and hopefully, agree with our assessment. Now there are three fans on board ready to tout this script to the powers that be. As you can see, the strength of the support for this project has already tripled. This mutual validation sprouts power.

Once we decide that we like a script, assuming it needs no further development, our next step is to set it up at a studio. Because Marty Katz Productions has a first-look deal with Miramax and Dimension Films, I would submit the project to an executive at either of those film labels who I believe would respond positively to the material.

Sometimes writers will complain, "Why not submit it directly to Harvey or Bob Weinstein (co-Chairmen of Miramax/Dimension Films)." They don't want to yet again struggle up the internal development ladder until their project floats to the top. Once again, I advise, garnering strength from the lower ranks only propels the project forward with more impact.

My personal experience has proven that this method works. Every project I've set up at any studio has risen through the ranks. I've seen projects almost fall apart, if it weren't for the junior executives massaging it into production. I've also given scripts second chances if someone on my staff champions a screenplay that may not have impressed me as much.

Just concentrate on writing great stories. Don’t worry about who will eventually read your screenplay. When you're ready, and the script is as good as it can possibly be, send out an impressive query letter. If you've truly got the goods, readers and executives alike will recognize your talent. The more fans a project accrues on its rise up the ranks only helps a film make its way to the screen that much faster.

Frederick Levy is the Vice President of Development and Production at Marty Katz Productions. The company currently has a first-look deal with Miramax and Dimension Films. The first movie produced under this deal is REINDEER GAMES, directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron. They are currently in production on IMPOSTOR, directed by Gary Fleder, and starring Gary Sinise and Madeline Stowe.

The company's most recent films include James Cameron's TITANIC for Paramount Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox; MR. WRONG starring Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Pullman for Touchstone Pictures; and MAN OF THE HOUSE starring Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas for Walt Disney Pictures.

Levy teaches film classes at the Los Angeles branch of Emerson College, and at the UCLA Extension. Levy's first book, Hollywood 101: The Film Industry (Renaissance Books and St. Martin's Press, February, 2000) is currently available. He is also working on a book about the teen music scene for Simon & Schuster which is due out in September, 2000.

For more information on Levy's book, please visit his web site at www.hollywood-101.com.

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