Oct/091
Receiving Criticism
I’m sure you’ve heard many times, filmmaking is a collaborative art. It takes lots of people to make a movie, and most of them offer their opinions along the way. Screenwriters get criticism constantly through the development process, into production, and once the movie is released. In a series of posts, I’m going to explore the smartest ways to handle criticism, both constructive and destructive.
Being able to handle feedback and collaborate is crucial to a career in the film industry. Everybody from studio executives, to agents, to directors and actors is getting constant response to their ideas and creativity. Without input from other people there is no way to know what you are doing right, what you’re doing wrong, and how to improve it. Jack Canfield has a whole chapter in his book THE SUCCESS PRINCIPLES that discusses how the most successful people in all sorts of fields use feedback. The secret is being open enough to learn from it. What I’m talking about here is constructive criticism, comments that are made to improve the work.
That is the goal of story notes, to make the script better. Good enough to sell and great enough to get a green light. That is everyone wants, to make a movie. Hopefully you are working with brilliantly insightful executives, producers, actors, and directors. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Many studio executives have no vision of the movie they want to make. It is safer for them to keep giving reams of notes, rather than risk their job by recommending a green light. Often directors’ vision of the movie differs from what you have written. Actors usually approach the story from their character without given thought to your carefully crafted structure and subtext. How do you navigate all of these conflicting ideas and agendas and keep some remnants of your original story? With two very important attitudes. You must be flexible and cheerful.
Flexibility is important because story notes and meetings are all about making changes. No writer has ever shown up at a notes meeting and been told we love it; don’t change a word. Before you go into the development process, decide what things are so integral to your story that you can’t change them. What would kill a little piece of your creative soul to change? Does your lead character have to be a woman? Does your story have to take place in Montana? Whatever they are, have intelligent, logical reasons to hold onto them in case you must explain your feelings. Think of everything else as up for grabs. Of course you hope they like what you wrote, but if not – oh well. Don’t spend the meeting arguing about holding onto things. That will get you branded as difficult. You may get some cockamamie suggestions. But you may get some amazing ones. The very best notes meetings are when each idea builds on the next, so that at the end the story is better than anyone envisioned. Go into each meeting as if it is going to be a fun, satisfying creative discussion.
Being cheerful when hearing constructive criticism insures that you are receiving the information. In order to profit from the feedback, you have to be open to what people are telling you. Be cheerful and engaged. There is nothing worse than having a conversation with someone about his project who is sullen and uncommunicative. Being cheerful also means not taking things personally. This is harder than it sounds. You’re alone in a room with a bunch of people criticizing your baby, most of whom have probably never written a script. Try to have the attitude that it’s all just opinion and everyone’s opinion is valid. An idea that rescues your project from development hell could come from the office intern or from an Oscar-winning screenwriter. Take it all in with a smile. Be excited to contribute. Discuss, don’t argue.
Taking criticism in an upbeat, flexible manner will insure that you actually hear it. Then you must have the discernment to choose which advice to take and which to ignore. You must balance the agenda of who’s commenting with your own goals. For example, if you’re talking with your best friend, he won’t care if you listen to him at all. On the other hand if your manager is giving you notes, she needs to feel heard. You want her invested in your project so that she’ll work hard to sell it.
Finally, having a positive attitude will help your career. These are the kinds of writers that people want to work with – smart, fun collaborators. Executives and producers talk to each other. Good reputations build careers, bad ones kill them.