Take Big Swings.

Can I tell you the number one problem I see with most scripts I read?

The problem with most scripts that are circulating in Hollywood right now?

I was having coffee with a producer recently, and she told me the biggest issue she sees in nearly every script that crosses her desk.

There is no voice.

The writing is good. The story is competent. The i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed. The nuts and bolts are there.

But the screenplay has no soul. No personality.

In trying to write a script for everybody, the screenwriter has written a script for nobody. Because, despite what some screenwriting how-to books might tell you, this is not a paint-by-numbers exercise.

Screenwriting is storytelling.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t hit a certain beat by a certain page. It doesn’t matter if you nail the formatting. None of the technical details matter if the story and characters don’t connect.

Too many screenwriters are afraid of making choices. Of taking big swings. Because they don’t want to give producers a reason to say no to their scripts.

But a no-proof screenplay doesn’t exist. “No” is Hollywood’s natural state. No one ever got fired for saying no.

But if you’re scared of taking risks to tell the best story you can tell, there won’t be a reason for them to say yes.

And I know what you’ll say. “Brian, I’ve seen movies, and so many movies nowadays suck. They’re all safe and down the middle.”

There’s some truth to that, especially as the budgets increase and the already risk-averse feel their feet getting even colder.

But a down-the-middle script won’t be what gets you noticed. It won’t be what gets you through the door.

I can’t promise you that rounds of studio notes won’t water down your screenplay, but you’ll never be in those mind-numbing, endlessly frustrating notes meetings if you don’t wow them with a script that gets them excited in the first place.

(I’m generalizing. I’ve worked with amazing producers and executives and managers, and agents. But you get it.)

If you’re not passionate about what you write, no one will be passionate about what they read.

When you write a script, write a script that’s you on the page. Show them who you are.

If you’re ready to make your screenplay sing, to inject it with your big, beautiful personality, let After Fade Out help you get it there!