Screenwriting Documentary: Dreams On Spec
July 20th, 2011 | Posted by in Featured Posts | Movies | Reviews | Screenwriting
THE WRITER’S LIFE. THE WRITER’S DREAMS
I got an email a while back that contained a link to a screenwriting documentary called Dreams On Spec. A film I highly enjoyed.
Here is a the synopsis from the film’s official site:
Featuring interviews with James L. Brooks, Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, and other screenwriting luminaries, DREAMS ON SPEC takes an intimate look at how far people will go – and how much they will sacrifice – to pursue their dreams. This feature-length documentary follows three screenwriters as they struggle against overwhelming odds – and often their families’ disapproval – to turn their scripts into movies.
Aspiring filmmakers definitely have a lot of docs to turn to for inspiration. Just about every DVD and Blu Ray has a commentary track or a behind the scenes documentary these days. Many of them are elaborate and extremely inspiring. (See The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions
Note: If there are others I expect an email immediately…
DREAMS ON SPEC
This documentary was fantastic. It’s a candid look at three separate writer’s journeys at different stages in their careers. The film examines their passion for screenwriting as well as the impact that dedication has on their lives. Ironically, the email that alerted me to this movie’s existence came about a week before I started my new feature length screenplay. I watched it the day before I went off to the library to finish mapping out my movie.
Some might say that watching a documentary about 3 writers who struggle to make it might be discouraging to a screenwriter about to start something new. Honestly, if I let that bother me, I don’t have the right to call myself a screenwriter. Writing a screenplay is hard but it’s fun and that’s why we write.
The business aspect of the industry takes over once you type fade out. Until that time, it’s just me and my characters wandering around a new world trying to tell a story. At one point, one of the writer’s states that his new screenplay is the best he’s every written and nothing he writes afterwards will ever compare. I have to disagree. In the end, he will write something else but you always need that drive to be better.
In that sense, I completely related to the screenwriters in Dreams On Spec because I found myself examining my own process. It wasn’t their dreams of money and success but instead their passion that I enjoyed watching. It was their love of the craft of screenwriting. The final 20 minutes or so is extremely powerful as the writer’s come to grips with their work.
One naive moment stuck out for me. It happens around the 1:02:00 mark in which a writer expresses what he wants his project to become.
“I’d like to get 5 name actors attached to the five main roles. I’d like to get a few million dollars… Not a kazillion but you know 5 or 10 million dollars… I’d like it to be released theatrically. I’d like for whoever gives me the money to give me enough creative control and kind of leave me alone…”
I think aspiring screenwriters around the world can relate to that statement but for me, it put things into perspective. I’m not going to get ahead of myself. First and foremost, I HAVE to write.
Dreams On Spec is a great documentary for screenwriters out there. The outcomes of their stories may be a little bleak but I think the lesson here is simple:
Work hard to realize your goals and when it doesn’t work out… Work harder. Write because you love to write.
I’ve included a preview of the film below but you can watch the entire documentary FREE online at SNAGFILMS.
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Thanks for the reassurance of why we write in your review. I think I was becoming a bit discouraged by the prospect of this movie.