The pass. If you’re a writer you are familiar with the word. You just wrote an Academy Award-quality screenplay or an Emmy-quality series development, put together a solid pitch, pitched it to the producer or executive with passion, and he or she responded with the most painful one-word expletive in the English language—Pass.
I find it odd that Hollywood uses sports terms to describe the beginning and end of the creative process. You pitch (baseball) your idea to a player (a powerful, influential person capable of making deals, such as a top producer, agent, studio executive, or high-profile talent) and if he or she doesn’t like it they pass (football). Unless they like it, in which case you get a deal (poker).
There are two types of passes: helpful and unhelpful, and it is important to know the difference.
The helpful pass
It comes from someone who understands the audience and the elements and structure of a good story. This person may offer useful insights on how to improve your story from a structural or creative standpoint, as well as explain how your pitch may not meet the expectations of buyers or the audience.
The unhelpful pass
It comes from someone who doesn’t really understand storytelling or the audience. They have a big ego and reject your idea without clear reasoning. Their feedback is often confusing or meaningless, gobbledygook. If you take their comments seriously, it can confuse you and damage your confidence.
My advice to all writers is to be suspicious of everyone’s creative suggestions, even if they are a friend or a professional. Investigate their ideas. If they are informational, make sure they are true. If they are creative, be sure they make sense to you. This way, you will be able to apply them to a rewrite or a revision of your pitch.
Just because an executive, agent, or producer says something doesn’t make it true. If that were the case, I’d be an A$S#@!$!.
©Jeffrey Scott, All Rights Reserved
(This guest column “How to Write for Animation” (HTWFA) is contributed by Jeffrey Scott, who has written over 700 animated and live-action TV and film scripts for Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Marvel, Universal, Paramount, Columbia, Big Animation, Hanna-Barbera and others. His writing has been honoured with three Emmys and the Humanitas Prize. He is author of the acclaimed book, How to Write for Animation. To work with Jeffrey visit his website at www.JeffreyScott.tv.)
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