Writing Your Own Script (versus Optioning)

So why am I writing Nitecrawlers myself?

To save money, for one. Rather than pay a writer to write our script or option an existing script, writing Nitecrawlers will save us immense amounts of cash. When the script is complete, I can simply sign over the rights to the LLC that we will establish for the production of the film. This can be done for a nominal, symbolic amount of money (like $1).

More importantly, though, writing Nitecrawlers is a catharsis for me, on several levels. The screenwriting process on our last film (which I also wrote) was extremely hectic, and though we eventually got our shit together, there was always the concern that the script wouldn't be ready by production. On that film, I was writing all the way up until 2 weeks before production began. On top of that, location and weather inconsistencies necessitated the writing of additional scenes during actual production days. The entire writing experience from our last film left me with many metaphorical gray hairs and a desire to handle the screenwriting duties with more grace on our next film, which would eventually become Nitecrawlers. This time around, I want to finish the script before we proceed to the next step in the pre-production timeline. Because we're no longer playing with only our own money anymore, it's important that we start the filmmaking journey on the right step.

The basic story framework for Nitecrawlers is also one that I've had brewing in my head for years, so much so that I feel that I must write the script myself, if only to exorcise the demons in my own mind. It feels good to see ideas begin to take shape on paper, and to see other people close to the process embrace the plot points and concepts which I've ran through hundreds of times in my own internal world.

That said, screenwriting is hard. It's goddamn hard. There's absolutely no way to bullshit your way through the process. It involves long blocks of time, in a room by yourself, staring at a computer screen. All the great and whimsical ideas you've had while taking a nighttime drive, or hiking a mountain, or staring at the stars suddenly seem to disappear into the dark recesses of your brain when you're staring at a blank computer screen (kind of like some of my blog ideas!).

It's even harder when you're directing the film (as I will be). Knowing that I'm directing causes me to take undue liberties with the script that may make it hard for outside readers to comprehend. Because I know I'll be on set, I often find myself emitting certain important details within the script that make sense in my head but that need to be on the page in order for outside readers (especially actors) to understand what's going on in the story. As we will be going through the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) and pursuing some name actors, I need to make sure that the script reads just as cleanly for an outsider as it does for me, that no reading in between the lines is required, and that every important bit of information is right there on the page, rather than in my head.

- K