I was cast in a leading role for a feature. It’s not unusual for me to help tighten and edit scripts for films I’m in, but this time, 50% of the story was still in the director’s head. Long talks with the director and rehearsals allowed me to see what is and isn’t written. We also made new, creative discoveries about the plot, scenes, and characters each time we talked or met.
We’d agreed weeks ago to meet so I could do my usual script edit-tutor session, but I’d already contributed so many ideas, it soon became apparent that I’d gone beyond editing and into “writer mode”.
I’m pretty sure I’ll also wind up rewriting much of the dialogue (easier to do now that I know who the characters are and their complicated relationships with each other). Once you know the characters, and the plot is set, the dialogue pretty much writes itself.
So yesterday the director asked if he could officially add me as one of the writers, which was fine with me.
I’m amused. I vowed I’d NEVER write a script. They are way too long. But I’m not starting from scratch, just filling in holes. This, I don’t mind doing. (We’ll see how fun it is when I actually make a pass at the dialogue…..)
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