A Professional Script Vs An Amateur Script - Mark Sanderson

You know how much I sacrificed?

I'm an fan of Mark Sanderson I look forward to meet in person I want to l earn more about acting business because I want my own company

what a useless analysis lol "it's professional if it's good and it's amateur if it's bad" is a hysterically bad explanation

I am not a professional writer, but I have a great idea for a screenplay.

WIth all the shitty movies being made today, you'd think most scripts were amateur scripts.
I mean, Rise of Skywalker was written by a professional. So was Wonderwoman 1984. So was a whole lot of shitty movies.
Professional scriptwriting isn't what it used to be.

It's annoyingly funny to me that, as a reader, we can tell the difference in someone else's work almost immediately, but when I have to do so with my own stuff I go in half-blind to mistakes.

you'd think maybe he'd talk about formatting. instead we get gobbledeegook. I had no idea writers are also athletes.

The whole business of writing scripts and getting your idea put on the big screen is a long shot. I can't understand why we have 500 channels of crap to watch on TV while there are thousands of great scripts that will never be seen on TV. 99 out of 100 movies or TV Shows are junk, and it cost money to make junk, so it's bizarre to me why someone would spend money to produce a crappy movie...I guess there truly are people with more money than sense.

What is this coverage all about?

Sometimes I watch these interviews and feel hopeful for my efforts. Not so much with this one. This has me feeling like it's impossible

These Rock!

Thank you so much for these very informative videos.
I think Mark is right, and I can definitely understand what he's saying.
I think someone who wants to take this craft, seriously, or that of writing a book, should always keep a level of humbleness, not thinking "Oh, I think this is gonna sell, even if it has typos all over the place", and be critical with yourself, sometimes.
I once wrote a book (which I never published), many moons ago.
When I was writing it, back in the day, I thought "Oh, this is a great story. Probably it will sell well". But, then, if I go back to it and read just a few pages of it i'm like "How the hell did I even came up with this crap?", you know?
By any means, I don't work in the industry. But, compared to many years ago, there's PLENTY of informations as well books and scripts that you can study for yourself, to make this or that work in your script.

Wow! Everything is awesome 😎

My Act I page is like 11 pages. I feel like I need to add way more.

This was not a helpful interview lmaoo. Very few specific examples that allow amateurs to understand whats being said lol. It seems like he’s more interested in engaging in discourse that works in a professional circuit where ofc the flaws are obvious and the script is missing “that”, and its “one of those scripts” but as someone using this video as a learning resource this fell very flat.

I read amature scripts all the time (just for fun). The main (bad) mistake I've been seeing is they assume people will just read the script and just be automatically engaged in the what its all about. No, that's not true. We need interesting things to happen, pretty much right from the get go and we need to be given reasons (more than one) to follow the character(s). They need to engage us, not only with ther personality but with their overall goals.

Having a proof reader is essential. My question is how many do you need, because maybe having two might be adequate to sus out the kinks in your writing.

A script is not the Bible. You can rework it, you fix it, change it, revise it... and you can do that right up until the moment the director yells 'action'.

This guy no disrespect intended; is just waffling...

Write this again
Pro: F*@k you pay me!
Am: Was going to do that anyway...

This movie lacks soul
Pro: I didn't have the creative control I needed
Am: F*@k you pay me!

This movie is amazing
Pro: The ingredients were there I just had to connect the dots
Am: Thank you, this is my life's work and I'm happy it's finally being acknowledged.

Believe me when I say: I'm trying so hard to make my scripts professional. I really don't want people thinking differently.

I personally don’t agree with what he is saying. For 10 years “Squid Game” was rejected and probably seen as a “bad script”. Well, jokes on them now.

This man ... "Professional screenplays are written at a professional level". NO SHIT SHERLOCK

Lol I kept waiting for an example and it never happened 🤣 We get it, you gotta protect your jobs

Joking aside, it's good to at least know I need to study some professional scripts to compare. Thanks for the content 🔥

So much "it's who you know" mentality in the comments. Step one: write a great script. 99% of amateur screenwriters will never write a great script. And when they give up, it'll be because they don't know the "right" people and there's no way to break into the industry unless you're someone's nephew. In sum: STFU and write a great script.

This guy talks a lot, but is saying absolutely nothing

I'm working on a local no-budget indie film right now. When I signed on to help (cinematographer), I knew exactly zero about writing a screenplay or making a movie. (Although I've been a photographer all my life.) Once we got going, I began to feel like the script had some issues, so I started watching videos like this one to get a better understanding of the process and maybe help our writer/director make a better movie. Unfortunately, he is so married to his terrible dialog that he is unwilling to budge on changes. The few changes he has made were only AFTER I took the initiative and re-wrote several scenes myself (based on what I learned on this channel and others) and he saw they were better scenes for the effort. Now I'm writing my own and every scene I finish gets handed to someone else to read through and give their own critique, but I NEVER hand them a scene that hasn't been proofread again and again. What writer would let their work into the wild without proofreading extensively?

If you listen to these people to much they will ruin you and your dreams! I wouldn’t listen to these people to much they destroy your confidence ! Do your best! Enjoy the process and learn from every word.

A professional knows that producers hate reading and will write succinctly and sparsely with tons of white space to give the illusion that there's much less to read on the page.

That's honestly one of the first giveaways - if someone writes huge descriptions and tell me what the table is made out of or the blinds then they are writing a novel, not a screenplay.

Having said that, write well and don't bore the reader.

In the end it's all subjective. what about the movies that sucked and done bad at the box office, that came from a script so wouldn't that make the professional script a bad script? There are bad in everything in life that are suppose to be professionals. Bad movies, bad security guards bad mom. Screen writing is a talent, your everyday Joe can't do it, so if you are one of the one who can and you believe it can and will be a movie the goal is to push it. Bad and good is subjective!!

"When people see what you are writing." This right here. Sometimes all I need is the nugget and I can extract the gold from there to continue working the 'mine' of my story. Thanks Mark and thanks Film Courage!

this guy is scared to talk or does not have enough knowledge to share.

A professional screenwriter is someone who knows someone in the industry. An amateur is someone who hones their craft while hoping to someday know someone in the industry.

This is the most patronizing channel of all time

Not a very useful answer to the question.

Wow. So many boxes that have got to be checked off before a script gets the green light. I wonder how "fifty shades.." and other thousand awful movies ever got made.

Thanks!

There are so many professional screenplays plagued by the problems he mentioned. Not much help here. I've seen amateur screenplays blow professional ones out of the water. It's a biased business to begin with.

I feel like he is trying to say “stop liking your work so much” or “ get a second opinion, let someone tell you it sucks and don’t get mad, just fix it”. I feel like artists love their work and are afraid to kill their ideas, which makes the final product overall unprofessional

Mark's right. There's plenty of both amateur and professional scripts online to learn from - even a newish writer can soon spot the differences, especially the formatting giveaways.

Even a professional script can come off Amateurish.

So, an amateur script is not a professional one. Great, thanks...

I always hear rewrite! But, it's also said to put it away and forget about it before doing said rewrite....well I don't really forget...rewrites are the hardest part for me

Dead give away!

So I'm in the middle of writing an adapted scrip for basically a remake/reboot of one of the specific zombie franchise I'm a big fan of. So basically its gonna be forever amature right? Or is there any chance for it at all?

I do find that at least with most amateur scripts is that they won't re-read their scripts. Either because they feel embarrassed of what they have written r think that its the greatest piece ever written. For all amateur screenwriters, please re-read your scripts. Re-reading can come a very long way to polishing your work and see what are the errors plaguing your script and the story. I'm currently writing a low budget feature script and I expect it to be bad because I'm trying to plot out my story. I will be grateful that my school allows students to have John McLaughlin (co-writer of Black Swan) as a teacher for the summer and I fully expect him to tell me my script is garbage because of different errors I missed. Re-read it, have others look at it, and take classes on how to improve your script. I promise you will write better, you just have to let go of your pride.

Directors direct and actors act. It is the combination of both that make movies. Give me a million dollars, Hollywood here I come.

What about using the original Cole & Haag script formatting system? Is it still appreciated and allowed. I'm using it to write my first TV pilot for BBC. Is this system disputed?