Interview with
Gabrielle Kelly
Interview by Jenna Glatzer
Gabrielle Kelly was born in Ireland, educated in England and has worked in
the film business all over the world as a writer, producer and production
executive on both studio and indie films. Expert in all aspects of script
development, talent attachment and financing, she is also a Hollywood-based
analyst and trouble-shooter for international media companies and a hands-on
producer of media related databases. She has worked as a production executive
for studios and independent companies, and her producing credits include indie
feature "All the Queen's Men" (starring Eddie Izzard and Matt LeBlanc)
recently released by Strand Releasing, "Stag" (for Cineplex Odeon/HBO)
and the family feature film, "D.A.R.Y.L." for Paramount/Columbia. She
is currently completing a spec script and working with companies, writers and
directors both in Hollywood and all over the world on several feature projects.
How did you become a producer? What did you do
before you were a producer?
I became a producer quite by accident. I was working at the New York Review
of Books for very little money when my loft in New York burned down and I needed
a job that paid more. Mike Nichols told me I could make more money reading these
strange things called "screenplays"... and introduced me to Sidney
Lumet and Jay Presson Allen, whose company was basically my "in the
trenches" training for the next eight years. I learned everything from soup
to nuts by doing it. No job titles, just doing the work. I got into producing
because I love the story, the word, the script, and film is a great and magical
medium in which to tell stories.
You've acquired screenplays for a wide variety of
buyers, including an investment company in India and Eddie Murphy's production
company. Do you go out looking for scripts (if so, where do you look for
scripts?), or do they just come to you?
I look for scripts everywhere, not much from agents. D.A.R.Y.L., the first movie
I produced, was a first script by a writer I met in a Xerox shop in New York! I
like to find writers who come out of worlds other than Hollywood - their stories
tend to be more interesting and fresh. I have been struck at the sophistication
and talent in places like Sibera (yes, literally!), Ireland, small American
towns... even if the writing is rough, the stories ring true and are powerfully
felt. That's what we all look for; to be moved by the story and want to find out
what happened. Of course agents can be helpful but my search is international
and my reach in terms of genre and style, totally open to new voices.
Do you take scripts more seriously if they come via an
agent? How about if they've won contests?
Having won a prize or being repped by an agent means someone has sorted through
the piles of "so what" material. It could be well written, but there
are so many other criteria which must be met... original, new story, timing,
luck etc. etc. George Clooney said he reads 4 to 6 scripts a week and if he
finds 1 or 2 a YEAR it's a good year. That's the kind of ratio we're talking
about - not easy to find a good script.
When a company hires you to acquire scripts, do they
usually have specific parameters in mind (e.g., they're looking for romantic
comedies set in the south, or low-budget horror scripts)?
Sometimes they are very very very specific. They literally want a tailor made
script to find exacting parameters. Strangely, these exist! It is like finding a
needle in a haystack but I'm amazed at how often I can successfully meet their
demands. Sometimes they just want "something good" and that's more
difficult because it's so subjective. "Good" often means a script a
bankable actor wants to make. Because casting is the trigger to production, this
is what many companies are looking for more than a particular genre or style of
script.
How do you gauge how much money a particular script
might make?
You really don't. You mostly can't tell. Sometimes you read something and can
see the perfect cast, director, package... and you feel this will be a huge hit.
The job of the producer is to turn such a dream into reality, but even then, as
GREEK WEDDING proves, there are no predictions anyone can really make! Some
genres suggest profitability more than others, but it's a crap shoot!
When packaging a script, I've often heard that the
right attachments can make or break a sale. Let's say I have a B-list
actor interested in starring in my script. Is it a smart idea to attach
him, or might it hurt me in the long run?
You have to finesse it and read the situation as it unfolds. Generally cast
attachment is a plus but you may find your idea of perfect casting is someone
else's idea of the opposite... also the actor may have a bad relationship with
them or information you are not privy to. Better to float the idea before
committing to anything to see if and where it works.
What kinds of scripts would you like to see more of?
The hardest ones to write, which answer the following two questions for the
writer (courtesy Patrick Horton, story coach): What about this story matters to
you? What about this story matters to your main character? If you can REALLY
REALLY answer these questions, I'm interested in reading that script, whatever
the genre.
What mistakes do you see new screenwriters make?
Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery; in screenwriting terms it is
the line of least resistance in getting to "The End." Mainly, new
screenwriters do not have a good story and all the technique in the world won't
make it more readable. They come up with stories that they think people want to
see because they are like movies already made. Plot is not story, characters are
story... go back to the cave in pre-history with the winds howling outside and
the shadows on the rock wall and all of us huddling around the fire... someone
starts to tell us about a man and woman, what happens to them, and... cold,
hunger, fear are forgotten. That's the magic.
It seems Hollywood buys more novels, articles, pitches,
etc. than spec screenplays. Is the spec script dead? Should we all
be working on novels and pitches instead?
It goes in waves and just as you get the wave, it's gone. So work on your
STORIES in whatever format they are best represented. Novels are long and hard
to write but you can write the interior life of a character. Articles are
fun; you can be a sleuth and researcher and perhaps get published... spec
scripts come and go in waves. They can be worth it, but only if you can
get one of the really good spec script agents to handle the sale. The sale is a
production in itself and has to be handled professionally.
Tell us about script tracking. How prevalent is
it? Will bad coverage from a major production company kill a script's
chances of being produced elsewhere?
It can really help if it is good and really hurt if it's bad because many people
working in the film business have the courage of OTHER people's convictions and
thus look to see what others have said about the script. Script tracking is very
prevalent - it is the detective work of the business and it's a bloodthirsty
sport which takes no prisoners. Bad coverage from an agency or within a studio
can hang around your neck like a millstone and you have to answer to it. I've
known people use good coverage to their advantage.
Let's say an independent company wants to option my
script-- but they want a free option. Should I agree to this? On
what terms?
Absolutely. Be flexible - indie companies are struggling to pay for
development - that's very expensive money and hard to find. If they will do the
work, that's more than you can do as a lone screenwriter. The sweat equity of
producing and development is most often seriously undervalued by writers. Make
it for a reasonable period of time with steps built in; i.e., in six months x, y
and z should have happened.... in which a company/producer can get some work
done and if nothing has happened, you have lost nothing.
Anything else you'd like to add?
Writers: You can reach me at saturngk@aol.com
with a short paragraph describing your script and who you are.
