As a producer, writer, and busy script consultant, what I have come to believe is that for a screenplay to be successful, the script reader must be able to answer “yes” to the following seven questions:

Is the premise commercial and believable?
Can you “see” the poster? 
Is the genre clear?
Is there a clear protagonist?
Is the protagonist likable?
Does the protagonist have a clear goal and is it defined early enough?
Are the stakes for the protagonist high enough?

We call these the “ScriptCoach Seven,” and provide feedback for each of these questions to our writer clients on every script we work on together. I would love to hear your thoughts on these!

Here are the ten films I enjoyed the most in 2009 with two runner-ups as well: 

“500 Days of Summer” – I liked this film because it was a love story told from a young man’s perspective.

“The Hurt Locker” – I loved everything about this movie, especially the scene where the soldiers get so hot and tired from having to stay in one position for hours.

“Taken” – I think this action movie moved extremely well.

 “I Love You Man” – I thought this one managed to turn a sort of non-problem (not having any male friends) into a pretty engaging premise.

“Sugar” – I thought this was an authentic and fairly compelling look at the minor leagues.

“The Taking of Pelham 123” – I thought Denzel Washington and John Travolta were both awesome in this tense suspense film.

“Bruno” – Not as funny for me as “Borat,” but I feel it’s worth the rental if you haven’t seen it yet.

“The Proposal” – I came in with low expectations and laughed throughout this film.

“Paranormal Activity” – I’m a sucker for most anything paranormal and this was no exception.

“The Blind Side” – I cried like fifty times during this movie.

Runner-ups:

“Last Chance Harvey” – I thought this was a very well-acted and cute little romance.
“Defiance” – I was engaged from start to finish on this one.

Please let me know what you think via twitter at www.twitter.com/dkzproductions.  Thanks!

I’m pretty sure it all started with Perrier. You see, I’m old enough to remember the good old days when you could sit down at a restaurant and were just given tap water instead of having to know if you want tap, flat, bottled, sparkling, and with or without ice.

It’s been reported that Anxiety disorders are on the rise, so much so, that we can all now watch a show on A & E about OCD (“Obsessed”) because there’s so many of us who have it.  But I don’t believe it’s because the economy’s down, or because we have “issues.” Rather, I think it’s because we have too many choices in just making what used to be simple decisions, and instead, are constantly bombarded with never-ending possibilities all the time.

My grandfather used to say “We hat wahl, der hat knal,” which in German, means something like “whoever has choices, has discomfort.” And there are Buddhist priests who believe that having too many alternatives is the cause of all sorts of trouble. And let’s not forget the theory that fascism makes people feel comfortable precisely because their freedom is limited. Now before you go all Rush Limbaugh on me, I’m in no way advocating for a change in our system of government. I’m just making an observation that those of us who are ADD or what-have-you are so because the world has too many things to do in it.

Let’s take music. It used to be that if you wanted to listen to music that you could turn on your car radio, play a tape, a record, or maybe listen to your walkman. Now there are MP3 players, cds, limewire, about ten different kinds of I-pods, cell phones, youtube, free radio (the kind that still plays the baseball games), internet radio, and satellite radio (the kind that costs money but that we hear when we go to the salon).

And then there’s TV. We don’t just have bunny ears, basic cable, or super-duper cable; now we have DirectTV and gadgets that somehow record your show while the show is playing so that you can pause it and then continue watching it—live. And let’s not forget that before we can watch anything, we have to pick the right remote control.

I don’t even know what to do now if I want to talk to a friend about things like this. As most of us have both a cell phone and a landline, I first need to remember when I should call each one. Then I need to figure out whether or not to call my showbiz friends by the names they were actually born with, or their stage ones. Then there’s emailing (and most of my people have several of these addresses), texting, instant messaging, leaving a message, not leaving a message, twittering, myspaceing and facebooking. I feel bad if I actually have to call someone. And sometimes when I feel sad because I’ve made the mistake of calling one of my friends and bothering them, I want to eat. But then I have to decide if the food I’m eating is actually good for me, and if I want something called “organic” food or not (By the way, what was I eating, before I was eating organic food?).

And what happens if I make something to eat and then want to throw the food and its packaging out? Before I do, I have to somehow figure out what colored bin my trash is supposed to go into. I could just go to a restaurant and avoid the whole taking out the trash thing, but if I use a credit card and later want to pay the bill, I have to remember my online username and password. I guess I could go back to writing checks, but then I’d feel guilty about wasting paper. And speaking of trees, now I can’t figure out if I should actually buy a book I want to read at a bookstore, or just download it.

I hope bringing up the multitude of the once simple daily choices we all have hasn’t made you too anxious. If it has, maybe get up and take a drink of water. Tap.

Here are some things I hope to never see in scripts again:

1) Characters named Slade, Jake, or Cassidy.

2) Spelling and grammar errors.

3) Page counts over 120.

4) Thick cover and back sheets.

5) Title pages with WGA registration info and/or copywrite info.

6) Brads that aren’t 1 1/4 inches.

7) Stories that involve a middle-eastern terrorist.

8) Scenes that belong in movies rated “X.”

9) Flashbacks seen by characters who never saw the flashbacks in “present” time.

10) Artwork on cover pages.

Dear Writers,

Here are are some recent VPF news items:

-VPF client Michael Eging’s script “Song of Roland” was recently optioned by VPF’s Cine L.A.

-Rebel Entertainment is now seeking scripts with a built-in, existing market, and those with mass commercial potential for 16-24-year-olds.

-Spring Creek Productions has added “Blood Diamond” and “Recount” to their list of recent credits.

-Seth Lockhart Presents has changed their name to “Cinematic Instinct.”

-Velocity Management is in development on John Grisham’s “The Partner,” and are now looking for Comedies, Thrillers, and TV projects.

-VPF has added both WhiteBread Films and NYC Entertainment to its list of Producers.

-VPF client Nevada Grey has launched a funny web-series called “The Other Normal.” You can view episodes of the show on:

http://www.youtube.com/user/NevadaGrey2010. Check them out!

Good luck pitching!

Hey folks–I just wanted to let y’all know that we have just re-signed Bad Robot, producers of such hits as “Lost” and “Mission: Impossible III.” Other credits include “Star Trek,” “Fringe,” and “Cloverfield.” They are actively seeking All Genres, including TV! Also, we have the following FREE PITCH DEALS going on through Monday, October 20th:

5 + 1 FREE PITCH = 6 pitches for $50!

10 + 2 FREE PITCHES = 12 pitches for $90!

Once you sign-up and payment is received, the FREE PITCHES will be added to your VPF account!

Good luck pitching!