When we talk about films, we mention the stars or other people responsible for directing, scripting, cinematography, etc. But a person is almost never named because no one should know that they exist…
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If you want to earn a lot of money behind the camera in Hollywood, your best bet is to work as a so-called script doctor. Several hundred thousand dollars for a few days or weeks of work are not uncommon here. In 2016, the Hollywood Reporter found that the industry’s most sought-after script doctors can command $400,000 per week of work. Prices have certainly not fallen at their peak since then. But what do script doctors actually do? And which well-known names, some of whom might surprise you, have already practiced the profession?
Script Doctor: Help in an emergency
The name explains quite a lot. It’s about the script and a kind of doctoring. Script doctors are usually used when time is of the essence. It will be shot shortly or the cameras are already rolling and it becomes apparent that the script still has weaknesses. But perhaps the original authors don’t have time right now or you don’t trust them to do it, as they are partly responsible for the previous problems. Then (nowadays, several) script doctors are called.
They usually do not revise the entire script, but are regularly used selectively. Maybe the dialogue needs to be freshened up a bit here? Or should an action scene be added or rewritten? Do we need more humor and better gags?
Some of the greatest masterpieces used script doctors
The high salary for the script doctors is not only due to the fact that they usually work under time pressure and only have days or, in the best case, a few weeks at their disposal. Normally they have to keep their work secret and sign non-disclosure agreements. It’s not just about wanting to avoid any negative press, but also about the writers’ union’s complicated rules about who is named and how in the credits of a film.
Script doctors usually do not mention this, although there have also been cases in which their revisions were so extensive that they were then able to assert a claim to script credit. In addition, the transitions are fluid. There are also authors who are known as good script doctors and are therefore hired early on and are officially on board the project at the end.
Hiring script doctors is often viewed negatively at first – but this is unjustified. The hiring does not indicate that it is a “chaos production” or that something is going terribly wrong. After all, recognizing just in time that something can be improved is better than simply closing your eyes and moving on. There are also great classics like “The Godfather” or “Schindler’s List” that had such last-minute corrections. Many cases are probably not even known to us – see the confidentiality agreements.
The story of the script doctors
But who does these jobs? Often it is especially younger screenwriters and directors who are currently between their own projects and may not have earned the big money yet to survive dry spells lasting several years without their own film. But there were always authors who showed a special talent and practiced it for a long time.
The legendary author Ben Hecht, who worked with directors such as Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and Ernst Lubitsch, is now considered the forefather – although the term “script doctor” did not really exist at his time. Back then, it was still completely normal for authors to collaborate; they were often under contract with studios together, and films were made in writing rooms. But Hecht, who loathed Hollywood and only spent a few weeks a year there, was particularly in demand when it came to sprucing up.
There are myths about how many films he was involved in in addition to his approximately 70 screenplay credits. Only a few titles such as “Gone with the Wind” or “Mutiny on the Bounty” are documented by historical letter finds. More conservative estimates suggest that he was involved in over 50 additional screenplays, and some even consider it realistic that there were over 100 titles.
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But the term really became known with Robert Towne. As a young author, he had just sold his second film script for a western (which would then become “The Merciless Ride” – without crediting Towne, by the way). This ended up in the hands of Warren Beatty, who, as the lead of “Bonnie and Clyde,” was dissatisfied with the previous script. He asked Towne to lend a hand and the story then made the rounds in Hollywood that the young writer had saved the film, which had become a hit. After the success of “Bonnie and Clyde,” Towne was unable to avoid similar requests and quickly asked for six-figure sums for his work.
He was the script doctor on dozens of projects – including “The Godfather,” which we know because Francis Ford Coppola thanked him at the Oscar speech. Although he became one of the best and highest-paid screenwriters with works like “Chinatown,” he continued to work as a script doctor until at least the 2000s. Towne liked the flexibility and freedom of the job. He spent months working on his own scripts, put a lot of heart and soul into it, and in the end perhaps had to watch as it was not filmed the way he had imagined due to interference from the studio and director. As a script doctor, he was able to lend a hand for a few days, collect the money and go on his way without any emotional connection to the project.
Famous script doctors – a “Star Wars” star is also there
Anyone in Hollywood who shows a talent for writing scripts will also receive offers to work as a script doctor. Therefore, no list can be complete; there are only a few exemplary names here. For example, long before his success with the recent Mission: Impossible films, Christopher McQuarrie was considered the best man to call when an action scene needed to be improved or completely rebuilt. Even today, Tom Cruise brings him on board in virtually every one of his projects, unless he’s already doing it with McQuarrie. Quentin Tarantino – this should come as no surprise – used to be hired to improve dialogue, a job that Aaron Sorkin also took on again and again.
But there are also surprising names on the list. The “Star Wars” legend Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, was considered the best in this field for many years, and studios literally fought over her in the early to mid-90s. At that time, the actress once described herself as a “script nurse”, rejecting the male term “script doctor”. She reworked, among others, “Hook,” “Lethal Weapon 3” and “Mr. & Mrs Smith”.
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She is not the only star known primarily as an actor with script doctoring experience. Donald Glover (“Community”) and “King Of Queens” star Patton Oswalt were also successful in this profession for a while. Joss Whedon, Charlie Kaufman, Judd Apatow, Michael Arndt, Simon Kinberg, Chris Miller & Phil Lord and Shane Black, among others, are among the most sought-after script doctors of the past two decades.
Anyone who is now dreaming of a career as a script doctor should be warned: in most cases you should have already made a name for yourself within the industry with your own script (but it is not necessary for it to be made into a film). to even be on the radar of the studios and get inquiries. And these days, there is an oversupply of talented young writers competing for these jobs.
It has become a common practice, especially for medium-sized productions, to hire a variety of even less experienced script doctors and only pay a fee if they are successful – in other words: only those whose changes are made get the money. Because only the really big names can demand $400,000 per week, regardless of success, which is often paid, especially for big blockbusters.
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This is an updated republication of an article that previously appeared on FILMSTARTS.
2023-12-18 07:01:07
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