Spec script under 100 pages?

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Finishing up what I'll generously call a B movie horror script. I know some people who work for a prodco that makes them and they'll get it in to their bosses, which is why I wrote it. It's actually pretty tight if I do say so myself, lots of suspense and some hopefully well- earned moments of nasty carnage. With all the good stuff it has going for it, I'm worried that it's probably going to be about 94 pages.

Is that too short for a spec script? It's been drilled into all our heads not to make specs too long but does erring on the other side seem amateurish as well?
Since it's gonna be a while before anything gets bought in this town there's time to do re-writes if needed but I think it's just the right length. Am I being paranoid? Are readers going to toss it back on the pile or are they more likely to thank God when they see a page count in the double digits?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Finishing up what I'll generously call a B movie horror script. I know... for it, I'm worried that it's probably ... all our heads not to make specs too long but does erring on the other side seem amateurish as well?..[/nq]
I am a newb at writing myself, I will be very interested in replies to your post. I am hoping to complete a script similar to yours in length and genre (somewhat). I have noticed quite a few movies lately that are well below 90 minutes. "Lake Placid" (giant man eating croc; Jeff Daniels, Bridgette Fonda). end credits rolled at 76 minutes; "The Messengers" end credits rolled I think at 85 minutes. And those times include the 2-3 minutes of opening credits.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Finishing up what I'll generously call a B movie horror script. I know[/nq]
[nq:2]for it, I'm worried that it's probably going to be ... does erring on the other side seem amateurish as well?[/nq]
[nq:1].. I am a newb at writing myself, I will be very interested in replies to your post. I am ... "The Messengers" end credits rolled I think at 85 minutes. And those times include the 2-3 minutes of opening credits.[/nq]
The original script for "Alien" was 88 pages.
Nobody wants to see a 120-page spec anymore. Even 110 pages are considered a little long. But I think the emphasis should be on telling a story rich in complexity and detail. It should feel like a 2-hour movie, and most people can't make that happen in less than 100 pages.

IMHO, of course.
Alan Brooks

A with an Underwood
for small values
of "H".

Usenet · Answer

Yeah. that's my problem(s) Writing first and second drafts that just take up too many pages
in the end. Currently stuck on one that's around 158 or so and it seems so hard to omit scenes or storyline. Suppose that's just my fault in not developing a more streamlined story structure right from the beginning. It's instresting to see a inverse problem of having a script that's too short. Take Care All
Dustin

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Finishing up what I'll generously call a B movie horror script. I know some people who work for a prodco ... the pile or are they more likely to thank *** when they see a page count in the double digits?[/nq]
The readers I know tend to say the latter.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Yeah. that's my problem(s) Writing first and second drafts that just take up too many pages in the end. Currently ... from the beginning. It's instresting to see a inverse problem of having a script that's too short. Take Care All[/nq]
Kill your babies. You have to.

"Anybody can direct. There are only 11 good writers." ? Mel Brooks

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Finishing up what I'll generously call a B movie horror script. I know some people who work for a prodco ... the pile or are they more likely to thank *** when they see a page count in the double digits?[/nq]
Not having seen your script, I don't know how much air it contains at present but my cold and callous advice to you is simple.

Having taken my agent's advice in relation to a recent draft of a script of mine and cut everything out but the action because he told that that was essential in order to sell it, I ended up with a script that dropped from around 115 pages down to around 95 pages and I didn't want to send it out at 95 pages. I thought it was too short.
So I just plain went through the damned thing and pumped it full of air. Any block of text with five lines I looked for opportunities to break it up into two separate paragraphs maybe three paragraphs.

Looked for opportunities for those little "three word paragraphs" that you use for emphasis.
Things like:
She was gone.
Or:
He falls to the ground Dead.
Or if you're really desperate, you can do it this way:

He falls to the ground.
Dead.
I'm not kidding you. The last two spec scripts that I optioned were inflated in exactly this way and what's nice about it is that, inevitably, once you sell them, the notes start coming in and you'll almost never get notes that say cut down this scene. Cut out this scene. Shorten this scene. Notes are almost always about adding stuff in.
And what's nice is you've got all this air all this loose space that, as you add in all that junk from the producer's notes, you can just start tightening it up. All that text that you smeared out into four or five paragraphs, you just pull it back into three paragraphs or two. They'll never notice. And that way, you can more or less maintain the length of the script even as you add stuff in.

NMS

Spec script under 100 pages?

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