What does the "Consider" list mean?

Hey everyone,

This is a great question. We started a discussion on our project page that was put on the "Consider List" in the pre-school tv series category.

Would love to hear about what you think we should improve upon.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all. :D

http://studios.amazon.com/projects/preview/10998?new_discussion=Tx1ZLW1L8RZ16X8#forums

@ Viv - The Ben Franklin script.

@ Michael - I'm just hoping there's ANYTHING left of my script by the time Clive gets done with it. ;) Yes, co-credit would be cool but seems unlikely. I assume the original writers will at least get "story by" credit even if he throws out everything they wrote.

I really have no idea how this is going to play out, so I'm not gonna worry about it...

I'm new here. What is BF?

@ Lauri -

That was always the murky part for me. If, for instance, ZvG goes forward, do they comb every last revision and break down money/credit according to any of those ideas they see in the final script?

Since PPC is now signatory, they would probably still use WGA arbitration procedures to assign credit and payment for AS projects. (Maybe? It would make everything above board to use an established method.)

It'd be cool if you got a co-writing credit with Clive Barker. :)

I think you hit the nail on the head Lauri. AS likes something about the script but think it needs a little fixing.

by putting those types of movies on a list AS increases the chance other will look at it and either give feed back and/or do rewrites.

I'm not sure if they give the creators notes or not but even if they don't if AS sees what needs to be fixed they can always hold a contest asking for people to fix it (for example the movie 12 princess they felt the princess needed to be better defined as characters and that's what they asked people to do)


also giving that AS is paying the writer(s) an extension to keep the screenplay it means AS likes the move and they want to make sure they can keep it (at least for a little while longer) instead of the writer shopping it elsewhere.

@ Michael -- good question re PPC as the purchaser... someone want to check the FAQs and see if it says?

I'm assuming the option payments were made via AS, not PPC. Can one of the happy check recipients please confirm?

I think my basic point is that the original writer won't make the call when it comes down to who gets paid what for that script.

I always thought that would be an odd thing to handle. But then, none of my projects were ever "Open," so I never gave it much thought.

But... if AS purchases a script, it will produced through PPC, right?

@ Michael - AS isn't a WGA signatory -- PPC is. So anything on this site is not covered by the WGA.

@ Jim

I don't think the original writer has a say in how the proceeds are shared. Since AS is now a WGA signatory, I would think they'd go by WGA's arbitration procedure to decide proper credits, etc.

(A panel of WGA members reads all versions of a script and they decide who made the most significant contributions. That's a simplified version of the process.)

I know you're a serial "revisionist," and you're worried that the original writer won't give up part of their fee, but you don't have to worry, it's not up to them. :)

I'll admit, I haven't been a big fan of folks searching the site for "Open" scripts and submitting minor revisions in the hopes that the script will be bought and they'll get some credit/money for it.

(I'd rather see them concentrate on their own work.)

However, if writers are willing to let just anyone rewrite their work, it's all up to them.

I am curious, though. Besides Lauri's winning ZvG script, has anyone seen a script revised by a different writer that won/made Development?

since AS has awarded crap scripts in the past i still believe it's concept over writing that matters to them. if they love your concept then they will move on it and then pay someone to rewrite it and make it what it needs to be. i find it a bit strange that they did this with Ben Franklin and it's still not on the development list though... and they paid out a lot of money to multiple people!

@ME

Person 'A' does a revision of a sp in the 'consider' list - shortly thereafter said revision is put on the 'Development' List...

So, what would you do or think should happen?

Respectfully, Jim.

A 'consider' simply means the a script is on the right track but still far from being great, which is what it needs to be in order to sell.

>>This is the partyicular road that I'm interested in - however I wonder if said 'considerees' (so to speak) will infact give sometning in return?<<

I'm not sure I understood this. What did you want the "considerees" to give in return?

And the issue becomes, what's "stronger."

I just gave notes on a couple of Consider scripts - Dancaster and Receiver. Dancaster had previous AS notes, so I had something to go on. But Receiver didn't.

So how can the original writers know whether implementing my notes (or anyone else's) would make the script "stronger" in the view of AS?

I guess if you get enough feedback that says the same thing (or even enough "useful" clicks on the feedback), that tells you something...

Geez, I couldn't have put any more errors in that if I tried...

;-)

" or collaborate with a partner to develop a stronger draft."

This is the partyicular road that I'm interested in - however I wonder if said 'considerees' (so to speak) will infact give sometning in return?

I personally belive they should BUT in light of some recent threads I'm unsure...

So maybe AS will in future decide how to 'cut the cake' should a future development spring from such a revision...

Especially as without any comps the seems to be very little incentive to assist - apart from us 'addicts' that is who actually believe in the fairness of most humans ;-)

This is the official definition:


What is the Consider List?

This list on Amazon Studios features projects our story department has identified as having potential, but that we have not added to the Development Slate. We believe that projects on the Consider List could be more successful with another rewrite. We encourage their writers to consider reactions from audiences, get feedback from other writers, or collaborate with a partner to develop a stronger draft.

@ Lisa - actually, I think AS does know how to fix stories. Most of their notes I've read have been spot-on, although in some cases I don't think they go far enough.

@ Lisa - good question, and I don't think so. However, it's still early days. Once a script DOES move up (presumably after edits) we'll have a better idea of what it takes.

Unless "consider" is just sort of an "honorable mention" to applaud scripts that are among the best on the site -- but which for whatever reason AS doesn't plan to develop??

not 1 series on the consider list yet. wonder how long that will take.

has any script on the consider list been moved to the development list yet? i'm not paying attention to anything so i don't really know what's going on.

but i'm just assuming it's a list to dangle in front of faces to keep people interested and continue submitting. i have yet to submit anything and probably won't ever. i am not optimistic that AS will ever like my stuff -- too cerebral. lol!

on AS giving notes -- they've done it before and then just thrown it all out. ie - the BF punch-up winner was a page-one rewrite if i recall. i don't even know if BF is on the dev list. i assume it is.
with that in mind i don't think even AS knows how to fix stories. and didn't they just hire a pro to rewrite ZvG? seriously, what's the point of their notes?!

Yes, I know this is a question for AS, but maybe people could offer their theories here?

There are now 21 scripts on the Consider list, and they're getting added at a regular pace.

AS is not giving notes on most of these scripts. Thus, the writers have no way of knowing WHAT AMAZON SEES as making these scripts "good" but not "good enough" for the Development Slate.

Based on the few I've actually read, I think "consider" maybe means that either the concept or the writing (i.e., structure, characters, etc.) are solid, but not both. And it's up to the writer to figure out which and fix that.

Obviously, it's a lot easier to fix most writing problems than most concept problems...

I assume that AS likes the concepts for all the scripts on the Development slate, and that it is giving notes to deal with the writing issues.

Other views??