[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: As a script doctor how many times will you reread a script before you start rewriting?
Writer/Script Doctor/Teacher Cody Smart: Oh that’s interesting, well first obviously the cold read and then I do all of the sets of notes but I actually like to go in stages. I don’t know if I would say I read it and reread it many times before I start but I work in little stages. Let’s say I get the script, I do my set of notes, I have a conversation with the writer and the producer and how we’re going to tackle the doctoring of the script, and then I would do a first pass on the script that for example just tackles formatting and things like that. I’m familiarizing myself with the raw file in a way, it’s sort of this dance where I’m putting my fingers to work on this script and I just fix the little things. Then I do a second pass where I’m focusing on the characters and then I’m changing things around and moving, then I work with the structure. In a sense I’m reading it multiple times but at the same time I’m tackling things. I don’t think I just read it multiple times before I just have conversations about it to a point where I’m like Okay, I think I understand this script. I talk to the writer and the producer and we’re so insync that I’m kind of dreaming about this script before I actually put my hands on it.
Film Courage: How do you determine what parts of the screenplay need the most attention?
Cody: The first thing for me it’s always character, that’s where I usually start because I feel character, especially the protagonist, determines absolutely everything about the script. I think that character relates to the structure in a way that writers a lot of times forget and I would say that’s one of the things I focus on the most…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
Cody Smart is an independent writer and script doctor from Chile. She holds degrees in English Literature & Linguistics, Screenwriting, Development and Producing. She worked as a script analyst for Sony, she’s a judge for multiple script and film competitions, she’s written some award-winning shorts, she’s head of the coverage department at a script hosting site and she does a bi-monthly vlog with tips for Screenwriters for Story Data. She takes pride in helping writers take their work to the next level.
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